Conference turris::womannotes-v2

    Funny, as I looked at the list of people's favorite fattening foods,
    I too noticed the trend -- all choices were sweet.
    
    Now, a little over a year ago, I tried to eliminate all sucrose from my
    diet (I was tired of the mood swings it caused in me).  For the first
    few days, I went through a mild withdrawl.  I *do* recognize withdrawl
    when I feel it -- I stopped smoking, cold turkey (3 packs+) four years
    ago.
    
    Afterwards, a friend suggested that I read the following:
    
    		The Hidden Addiction
    		And How to Get Free
    
    				Janice Keller Phelps, MD
    				Alan E Nourse, MD
    
    The chapter that *really* grabbed my attention was chapter 6 --
    "Sugar - the Basic Addiction".
    
    I'm addicted to sugar, and try to stay away from it one day at a time.
    
    					andrew

    From Jean Carper's "Total Nutrition Guide":
    "Undeniably, one of the reasons some people become fat is their high
    consumption of sweets.  But the reasons for such overconsumption are
    complex.  Some studies show that both normal-weight and obese people
    prefer sweetened foods only up to a point, and the critical factor that
    pushes sugar consumption higher may be the addition of high-fat foods."

    I enjoy sugary dishes -- the occasional box of chocolate truffles,
    hot fudge sundaes, or whatever -- but the high-fat foods are what
    really do in my weight and my general nutrition level.  
    
    I'm presently on a somewhat restricted diet for the last couple
    months of my pregnancy, and giving up the sweets hasn't been at
    all hard.  I wish I could have dessert some nights, but I don't
    really crave them.  
    
    What I crave is cheesecake.  The escargots mentioned elsewhere. 
    Liver pat� spread on butter crackers.  Bacon and eggs.  Chocolate
    �clairs.  Pecan pie smothered with whipped cream.  Baked potatoes
    drowning in butter and sour cream.  You get the idea.
    
    I hadn't thought of it before, but when I'm eating more fatty
    foods, my sugar consumption goes up too.  Partly I suppose it's
    because many fatty foods are also sweet, but it seems as if it's
    my body's attempt to balance the excessive fat intake.  
    
    --bonnie

    Does anyone know where I could get a list of high fat foods? I was
    suprised to see escargots in the previous reply.
    
    Thanks,
    
    Virginia

    re -1:  It's not the snails, it's the garlic butter! ;-)
    
    As for the list -- any good book on nutrition will list high
    fat foods.  Check your local library.
    
    					andrew

    replying to .1
    
    wow, sugar is a DEFINITE addiction with me.  not at the moment,
    although some people might contest that (some people don't need
    a couple spoons of sugar on cereal, but then, i don't need coffee)
    
    i like to keep candy on my desk to be sociable, but to keep myself
    from eating it all, i don't put anything chocolate out.  i try to
    select things that i don't like, that way it stays until guests
    eat it.  or the security guards.  ("Jonathan, I thought you filled
    your bowl yesterday afternoon"....."i *DID*")
    
    
    

    re: pregnancy and fats.
    
    When I was pregnant with #2, my body craved fatty foods so I ate
    fatty foods. I lost the weight in a pinch after she was born. Well,
    maybe two pinches.
    
    I think a craving during pregnancy is your body yelling, "listen
    to me. I need XXX".
                      
    Kate

    
    I grew up in the oriental country, and there are a lot of
    snacks are salty and spicy. If it is sweet, it is not as 
    sweet as the snacks you find here in US.
    
    I did not have craving for sweet food, be it dessert (they
    usually don't have dessert after meal, only tea) or snacks,
    or ....
    
    Funny thing is, after I came to US for a several years, I
    started eating cookies, candy bars, sometimes I craved for
    sweet things.
    
    Only 3 reasons i can think of for this change:
    
    1. it is easily available, sweet things are everywhere, and
       they come in all kinds of flavors, textures, it is easy
       to pick a kind that i like.
    
    2. My diet changed. I used to eat more oriental food, there
       are more oil (frying peanut oil) in the food, and also
       the seasoning. I felt "satisfied" when i finished the 
       meal.  These days i eat a lot of easily prepare food, 
       like bake, broil, or just cook them all in one big pot,
       and the seasoning is salt, pepper, steak sauce, bbq sauce...
       even i eat a lot, i don't feel the craving  need was met.
     
       i don't know, there is something missing from the meal. now
       come to think about it, chinese restaurants usually don't
       have dessert menu is probably for a reason -- there is no
       need for it.
    
    3. Fattening food here are made very well.
    
    it is interesting to see my behavior change.

    <--(.8)

    That's very interesting!  

    I decided to lose weight shortly after coming to DEC and, after
    shedding >= 60 pounds by giving up anything with serious sugar or even
    starch in it, found that eating only the salty/sour/spicy asian food
    (chinese, thai, and japanese particularly) that I love anyway was also
    a very good way to maintain my weight loss.  I actually came to feel
    revolted by anything very sweet and haven't, for example, had a piece
    of candy in years.  (Fortunately, my friends have been immensely
    tolerant of my passion for asian food, for which I'm more grateful to
    them than they can imagine or I can express)

    Recently, for various reasons, I've gone back to including
    carbohydrates in my diet (starches mostly) and have found that my
    weight has started, once again, to rise inexorably and that I'm
    beginning to look with renewed interest on cookies and even candy.
    
