Sugar - Irvine,CA

When I was a kid my mom was anti sugar. As such she over restricted. Then used my craving for sugar as proof that I was addicted to sugar. Thing is when you like something and can't have it you crave it, ya know?

As an adult I don't crave sugar at all. Thank god that was one area she didn't mess me up. :p The reason I don't crave it is if I want something with sugar I have it. That way I don't spend all my time thinking about sugar to the point that I am on a sugar binge.

So my advice to you is have some sugar! After you get it out of your system only have sugar when you want it but don't deprive yourself of it when you want it. You will find you will maybe have something sugary once a week, maybe less and you don't think about it all the time.

Hi L!
So this is a debatable one isn't it, so much different information. I am going to add to that. All you can do is educate yourself and then go from there.
There was a study released that said if the FDA was given sugar today to introduce into the food stream, it would have to be denied. go to www.PubMed.org, its the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health and ALL it's findings. Sometimes you have to sift through the plethora of info but you will get educated.

As for your cravings, been there done that. It wasn't until I did a full nutritional cleanse and changed my habits that I no longer have any cravings for the bad stuff. www.SoYouWantToCleanse.com got me on the right path.

L, here is the thing, people will say "everything in moderation". that is no longer true, especially for children! Back int he 50's and 60 doctors prescribed cigarettes to pregnant women so they wouldn't gain too much weight, now there are toxic warnings everywhere about them. The same will be held true for the C.R.A.P. that is on our foods today (Caffeine, Refined Sugars, Additives and Preservatives). You MUST say no to your in-laws, your husband must stand beside you. My mom used to be the same way. I told her NO little debbie cookies or those "Swiss Rolls". She argued and said "oh once in a while won't hurt" so I gave her a study to ready on aspartame and sugar and ADHD in children. She was shocked. Her next visit with my daughters was a "trip" through her cook books and now, every time they go over there, they make something new and HEALTHY as their grandma treat. They LOVE their time with grandma and they ALL learn something.
You are the mom, be the best one you can be.

B.
Family Success Coach

Your kids eating sugar at your In Laws is your issue - see (2). So, if they only go there two times a week, a sugary snack will be fine. I do agree that they should limit the sugary snacks but sometimes that's really hard to do when visiting grandma and grandpa. The best you can do is ask them to please limit the sugary snacks they feed them. Maybe ask if you can send them over with some fruit so they can have one sugar snack and some fruit?

I think that if you allow yourself some sugary snacks, you'll be fine. Try giving into one not so bad sugar snack a day. You seem very healthy - so everything in moderation is ok. Perhaps have the snack at the same time every day (after lunch or dinner) and if it's a constant, you can know it will be there and look forward to it, savor it and then enjoy it.

Good luck on your in laws, I would just chock it up to letting grandma spoil them.

Yes, i do have advice on kicking a sugar habit. First of all cold turkey IS NOT a good idea like it is with most things. Your blood sugar is a tricky balance and eliminating it completely will/can send you into a diabetic-like shock. Sugar is not all you have to worry about though, white bread and white pasta (anything with white flour) is like eating white sugar. Its basically empty carbs that trick your body into thinking its actually getting fed and it revs up your insulin only to find the fiber to process it.........lacking. Ive done a bit of research on this because diabetes was a factor in the death of my father and my grandmother. It runs in my family and i swear its not going to get me, my husband or my kids.

Stave off of sugar little by little, replace your syrups with lower spiking sugars like agave nectar or grade b maple syrup. Pick up some stevia, its a powder or liquid that is extremely sweet, you only need a little and it can sweeten your beverages (coffee, tea, smoothies, etc.) like a pro. I used to drink the heck out of diet soda but now i just buy sparkling water and put a little stevia in it, maybe lemon too, and i dont miss it.

Never cook with white flour and white sugar, stay away from white pasta. the bread, flour and pasta that has brown flecks in it are your friends. you can also Add a little flax seed meal to your baking to amp up the fiber. Raw sugar or date sugar are good subs for white sugar also.

Lastly have your blood sugar tested , if it is too high there are a few things you can buy to regulate this. Chromium picolinate, bitter melon extract and cinnamon extract are very effective at quickly regulating sugar levels. But you still need sugar, fresh fruit and complex carbs will give you the kind of sugar that your body will thrive on.

