Working On The Book, A Journal Entry

While working on my book, I kept echoing the sentiment, “Write in your journal.” So I decided to heed my own advice and add a journal entry to my blog. For some reason I’ve been journaling less and less here. Part of the reason is because I’ve mostly been off sweets and so there’s not much of a struggle to write about lately. Another reason is because I’ve been thinking it’s not interesting to you, the reader, to hear about my struggle with sugar.

I’ve been S-L-O-W-L-Y working on the Stop Being Sweet book for, um, 2 years. It’s taken so long is because initially I had to really look at how I managed to stop being sweet. Then I had to understand what I’ve done and be able to explain it to another person. Imagine writing a manual for your job, or for how to be who you are and do something that you do. It’s a little scary and kind of strange. But I’m happy to say that the book is really nearly done—like, a few days away done. And that feels good. I’ve been working on this website and the book in my spare time. It’s not an easy task. In the past two days alone I’ve logged about 12 hours. So what I’m saying is that I hope you enjoy the book!

About Sugar

Gwenn is away and I’ve found myself eating differently. Living with someone really changes how a person functions. It has especially changed how I eat. Gwenn is far more structured than I ever have been. She keeps me on schedule simply by having one. I fall into late nights and long periods of deep focus when she’s not around. Right now I wish I had another 12 hours unobstructed so I could continue writing. I’ve eaten less since she’s gone, which I attribute to her wonderful and caring cooking. I don’t have a weight problem, but I’ve certainly gained weight in the past few months. This is strange because I’m quite active, or so I think. In 2009 I’m starting a new exercise program to get and feel more in shape and learn some new skills. I’ll write more about that as it comes closer.

In the meantime I’m wondering, for those of you who eat sweets, do you keep late hours? Are sweeties late night people? Does anyone out there eat tons of sugar and wake up at 6 am every morning? I used to blame my late nights on sugar, but now what do I blame them on, projects?

Sugar Challenge: December 2008

This month, avoid all sugars from December 1st through December 31st (New Year’s Eve).

On the 31st only, eat whatever you want.

If you choose, allow yourself something sweet on the holiday of your choice between the beginning and end of the month. On the 31st, resume your abstinence and stay away from sweets into next month based on your own parameters or based on next month’s sugar challenge.

If you are new to avoiding sugar you should be able to make it through the holiday season knowing that on the actual holidays you can eat whatever you want. This should cut down or reduce your sugar intake for the month. That’s a good thing!

Remember, the Stop Being Sweet Sugar Challenge isn’t about quitting sugar forever. It’s about reducing or abstaining from sweets for a month and seeing what happens. The idea here is to learn about yourself and your relationship to sweet foods. Try it for a month and see what happens. There is no “pass/fail” in this. It’s an experiment.

Use the comment form below to communicate with others who are also taking this month’s sugar challenge.

Good luck and Happy Holidays!

Say No to Sweet Kids

It’s the holidays. You’re out at a party and your kids want a second or third helping of sugary dessert. You say no but the host says, “come on, it’s the holidays.” What do you do? Stop being sweet and just say no!

To help you stand your ground, read the following – a fact sheet which was distributed at the Symposium on Childhood Obesity: Causes and Prevention sponsored by the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, October 27, 1998. Knowing this information won’t leave you speechless when you are asked why the kids can’t have more.

Overweight and obesity are important nutrition-related conditions in the United States. Some believe obesity is reaching epidemic proportions, particularly in the adult population. Many health professionals agree it is a chronic disease and associate it with other chronic conditions, including coronary heart disease, type II diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, gallbladder disease, respiratory disease, some types of cancer, gout, and arthritis (1). Because most methods for achieving weight loss are unsuccessful over time (2), prevention continues to be the most viable option for controlling overweight.

The magnitude of obesity and overweightness is far-reaching--

• About one in five children in the United States is now overweight (3).
• Overweight during childhood and adolescence is associated with overweight during adulthood (4).
• Parental obesity more than doubles the risk of adult obesity among both obese and non-obese children under 10 years of age (5).
• Over $68 billion are spent each year on direct health care related to obesity, representing 6 percent of total U.S. health care expenditures (6).

The problem has grown over time--

• The number of overweight children 6 to 17 years of age has doubled within three decades (3,8,9).
• The prevalence of overweight has increased from 7.6 to 10.9 percent for children age 6 to 11 years and from 5. 7 to 10.8 percent for adolescents age 12 to 19 years between 1976-80 and 1988-91 (3, 7).

Diet plays a key role, but there is more to the problem--

• Children with overweight parents had lower levels of physical activity and diets that were higher in fat and lower in carbohydrate (10,11,12).
• A review of the literature suggests that overweight among preschool children, as well as older children, may be associated less with increased energy intake and more with low physical activity (13).

