1 Rule to Lose Weight

Sugars are the Number 1 enemy in most battles against extra weight.  While it is possible for some folks who don't eat sugar to eat or drink their way to overweight without eating or drinking sugary foods or beverages, most weight problems occur from sugars in the diet (or sugars that result when some starches are converted).  Not all carbohydrates are converted into sugars in the same way, so learning about the carbohydrates that are highest in amylose can help in reducing or eliminating sugars.  In other words, eliminating or drastically reducing sugars from the diet does not necessarily mean eliminating all carbohydrates.

Most of us are well aware that weight loss involves either taking in fewer calories (eating less, watching the calories in what we drink) or in using more of the calories we take in (increasing physical activity).  Recent studies have shown that, when it comes weight loss, it doesn't matter what kind of calories we take in each day.  The person who takes in an extra 1000 calories a day will keep his extra weight, and the person who eliminates the extra 1000 calories a day will lose weight.

Even if weight maintenance or loss doesn't require considering the type of calories we take in, however, eliminating refined sugar and reducing other sugars will contribute to weight loss in more than one way.  The reason the type of calories we take in matters in losing weight is related to both nutrition and preventing the roller-coaster rises and drops in blood sugar that sugars produce.

Anyone who has, themselves, followed a diet for diabetics; or who knows someone else who has; has probably seen how that kind of diet has resulted in dramatic weight loss.  A diabetic diet consists of a well balanced, healthy, diet with strict attention paid to portions and a planned eating schedule.  The diabetic diet is aimed at maintaining a stable blood sugar level in diabetic patients (with or without insulin injections or commonly prescribed oral medications, which work differently than insulin does).  Although, of course, there is far more to the diabetic diet than will be addressed here; in general, its a diet of measured servings of protein and vegetables, with fruit (which has its own kind of sugar) limited and starches carefully measured.

It is, when it comes down to it, a diet that most of us should follow throughout our lives.  Many diabetics are able to control their blood sugar levels with diet alone; and if those of us who are not diabetic followed the diabetic diet we would both lose weight and (most likely) fend of Type II diabetes.

Most of us have heard that calories from sugar are "empty calories".  We get no nutrition from them; and since our bodies convert calories from starches into sugar anyway, we don't need more.   The calories we get from starches require less "metabolic work" than calories from protein, and calories from sugars require even less.  In other words, our bodies don't have to work very hard to turn carb calories into fat.

Low carbohydrate diets can work by depriving dieters of carbohydrates, but the healthiest diets generally include whole grain breads, pasta, or cereals; and the wisdom of drastic deprivation of carbs (which, in some low-carb diets means carbs found in vegetables) could be questionned.  Low-carb diets sometimes include higher amounts of fat than would be considered wisest, as well.

Sugar, however, is something that can be drastically reduced from any diet without sacrificing nutrition.  Since sugar is high in calories, eliminating it is an easy way to drastically reduce calorie consumption without thinking much more about it.   Sugar is an awful lot of foods, though; so it can take some label-reading to truly eliminate it from a diet.   While refined sugar is, of course, the worst; sugars in fruits and fruit juices shouldn't be overlooked. 

Even though many foods that aren't cakes, candies, or soda do contain sugar; if most people with a weight problem were honest they would tell you that their weight problem is not particularly the result of the sugar in the tomato sauce they poured over the half-cup of whole grain pasta.  While diabetics must concern themselves with the amount of sugar in products like tomato sauce or apple sauce (some have added sugar, some only have natural sugars), the individual on a weight-loss plan may not need to.  On the other hand, paying attention to sugar to that degree would assist with speeding up the process of weight loss.

Besides helping to easily reduce calorie intake, eliminating sugar (or most sugar) from the diet also eliminates the rapid rises ("sugar highs") and drops in blood sugar.  It is often the rapid drop in blood sugar that leave a dieter feeling he needs to reach for an energy-boosting snack.  Also, when blood sugar levels drop too quickly it can lead to "the sugar shakes", which leaves the dieter no choice but to quickly eat something to raise his blood sugar.

People who are accustomed to taking in sugar can become addicted to it.  It can feel great to live on a sugar high, and it feels terrible when those rapid drops in blood sugar occur. 

Sugar can cause even more problems for the individual who may be diabetic without knowing it, or pre-diabetic; and many people with extra weight may well be either. 

Sugar also makes it "nice and easy" to increase one's calorie intake.  It isn't difficult to eat 400 calories' worth of muffin; while it is quite difficult to eat the same amount of calories' worth of lettuce.  It's also easy to let the calories mount up when drinking sodas, fruit juices, or coffee/tea with sugar and milk or cream.

When people are diagnosed with Type II diabetes and become frightened into staying with a strict diabetic diet they often lose dramatic amounts of weight quite quickly.  Individuals who are not diabetic and who want to lose only a modest amount of weight may find that eliminating only sweets, sugars in beverages, and paying attention to how many servings of carbohydrates they eat each day will accomplish their goal.

One of the biggest undoings of any weight loss diet is feeling tired and without energy.  A well balanced diet that includes protein, vitamins and minerals, just the right amount of fat, and just the right amount of nutritious carbohydrates will help fight off cravings that can occur when the body is deprived of what it needs.

A Note (and Personal Opinion) About Artificial Sweeteners:  Stay away from them.  

Losing weight is most often about changing one's lifestyle.  Giving up sweets is one of the easiest ways to lose weight (and once the weight is lost, eating the occasional cookie on the weekend won't cause weight gain).  When the goal is to lose weight it makes little sense to look for sugar-free cakes and muffins to replace those containing sugar.  Sugar-free "sweeties" have their own calories, and a lifestyle that doesn't include the daily eating of "sweeties" (even artificially sweetened ones) is always wiser and healthier.

Not long ago I offered my friend a breath mint from one of the tiny tins in which they are packaged these days.  She asked if they were sugar-free, and I told her they weren't.  She explained that she could not eat anything that was sugar-free because artificial sweeteners cause her severe intestinal problems, and happily took one.   I explained that artificial sweeteners give me pains that make me worry that I'm having a heart attack; and she laughed when I said, "The way I see it, if I ever have a weight problem it won't be because of eating breath mints with sugar in them."

Artificial sweeteners may work for some people, particularly those who use them in coffee and tea.  Others may find what works for them is to eliminate beverages requiring sweeteners and plain water or sparkling water with a hint of fruit flavor.  Still others may just decide to become accustomed to drinking tea or coffee without any sweetening at all.  It may take a few days to get used to coffee or tea without sugar, but it can be done (and doing so means not having to give up those beverages that are often "most important" in one's daily routine).