is sugar actually bad for your diet?
Happy New Year! We’re well into 2 two of 2022 & I hope all has been going well for you so far.
I know I know, my emails have been way too “periodically” as of late and part of my 2022 resolutions is to fix that. Expect more emails from me regularly from here on out! It feels like I have way more freedom here to express my thoughts and explain nutrition/weight loss concepts cos there’s no character limit.
On IG every post it actually limits me to around 2200 characters, and so what ends up happening is I’ll type everything I want to say up on a word file, then check character count and end up having to trim whole chunks of it down just to hit the 2200 limit. Over here, no such limit which means I can write as much as I want! (which I guess the downside is if I end up rambling you’re gonna end up with a wall of text, which I apologize in advance)
So week 2 into the new year, I hope all your resolutions and plans are still going as planned! If they aren’t, if there’s some hiccups here and there no worries, it happens. Make some adjustments and get back on track there’s no need to start over, there’s no need to be overly upset about it, the weight loss/health/muscle journey is a ongoing journey. Hiccups are gonna happen. It’s not gonna be perfect. As long as you get back on track and keep going, it’s all progress from here.
Kinda like riding a bike. Ride a bike for 15-20 hit a rock and fall? First thing you do is check if you’re ok, then check if you’re bike’s ok, if both are ok then just hop back on your bike and continue down your journey. There’s no need to walk all the way back to your starting point to start again, or just quit right there and there and decide to start again another day cos you tripped on a rock. Falls happen, keep going!
So back to the topic on the subject line: Sugar. Is sugar actually that bad for fat loss?
The answer is a big fat: No.
Now don’t get me wrong, that doesn't mean you should go to your kitchen now and start scooping spoons of sugar in your mouth, or start filling up on your favorite chocolates and candies. All it simply means sugar solely isn’t responsible for your progress in your fat loss journey.
Can you include sugary foods in your diet and lose weight? Absolutely.
Can you end up overeating on sugary foods and gain weight? Sure can too.
Now why is it important to understand that? Cos then you won’t have to fear sugar like it’s some demonic thing that the moment your tongue touches it you gain 2 inches on your waist. That’s just not how sugar works.
Studies have shown that there is no link between sugar & weight gain in diets where calories are controlled. There’s also no link between sugar and health when calories are controlled and the diet is made up of mostly unprocessed healthy foods.
Of course this doesn’t mean sugar is good either. It’s just neither good or bad.
Sugar is fine. (in moderation)
So how should you deal with sugar in your life? If you’re eating mostly nutrient rich whole foods, hitting your proteins and still have some calories left in your budget it’s totally fine to enjoy whatever sugary foods you want within that budget. But on the flip side if you’re eating so much sugary foods like chocolates and cakes that it makes sticking to your calories hard then perhaps you’ll want it tone it down a little bit and eat less. Tone it down, not avoid. It’s all about tweaking your portions.
I hope that helps your mindset in your diet. Demonizing a particular food or ingredient is a unnecessary evil that makes the journey harder than it should be. We’re fed a lot of information in the fitness world to make us lean towards thinking there’s “good” and “bad” foods where really it’s all just a game of portions and moderation. When you understand there essentially isn’t a “bad” food you stop feeling so guilty over having a bit of it and go on with your day rather than trying to run 5km at midnight cos you had an extra snicker bar.
Anyway I hope this mail reaches you well. This is gonna be a regular thing I promise. This is part of my 2022 resolutions as I make a shift in the way I create content. My IG will still be active, the daily Q&As in my stories is something I still look forward to answering every night. If you have any questions or concerns do feel free to reply to me here as well. I’m always try my best to answer to everyone but it’s not always possible. I can promise you that I definitely read them all, and will try to answer your question in some shape or form whether it’s in future emails, Q&A questions, IG posts or a direct reply to you.
If you signed up for my fat loss guide and ended up here on the email list but don’t wanna be receiving these emails it’s totally cool to unsubscribe too! No hard feelings, I don’t want to be spamming your inbox if this isn’t the type of content you’re looking for.
Till the next one! Stay well, stay safe!
—Po.