Ultimate Goal: Zero Grams of Sugar
Ultimate Goal: Zero Grams of Sugar
Controlling what you eat is vital for your weight loss maintenance and for your general health. Controlling the amount of sugar that is ingested is of top priority in the area of eating healthily.
Your ultimate goal should be ingesting zero grams of sugar . We don’t need sugar to live. We don’t need ANY sugar to stay alive. There are numerous health and weight loss reasons to NOT eat any sugar.
General reasons to avoid sugar:
Top 29 Reasons to Avoid Sugar: http://www.cherylcope.com/top-29-reasons-to-avoid-sugar
Sugar is bad for your brain.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/prime-your-gray-cells/201110/why-sugar-high-leads-brain-low
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/health/31memory.html?em
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/neuronarrative/201204/what-eating-too-much-sugar-does-your-brain
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/this-is-your-brain-on-sugar-ucla-233992.aspx
Sugar lowers your immunity.
http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/family-nutrition/sugar/harmful-effects-excess-sugar
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/sugar-suppresses-immune-system/#axzz2E1aWbX94
And just in case you’ve forgotten, sugar also makes you gain weight and contributes to diabetes and a host of other health problems.
Your ultimate goal should be zero grams of sugar. But is that realistic?
Your ultimate goal is zero grams. Your short-term goal could be cutting out 20-40 grams of sugar per day or something like that. It all depends on where you are right now, how far you need to go and your personality style. Some people like and need the challenge of big goals. Others are thrown off track by even the smallest of “failures”. If you fall into the latter category then you might need to make a series of smaller step-by-step goals for yourself and leave the zero grams for the long term ultimate category.
Another reason why you want your ultimate goal to be zero grams is that due to hidden sugars and just plain lifestyle issues (like having a piece of your grandchild’s birthday cake) you will eat plenty of sugar without even trying! Sugar seems to be everywhere so without a big goal of zero grams we probably won’t end up even close to that and end up like everyone else in America—addicted to sugar and either overweight or on our way to becoming so.
Is zero grams doable?
Yes, BUT you need to be on the look out for hidden sugar. You may think you already are eating close to zero grams of sugar but in reality you probably are not. Sugar is hidden in all restaurant foods, in your neighbor’s home-baked meal, and in almost every packaged kind of food from the grocery store. If you eat mostly food the way God made it, without man’s tampering, you may be close to zero grams.
We have a tendency to make excuses or discount our favorite foods or beverages. That “one teaspoon of sugar” that you put in your coffee every day adds up! That could be contributing to your weight loss plateau. I tell you, sometimes we need to be ruthless in getting rid of sugar!
In order to find more hidden sugar you simply must read labels—there is no substitute. What do you look for on the label?
Of course you want to look for total grams of sugar (under carbohydrates), but if it isn’t zero you need to be re-thinking this food item for ingestion.
Other names for sugar to look for:
http://www.cherylcope.com/alternate-names-for-sugar
Some common food items that might contain sugar (even from the “health food section” of the store):
- peanut butter
- salad dressing
- mayonnaise
- ketchup
- barbeque sauce
- protein bars
- granola bars
- liquid creamers
- beef jerky
- bread
- crackers
- canned soup
- canned vegetables
- pasta sauce
- yogurts
Other posts on the topic of hidden sugar in foods:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pooja-r-mottl/food-labels-hidden-sugars_b_808881.html
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=616
Convinced you need to lower your intake of sugar yet? What one thing are you going to implement this week to lower your intake of sugar?
Join the conversation. Share your ideas or questions in the comment form below.
(c) 2012 Cheryl Cope
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