There is a relation to income, education, and ethnicity--

• Poor White adolescents were about 2.6 times as likely to be overweight as those in middle- or high-income families, and adolescents with near-poor family income had an intermediate prevalence (14).
• There is little evidence for a pattern in the relationship between overweight prevalence and education of the family reference person. A pattern of decreasing overweight prevalence with increasing education of the family reference person is found only among non-Hispanic White male children and adolescents (8).
• Overweight and obesity rates among children and adolescents were highest for Mexican American males age 6 to 11 (17 percent), African American females age 6 to 19 (16 percent), and adolescents age 12 to 19 from low-income households (16 percent) (15).

Reversing the trend in overweight will require changes in individual behavior, elimination of societal barriers, and better assessment tools--

• Behaviors that have contributed to the increase in overweight prevalence for adults may be transmitted within the family setting and affect the weight status of children (8).
• Fewer than half of school children received daily physical education, with games and competitive sports being the mainstays of existing programs (16).
• For physical education programs to contribute to the public health goal of lifelong activity, they should include activities of moderate intensity and should not focus exclusively on team-oriented sports activities (17).
• Body Mass Index (BMI) is not as reliable a measure of fatness for children, especially across different ages and degrees of maturity, as it is for adults who have attained their peak height (8).

The increased prevalence of overweight in children in the United States should be viewed in the context of similar increases occurring in other age groups in the United States and in many other societies around the world (8).

References

(1.) Pi-Sunyer, F.X. 1993. Medical hazards of obesity. Ann. Intern. Med. 119:655-660.

(2.) NIH Technology Assessment Conference Panel. 1993. Methods for voluntary weight loss and control. Ann. Intern. Med. 119:764-770.

(3.) Troiano, R.P. et al. 1995. Overweight prevalence and trends for children and adolescents. The NHANES Surveys, 1963-1991. Arch. Pediatr. Adolesc. Med. 149:1085-1091.

(4.) Guo, S.S. et al. 1994. The predictive value of childhood body mass index values for overweight at age 35 years. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 59:810-819.

(5.) Whitaker, R.C. 1997. Predicting obesity in young adulthood from childhood and parental obesity. N. Engl. J. Med. 337:869-873.

(6.) Wolf, A.M. 1998. What is the economic case for treating obesity? Obesity Research 6:2S-7S.

(7.) Kuczmarski, R.J. et al. 1994. Increasing prevalence of overweight among U.S. adults: The NHANES Surveys, 1960 to 1991. Journal of the American Medical Association 272:205-211.

(8.) Troiano, R.P. and Flegal, K.M. 1998 (March Suppl.). Overweight children and adolescents: Description, epidemiology, and demographics. Pediatrics 101 (3):497-504.

(9.) National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. 1996 (July 1). Statistics Related to Overweight and Obesity. NIH Publication 96-4158. National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD.

(10.) Eck, L.H., Klesges, R.D. et al. 1992. Children at familial risk for obesity: An examination of dietary intake, physical activity and weight status. International Journal on Obesity 16:71-78.

(11.) Vara, L. and Agras, W.S. 1989. Caloric intake and activity levels are related in young children. International Journal on Obesity 13:613-617.

(12.) Klesges, R.D., Eck, L.H. et al. 1990. The effects of obesity, social interactions, and the physical environment on physical activity in preschool children. Health Psychology 9:435-449.

(13.) Schlicker, S.A. et al. 1994. The weight and fitness status of United States children. Nutrition Reviews 52:11-17.

(14.) National Center for Health Statistics. 1998. Health, United States 1998 with Socioeconomic Status an Health Chart Book. DHHS Publication No. (PHS) 98-1232. Hyattsville, MD.

(15.) Public Health Service. 1998. Healthy People 2010: National Health Promotion an Disease Prevention Objectives. DHHS Publication draft for comment.

(16.) Public Health Service. 1990. Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives. Publication PHS 90-50212. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

(17.) Sallis, J.F. and McKenzie, T.L. 1991. Physical education’s role in public health. Res. Q. Exercise Sport 62:124-137 [Medline].

COPYRIGHT 1999 Superintendent Of Documents
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

Audio: Stop Being Sweet Presentation

On November 6, 2008, I gave a presentation at March Wellness, the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) health club. In this recording you will hear me tell my story, answer questions, and explain the basic idea behind Stop Being Sweet.

Listen to the presentation by pressing the play button below.

File size: 1 hour - 52 MB

Please let me know if you have any trouble downloading or listening to this file. 

Are You A Helpless Sugar Addict?

What do you get out of being helpless? You are helpless, aren’t you? If a white powder has control of your life, you are helpless. If you can’t pass up the snacks on the snack table at work, you are helpless. If eating a tub of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is more important to you than your own long-term health, you are helpless.

