I was always a tall skinny kid. At 6’1”, I weighed 140# when I got married at 24. Over the next 30 years, my weight creeped up. I hovered around 180 for a long time. But when I approached 200, my wife and I went on The Dash Diet. I dropped 35# quickly. Then, ~5 years later I rise to 220#. On a bet (which I won), I went on The Dash Diet again and dropped 50#.

Now I’m at 240... My old standby DD isn’t helping. Plus, I’m that much older. 67. I’m weak, have trouble breathing and wheeze at the slightest exertion. I’m debating a trip to my doctor, but have spent way too much time with doctors recently. I’m waiting until my annual next month.

 

I like Dark Chocolate from Trader Joe’s this one is less than 1gram sugar or = to 1/4 teaspoon sugar with almonds %100 Cocoa Dark Chocolate. Dark Chocolate has huge benefits, I can have 1 ounce a day, sometimes it’s all I need, I like the bottom one with a palm of Almonds together with some Almond Milk for a snack early afternoon. Satisfies my chocolate crave.

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This one is also %85 Dark chocolate but 6 grams sugar which equals 1teaspoon sugar

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kv

Edit: Can‘t beat the price $1.65 for the bottom one.

Strangely enough, I've found it more difficult to abstain from sugar than to abstain from alcohol. And I mean, sure, every now and then I have to control myself so as not to reach for a beer in the fridge, especially on weekend evenings. But not being able to have some sort of dessert after a meal, however small, has become a bit of a struggle... Fortunately, that impulse lasts only a few minutes.

Hey, I'm a grownup... I can handle it! (<- that's my brain telling me not to be such a wuss)

 

The doctors tell me that sugar craving is common after alcohol cessation.

 

As your body tries to figure out how to convert it into alcohol...

 

As your body tries to figure out how to convert it into alcohol...

That explains so much...

 

They say that 70% of Americans are overweight or obese. Here in Canada it is almost as bad. They say Covid-19 kills many heavy people, especially if their blood type is A. My blood type is O and I do not pass the virus around.
I have been at a normal weight all my life, I gain a few pounds in winter with little exercise but lose it in summer when I run with my dog and ride a bicycle. In salt ocean water I float but in fresh lake or pool water I sink.

11 years ago I felt a tickling "pain" in my upper chest and asked my doctor about it. With no tests she said it is not my heart that is down there. Two months later I had a heart attack and survived with two stents. The pains were "angina" so I got a new doctor.
In rehab, I was given a stress test that showed no damage to my heart so I became young and active again but eat less cholesterol.
Now I am 75 and stopped alcohol and surgary drinks.
I take anti-cholesterol and blood pressure reducing medications and a baby aspirin daily.

 

Strangely enough, I've found it more difficult to abstain from sugar than to abstain from alcohol. And I mean, sure, every now and then I have to control myself so as not to reach for a beer in the fridge, especially on weekend evenings. But not being able to have some sort of dessert after a meal, however small, has become a bit of a struggle... Fortunately, that impulse lasts only a few minutes.

Hey, I'm a grownup... I can handle it! (<- that's my brain telling me not to be such a wuss)

I remember but now it's just a memory like smoking I quit eating or drinking process sugar when I was 24, (it was then years ago) I giving up Soda and Sugar. If you can get over the top and down the road so to speak, it will be pastries that will get you. The combination of a carb load coupled with a sugar load will be your most tempting. I overcome that one because my body tells me I need carbs so I make a piece of Sour Dough Toast buttered with Honey, the pastries smell in your O factory kick starts the chemistry factory, e.g. Pavlov's dog.
Suddenly your mouth is watering and you don't even notice because your brain say's it's ok just this one time, like Alcohol 2 years ago, New Years, it was just one drink, right? Wrong, until this year I was drinking 2 fingers of Whiskey 6 times a night. All because I thought or told myself it will help me sleep. Now that I stopped drinking (even socially) I sleep like a baby, I'd rather have sleep and eat well knowing my health is what matters most in this life, insuring I take care of myself and can take are of others with my new health and well being.

