By Doug Varrieur, Author, FAT TO SKINNY Fast and Easy series
“The Best Weight Loss Book Ever Written”
Pants getting tight, blood pressure on the rise, type two diabetes right around the corner? These are the concerns I deal with every day from people of every age all around the world. What do they all have in common? They ALL want to get skinny!
For most of us, the dream of a slimmer physique remains elusive. However, the desire to change prompts us to seek solutions – in diet pills, surgeries, gym memberships, and prepackaged meal programs. Even upon consulting our doctors, we hear the well-worn advice of “eat right and exercise”.
Despite starting the day with seemingly healthy food choices and dedicated exercise sessions, many are baffled by an increase in weight instead of a decrease. What’s going wrong? The surprising answer lies in a single word: SUGAR.
SUGAR is the villain behind your weight gain. It is present in myriad forms in our daily food items, from the blatant ones like candies and cookies to the subtler ones in fruits, vegetables, and grains. As an immediate source of energy, your body will always burn SUGAR before it even thinks about burning FAT. Consuming an excess of SUGAR results in FAT gain, a nightmare for anyone trying to lose weight.
On analyzing the amount of SUGAR we intake unknowingly, it’s astounding to realize that our ‘healthy’ meals can equate to cups of raw SUGAR. For instance, a day’s meal of bran cereal, banana, toast, low-fat milk, orange juice, bow-tie macaroni, honey-sweetened tea, and a fig tart would total up to almost two cups of SUGAR!
And here are the top ten “healthy” foods that are surprisingly high in SUGAR:
- Kasha (Barley or Buckwheat): 1 cup = 32 teaspoons of sugar
- Raisins: 1 cup = 26 teaspoons of sugar
- Bran Cereals: 2 cups = 20 teaspoons of sugar
- Brown Rice: 1 ½ cups = 16 teaspoons of sugar
- Whole Wheat Pasta: 1 ½ cups = 13 teaspoons of sugar
- Millet: 1 cup = 13 teaspoons of sugar
- Whole Grain Bread: 2 slices = 8 teaspoons of sugar
- Fruit Smoothies: 8 oz = 8 teaspoons of sugar
- Energy Bars (e.g., Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars): 1 bar = 8 teaspoons of sugar
- Fruit Yogurt (e.g., Dannon fruit on the bottom yogurt): 4 oz = almost 5 teaspoons of sugar
This SUGAR-loaded diet is the underlying issue in our quest for weight loss. Our bodies burn the consumed SUGAR, leaving the excess stored FAT untouched. If we wish to lose weight, we need to force our bodies to burn the stored SUGAR (FAT) for fuel, which can only be achieved by curtailing our SUGAR intake.
In short, cut off the SUGAR, and you’ll cut off the FAT. As simple as that.
How to accomplish this? Stick with proteins, fats, and green veggies while you’re in weight loss mode. Keep this mantra in mind: “Meats and Greens will make you lean – Sugar and Carbs will make you large.”
For more information, visit my website www.FATtoSKINNY.com.
© 2023 Doug Varrieur.