    Given my dislike of this current trend, I think I just figured out what
    my next move needs to be.
    
    						=maggie

    I've been thinking about sugar a lot lately - I've been doing
    Overeaters Anonymous for 5 1/2 months now, and have been abstinent from
    sugar and flour and refined carbohydrates totally for this period of
    time.   I feel great physically.  I've lost about 65 pounds, and don't
    often crave things that aren't on my food plan.  I went hiking in the
    White Mountains last Saturday, and didn't mind the uphill climb at all. 
    Best of all, I had no aches or pains the next day.
    
    The weight comes off slowly and steadily on a program like this.  What
    amazes me the most is that I *don't* crave sweet things.  I drink diet
    soda, and that seems very sweet, but I don't crave real sugar.  I can
    even go into Dunkin Donuts for coffee and not even think about all the
    junk.  (My coffee addiction is another story...)
    
    For me the process is almost the reverse of the one described in .8.
    I think I have always been a sugar/flour addict, and it never occurred
    to me before that I could find a way to live without them every day.
    Instead, I was focused on how much of them I could still manage to have
    and lose weight.  Needless to say, that strategy never worked too well.
    
    One thing that helps me is eating very simply.  For breakfast, I have a
    cup of yogurt, a half a cantelope or an apple, and 1/4 cup of
    grapenuts, mixed together.  It doesn't sound like a very large grain
    serving, but since I added one grain per day to my diet, I have felt
    better.   And it is amazingly satisfying in the yogurt.  I don't
    usually eat any other fruits or starches in a day, but that is enough.
    
    I also love the Asian food.  I have learned to eat the leaner dishes,
    and to avoid deep fried things.  I can pick out even a small amount of
    sugar in a sauce, and avoid those dishes.  So many people think that
    oriental food has to include deep fried things, rice, noodles, and
    fortune cookies.  It doesn't at all.  The main dishes in the cuisine
    are almost all based on protein, vegetables, and a sauce.
    
    I am going to Europe on business in September, and recently surveyed my
    wardrobe for decent things to wear in a customer class.  I came up with
    2 skirts and a few old blouses that fit!  All of the suits looked
    ridiculous on me, and I now have large empty spaces in the closet. I
    went shopping today and had the great pleasure of trying on size 14's
    and 16's and having them fit.  I bought a lovely navy blue blazer and a
    couple of skirts, all size 16.  Several friends are searching their
    closets for professional things to lend me since I can't buy all new
    clothes at this time.   It's hard to want to invest in clothes when you
    plan to continue losing...
    
    I am grateful to OA and AA for the concept of abstinence from sugar. 
    Before I got into the program, I thought I understood what that meant,
    but I really did not.  At first the transition is very hard, but after
    a while it does become habitual, and there is a lot of support in the
    12 step programs to work on yourself, your emotions, and the old stuff
    in your life that made you an addict in the first place.  Sometimes
    doing that is sheer hell, and life feels like a sea of pain for a few
    days or weeks.  After 21 days, however, the sugar is out of your body,
    and that means that the physical cravings for sugar won't be as bad. 
    That was very true for me, and it now feels wonderful to have a simple,
    easy food plan that I can do almost anywhere.  The good habits are
    finally stronger than the bad.   But I can't get complacent - I will
    always be a sugar addict.
    
    I am also recovering from bulimia.  Keeping off the sugar is the only
    thing that makes this possible for me.
    
    Thanks for listening.
    
    Holly  
    

    Congratulations Holly!

    Indeed congratulations.  Not everyone could do what you're doing, and I
    hope complete success for you!
    
    							=maggie

    Tremendous thundering applause, Holly.  You have my sincere admiration!
    
    -Jody
    

    	Holly,
    
    	Great news. Keep it up.
    
    	I could stand to lose some weight myself. I believe Reader's
    	Digest (?) had an article about where people put on weight.
    	The author contended that men who put on weight in the abdomen
    	area are making things more difficult than women (who usually
    	put on weight in the hip area). I'm really hazy about exactly
    	what he said (I know, you couldn't tell), but the point was,
    	if you are a man, and need surgery, all the fat in the abdomen
    	makes that surgery more difficult.
    
    	Can someone help me out here?
    
    	Anyway, Holly, congratulations.
    
    	Scott

    the article was about why men put on weight like an apple and woman
    like a pear, refering to the basic distribution of weight. The jest of 
    the article was regarding the health hazards to men because of
    such a burden of having the weight proportioned as such. 
    
    Gail  

    . . .but this is just too good to pass up.  The following gets
    my vote for the best malapropism of the year:
    
    � The jest of the article was regarding the health hazards to men. . .
    
    Sheesh!  You never seemed like a man-hater to me, Gail. . .
    
    Steve

    
    Nice going, Holly. It's not always easy to look at some of the pain
    we carry around with us.
    
    Hooray for you!
    am

    re: .14
    
    I read recently that excess weight around the middle
    is more dangerous for men *or* women than is excess weight in
    the thighs and a**.  The weight around the middle puts more strain on
    the heart and also (I think) contributes more to gall bladder problems.
    
    (Not that you need to worry, Scott!)
    Nancy