Raising a glass of Almond milk or Grape Juice.

Cheers,

kv

 

A few minutes ago I read an American article about things that Costco discontinued. One item was Kirkland "light" very inexpensive beer and it was discontinued soon after a printed review said it smelled and tasted like "&#*^@".

For Christmas I was given a Sodastream to make my own fizzing water. It has a container of compressed CO2 that is injected into a bottle of cold tapwater water so no "soda" is added. It has zero fake-sugar that makes people fat. I just read an article saying that guzzling the stuff all day long will damage your teeth but less than ordinary sugary soft drinks. I don't guzzle it.

 

Yup I gave up on sugar except for some frozen yogurt (my downfall) when I started tipping over the line to diabetes. Had to forego alcohol 3 years ago due to health issues and lost 50 lbs to the point they said no more. I still drink Coke Zero (one a day), coffee, weak Puehr tea, fruit-flavored carbonated water, and carbonated mineral water. Just as bad as sugar though is carbohydrates although I eat a small bowl of fresh fruit for breakfast but try to limit the bread, potatoes, and pasta. Eat your vegetables! And forget about the salt shaker!

 

Regarding sugar and alcohol. Full disclosure I'm not alcoholic, I'm alcohol-yum. I probably posted earlier that I gained 30 lbs from last September to the new year, which I blame on artificial sweeteners I began consuming last fall. Two months later I am down 20 lbs and will take the other ten off easily.

I eat dark chocolate when I am in weight maintenance mode, usually Lindt brand. They have a dark milk type that is really good along with intense orange, and a blackberry.

Having said that my beer consumption has remained steady and well above moderate. But I drink Miller Lite, occasionally splurging on Amstel Light (a couple more grams of carbs). When I lost 100 lbs 8 years ago I switched from high carb beer to vodka and soda only. Then a few years ago I experimented and found I can drink light beer as much as I want and lose or maintain weight.

It's probably still not healthy and I don't recommend it, it's just a risk I'm taking at this stage in my life. I drink a large amount of black coffee during the day for several reasons one of which is that it supposedly protects the liver from alcohol damage.

 

I love coffee... and I drink it with no sugar, no milk nor anything else. Also, I only drink it freshly ground from whole beans. Having said that, I do try to avoid carbs as much as I can, but it's almost impossible to go on a zero-carb diet. What I try to do, is always go for the complex type of carbs that are less "sugary" than the simple ones. That is, I go for wheat or rye and avoid white bread if I can. I've also given up on my morning cereal, since it was a significant source of sugar. And when I have nuts, almonds or pistachios, I never ever eat them in their "trail mix" granola type presentation. I do not like things that are too salty, and I seldom add salt to any of my meals. I don't see salt as an evil I must avoid... I simply ignore it.

 

This Sunday marks the 90 days I set as a goal for my sugar-free diet and teetotaling policy... and I've lost about 6 Kg so far without once ever going hungry... not bad. Also, my wife says my body shape has changed notoriously. And I believe her because now I'm wearing my pants' belt three sizes tighter than when I started...

Strange, but I found it harder to abstain from sugar than from alcohol. And the first three weeks I felt the withdrawal effects through an aching body...

I plan to go out this Monday and have my first drink in a long time... but I also plan to make my no sugar policy permanent. With the only possible exception of Christmases and my birthdays... but no one else's. The thing is that I had also been drinking lots of cocktails with plenty of sugar in them. So now I'm going to keep to non-sugary mixes (like Scotch and Soda) and go scarce on my much beloved beer... see how that works out.

 

After lunch snack, Lunch was Sardines crackers, the Almonds and chocolate help with afternoon cravings. Low sugar Trader Joe’s as I posted earlier.

Keep it up, upward and mobil.

kv

 

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I'm looking forward to the day when this tech becomes reliable:

An artificial intelligence that interprets images from wearable cameras can identify food and accurately estimate its weight to determine how many calories a person is consuming and what nutrients they are ingesting, which could be useful for automating dietary research.

My apologies for not being able to post the entire article.

 

Interesting... Trick would be fat content and type of fat.