I've realised that after a few weeks of healthy eating that my cravings for unhealthy foods have dropped off quite considerably.

I've also noticed that my sensitivity to sugar has increased and I can no longer take two sugars in my tea or stomach too much sweet stuff.

I look at white bread as pure fat and stick purely to wholemeal as well, it's almost as I've somehow reprogrammed my brain to reject bad food!

Hi Imran. I had this same conversation with my Fiancee.

This weekend, I have reached the first goal of losing 4 Stone. (Still got 3 1/2 to go tho'. :eek ) All last week I was saying that upon reaching that first goal, I was going to treat myself. When it came to it though, I couldn't stand the idea of the fat and excess calories! LOL

I have the same result with the sugar also. After years of drinking coffee and tea with one sugar, I am now sugar free !

Well done to both of you!

I would agree that it gets easier... I definitely feel more full than I would have two months ago on my reduced diet. I still get cravings for fatty things but it's a lot easier to control, I'm not sure why!

Yeah I look at my 'treats' completely differently these days. When in the past it might have been a 500 calorie cake splurge, it's now something like a couple of jaffa cakes (less than 100 calories)

By the way amazing job on dropping four stone




I've noticed that - I just don't need to eat as much anymore, probably because the body is getting the nutrients it needs with the proper diet and so doesn't feel hungry

I find that I'm naturally satisfied with less food when I've been dieting for a while, and that a "treat" can be a curly wurly bar rather than a whole slab of chocolate cake!

I suppose it's about re-educating our minds (and stomachs) about the amount of food we're going to eat.

Ali

I've found this too. When I started out, I considered myself to me on a near-starvation diet - my food intake was drastically reduced from that I was used to. The first week was hard going but, slowly, my body began to get used to it. The sugar crashes I would get in the afternoon disappeared and I now find I can actually go from 7am until 6pm with just a wholemeal sandwich and a bowl of cornflakes inside me and not feel amazingly hungry.

I too have started to feel "queasy" at the thought of junk food. I can turn down cakes and biscuits with ease and, although I started a thread elsewhere about takeaway pizzas, I still haven't got to the point where I've had one (even though there was a Sunday a couple of weeks back when the craving for one was immense). I guess a lot of it is willpower, really. I see each day as a quest or sort of marathon. After a lengthy run, it'd be a shame to destroy it by slipping up.

And four stone, Simon - that is brilliant stuff.

many thanks for posting this!...to remind me...to get back on track that once you get through first few days...you do feel fuller...and calmer and its easier to say no and stick to healthier choices...the sugar thing is what they call being sugar sensitive..(which eventually could lead to weight gain and/or diabetes...and what the glycaemic diet is based on..ie keeping your blood sugars stable and not to spike them with simple carbohydrates.(simple sugars )..which creates the cycle of craving sugar...?

well done simon on your weight loss absolutely brilliant!...gives me hope...it really is down to me to make my goals happen...controlling my diet will help me feel more in control of achieving other goals too..

as regards treats...have to change the view that eating cakes/alcohol is a treat?...but for me it becomes more like a form of punishment too..I could/can choose a healthy treat ..the sugar thing for me is almost like coming off drugs...they say sugar addiction is the mother of all drug addictions...(it wouldnt have passed the food standards if it had come out today.). it affects our moods...making you grumpy so some people turn to excess food /sugar or alcohol to make themselves feel better (or drugs..or cigaretes) all of which affect your blood sugars...? a vicious cycle..

Am very aware i'm a sugar addict at the mo....

It's definitely a mind-set thing and agree with Imran that once you start to eat a healthier diet as a long-term way of life, rather than a short term 'diet', it all becomes much easier. I think the 80/20 rule works quite well. Do your best and try and eat well for 80% of the time and allow a 20% leeway for weekends etc, and don't beat yourself up if you reach for wine bottle etc. Nobody is perfect!
Have no doubt sugar is totally addictive and if you can wean yourself off sugar hits you're well on the way. If you swap mass produced processed sweet treats for something like homemade flapjacks, thin spread of honey on rice cakes or similar they soon start to become the norm rather than the exception and if you go back to cakes and sweets etc they taste really sickly.
All the best everyone

3 weeks is the key amount of time. If you can be really good for 3 weeks your body goes into a weight loss mode. It only takes 3 weeks to break a habit - and we have to admit that most overeating is habitual and emotional - so just get your head sorted out for 3 weeks and you're away!!!

