foods you plan on never eating
Actually, I will throw out there and disagree with you.
There are many scholarly articles backed up by Functional MRI that show, particularly in the obese population, that sugar acts on the limbic centers of the brain just like crack. Its really not just insulin response. I know in my case that a little sugar is OK every now and then (everyone knows how much I bake), but if I take two steps over my limit my sugar monster wakes up and slams my head into the sidewalk.
That said, having an addiction does not absolve me of responsibility for UNDERSTANDING the roots of my behavior and managing that behavior. Addictive behavior is both a psychological and biological condition. My Biology may drive me to want to do one thing, but my mind is responsible for monitoring that and bringing my other tools into play to control the biology.
For me understanding is the key. Knowing how sugar and food works on me biologically just helps me recognize whats going on and manage it. I am still obese - even though I wear a size 32 pant and lost 160 lbs. I just control it through diet and exercise.
Read:
Evidence for sugar addiction: Behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
Overlapping neuronal circuits in addiction and obesity: evidence of systems pathology
+Author Affiliations
- Author and address for correspondence: National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA ([email protected])
Food addiction: true or false?
Corsica, Joyce A; Pelchat, Marcia L
Obesity and the brain: how convincing is the addiction model?
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160 lbs lost. Surgeons Goal Reached in 33 weeks. My Goal in 37 Weeks.
VSG: 11/2/2011; LBL+Thigh Lift+BL: 10/3/2012; Brach+Mastopexy: 7/22/2013
Well, addiction of any substance has often been said to be psychological, but in my opinion, anything that can affect dopamine levels the same way cocaine does and also has an impact on the reactive ability of dopamine receptors is physically problematic....here is a study from Princeton:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11733709
For those of you that like lighter reading:
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/researcher-sugar-addictive-cocaine-obesity-diabetes-cancer-heart-disease-article-1.1054419
Nevertheless, I do know that since I quit processed foods and refined sugars I have lost what I would classify as "driving" cravings.
If you are correct, however, my life would be a bit more fun because I could occasionally indulge and not feel compelled to eat a pint of Haagen Dazs
OF COURSE, I am happy to agree to disagree as it is hard to disagree with someone as fun and committed as you.
Not to spark a whole sugar addiction debate but I have read several articles contradicting those same studies. Unfortunately I never thought to save them to post the links. That being said, I am not saying an emotional addiction to sugar is not as strong or stronger than than a physical addiction. What I was trying to say but never really got to the point (sorry that happens to me a lot) is exactly what you said, "since I quit processed foods and refined sugars I have lost what I would classify as "driving" cravings"
Once you stop doing what you did, you can move forward with what you couldn't. But also I am proposing sort of the methadone approach to getting off of sugar. Give your body what it wants without the stuff in it that cause the problem. Won't taste as good, won't be the same thing, but will certainly satisfy you.
For example, the first time I ever did the atkins diet I figured out that if I got sugar free root beer and poured some heavy cream into it, I would effectively have a root beer float. Satisfied sweet cravings, almost zero carbs and I will have to say it tasted pretty freaking good.
I'm never going to eat a lot of "diet" foods again. If I have cottage cheese, I have whole milk cottage cheese. With as little as I eat, I need the fat in my diet. I'll eat less of something that tastes awesome rather than more of something that isn't as delicious. I'd really like to get off the "sugar free" drinks and just have drinks that are naturally sugar free, like water flavored with a splash of fruit or mint. I'd love to get to that place.
Jane
Never say Never or Always. Never sets you up to fail and to feel guilty about failing. Same caution with "Always". No one Always does something or Never does something. Moderation is a ****ty word too. Learning "Moderation" is too often used to explain away a number of bad choices without examining why we made those choices.
There are foods that I chose not to eat during weight loss that I choose to eat now that I am in maintenance.
There are foods that I treat now with great caution because I know they are triggers for me. I may still have the occasional taste of those foods if I feel that I want them and there is room for them in my diet.
You want your pastry at Disney? Have it. But PLAN for It, LOG IT, and hold yourself accountable for the decision to have it. Did it fit into your plan? Did it prevent you from reaching some other goal - say a calorie goal or a protein goal? Did you have it for a purely emotional reason? Either answer to any of those questions is OK so long as you do the hard work of understanding your motivations and the impact of that decision.
A single pastry or a single sugar cookie will not hurt you. Giving into temptations and cravings consistently without understanding WHY you do these things will lead to bad results. Accountability and self understanding are the keys to long term success.
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160 lbs lost. Surgeons Goal Reached in 33 weeks. My Goal in 37 Weeks.
VSG: 11/2/2011; LBL+Thigh Lift+BL: 10/3/2012; Brach+Mastopexy: 7/22/2013