Hi. I am totally confused about how to eat. I have always thought that fat makes you fat. Therefore you avoid it like the plaque. After reading several different books, Sugar Busters, and have looked into SBD. I dont know that I can follow either of these programs as I am a big carb lover, breads, potatoes,corn. I have lost weight on weight watchers, but only to gain it back.
How is it alright to eat the oils, the cheeses, meats and so forth.? How have you been able to follow the program?
Then in reading in Sugar Busters about potatoes are just a bunch of sugar, my mouth dropped open. How can this be? If after doing WW and losing weight, is it all about how many calories you take in or the KIND of food you take in.
Any thoughts on this.
serabo (who wants to get thin, but doesnt know how)
The reason processed are a no-no on SBD is because of the high glycemic index. The glycemic index measures how fast a food is likely to raise your blood sugar. If your blood sugar raises quickly, and comes down quickly, you are left craving more starches and (in my case) sugar. By eating foods that cause a slow, gradual increase and decrease in blood sugar, you stay full longer, you don't "crash" at the end and the cravings for sugars and bad starches disappear. Here is part of an article explaining what the Glycemic Index is:
Quote:
The basics
Up until a few years ago, health professionals believed that if a food was composed of complex carbohydrates (starches), it must break down into sugar more slowly in your body than food composed of simple carbohydrates (sugars). Through research, we have learned more about how foods affect blood glucose levels.
When you eat a slice of bread, the flour from the bread breaks down into sugar (glucose) in your body to provide you with energy. The same thing happens when you eat a piece of fruit, drink a glass of milk or eat a chocolate bar. Each of these foods contain a different kind of sugar. Fructose is a sugar in fruit, lactose is found in milk and sucrose is found in the chocolate bar. All of these sugars are broken down during digestion and provide you with energy.
The speed at which a food is able to increase a person's blood glucose levels is called the glycemic response. The glycemic response is influenced by many factors. Some factors may be the amount of food you eat, how the food is processed or the way the food is prepared. For example, pasta cooked 'al dente' (firm) is absorbed more slowly than pasta that is overcooked.
There are many fats that are actually good for you. The fats you want to avoid are the Saturated and Trans fats. Oils like olive oil and canola oil are actually good for you, where as lard is not so good for you. Scientists have found that fat does not make you fat, but rather too many bad carbs allow the body to easily store the energy as fat.
In the end, calories do matter, but on SBD, it's the the types of foods that the calories come from. You don't need to do any counting of calories or fat or carbs - SBD is by far the easiest program I have ever followed, and the results are instant.
Raelynn, an excellent reply. I'll just add that I think the reason so many regain weight after other programs is because they feel constantly deprived. Cravings and counting make one think of restriction and denial. Those feelings aren't sustainable, imho. The rebound after such restriction can be a whole-hog binge that, in my case, can last months. With SBD I've had my moments, but the recovery from them has been hours rather than months.
Serabo, I just have to add my 2 cents, also. I, too, followed WW a few years ago. I lost all my weight and gained 30-40 pounds back in a short period of time. Upon reflection, I found that I was unable to sustain that way of eating because I felt hungry and, consequently, deprived all the time.
My doctor hassled me about my weight a few months ago and suggested that I cut carbs and sugar out of my diet for a month to "see what happens." This doctor (who happens to do a lot of sport medicine in the city in which I live) went on to tell me a story about a hockey player who had been drafted to the NHL, but was told by his team that he needed to lose 30 pounds in 4 months or they wouldn't sign him. The dr. gave him the same advice that he gave me and the hockey player did lose the 30 pounds in the specified time period.
The part of the story that really intrigued me was what happened afterwards. This hockey player eventually hired a dietician to put him on a program that would keep his weight in check. She put him on a program of lower carbs, but bulk up on whole grain carbs on game days and high activity days. She also told him that he was never, never, never to eat potatoes.
When I started to look at why he shouldn't eat potatoes, I found that, as you mentioned, potatoes are just chains of sugar. I have, sort of, adopted that principle. Since May, I have had potatoes 2 times (once was yesterday). I eat potatoes as a treat, just like desserts. I just don't eat them often because I have committed to keeping the sugar, including hidden sugars in foods, out of my diet.
low fat, using fat, Im confused
