FWIW, that's the equivalent of about 2/3rds of a 12 oz can of coke, or maybe a handful of jelly beans. (though I think those are both made with high fructose corn syrup, which is even worse) Sugar is pretty horrible for your body in quite a few ways, and you should probably avoid having more than a few teaspoons worth a day if possible. On a day to day basis I never eat it (though every few week I might have a cookie or eat some candy) and my health has been noticeably better as a result. (This is probably a by product of eating healthy in general, but if I eat exactly the same but, say, eat a few cookies or a bag of candy, I feel like crap for the next day or two)
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(I am of course talking about processed white sugar. I do consume sugars in the form of fruits, berries, Greek yogurt (ha ha! Suck it, Card!) etc. I'm not some sort of freak, just fairly health conscious/married to a woman who cares about my health a lot more than I do.)
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While you're at it, why is Big Pharm suppressing the cure for cancer? And should homeopathy and naturopathy doctors replace medical doctors?
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OH GOD GUYS I JUST ATE MONSANTO GMO FRANKENASPARTAME WHILE GETTING A VACCINE AND DRINKING FLUORIDATED WATE
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From talking to my sister (who, being a medical health professional and also an avid consumer of diet coke, cares quite a bit about this):
Aspartame is only harmful if taken in large doses. Due to being 200 times as sweet as sugar, the amount actually put in any sweetener is negligible, and your body can metabolize with with no adverse side effects. Even if you drink 5 or 6 diet cokes a day, you're not getting anywhere close to consuming a dangerous level of aspartame. It is, for all practical purposes, completely harmless. There have been various myths and hoaxes about aspartame, the wikipedia article does a pretty good job debunking it, and has a whole slew of links to various studies if you're interested in doing further research. There is no credible evidence that aspartame - when used as a sweetener - is in any way dangerous.
Compare that to the whole slew of health problems caused by consuming an equivilent amount of sugar, such as tooth decay, diabetes, obesity, etc...
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My daily goal for sugar is 45 grams. That's based on a 1,200 calorie goal diet. I try to stay at 1200 in order to facilitate weight loss. I've lost 22 lbs in a little less than 3 months, and I probably hit that 45 grams or less goal 9 out of every 10 days.
It was hard at first, because I was eating a lot of foods marketed as diet foods and low in fat. Many of those foods have tons of sugar. When I quit that and just started eating "real" food, or rather, the same stuff I used to eat, just in smaller portions, I've had no issues staying under 45 grams.
Many times I'm way under. I do log all my food through an app, and I was meticulous about it - I have a digital food scale and I weighed portions to make sure they were correct. Now, almost 3 months in, I'm much better at portioning food and rely on the scale less.
As for aspartame - I quit it about two months ago, a few weeks after I gave up caffeine. I drink only water now. (well, also wine, occasionally) A lot of symptoms I used to experience have disappeared. Specifically, middle of the night muscle cramps - used to be plagued by them, not once since giving up the aspartame.
Maybe it was the caffeine. Maybe it was something else in my diet that's changed, I don't know. It's not hydration, because I don't drink near as much water as I should. Seriously, I really need to drink more. I'm sure I was more hydrated before because I know how many diet drinks I used to drink and I'm not drinking near that much water.
Who knows? I don't care, since whatever the change is, I am glad of it. I don't think aspartame is secretly giving people brain tumors or that it's a conspiracy by the companies that make it. I just know I'm better off for not consuming it anymore.
I was at a workshop yesterday and they were out of water at lunch. Only offerings were sodas, and tea. I didn't want any caffeine, because I quit that due to some irregular heart rhythm problems. So my only choice was a non-caffeinated soda. It was awful. So funny how quickly you lose a taste for something you used to drink regularly!
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quote:Originally posted by Belle: When I quit that and just started eating "real" food, or rather, the same stuff I used to eat, just in smaller portions, I've had no issues staying under 45 grams.
You've pretty much nailed the heart and soul of weight loss, right there. Now, there is also a lot to be said for eating a healthy and well balanced diet, and I think that should be the starting point of any physical fitness program, but "eat less, work out more" is pretty much the guarenteed way to lose weight. Wacky diets will probably just make you sick.
quote:Many times I'm way under. I do log all my food through an app, and I was meticulous about it - I have a digital food scale and I weighed portions to make sure they were correct. Now, almost 3 months in, I'm much better at portioning food and rely on the scale less.
