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USDA says this is wrong. Probably because it's not profitable enough.
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I've written a lot about sugar in this forum, how bad it is for you and the politics and economics behind it. The question remains: What am I gonna do about it? For years, I've been recording what I eat and up until September, guesstimated how much I was eating. That didn't work -- but doing the research and crunching the numbers of how many actual calories I'm consuming has been much more effective in keeping me mindful.
Recent revelations find me asking: so how much sugar am I consuming? Since some foods that aren't actual sugar act like it in the human digestive system, well, how much of that stuff am I eating, too? A lot of modern nutritional information is saying fat does not make you fat, but too many calories make you fat....and particularly, even moderate amounts of certain carbs DO make you fat. A gram of fat has 9 calories while a gram of protein or carbs only have four. When these three different nutrients enter our system, they act differently. They digest differently. Fat and proteins are converted to energy and stored fat slowly, while carbs, depending on their form, can be anywhere from medium-slow to lightening fast, causing havoc with our blood sugar and fat storage.
Last weekend, I watched a documentary called "Fat Head", a bit of a response movie to "Supersize Me". On the face of it, it is the story of a comedian who is annoyed by Spurlock, and sets out to eat nothing but fast food for 30 days....and lose weight. In fact this is what happens, though the filmmaker is more of an unlikeable right-wing anti-government computer programmer/"comedian". Still, I watched it to see what the "other side" was saying, and outside of the dickhead attitude, most of what was being said seemed oddly well grounded in scientific thinking.
The lede is a bit buried in the final third of the film, at about 1 hr & 24 min. When one eats food, only a tiny amount is needed to power the body minute to minute -- all the rest is all converted into fat, which is then used by cells during all the time we are not eating. Skinny people have small, efficient fat cells, and the fat made is quickly released into the cells as energy is needed. If fat cells are inefficient and don't release their fat quickly enough, the body calls for more food and the cells just get bigger and more engorged until they finally do release their energy.
Energy-burning cells are limited in the amount of energy they can burn at once. They can take in some sugar at once, but if you flood your system with sugar, the level of sugar is brought into line by the hormone insulin. And what does insulin do? Its job is to quickly clear out high blood sugar, either helping to burn off energy quickly and/or turn excess sugar energy into....fat. As energy-burning cells get resistant to insulin over time, fat is built even faster. So as you age and/or eat more sugar & simple carbs, it is very possible to gain weight while eating the same/less calories than you did in the past, especially if you go for a "low fat" diet, because in reality a low fat diet is a high carb diet. And if you are on a low-fat vegetarian diet (potentially low fat AND low protein), wow, good luck with that.
Too much insulin released in reaction to high glycemic food will cause insulin resistance, which will lead eventually to burning out the pancreas' ability to produce insulin, allowing blood sugar to increase to toxic levels and BAM your diabetic.
Weirder still is the glycemic index of certain foods. Pure glucose is 100, and table sugar is about 60. Most grain-based processed breakfast cereals like Special K are...65. Whole wheat bread is around....70. So it is very possible to eat "healthy" and still be revving up your insulin with foods that act like sugar. My dad was never a porker, but dealt with diabetes for most of his senior years. At a minimum, I have to throttle back further on my carb intake, regardless of whether it's whole or refined. At a maximum, I need to start noting the glycemic index (the insulin-invoking power of the food) as well as the glycemic load (a measurement of the glycemic index of the food and the amount in a serving) of what I eat. Good bye to McDonald's french fries is in order...
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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2442
Got an oddly large number of unsolicited compliments on my weight loss/body changes this past weekend. I wish I could see myself more clearly -- sure, I'm back to the pants size I was in high school and college, but I still don't see it.
Weekly average not too far from my max of 2350, so that's good....
MONDAY COUNT: 2535
Surprisingly sore in the back from a Chinatown massage yesterday, so I decided to push off weights for a day. Also did laundry over the weekend, so took the morning to work on a batch of knishes for a local shop.