What is it about being helpless that you like so much? Do you fear responsibility? Do you like someone else telling you what to do? Do you like corporations telling you how to live your life and what to eat? Because you’re letting someone tell you what to eat every time you buy into a sugary product that has zero health value. You’re not just buying the product, but you’re also buying into the message of the product. What does it mean to eat Snickers? What does it say about you that you need to eat Oreo cookies? Who are you being when you are bingeing on sweets? What’s your role in the play that are you acting out?

You are a helpless puppet for as long as you continue to mindlessly eat sugar. Remain helpless and you’ll end up needy—needing the help of doctors and physicians. What will be the result of having poured pounds of sugar into your body over the course of a year?

This year can be different. You are what causes change in your life. You are who decides what you eat. What will your decision be today?

Or you can stay helpless. You’re obviously getting something out of it. 

Video: Understanding the Glycemic Index

In the following video, Nutrition Natalie talks about weight loss, sugar addiction, and explains the Glycemic Index (GI). Learn how to prevent blood sugar spiking.

Visit Natalie’s website: NutritionNatalie.com

Unsweet Advice: What About These Alternatives To Sugar?

Question:
What are your thoughts and how far away do you stay from the “Dirty Dozen” and do you use any of the recommended sweets?  (I tried the brown rice syrup, and that was another thing I couldn’t get used to)
The Dirty Dozen:
1.  Dextrose
2.  Fructose
3.  Sucrose
4.  Maltose
5.  Corn syrup
6.  High fructose corn syrup
7.  Malt syrup
8.  Honey
9.  Molasses
10.  Maple syrup
11.  Modified food starch
12.  Corn starch
Alternatives might include fruit, evaporated cane juice, brown rice syrup, aguava nectar, or natural and less refined sweeteners such as Sucanat and stevia.

Answer:

Most sugar alternatives are simply other forms of sugar with a slightly different chemical make up. Here are my personal feelings about the following forms of sugar. Opinions (and reactions) vary.

1.  Dextrose - Occurs naturally. I avoid if added.

2.  Fructose - same as above.

3.  Sucrose - Same as above.

4.  Maltose - Same as above.

5.  Corn syrup - Prefer to avoid it.

6.  High fructose corn syrup - Absolutely avoid.

7.  Malt syrup - I avoid it.

8.  Honey - Effects your blood levels. I use sparingly. As a natural alternative it is preferred over chemical sweeteners. Still, I eat very little honey in the course of a year, and all from baking.

9.  Molasses - Same as above. Some folks like to use it for cooking. I avoid it.

10.  Maple syrup - Same as above. I’ll have it once in a while during breakfast. It will effect your blood sugar.

11.  Modified food starch - Sometimes it can’t be avoided easily because it is in so many things, especially if you go out to eat.

12.  Corn starch - Same as above.

The other alternatives you mentioned:

Fruit - I love fruit and eat it daily. What a wonderful and natural treat.

Evaporated cane juice - I avoid this completely. It will kick your butt and most certainly changes your blood sugar levels.

Brown rice syrup - Avoid.

Aguava nectar - I haven’t used it but hear good things about it. Worth trying.

Natural and less refined sweeteners such as Sucanat and Stevia - I have not tried Sucanat. It’s still sugar, just not so refined, so I’d generally avoid it. I’m looking to try Stevia as I only hear good things about it. At the time of this writing, the US FDA is reviewing Stevia as a sweetener and many food and beverage companies have already invested millions of dollars into using Stevia to sweeten their food and drink products. Stevia has been extensively tested over the past ten years and apparently has many positive health benefits. 

Remember, everyone is different and we all react differently to the different types of sugar. For a complete run-down of what’s right for you, consult a doctor or nutritionist. If you’re in good health, you might try eating foods containing these sugars and see how you feel. Journal about your experience.

The Tree of Unsweetness

A tree starts with a seed. Under the right conditions, a seed will grow into a seedling. The seedling grows into a sapling. A sapling grows into a small tree. A small tree grows into a mature tree. It doesn’t happen overnight.

When you stop being sweet, it’s like growing a tree. You get the seed of an idea first. Then you start to implement your idea by taking action. Under the right conditions, you make it through each step, one step at a time. And it doesn’t happen overnight.

Even if you decide to quit sugar cold turkey, it will still take time to be good at it. Eating well is a skill. Some people were taught that skill from when they were kids. Other people must teach themselves.

Have you quit sugar? Quitting implies giving something up. To stop being sweet means to no longer be the way you used to be. It means taking responsibility for yourself. It means you are changing and growing. And that takes time.

It all starts with a seed. That seed has been planted in your mind now. Will you nurture it and help it grow? It’s all up to you.