I have never met one single person who just has to sit down with a bag of sugar and indulge. In fact, I don’t know one person who even can stomach the idea of doing this, none the less has to do it and is so addicted they can not stop…
And this is straight to the source! If sugar were addicting, this would be as pure and amazing as can be, right?
But you see…
It is not sugar in itself that is the addicting problem; it is the COMBINATION of sugar with fat, salt, food flavoring additives and the like.
AKA processed food.
A doughnut is not just sugar. It is a combination of the above.
Soda is not just sugar; it is also artificial flavorings. No one is just drinking sugar water. That is gross, right? Throw in some cola flavoring, and now things are tasting much better.
Luckily for us, these highly rewarding and addictive combinations rarely exist in nature aka unprocessed, whole natural foods.
An apple is pleasant; we can enjoy one. But, no one finds their self gorging on 12 of them. But throw 12 apples in with some flour, sugar, and butter…
Bake it all up…
And we could easily binge on an apple pie.
But somehow people get an irrational fear of sugar and ‘carbs,’ and the apple gets a bad rap.
The solution to all of this is twofold.
1. Arming yourself with the knowledge that the COMBINATION of sugar, fat, salt into insanely delicious foods is the addictive ‘food reward’ that in turn causes us to overeat beyond our appetite and gain weight.
2. Focus a majority of your diet on unprocessed, whole foods.
The benefit of this is we get more in-tune with our natural appetite which helps avoid OVERCONSUMING calories.
Eating too many calories is the real bad guy.
Not sugar.
Not carbs.
Not fat.
But the over-consumption of food aka calories.
By focusing on unprocessed whole foods like lean meats, fruits, veggies, rice, potatoes, olives, etc. we have a much better chance of lessening our binges and emotional attachment to food.
This does not mean we have to give up our favorite foods with their rich, delicious combinations of sugar, fat, and salt…
But knowing that is what they are and how they fit into the total picture of our diet and consumption requirements as opposed to just eating away mindlessly on them is the key.
Be aware of the food you consume, and the amounts.
We are all ‘addicted’ (and always will be) to awesome delicious food like pizza, ice cream, and doughnuts.
That is okay. None of them nor their individual components are “bad” or the problem.
The over-consumption of food is, which happens to be easier when said food is hyper-delicious.
So start worrying less about being weak around delicious foods, eat more whole, unprocessed foods to help control your appetite and lessen the chances of gorging, and be more mindful, aware, journal, log, do whatever it takes to not over-consume.
And remember, just because a food like almonds is whole and unprocessed does not mean it shouldn’t be portioned and controlled as well. Over consuming calories via any food has the same result.