Life is Sweet - Sugar is NOT!

Weight Loss FACTOID – "All foods in proportion are NOT created equally!"

Example: If you trade two pats of butter at 70 calories for an Orange at 90 calories – YOU STILL GAIN WEIGHT!

You will have two main enemies when trying to lose weight. One is you and the choices you make daily (you know that one all too well). The other is too much glucose or sugar.

Yep, good old sugar, in it's various forms. This includes the starchy food that the body converts to sugar. What? Not FAT? What about FAT?

Do not be shocked – FAT is not your enemy and you need it to live! I am not going to tell you to never eat sugar again so don't worry. Now let me explain why.

As you have heard, here in the good old USA many of us are getting fat, especially our children. This is not hype, and not my opinion. 67% of us are overweight to the degree it effects our health. The healthcare field has sounded the alarm.

Even though Martha Stewart and a host of TV Chef's have done a great job teaching us all how to cook gourmet food for less than a dime – it isn't their fault either. Martha herself has even commented that "Gaining just 5 pounds can ruin ones looks!"

What is at fault is all the misinformation and out right lies being told everyday on Radio, T.V., and other mass audience mediums. I still cannot fathom why the FDA and the FCC, who are supposed to be watching what we are given and what we are told, can allow such a mishmash of double speak and overstated claims.

I understand to a certain degree they can't be everywhere and they have other battles to fight, however, the lies continue to be told from vinegar pills to fat catchers and burners. What the heck is a fat catcher anyway? And what else in the body is it catching?

The first thing you need to understand is how the body processes alcohol, sugar, and fat. As hard as it is to comprehend there was a time when humanity did not have twinkies, ho-ho's, apple pies, margarine with hydrogenated oil, strawberry preserves, pancakes, breakfast cereal, or canned green beans that the large companies insist on putting sugar in.

Doubt me on the green beans? Just go into your kitchen and check out your labels and see how many items have sugar. By the way, it goes by many names – dextrose, sucrose, corn syrup, and glucose. All of this is SUGAR.

What our ancestors did have was meat, fat, grasses, leaves, some fruits that were dried, more meat, and more fat. There weren't any obese or fat people – heavy folks can't run and in the Stone Age, you had to run – trust me. (In some of our cities these days the need to run can occur as much as in the past, now that I think about it.)

There just were not any fat folks back then. It was a really rare to see someone that could be labeled as obese. With our diets today, is it any wonder that we can work ourselves into a dither on the treadmill and we still see no results?

Is it any wonder we can't lose weight and that diabetes is on an epidemic rise even in our children? You need to understand that your body burns its fuel in a certain order by what is available.

This is the body fuel burning formula: Alcohol – Sugar – Fat.

This is why the famous Atkins diet works so well for some – they count carbohydrates – particularly those from sugar and NOT calories.

They keep their "Carbs" under 90 grams per day. Then, they build up to a tolerance from there. As they increase their intake of carbs, whenever they find a level where they begin to put weight back on, they stop. Once they find their level of happiness, they can from there maintain their weight.

The balance of hormones and the level of stress in your life guide you through the doors or right into the walls, when you are trying to lose weight. You need to understand and own that your diet choices are the map's they use to determine where you will land on the scale.

Ever hear of the sugar high? Sure you have. We all have that wonderful rush when we consume sugar and then we have the crash afterward. Then what do we do? Reach for more.

So, your body is processing the sugar and STORING the fat. If you drink alcohol it will process that alcohol first, then the sugar, then fat.

That is why alcohol gives folks hangovers when they over indulge. The body has BURNT all the blood sugar in the brain and dehydrated the body in the process, but didn't do one thing to the fat.

Thereby slowing down the metabolization of the fat. Hence, the famous "beer- belly." This has been clinically proven by the way. So, guess what happens next?

You crave MORE sugar! Have a hangover and want to ease it? Drink a regular coke and watch how fast you feel better. So, you think – "Ok, I will just cut out some sugar and I will lose weight, right?" NOPE – wrong!

From all the years of having a high sugar and starch diet, your body is NOW trained to look for the sugar. When you cut out the sugar, it spends days looking for it. This is the real reason why fasting doesn't allow you to lose weight quickly.

While your body is searching for more sugar, your metabolism is on hold. Dr Atkins says you must give it a new fuel (low carbohydrates) and more protein, fats, vegetables. He is right!

However, the Atkins diet can be hard for a lot of us to stay on permanently. It creates a side effect condition known as acidosis with its own problem, which I will cover later. However, cutting the sugar and changing your fuel is a PART of the puzzle.

