TALES FROM THE SCALES–SELL YOUR SUGAR STOCK
Posted by Karen on Nov 07 2007
I’ve been thinking about sugar more. My mom was diagnosed with Type II diabetes a couple of years ago, and so it’s in the back of my mind that I’d be more susceptible to getting it too. I’m more likely to look at the amount of sugar in an item than I was in the past. My mom’s cereals of choice have no more than 3-5g of sugar per serving. So I’ve been trying to limit mine too.
All of this sugar thinking reminded me of my childhood. We rarely were allowed to eat sugar cereals. Once in a blue moon we had some Froot Loops, or maybe some Trix, but it was definitely not the norm. Instead our pantry was full of Cheerios, Rice Krispies, Shredded Wheat, Raisin Bran, oatmeal, etc. The thing is, I’d eat those cereals without complaining, but I always added sugar. In fact, here’s a recreation for you to show you how much sugar I’d put on a typical bowl of cereal as a kid.
Oh, a few years ago or so I decided that was an awful lot of sugar to be putting on a bowl of cereal. I started to cut back until I was only using this much sugar.
So that’s how my cereal has been sweetened these last few years. Until recently when I realized that heaping on the sugar turns my healthy bowl of Cheerios into something akin to Capt. Crunch or Lucky Charms. I mean, if I’m going to have that much sugar, I might as well get yellow stars and green clovers, right?
So I decided that healthy cereal should remain healthy. And that the added sugar was making it harder to lose weight. So now you’ll be happy to know that this is how much sugar I put on my unsweetened cereal.
Yup, none. You might see a few grains stuck to the spoon, but that’s just from scooping up the sugar for the other two pictures. NO added sugar goes on my cereal. And ya know what? I don’t miss it. Ya know what else I don’t miss? The low blood sugar levels at 10:00 a.m. Now if I eat a bowl of sugared cereal, I am almost always famished at 10. It’s like my body shoots out enough insulin to suck up all that sugar and leaves me with nothing to spare.
So now my Cheerios, Special K, Kix, and Rice Krispies are au natural!
*Disclaimer: I have not attempted to eat Shredded Wheat without added sugar. That may be more than I’m able to do!
As for my progress this week, my weight is currently 157.6 lbs which means I am down 2.4 lbs this week!!!
With frequent rehearsals in the evening, I’ve had to be extra organized to make sure we had dinners planned. There was no time for eating out.
I’ve been drinking all of my water–60+ ounces every day.
Exercise? Well, remember the post where I psyched myself out? And then the post where I fell for it? Yeah, well, I’m totally thrilled to report it worked AGAIN! I exercised every day last week (M-F) and so far this week I’m 2 for 2!
And nothing after 7:30 at all!
Onward and Downward……
on 07 Nov 2007 at 10:18 am 1 Barbara H. said …
I am scared to death of Type II diabetes, too — my mom had it and I had gestational diabetes with one pregnancy and 9 lb. + babies, which are all risk factors. Why doesn’t that motivate me more? I don’t know.
I pretty much only eat Corn Chex (without sugar) and occasionally Rice Krispies (don’t know if I could do that without some added sugar!! But I’m sure I could get used to it with practice). But even with just plain Corn Chex my blood sugar is bottoming out in a couple pf hours. If I am just at home I end up eating a way-early lunch with an afternoon snack to tide me over til dinner. If I have to go anywhere, I have eggs rather than cereal.
I enjoyed your other posts about psyching yourself out. I’m going to have to try that!
on 07 Nov 2007 at 10:33 am 2 ValleyGirl said …
Good for you, cutting out sugar! That’s a step I’m not ready to take, but I’m glad you’ve found something that works for you — including the exercise trickery!! That’s awesome!
Congrats on the 2.4 pounds!!
on 07 Nov 2007 at 10:39 am 3 Mary said …
Congrats on the weight loss and on cutting back on the sugar.
I need to start tricking myself into exercising. I had been doing daily walks during the week but it is getting a little too cold out to be walking in office wear.
on 07 Nov 2007 at 10:45 am 4 Lisa Kay said …
Way to go!! I struggle with cutting out sugar AND fat. I can do without one, but I tend to compensate with the other. You are doing a great job!!
Lisa Kay
on 07 Nov 2007 at 11:17 am 5 Julie said …
Congrats on the weight loss and the cutting out of sugar on cereal. I have oatmeal in the mornings and I used to put a spoonfull of brown sugar on it and now I put one teaspoon of splenda brown sugar on it but I don’t think I would be able to eat oatmeal with out some type of sweetener on it.
on 07 Nov 2007 at 1:33 pm 6 JanB said …
I am not as brave as you are. I use a packet of stevia in replacement of sugar. You are doing really well and I congratulate you on a wonderful loss!
on 07 Nov 2007 at 2:25 pm 7 Diana the Scale Junkie said …
I rarely use sugar now and I’m highly aware of all the added sugars in processed foods, high fructose corn syrup is everywhere!
