Forums >Health and Nutrition>Cereal frenzy. Just me?
There are three types of carbs. These are the simple,complex and indigestible. Of these three i think you are engaging mostly to complex carb.
Complex carbohydrates (also referred to as starch) are made up of many sugar units and are found in both natural (brown rice) and refined (white bread) form. They are structurally more complex and take longer to be broken down and digested. Complex carbohydrate foods have been shown to enter the blood stream gradually and trigger only a moderate rise in insulin levels, which stabilizes appetite and results in fewer carbohydrates that are stored as fat. Unrefined or ‘whole grain’ carbohydrates found in products like brown rice, whole wheat pasta and bran cereals are digested slowly. They contain vitamins, minerals and fiber which promote health. Fiber and nutrient-rich vegetables, fruits and beans which are carbohydrates also have many important functions for the body and are important for good health.
I've got this problem, but it's with anything sugary. I've had occasionally nights where I put down 3k, 5k, once or twice even 10k calories in one sitting. I'm talking like a pizza, package of oreos, bag of reeses pieces, a few donuts, etc....all at once. This is generally how I have gained weight in the past. I really enjoy the healthy foods, but have a strong tendency to eat truly stupid amounts of junk food.
The only thing for that keeps it in check is my desire to get better at running. Surprisingly I haven't really fought this problem in the last few months or so, but that's probably in part because my desire to actually try and get down to a good racing weight and see what I am capable of is at an all time high. Probably doesn't hurt that I've been trying to cultivate more of an "eat to live" not "live to eat" mindset.
As to specifically related to cereal or wheat products...while I have binged on cereal I can't say I've ever noticed a strong correlation between wheat/sugar/binging.
They say golf is like life, but don't believe them. Golf is more complicated than that. "If I am still standing at the end of the race, hit me with a Board and knock me down, because that means I didn't run hard enough" If a lot of people gripped a knife and fork the way they do a golf club, they'd starve to death. "Don't fear moving slowly forward...fear standing still."
L_Master, so much of that first paragraph rings true to me. Its reassuring that other active folks have this problem as a lot of the information available is aimed at the overweight and obese who don't have the same dilemma of needing a relatively larger caloric intake. I also find that when I'm training fairly consistently that it becomes less of a problem. Additionally, good timing of meals seems to help a lot so I suspect that the binges might be a subconscious reaction to glycogen stores being depleted and not being sufficiently high prior to training session.
Why is it sideways?
I was thinking that maybe there's nothing wrong with this sort of "binge" -- that it's exactly what your body needed to meet its needs. drr, you are lean and mean; I wouldn't worry about it!
Yeah - as long as you're not heavier than you want to be I wouldn't worry. OTOH, some people are overweight and still binge; in which case it's probably worth trying to figure out why.
Can't say about cereal or junk food, but I do have a habit of spreading low-fat peanut butter on things like carrots and toast if I start losing weight due to my high metabolism (I'm 18 and a "young buck" as they might say around here.)
I'm not running 16s, 17s or 18s at this juncture, but I imagine that if and when I do, this problem will only get worse.
if you're tired of starting over then stop giving up!
I stopped eating things with concentrated sugar about 10 months ago. Sugar is addictive whether or not you are eating wheat. The first 3 weeks of no cakes, cookies, ice cream, etc., I felt like something huge was missing from my life. No matter what I ate, my body wanted that sugar. This took almost a month to break the habit. People bring junk into work, and it is so easy to pop that stuff in your month without nary a thought. Initially it takes a lot of concentrated thought to remember that you are not eating candy, cake, cookies, etc.
Now I don't miss it, and I don't have an urge to eat it. I also notice how regularly sugar is pushed by media as something you deserve or a treat. Are you watching television at night? They could be planting that seed in your head without your even noticing. Truth is that concentrated, processed sugar is not a treat nor is it good for your body.
I cannot say whether or not wheat is a trigger for you, but sugar is addictive enough on its own. Now I eat a lot more food than I used to eat, or so it seems. I've actually lost a little weight without trying, but it seems to have stabilized. I just eat more of the items that are real food.
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