I noticed something yesterday and it got me thinking about sugar...the sweet kind, not the carb-kind that can come from my more favorite salty foods and I want to just write a note to myself here to actually NOTICE it.
Yesterday afternoon I was hungry. Very hungry. I could have had a 100-calorie bag of popcorn, but instead I thought it was better to have a mini-Tootsie pop (only 17 or so calories and no fat). So I had one. Then I really REALLY wanted another one. Why not? Only 17 calories! So I had another. Then I really really REALLY wanted another one. So I had it. And I was up to my "serving" of three for 50 calories. Not too bad calorie-wise because I was still less than the 100-calorie popcorn. BUT...it was NOT satisfying. I felt a HUGE sugar-crash as it (very soon) wore off. And I was incredibly unusually hungry headed to the gym last night. I was literally UNCOMFORTABLE with hunger (and that rarely happens)...so much so that I nearly went somewhere to grab some food on the way. But I talked myself out of it and didn't. (Once I get to the gym, any hunger always goes away for the time I'm there.)
Anyway, I thought a lot about this...this sugar-crash thing happens fairly often when I have really REALLY bad sugar that has NO redeeming nutritional value (like the mini-Tootsie pops). I even have this reaction (wanting more, feeling less satisfied) when I eat my low-fat meringues at home. But I don't have it (or at least not as noticeably) when I eat my post-dinner popsicles. I wonder if there is actually SOMETHING good in there (like fruit maybe?) and that makes my body react differently. I also wonder if my body is trying to tell me something...like "PAY ATTENTION, this is NOT good for us!!!!"
Hmmmm...ya think? ;-)
6 comments:
Great post! I, too, suffer from the sugar cravings and post sugar crashing. I find that its worse when I eat sugar on an empty stomach because your body processes right through the sugar and ::ZIP:: right into your blood stream it goes. Post-dinner sugar may be happier mixing in with all the other happy treats in your belly. You do make a good point though that I hadn't considered. Maybe having other goodies in with sugar also helps slow down the process? Hmmm...
is it possible that the popsicles are close enough after dinner that the protein from dinner is holding you?
I feel very strongly that when I eat - I eat protein and a good carb - TOGETHER - whether it is a meal or a snack - for exactly the reason you describe.
I know I need to eat protein if I eat any sugar at all so as to keep my blood sugar level, but who wants a slab of turkey after a roll of Mentos? Sigh. After I eat "bad" sugar I can't decide if the resulting sugar craving is in my mind or in my body. Any ideas on that subject? Am I mentally obsessed or physically addicted? Or am I obsessed with being addicted? Cheers
are mentoes a mint? does someone eat them while singing in the alps? feeling slightly gaggy at the thought of a whole roll. . .
finally remembered the two pairs of PJ pants I was working on while you were here and finished them - waist band is flat and comfy - I took several inches out of each leg so they are warmer feeling (not so much air floating around). As I have been wearing warmer clothes that I have not had on since last winter - I have been altering lots - don't know if it is tone difference or if I am just pickier.
I also have sugar cravings, and when I give in to them have to be very careful with my choices. As they can boomerang on me too. I stopped sugar completely for a number of months, and am slowly adding sugar, in very small quantities. Vickie is right, I do better with sugar after a protein meal, than on an empty system. When it is on an empty system, it is easy to give in for more and then one thing of course can lead to another. Wish I could do without completely, but think sugar is important to me. In small quantities. Right now I am on Manuka Honey. And feel I am playing with fire. I resolved that as soon as I do more than one teaspoon a day, that I will throw the jar out. I do the Manuka after dinner, when I am completely satisfied with protein and a good carb meal. Manuka is supposed to be like medicine as well. So from a "thinking" point of view, at least something good about it :>):
http://www.downtoearth.org/articles/manuka_honey.htm
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