AM SNACK: 7:45am, iced green tea, 25 cal
BREAKFAST: 8:45am, kolon bloe with whole milk, 300 cal
AM SNACK: 9:30am, banana, 100 cal
AM SNACK: 11:30am, momma salad, 100 cal
LUNCH: 12:45pm, double quarter pounder, 20oz diet coke, 750 cal
When I ordered this, the counter person was surprised/alarmed: "Don't you want the meal, with fries?" Nope, just the burger and soda. Two reasons: this is 150 cal less than the single q.p. meal, and has a lower glycemic index...
DINNER: 6:45pm, grilled chicken breast, steamed string beans, brown rice blend with caramelized onions, pickle, 7oz diet sprite, 780 cal
EVENING SNACK: 9:15pm, popcorn, 7oz diet sprite, 480 cal
God, popcorn popped in oil is so much more enjoyable than airpopped stuff.
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TUESDAY COUNT: 2350
Cooking knishes. Nice dinner out with friends.
AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea, 25 cal
BREAKFAST: 9:15am, steelcut oatmeal, 375 cal
LUNCH: noon, sardine and avocado and whole wheat toast, pickle, mommma salad, 7o diet coke, 650 cal
DINNER: 6:15pm, moules frites, truffled lobster risotto, a bite of chicken & mushroom, a bite of pasta, 3 pieces of bread & butter, 1 calvados, chocolate cake & apple tart with ice cream, +/-1000 cal
Dinner at Balthazar with one of my dearest friends from Cali and one of my dearest friends from NY. Was tempted to go for steak frites, but figured even with the much-lower cal mussels (and very much delicious), I'd be pushing the calories with 3 courses. Rolled out feeling satisfied but only on the edge of full.
EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, animal crackers, 2 small meatballs, +/- 300 cal
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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2460
Cooking knishes in the morning. Taught the breakfast class at school in the evening. When we sat down to eat, I only ate a piece of bacon, a small piece of french toast, half a pancake and a small scoop of potatoes, but then I realized during class I ate 3 sausage patties, another slice of bacon, another piece of French toast, so the calories were actually high despite the "small" meal...
AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea, 25 cal
BREAKFAST: 10:30am, smoothie, 375 cal
Replaced flax with chia, as that's the new trend all the cool kids are doing. Supposed to be flavorless, but I'm definitely detecting a grassy/metallic note.
LUNCH: 12:30pm, veggie burger sub, doritos, 20oz diet coke, 760 cal
SCHOOL DINNER: 6pm, french toast, pancake, sausage patty, bacon, hash browned potatoes, apple juice, +/- 1000 cal
EVENING SNACK: 9:30, momma salad, 100 cal
EVENING SNACK: 10:30, peanuts & chocolate chips, +/- 300 cal
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THURSDAY COUNT: 2215
A Hanukkah elf delivered a fancy juicer to FBIWC headquarters today. Hmmmm. Busy doing chores, forgot to eat breakfast, a juice in the afternoon made up for it. Out for a nice dinner at Balaboosta in the evening. The hummus and skirt steak brought back strong memories of my father's cooking, weird. My parents would have loved this place, very Israeli sensibility and a female chef.
AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea, 25 cal
LUNCH: 12:45pm, Stouffer's French bread pizzas, momma salad, 7oz diet coke, 960 cal
PM SNACK: 5:30pm, green juice (apple, carrot, kale), 230 cal
Well, that packed a wollop. A little hard to drink, very kaley. Still,
DINNER: 7:15pm, grilled skirt steak with string beans, hummus & pita, chocolate mousse, water, +/- 1000 cal
EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, 7oz diet sprite, 0 cal
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FRIDAY COUNT: 2650
I know I probably was relatively accurate with yesterday's cal count because there was no way to forget breakfast today, he he.
AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea, 25 cal
BREAKFAST: 9:30am, steel cut oats, 375 cal
LUNCH: 1:30pm, chicken sausage, whole wheat Israeli couscous, roasted broccoli, pickle, 7oz diet coke, 650 cal
DINNER: 7:30pm, whole wheat flax pasta with meatballs, sauce and parm, momma salad, 7oz diet sprite, 1,100 cal
EVENING SNACK: 10pm, oreos, chocolate chips & peanuts,+/- 500 cal
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