i think it promotes weight loss, for me specifically, because i only allow myself to have sweets on the days i work out. sort of a reward. yes, i bribe myself with chocolate.
Cause you to lose weight, probably not - but helping you stay motivated, possiby (if you don't find that they trigger more hunger and cravings). It also depends on how often you mean by now and again, and by how much (and maybe even what you mean by sweets).
I can't eat much sugar or even non-sugar carbohydrates without triggering HUGE cravings and intense hunger. I'm insulin resistant/diabetic (but I've always had a problem controlling my eating where carbohydrates were involved).
My diet isn't perfect, but eating sugar usually is more trouble than it's worth. Even relatively small amounts usually make me so hungry that it's hard to think about anything but food - and for me when I can't think of anything but food, I usually end up overeating.
As I said, I'm not perfect and I do eat foods that aren't on my normal food plan, including foods higher in sugar/starch than I want, but usually the indulgence doesn't help me with motivation or willpower, it makes the struggle worst.
I do eat fruit and a little bit of dried fruit, and I do use low/no calorie sweeteners like Splenda and (recently) xylitol.
I have found that the fewer sweets (even low-calorie) that I eat, the less of a sweet-tooth I have, and the less hungry I am overall - but I think everyone is different and you have to experiment to find out which of your foods if any are "trigger foods" and which foods help you the best physically with staying on plan, and which foods help you the best emotionally/motivationally stay on plan.
There do not seem to be many one-size-fits-all, works-for-everybody diet rules.
<<For some people, having a treat now and then helps them stay on plan, but the sweets themselves don't cause you to lose weight.>>
I agree. There is no magic bullet -- no magic food you can eat to accelerate weight loss. That said, if eating occasional sweets helps you stay motivated and prevents you from feeling deprived (without triggering larger binges), then I say go for it.
The more time I spend on this board, the more I realize there's no blanket formula for weight loss or maintenance. The process is highly individual and must take not only physical requirements but psychological needs, strengths and weaknesses into account.
Freelance
Last edited by freelancemomma; 02-19-2012 at 02:44 PM.
I love sweets! I will only eat it at the end of the day though as a dessert, and only if my calories allow it. I don't necessarily look forward to it daily, and if I don't want it I wont eat it. But if Ive had to skip my treat 2 or 3 days because of eating heavier meals then I'm supposed to - it does help me want to improve my eating so I can have my treat. I do still purposely skip my sweet treats on days I dont feel I deserve it even if it still fit into my calories.
I, too, love sweets! - but the more I eat them, the more I want to eat them, so I try really hard to NOT eat them... not as much as I did 37 lb ago, anyway. And I've learned that the more fresh fruit I eat, the less candy/pie/cake/cookie stuff I want to eat.
Then again, sometimes nothing but a big mouthful of chocolate will do.
I think I've experienced this, anecdotally. I eat a very clean diet, excluding even most fruit for a very low, low-sugar diet (health reasons). That said, on the rare occasion there's a "cheat" like your regular old cookie or two, I seem to see a drop on the scale soon after. The instances stick out to me because I anticipate a small bump up, but the opposite happens.
I've rationalized this by assuming that an occasional abrupt change confuses my body a bit. It's definitely not a rationale for going out and eating more sweets deliberately, though.
I only allow myself sweets during Saturdays. And only a small ammount. If I let myself eat something sweet once in a while whenever I want to, then thats all Im going to think about.
I even find it hard to keep my mind off of it during saturdays while Im waiting for dinner. (I always eat the treat after dinner). I feel like its kinda crazy, but I manage to stick to it since I have Saturdays to look forward to. So I guess its all about whats working for each individual person.
I save calories every single day for at least two tablespoons of dark chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips and a glass of milk before bedtime. This keeps me on track all day and I don't binge any more. (I would go through a bag of chocolate anything in a day, easily.) if I didn't do this, I believe, I would wouldn't be able to stick to my plan.
Eating sweets to promote weightloss?
