Everyday Systems

Hubby and I are having a debate. I would call Life Cereal a sweet. He had it for breakfast with 2% milk, a glass of OJ and a banana. Is this just my "diet head" talking? Because to me that seems like a high carb meal. But the real question is: Would YOU call Life Cereal a sweet?

You are not going to start WW3 either way. Just looking for other opinions.

I don't think so. There are wiser choices, but it isn't Cocoa Crispies.

P.S. I verified that is was, in fact, better than cocoa krispies -- and Life actually only has 6 g sugar in 1.5 cups. Not bad for cereal. (CK is, like, 12g per .75 cups.)

PPS Stop worrying about carbs!

Nope, I wouldn't eat it for dessert, so it's not a sweet.

Life Cereal is not the lowest sugar cereal out there, but it's certainly not on my Verboten to Feed the Kids list, either.

I agree with Wosnes' estimation. It's not sweet enough to be a dessert, so it's not a sweet.

I have no idea because I don't eat cereal. I am posting to plug making muffins -- I make a variation on morning glory that I think is healthy, satisfying and fun to wake up to.

I feed Life cereal to my son for breakfast, though I can't eat cereal for breakfast, since I get way too hungry hours before lunch. I guess if it keeps him going until lunch and doesn't induce a big desire for sweeter food, it's okay.

Thanks, everyone. Even if you did side with him! Just kidding!
He's doing the happy dance now.

I would let him eat it.
It is better for him to eat it and enjoy it than for him to not enjoy his breakfast and then want an even more sugary snack later in the morning because he didn't feel satisfied.
I think habit is the most important thing to develop on the No S plan first.
Cereal, milk, fruit, juice....I wouldn't consider that unbalanced.
Naturally thin people who eat at regular meal times regularly eat sweetened cereal, yogurt, or jam at breakfast time.
It's not as if he is having a Mountain Dew and a donut which I see many of my coworkers indulging in for breakfast.
We all have different tastes and foods that we desire and sometimes depriving too much in the beginning can put you in "diet mentality" again and can trigger snacking or worse, binging.

Seems like a very healthy meal to me.
I wouldn't worry. Again like 3 a day mentioned,, he's not eating donuts.
NoS is not the dreaded "Low carb" diet, so just look for the real sweets..
Candy, soda, chocolate cheesecake, etc..
Peace and love
Debs

I don't think so. In fact, I've started eating it every morning for breakfast with a banana. It's one of the things I couldn't have on all those other diets.

If you're connecting sugar content with 'sweet' then that glass of OJ he had has an average of 22g of sugar per glass!! That is 'sweet', but if it is 'good' OJ, not from concentrate, then it is all natural sugar and not so worrisome.

Life cereal is not a sweet IMO.

When I have questions like that I usually remind myself what the goal is. The goal is to be able to SEE what we are eating, which is easy when its only 3 plates. Once you get the habit down of not eating outside of those three plates, you can focus more on what is actually on those plates. If you are losing weight, can easily wait until your next meal and you are happy with the health aspect of your choices, then you don't need to make any changes. I have had to address all three of these things. 1. I wasn't losing weight so I had to scale down ever so slightly the portions. 2. I wasn't eating the kinds of things that could hold me over until the next meal and found higher fiber choices a better bet. 3. I started substituting healthier options, which also helps in the calorie department.

So stop and look at the big picture once in awhile. And never compare yourself to your husband, we are wired too differently and it will only drive you crazy.

I eat cereal for breakfast every day, with 1% milk, a banana and some juice. my cereal choices vary, but i think cereals are clearly coated in sugar or not.
I vote LIFE is not.
this is the breakfast i've been eating since i started nosing, and it lasts until about 11:45 before i'm starving for lunch (then i hold out until 1pm so i can make it to dinner ok)


Before No-S, i only drank skim milk, never ate cereal, had a lite yogurt for breakfast and was 'afraid' of eating bananas b/c they're 'high in carbs'
Didn't lose a pound for 2 yrs. eating that way . .. i've lost 4-5lbs in 5 weeks eating the no-s way!!

I eat multigrain CHerrios with 1/2 banana and 3 or 4 strawberries. I use whole milk on cereal because it fills you up faster. MGC has 6 g of sugar so I don't think it is a "sweet".

Buffalo Gal

all of our palettes are probably very different ... for me life cereal would be too sweet and not a great choice ... yes I actually HAVE eaten life cereal for dessert so for me ... not a safe or honest choice ... but for someone like my husband who probably didn't eat life cereal for dessert ... it would probably work just fine ...