Then you have your stress hormones. Heard of them? They are part of the enemy that is you.

Recently, the scientific community has announced that the hormones secreted under stress lead to the storage of fat around the midsection of the body. I will take that one step further again based on experience and results.

The hormones interact and direct the glucose in your body to be used for energy and/or stored as fat. When you secrete adrenaline (your flight or fight stress hormone), your body begins to use Glucose (Sugar) for quick energy. In the Stone Age you had to RUN remember. Then, you crave more sugar.

The sugar gives you the "high" or quick energy to get the job done. Meanwhile, your body is storing the fat for the next "attack" (Stone Age reaction) or project you need to get done (today's world).

Your body begins to store more protein and fat needed to heal wounds it thinks you may acquire. Again, our ancestry kicks in – your body doesn't know that your boss is only after your head figuratively, or that your being overdrawn at the bank does not mean you need to run for your life.

Your body now turns to survival mode! When this occurs everyday guess what you're doing? Yes – your body is storing fat and protein

from what you eat and continues to search for quick energy via sugar.

This is why so many dieters "fall off" the wagon so easily. Your body has it rules. You need to change them!

Sugar is everywhere. It can be found in places you would never guess to look. I am going give you a list of foods with hidden sugar value (Glycemic Index) in the "Tables" chapter.

As I said earlier, I have no intention of telling you that you have to completely cut out sugar to lose weight. You do NOT. What you have to understand though is that all carbohydrates are not created equal.

Science is just now beginning to realize this. Every type of carbohydrate is different and is metabolized differently by the body. We now have a very useful tool at our disposal for managing blood sugar increases that lead to the body creating and storing excess fats called the Glycemic Index (GI) for foods.

The glycemic index is a projection of the elevated blood sugar of commonly used foods. This chart tells us the amount of influence these foods have in creating fat.

Planning your meals on foods that have an index of 20 or less will help you hit 125 GI or less per day. The higher the GI of any food the more likely it is to be high in carbohydrates and calories, thus contributing to overall weight.

What you need to know about the GI is that the spike that occurs when you consume high GI foods (like a white baked potato or rice) is not going to last very long – only two hours or so. Then, your blood sugar will drop dramatically signaling the brain that you are hungry and need to eat.

This is one of the biggest secrets I use to handle my hunger pangs,

which of course drove my snacking and fast food habit. Now, I reach for a handful of cashews, sugar free pudding, or even a yogurt smoothie and BAM – I am no longer hungry!

The slower breakdown of complex carbohydrates and proteins keep me feeling satisfied and even aid in burning more calories from the digestion process. In other words, I get to snack and win!

Note how high the GI is for starches such as rice, pastas, and potatoes! I will repeat the chart in the table section at the end of the book for your convenience.

Next, you have to deal with STARCHES. Starches are vegetables and grains that the body converts into sugar. Anyone who has or knows anyone with diabetes already knows what I am talking about.

Things like white potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, wheat, and the "meals" made from them to make breads, pastas, and such, are all no no's! The body uses these the very same way it does sugar.

This is where a huge misconception in weight loss exists. People cut out the candy bars, cakes, and cookies for low fat potatoes, corn, and pasta - and don't lose a pound.

Sugar and starch that is converted to sugar act similarly. For instance, the process used by your body to convert carbohydrates to sugar uses some energy in and of itself.

You burn a little fuel to make a little fuel. For those of you who just have a really hard time resisting sugar cravings you will find that eating artichokes or artichoke hearts will suspend those cravings.

Best of all, artichokes are low in carbohydrates and very tasty. Instead of cookies, keep some marinated artichokes in the refrigerator. You will be amazed at how well they work to curb cravings.

Your body also burns fat for fuel. But it is easier to burn the sugar. Change the fuel available and you change what you weigh and how you look.

You are going to learn what you can eat (and it is a lot), things like butter, cheese, meats, and sausages. You're NOT going to be hungry at all!

If you will recall to earlier in the ebook, when I mentioned that some sugar is necessary to life and energy. That is true even with the points I have made above.

However, refined sugar was never a part of the plan. Whole grains and rice's provide a good amount of sugar in the digestive process. An occasional treat like ice cream in a regular serving is not going to cause problems.

Ongoing influx of sugar into your blood stream on the other hand can cause a host of problems we have already covered. Lowering your sugar intake will allow you to immediately drop some pounds.

This is your first simple step. When I cover in detail the PLAN I continue to use to this day, I will help you easily manage this. It will be a snap.