Seeing your bowl of cereal and sugar reminded me of when I was a child and my parents let me put Chocolate or Strawberry Quick on cereal to have chocolate or strawberry milk on my cheerios but heaven forbid I get Sugar Smacks or Captain Crunch LOL
on 07 Nov 2007 at 2:57 pm 8 Elliemae said …
Thanks for visiting me and leaving me encouragement. Your right my brain was totally telling me this morning that I couldn’t do this and wanted to quit.
Congrats to you on the loss!! and your so right about the sugar. Sometimes you do it out of habit and don’t even really realize what you are doing!
Have a great week!!
on 07 Nov 2007 at 3:17 pm 9 Amy said …
Good job on the weight loss & cutting out sugar. I tried to not sugar (or put honey in) my cereals once, and just couldn’t do it. So I don’t normally eat breakfast. Bad, I know, but better than cinnamon toast crunch. Yum. I always mean to try to find good for me, non sugary, fast breakfast things, but never do. Maybe one of my goals for November or December.
on 07 Nov 2007 at 3:40 pm 10 MamaBearJune said …
Congrats on the great loss this week and for reducing sugar!
Path to Health
on 07 Nov 2007 at 4:46 pm 11 Michelle said …
We totally had the same cereal habits growing up!! Why did my parents even have a sugar bowl on the table to begin with?? They don’t take sugar in their coffee/tea…so it was it just for cereal?? I stopped putting sugar on my cereal when I went to college and there was no long a sugar bowl in front of me. Funny how that works!! Now I’m totally aware of it with my daughter and this is a habit we are NOT starting!
Congrats on your loss!!
on 07 Nov 2007 at 5:36 pm 12 Jennifer said …
Woo hoo! Good for you!
on 07 Nov 2007 at 6:23 pm 13 Becka said …
Awesome! I am terrified of diabetes. I had gestational with my last baby (now 9 months) luckily, he was only 8lbs at birth!! I also have cut back on the sugar cereals.
Of course, if you know of any great weight loss plans while nursing, lol, I will be happy to hear them!
Becka
on 07 Nov 2007 at 7:24 pm 14 CurvyJones said …
Wow!!!!!!! what a great week you had! Awesome job! Thanks for commenting on my blog … have a great week and weekend!
~ curvyjones
curvygurlatl.squarespace.com
on 07 Nov 2007 at 9:23 pm 15 FRAN said …
Karen,
How absolutely awesome that you lost so much this past week!!! I know it can’t be just the limitation of sugar. You have to be doing some real cutting back on calories, too! And no doubt the committment to exercise is also a factor. Keep it up. Looks like your dad is going to lose the bet he has with you for sure!
on 08 Nov 2007 at 8:44 am 16 Opal Tribble said …
Congrats on eliminating the sugar from your cereal. There are natural sugars available like agave nectar I use that when I’m making sweets like cookies or cakes but for the most part if we want something sweet we eat fruits.
Congrats on keeping up with the exercise routine after a while it should become a habit and you might feel guilty if you miss a day.
on 08 Nov 2007 at 9:31 am 17 shauna said …
I have got to follow your lead! My current problem is with motivation. I’ll try to gear up and take the 2008 challenge though. I need to get healthy! Thanks for the inspiration.
on 08 Nov 2007 at 11:34 am 18 Thea @ I'm a Drama Mama said …
You are doing so unbelievably well with your exercise. You should be really proud of yourself! Great job!
on 08 Nov 2007 at 1:06 pm 19 reba said …
Congrats on your loss! i grew up with frosted flakes and i still added sugar. as an adult that grosses me out, I eat Cranberry Almond Crunch no sugar.
Shredded Wheat is more than I am willing to do, I have managed to choke down a frosted mini wheat here or there but i try not to make it a habit
on 13 Nov 2007 at 1:39 am 20 Susanna said …
I do eat shredded wheat with no sugar! It has its own taste, and I like it. I’ve actually always hated the taste of sugar on cereal, especially the granules left in the bottom of the milk (yuck!), and I’ve been eating Cheerios plain most of my life. I was pretty disappointed when I tried Multi-grain Cheerios to find it is frosted. Weird. I also like Shreddies and Rice Krispies plain, too, and I decided a few months ago to serve those plain to my kids, too. My 1.5-year-old daughter is totally fine with it (she doesn’t like chocolate syrup in her milk, either, so I guess she’s not a sweet-tooth either), but my son, who grew up on Froot Loops, is finding the habit harder to break. And my husband, don’t get me started. It’s because of him that we still have Honey Nut Cheerios in the house. (And Coke, but that’s slightly tangential.)
Oh, and I also eat my oatmeal plain, too! It has its own taste, and I like it. Oat-y. You should try it. What is not fun is that I make it at work–it’s very satisfying at 3pm–and my co-workers often comment on it, you know, where’s the brown sugar, why am I eating breakfast in the middle of the afternoon. Nothing more interesting going on, I guess!
Well, despite all that lack of sugar, my weight hasn’t shifted at all. Thanks for the motivation, Karen. I’ll have to try something else.