Blueskighs

I'd probably say yes because you can see the sugar crystals on it. LOL But my guidelines have been if sugar is in the first three listed ingredients...it is for that reason I had to give up my frosted mini wheats during the week...DOH!

You know, we worry entirely too much about carbs. As Reinhard said in the book, compared to the rest of the world, we already eat a low carb diet -- and not all of those folks are eating whole grains.

Last night I was reading about those skinny French women, who not only typically haven't worried about carbs and fat, but who do typically eat bread or chocolate croissants or pain au chocolat for breakfast.

I've never been much of a breakfast eater, but when I was younger -- and even now if the spirit strikes me -- I'll eat leftover dessert for breakfast. Bread pudding, rice pudding, a fruit-based dessert or my all time favorite -- chocolate cake. Heck of it is, when I was doing that, I was much slimmer than I am now! I'm actually eating much healthier now and weigh more.

You might ask what's different, then. The level of activity in my life. For a number of reasons, I'm less active now than ever before.

reubenthetadpole wrote:I'd probably say yes because you can see the sugar crystals on it. LOL But my guidelines have been if sugar is in the first three listed ingredients...it is for that reason I had to give up my frosted mini wheats during the week...DOH!

I eat frosted mini wheats several times each week, on N days. I find that they fill me up, and I don't get hungry again until about an hour before lunch. I can also grab it quickly on my way out the door, by putting the cereal in a cup, adding milk, and eating it in the car! LOL! Maybe not THE healthiest choice, but for me, a great "default" breakfast!

No, I wouldn't call it a sweet.

I give life cereal to my kids for dessert but I wouldn't technically call it a sweet. I do consider it a sugary cereal though as I do any cereal that tastes sweet - vs plan corn flakes or the original total etc.

Personally I find cereal to be a very unsatisfying breakfast and feel hungry again within an hour. My dh on the other hand, eats cereal every morning and says he feels full for hours. FWIW we have the same debate - I don't get how he can be satisfied by cereal and he doesn't get how I can eat leftover chili for breakfast! This is the best part of NoS for me - eat what you like!

But my guidelines have been if sugar is in the first three listed ingredients

Is that you, mom??

Blondie wrote:

But my guidelines have been if sugar is in the first three listed ingredients

Is that you, mom??

?

reubenthetadpole wrote: my guidelines have been if sugar is in the first three listed ingredients..

We can choose any personal guidelines we wish,
because in the No S diet each of us gets the right to define sweets as he or she individually chooses.
with...of course...the caveat: "Don't Be An Idot".

BrightAngel wrote:

reubenthetadpole wrote: my guidelines have been if sugar is in the first three listed ingredients..

We can choose any personal guidelines we wish,
because in the No S diet each of us gets the right to define sweets as he or she individually chooses.
with...of course...the caveat: "Don't Be An Idot".

Please read it again. It says MY guidelines. The poster asked for an opinion which I gave.


I wonder what it means that people are responding with a degree of hostility to my comment simply because I'm the only one who thought it was a sugar cereal. Hmmm.....

reubenthetadpole wrote:Please read it again. It says MY guidelines. The poster asked for an opinion which I gave.

I wonder what it means that people are responding with a degree of hostility to my comment simply because I'm the only one who thought it was a sugar cereal. Hmmm.....

I saw that you were speaking of your own guideline,
and giving your own opinion.

My post was merely to state my own differing opinion,
and was in no way intended to be hostle to you.

We are all different individuals here,
and one thing great about the No S Diet, (AND this forum)
is that there is plenty of room for individual differences.

Is that you, mom??


?

I wonder what it means that people are responding with a degree of hostility to my comment simply because I'm the only one who thought it was a sugar cereal. Hmmm.....

My comment was a joke, I didn't intend any hostility, and I didn't read Bright Angel's comment as hostile, either (In fact, I read it as celebrating the flexibility of NoS for individual guidelines). I wasn't implying that you were "being my mom" by imposing your rules on others. I'm sorry that wasn't clear. That was the rule we had growing up--we weren't allowed to have cereal that had sugar as one of the first three ingredients.

For what it's worth, I now appreciate her imposing rules that seemed unfair at the time (but mommmmm, all my friends are allowed to have Froot Loops/Wonder Bread/"juice" masquerading as actual juice) because now, I don't like soda, white bread, etc and sweeter cereal (including Life, I bet) would seem like a sweet to me.