Well done everyone , you're all doing so well.

I've just started my diet again because I went on an all inclusive holiday after Christmas - so don't be tempted!! I had lost 1.5 stone but have put half a stone back on!!

I agree but then I had some practice at it when I was told, a few years back, that my cholesterol level was at the high end of acceptable. As a result, I reduced my fat intake, including moving to fully-skimmed milk. Now, I cannot stand the taste of full cream milk or even semi-skimmed, though I do enjoy a morsel of cheese. Fortunately, I lost my sweet tooth years ago, so that's not a problem. I can actually keep an opened chocolate bar for weeks and Easter Eggs last until July!

Sticking to 2,500 calories a day hasn't been difficult - indeed, the problem sometimes has been getting anywhere near it. Having a colleague at the next desk who has joined me in my quest has been an enormous help, especially when the temptresses from the next office come round bearing biscuits and cakes. It's easier for two people to be blunt and turn them away than one.

The result is that I'm already more than halfway to my target. 1 stone 4lbs lost in just over a month out of 2 stone 6, despite putting on a substantial amount of muscle.

Ron that is so brave of you to resist these wicked women! This is what happens when you lose weight and build muscle - they are obviously attracted to the new you!

I do hope your wife (if you have one) doesn't read about these temptations. All the best. Fiona

I agree about sugar - if I don't have any chocolate, cakes, biscuits etc I don't want them (well except for those days when you crave everything...). What I find strange is that I can have a home-made cake in the house and just have a slice every 3 or 4 days (typically on a day like today when I have spent about 5 hours hill-walking and need an energy boost). In fact, I am finding the thought of ready meals and the like abhorrent... But cheese that is a different story - could I give up cheese?

I only eat out very occasionally now because restaurant food is such a calorie trap but now I find it really has to be just two courses whereas it used to always be three.

I have got to hate that feeling of having eaten too much and feeling really full so I just dont order the puddings and leave what I canot eat. Never thought I would see the day!!!

Mmmm - maybe you don't have a wife???

It is oh so easy to be a temptress but to resist temptation is a skill I still have to acquire ( maybe thats why I am not married and always have a chocolate moustache )

Eating more healthily has got easier, just seems more normal to have more fruit and veg, now if I'm not in work and filling up my water bottle I find I'm getting thirsty.
However - as I haven't lost a single pound in weight I guess I haven't made enough changes, so going to try and give up potatoes and yoghurt as they seem to be the only things left in my diet to change.

Ruth - I SO identify with you!

So true. Although a bit of an urban myth, these words make a thought provoking statement.

Question: What is the most addictive substance known to man?

Clues:
a) It is usually white
b) comes in the form of granules or a fine powder
c) is cheap and easily available
d) carries no health warnings or criminal status
e) can be purchased and imbibed by and for children from a very young age.

Answer: You've probably guessed - is SUGAR!!!!


Be afraid. Be very afraid.......

Imran - you're back. Do you know you turned into a green blob on the "Banana" thread?

Well Done all!

Have been doing a low carb diet + more exercise + water and have noticed a real difference in just over a month! Keep it up everyone!

Pippa

Your taste buds change really quickly. I used to have a cream bun every teabreak at work. Went cold turkey one day, never crave one at all now. Same with chocolate...it isn't as nice as I remember. My body is now starting to eat for fuel, instead of for boredom.
I don't feel deprived, not at all. It's really liberating to realise I'm not a junk addict any more.

I don't know what yogurt you're eating, or how much? Perhaps swap to a lower cal brand. Potatoes in themselves aren't fattening, just keep the portions small. Perhaps your food choices are good, you're just eating too much? That was my problem, large portions.