Is it My Fitness Pal? I used to use that a lot, along with my scale. I think the biggest advantage to using an app is it forces you to account for everything you eat, and makes snacking much less tempting. (i.e, I really feel like eating some chips, just got to look up the nutritional info, measure out a portion, put it in the app... aw screw it, I'll wait for dinner)
quote:I just know I'm better off for not consuming it anymore.
This is another thing I've learned. If something works for you, keep doing it! If something doesn't work, don't keep doing it! By which I mean, everyones' bodies work differently and I spent way too much time listening to other people tell me what to eat/not eat, and how to work out, before doing some research and developing my own diet and workout schedule. (which, amazingly enough, works far better)
For example, I've been lifting weights for 4 years now, and one of the things you have to do (depending on your body type) if you want to keep making progress is bulking and cutting. By which I mean, a period (about 2 months) of eating 4000-5000* calories a day (with a focus on lots of complex carbohydrates and protein) and doing a lot of heavy lifting, followed by about a month of eating 1500-2000* calories a day (with a focus on low carbs, but mainting a high level of protein) and doing more light weight, high rep and high intensity workouts. (like sprints, burpee pullups, etc.) *I'm 6' 2" and weigh 215 lbs, so my daily caloric intake is somewhat skewed.
The overall effect is when you're bulking, you end up gaining weight rapidly. If you have a healthy diet, you end up gaining about 1 pound of muscle for every pound of fat. If you "dirty bulk" (eat pizza, hamburgers, etc.) you gain about 1 pound of muscle for every 3 or 4 pounds of fat. When you're cutting, you lose fat fairly rapidly, but retain most of your muscle mass. (again, only if you're careful, taking BCAAs can help)
A lot of weight lifters do this in a pretty unhealthy fashion, eating all sorts of junk food when bulking, and then taking lots of thermogenics, fat burners, spending hours in the sauna, etc. when cutting. This can have some unfortunate side effects. (I don't want to even get into steroids, hormone therapy, or any of the other crap some guys do) I try to be as healthy as possible, and while I've made slower progess than others, after 4 years of hard work I've built a physique I feel proud of.
That being said, my buddies and I all laugh our asses off every time we see another commercial for "the secret to getting ripped in 15 minutes a day!" or "the secret hollywood diet they don't want you to know about!" featuring models for whom working out and maintain an amazing physique *is their job.*
Because in reality, there is no "secret diet" or "workout." It's just portion control, thousands of hours of hard work, and consistency.
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Hi,I have been reading this post carefully,and I found out that there are a lot of people who are relatively conscious about their consumptions of sugar. Upon research,We must have 19 teaspoons sugar intake only or 306 calories per day. Beyond that will lead us to a certain risk link to obesity,diabetes and heart ailment. For this matter, I think, we have to be careful of anything too much that will affect our health.
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I do use My Fitness Pal. It works for me, or at least it has for the last few months.
Today I went shopping and bought a new pair of pants two sizes smaller!
I'm only 5'3", and in the summer I'm pretty sedentary during the day except for when I go to walk / run. I'm trying to prepare to run a half-marathon, and I've been walking a few miles a day and interspersing jogging in there to try and build up my stamina. The half marathon is in February, so I'm in the early stages of preparing for it.
but, unless I'm walking/jogging, in the summer I'm pretty sedentary. That's why my calories are set so low. When I start teaching again, I'll burn more calories because all those middle schoolers keep me hopping! I also like to walk around the classroom when I teach, so I'm rarely at my desk. I'm hoping my weight loss will pick up some more. The last few weeks it's been about 1 pound per week. Hoping to get back up to 1.5 pounds per week.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Martha Elliston: Hi,I have been reading this post carefully,and I found out that there are a lot of people who are relatively conscious about their consumptions of sugar. Upon research,We must have 19 teaspoons sugar intake only or 306 calories per day. Beyond that will lead us to a certain risk link to obesity,diabetes and heart ailment. For this matter, I think, we have to be careful of anything too much that will affect our health.
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