Does sugary cereal count as an S?
Moderators: Soprano, automatedeating
Does sugary cereal count as an S?
I wonder about this cause I love sugary cereal. This and sweetened beverages are 2 things I'm gonna have trouble with because they're a regular part of my daily eating routine.
This quote kinda sums up what I'd like my life to be-"It's mostly a music show, with lots of talk and laughter in between."-Mike Douglas
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oliviamanda
- Posts: 299
- Joined: Tue Jun 06, 2006 11:11 pm
- Location: South Jersey, NJ
I'm going to agree with oliviamanda. All that sweet stuff is just concentrated calories with little to no nutritional benefit.
Sweets seem to be your weakness -- maybe cutting down then cutting out one of them and then the next would work for you.
Sweets seem to be your weakness -- maybe cutting down then cutting out one of them and then the next would work for you.
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
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ThomsonsPier
- Posts: 321
- Joined: Fri Mar 31, 2006 2:18 pm
- Location: Reading, UK
Just to offer a variation on the above view I don't generally worry about sugary cereals (assuming you're only eating them for breakfast), at least with regard to the sugar content. The main problem I do have with them is that if breakfast consists of one bowl of cereal (which is what's technically allowable on No-S), I'm hungry by about eleven. On a good day. Then again, I'm not that fond of them anyway; it would probably be possible to eat enough to remain full until lunchtime, but I find them cloying after about a 50g serving.
ThomsonsPier
It's a trick. Get an axe.
It's a trick. Get an axe.
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oliviamanda
- Posts: 299
- Joined: Tue Jun 06, 2006 11:11 pm
- Location: South Jersey, NJ
Also you might want to consider the serving size on the box. To have a full-bowl of cereal varies on your bowl size and if you are considering the cereal to be your plateful, then you could go crazy. I'm always suprised when I measure out the serving size suggested on the box. 1/2 cup, 3/4 cup, what?! Believe me I have a weakness for Golden Grahams, but I never buy it. If I do, my husband's got the box finished in 2 days. I do tend to keep some Cinnamon Toast Crunch around to make cereal coated french toast on the weekends from time to time.
I feel I am never satisfied with the serving size on a sweet cereal; I always want more, so it's an S for me. I try to stay away from foods that I can't stop eating.
I feel I am never satisfied with the serving size on a sweet cereal; I always want more, so it's an S for me. I try to stay away from foods that I can't stop eating.
Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.--- Mark Twain
I'd be likely to call sweetened cereals an S. Just the fact that you recognize that it's going to be a problem to do without them is significant.
Tastes change over time. I guarantee that after a few months of eating non-sweet breakfasts, you won't believe you ever questioned that sweet cereals are an S. (Obviously for some, it is not an issue, as stated. But for most...)
For example, my introduction to incorporating yogurt into my diet came while I lived in Iran in the late '70's. My Iranian boyfriend's mother told me once that your skin would turn black if you ate yogurt with sugar. So, no sweetened yogurt there then. When I came back to the States, I couldn't believe that people called the stuff they ate out of those little cartons "yogurt." That's dessert! I've never preferred them, though I usually add fruit to my yogurt. I've even bought the commercial ones occasionally to be part of a binge!
And oatmeal? I often forget that I ate it with a ton of brown sugar while I was growing up. Now it's just regular or dried fruit I use, along with nuts, and maybe with a little vanilla or cinnamon. I actually sometimes treat it like a grain and add a little extra salt, some nutritional yeast, and a sprinkling of grated Parmesan, like the Italians put on polenta. I still add nuts to it. Weird, but why be normal? Esp. when normal in the U.S. induces diebetes, etc.
On the issue of one bowl: at dinner I sometimes put a bowl of soup or a small serving of yogurt with fruit on my dinner plate; I do the same thing at breakfast, if I'm hungry, putting a serving of eggs on the uncovered part of the plate. I don't feel I have to cover the plate with food, but I do regard it as the equivalent of a plate/bowl. I'm just not usually satisfied with one serving of cereal.