1. I don't buy into that grandparents = sugar philosophy. I didn't have it like that when I was a kid. On my mother's side, the food was healthy, including treats, with the occasional "trash" treat. On my father's side, it was a little less natural, but not particularly junky. My favorite treats for my grandmother to fix? Buttered bread and buttered rice. Yum! I still love those today. My great grandmother fixed me "cheese toast" and tea or pancakes or coffee with sugar and lots of milk. Those were not overdoen, either. I realized that they were treats and not for the entire time I was there. I truly do not get the people who feed your children what you have specifically said you don't want them to have. Whether or not they agree is not the point. I haven't seen this in my family. It didn't happen with us as children. I can't imagine that my mother would not respect my wishes for my child's diet.

2. I like candy (hard and fruit, no chocolate). When I want it, I have it. Certain things I know that I will just eat until it's gone--Jolly Ranchers, Rice Krispies Treats, Gummi Bears--so I allow myself to plow through a stash, and then I don't buy any more. I make sure that I drink plenty water when I'm consuming things that have no nutritional value, to run them on through my system. I am sure to have some healthy snacks on hand, too. If your diet is pretty much sugar free, then you should be okay to splurge once in a while. Sometimes instead of having candy, I'll have a spoonful of honey. It's just enough to let me know if I really want to commit to some junk or if I just wanted the sweet taste in my mouth. Maybe you can try that--spoon of honey or maple syrup or molasses, even a small individual packet of raw sugar. Go natural with your sugars, and that will be better for your body.

(1) Grandparents are famous for this. I remember loving going to my grandparents house to spend the night because they would buy sugar cereal like Fruit Loops for us -- which we weren't allowed to have at home. Since your kids aren't at home they will look at your in-laws sugar treats as "special" -- not part of daily routine food. I personally think that's OK. If it's one dessert each visit I would be OK with that.

(2) You could try a diet soda, or maybe gum or a small Dum-Dum lollipop to curb your craving. Sparkling water with a slice of fruit in it is also good and can give you a sweet flavor without the calories. However, you really could indulge once a week without losing your figure.

1. There is a time and place for everything. If they get treats twice a week only at grandma's, what's the big deal? I ate candy and sugar ALL the time when I was a kid. I still enjoy a treat occasionally, but tend not to eat very much of it at a time. I savor it. My BMI is 18%.

2. Don't ignore cravings completely. Have you ever had your glucose checked? You might be hypoglycemic. Low blood sugar might be driving those cravings.

Buy the book "Potatoes Not Prozac" for your sugar craving. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you have any mental health issues. This book is wonderful and gives a great way to help eliminate the sugar craving and move on with your life.

It's too hard to fight the sugar battle with the grandparents. I've been fighting that for YEARS! When she goes to grandma's or great grandma's they love giving the kids "treats" and the pleasure they get from the kids' being excited over sugar is the reason they do it. It won't hurt them unless they have allergies. All I've been able to do is ask that they have no more than 3 cookies or one slice of pie. I think that teaches portion control, which is about the best you can do. It's not worth the fight, and it won't hurt your kids.

You could be craving sugar because your body needs more fuel. It's OK to have carbs, that's what your body uses for energy. The more you exercise, the more carbs your body needs to run. Just eat complex carbs, not simple carbs like candy. Or you could have a candida overgrowth. Then the candida craves the sugar (it thrives on sugar) and that translates to you craving sugar.

It's much better to allow yourself a dessert now and then than to deprive yourself totally. A dessert eaten and enjoyed is much better than one that you refuse and then feel denied or one that you eat and feel guilty. That was written by the author of Natural Cures They Don't Want You To Know About, but his name escapes me.

The only other thing I have done to limit the sugar is I've told my daughter that if she eats too much at once then she's "used up" her sugar allowance for the week. I've noticed that at grandma's she will eat ONE piece of pie and not even ask for more (she used to want to eat pie and ice cream and cookies all in one sitting!) She will refuse offers for more sugar so she doesn't "use up" her sugar allowance for the week. I think it's much more healthy for her to eat a little dessert every day than gorge in one sitting.

Hope that helps!