I can see from yesterday’s comments that we’re on the same page here – there’s a little bit more that goes into losing weight and making a lifestyle change than just “getting a grip on yourself” and exercising self-control. 😉
Does this mean that you can let it all hang out and still reach your weight loss goals? No, we all know that you need to utilize self-control as far as making healthier choices in your diet and exercise habits, but that’s different than saying that your overweight is due simply to a lack of self-control (if you haven’t read yesterday’s post yet, you can find it here).
Maybe You ARE Out of Control (?)
I wanted to share one other thought I have about this topic – that there are some things that you might be doing that can contribute to a feeling of being out of control in your eating. One is a familiar theme here at The Fit Shack – indulging in refined sugar and white flour.
These ingredients are highly addictive for many people and Sugar Blues gives us examples and evidence that the human body isn’t meant to be ingesting the stuff because it is so addictive. But putting that aside, how many of us binge on foods that do not contain any refined sugar or white flour? According to my binge eating survey results, 72% of the smart readers of Fearless Fat Loss choose sugary foods to binge on.
Binging – a.k.a. Out of Control
If you’ve ever binged, you can relate to feeling out of control in your eating. And here’s something else – did you know that high fructose corn syrup helps you overeat? Yep, that’s right – it effectively keeps the brain from receiving the message that your stomach is full and since high fructose corn syrup is corn sugar (yeah, another form of refined sugar), the food you’re eating tastes pretty good. Not only is it easy to keep on eating, but also it’s especially easy to overeat since your brain doesn’t know that you’re full!
This leads to the larger issue that most processed and fast foods contain refined sugar in some form or another. High fructose corn syrup and other corn sugars are rampant in these foods, but no matter what the refined sugar’s form, since it’s practically everywhere you can see why there’s a bit of a problem with overeating for many people today. So even though weight loss isn’t achieved by just using some self control, I think it’s important to realize that the food you’re eating could be contributing to a cycle of overeating, making it quite hard to “quit”.
Is This All An Excuse?
Hey, I’m not saying that anything I’ve suggested in yesterday’s post or this one should be used as an excuse to stay overweight. It’s all about learning – learning about yourself, about why you use food, about how what you eat could be hurting your motivation, and more. We still have to take responsibility for our own actions and we always have the choice to either give our power away to food, (which can’t do a darned thing to help us with our problems), or to take steps towards claiming our personal power and taking concerted action to accomplish our goals.
Remember, you can always make a different decision no matter what you did in the past. If you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, you can make the choice to get off the foods that create that “out of control” feeling so that you can regain your personal power and achieve the weight loss goals you’ve set for yourself. 😉
I actually believe that when it comes to white flour based products then moderation is not plausible for me. It’s weird but I can control my eating easily until someone brings out bread.
Andrew is getting fits last blog post..A photo run!
I find eating as my way to please myself when I’m down.
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Wow! I felt like this was for me today! I always love church when you have the feeling your pastor is talking to you. That’s what I experienced here this morning. I have more of a probelm staying in control when I’m approaching my period. Lately my emotions have been all over the place and I’ve had three episodes of not being in control. I hate it!!!! I feel like my world is falling apart when I get in a bad cycle. I don’t want to do anything or go anywhere.It’s a struggle to be nice to my family. It’s a bad place to be, but when I’m on the other side I feel like Little Miss Sunshine. I want to reach out and help others. I’m just on top of the world. It’s such a big difference in how you feel. Well I won’t go on and on here. Wish me luck today!
Great Post!
I think most of us face challenges at common times when it comes to eating. My biggest challenge is when I am slowing down for the day or bored, maybe looking for something to keep me busy…. “STOP!”
Grab a book or a little bean bag to toss up and down…something. Keep your mind off of food!
All the hard work during the day, and over a couple of hours prior to bed I take a few steps back.
Try this:
This has helped me in my nightly battle to avoid binging. I put a timed imaginary lock on the fridge and/or cupboards (7pm they lock). I have been practicing this and it tends to get easier to stay away each night. If you must…. try some milk or if you are craving sugar a glass of chocolate milk.
Good luck!
Remember you are in control!
I really like how you phrased it YOU CAN ALWAYS MAKE A DIFFERENT DECISION.
works for food.
and life (men? :)) IN GENERAL.
some days I need that on a SIGN in my office.
M.
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Hi Andrew,
That’s a good point and here’s something else to look into – where is sugar listed in the ingredients? I’ve also found that a lot of breads use high fructose corn syrup and even crystalline fructose, both being sugar, corn sugars.
As it is though, white flour is a trigger for sugar addiction since it converts to sugar so quickly in the body – that’s why sugar and food addicts must stay off of it – they can’t eat it in moderation (hey, I can attest to that, too!)
Joe, yeah, you might be an emotional eater – pretty much everyone is to some degree.
Hi Renee, very cool, glad that I could give you some encouragment today. 🙂
Hey, one thing I’ve learned through the 6WBMO is during pms to up your protein portions – even though we crave carbs, if you increase your protein amounts at each meal this can take away those cravings…this meaning that you’re also staying off of the simple carbs of refined sugar and white flour, too. If you still eat those even if you increase protein you’ll still have the cravings. 😉
And I’m sending good thoughts out to you today to help!
I can absolutely identify with feeling out of control with my eating. I’m so much better now, but it was scary the way I binged on sugary sweets, even though it made me feel sick. It’s like my brain shut down, and I was hypnotized by the sugar… Eat more! Eat more!
Since I’ve realized I have a sugar addiction, learned more about this beast, ways to beat it, and actually take steps to do so, I’ve been feeling MUCH more in control with my eating. My binges are getting fewer and fewer. I’m not healed yet, by any means, but it’s so much better than the way I used to be!
I agree with you in that protein helps a lot!!! I hardly ate any protein previously, so adding it into my diet has made a tremendous difference!
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Oh, hey! I wanted to let you know… I found Sugar Blues at the library, and I’m looking forward to reading it. 🙂
This is a PERFECT post for me coming off of a really bad eating day.
“Remember, you can always make a different decision no matter what you did in the past. If you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, you can make the choice to get off the foods that create that “out of control” feeling so that you can regain your personal power and achieve the weight loss goals you’ve set for yourself.”
Amen, sister. And you know what? I did have white flour yesterday, and I believe it was the trigger for my unfortunate episode. I’ve been doing pretty well lately, but this little slip just drives home how important it is that I continue to do well…
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I think sugar is the most common addiction, but there are others. It’s similar to trying to find what triggers a migraine: you have to document what you were eating and how your body reacted. I find that a chore, but it is useful.
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Hi Susan,
I can relate to everything you wrote, and I’m so glad you’re reading Sugar Blues!
Hi Mark,
You’re right, diversionary tactics can help you get over the desire to emotionally eat. I wouldn’t be able to do the milk though – it makes me cough, and I think that chocolate milk has sugar in it. If it works for you though, and helps you avoid emotional eating then that’s great!
Hi Jen, cool, I’m catching up on comment responses and this was a few days ago so I hope you’re way past your eating episode and feeling the benefits of eating clean by now. 🙂
Hi Merry,
Yeah, refined sugar and white flour are my main addictions, however dairy, unhealthy fats, and salt trigger me, too. Journaling every detail of what you eat, what time of day, and how you feel at the time can help a lot with figuring out what triggers you.