BTW, the cereal I eat most often is a combo of Fiber One and Trader Joe's high fiber cereal. I find it has the most bang for the buck. Chew slowly! I have to add nuts or I will be ravenous in 2 hours.
Tastes change over time. I guarantee that after a few months of eating non-sweet breakfasts, you won't believe you ever questioned that sweet cereals are an S. (Obviously for some, it is not an issue, as stated. But for most...)
For example, my introduction to incorporating yogurt into my diet came while I lived in Iran in the late '70's. My Iranian boyfriend's mother told me once that your skin would turn black if you ate yogurt with sugar. So, no sweetened yogurt there then. When I came back to the States, I couldn't believe that people called the stuff they ate out of those little cartons "yogurt." That's dessert! I've never preferred them, though I usually add fruit to my yogurt. I've even bought the commercial ones occasionally to be part of a binge!
And oatmeal? I often forget that I ate it with a ton of brown sugar while I was growing up. Now it's just regular or dried fruit I use, along with nuts, and maybe with a little vanilla or cinnamon. I actually sometimes treat it like a grain and add a little extra salt, some nutritional yeast, and a sprinkling of grated Parmesan, like the Italians put on polenta. I still add nuts to it. Weird, but why be normal? Esp. when normal in the U.S. induces diebetes, etc.
On the issue of one bowl: at dinner I sometimes put a bowl of soup or a small serving of yogurt with fruit on my dinner plate; I do the same thing at breakfast, if I'm hungry, putting a serving of eggs on the uncovered part of the plate. I don't feel I have to cover the plate with food, but I do regard it as the equivalent of a plate/bowl. I'm just not usually satisfied with one serving of cereal.
BTW, the cereal I eat most often is a combo of Fiber One and Trader Joe's high fiber cereal. I find it has the most bang for the buck. Chew slowly! I have to add nuts or I will be ravenous in 2 hours.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23
There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23
There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)
Agreed. I wouldn't have a problem, as far as the NoS rules go, with eating sugary cereal once in a while for breakfast (though since I don't really enjoy it I probably wouldn't pick it) but I know I'd be hungry again way before lunch because of the high sugar and low fiber content. If it's something I was eating on a daily basis though, I might reconsider, since it's pretty much devoid of nutrition.ThomsonsPier wrote:Just to offer a variation on the above view I don't generally worry about sugary cereals (assuming you're only eating them for breakfast), at least with regard to the sugar content. The main problem I do have with them is that if breakfast consists of one bowl of cereal (which is what's technically allowable on No-S), I'm hungry by about eleven. On a good day. Then again, I'm not that fond of them anyway; it would probably be possible to eat enough to remain full until lunchtime, but I find them cloying after about a 50g serving.
Yeah, I think eating that stuff on a daily basis like I'd been doing is a bad idea, but a small bowl once in awhile is prolly OK (I don't have trouble controlling the amount I eat with this, I guess cause I think of it as "food" as opposed to candy and cookies which I do tend to binge on cause I think of them as "just a snack", even though they are most likely more calorie-dense bite for bite than many things I think of as "food".) I think for now I might make a rule of eating sugared cereal only on S days. I prolly need to think of some better default breakfast choices, like eggs or grits, which are carbs, but not sugar, anyway. I'm hanging onto the sweet drinks for now, but once I've got NoS down pat for solid food, I'm gonna try phasing out the sweet drinks, on N days anyway. I've figured up I drink 3-4 8 oz glasses of this a day, and it's 60-80 calories per 8 oz serving, depending on flavor, so once I cut this out 5 days a week, I'll be saving 900-1600 calories a week, which should help. In the meantime I'm gonna work on drinking more water, too.
This quote kinda sums up what I'd like my life to be-"It's mostly a music show, with lots of talk and laughter in between."-Mike Douglas