Eating sweets??

[Tammy123]

I've read a few posts about eating sweets to up calorie intake, but aren't we supposed to keep our sugar levels low? Today my sodium, fat and protein intake was ok but calories were low so I had some marshmallows and sweet popcorn. I'm not complaining lol, just confused about eating sugary snacks as I thought it was low blood sugar that swayed pink?

[Ipadmad]

I think (could be wrong and likely to be!) is that sweets raise blood sugar quickly, but it also drops quickly too. So I guess over the course of say 24 hours, if you eat sweets twice (immediately following a meal), your blood sugar wouldn't stay up for long. It would be a temporary spike.

Snacking on sweets constantly would keep blood sugar up. As does eating low gi foods, say a bowl of porridge, keeps blood sugar stable over a period of time too. Both of these would work against a pink sway.

I think it's basically being a bit hungry for as much of the day as possible, eating 2 or 3 meals with no snacks and avoiding foods that will keep your blood sugar elevated for a period of time.

I think ;)

[Mrs_P]

eating anything sugary as long as its in isolation not snacking will raise your blood sugar initially, then it will crash really low - if you eat them throughout the day then it will remain high but they are a good source of empty cals when eaten with your meals

[Tammy123]

Ah ok. So I should have eaten the marshmallows immediately after dinner. Not as an evening snack while watching tv ;)

[Dreamofpink]

It's fine to have sweets in the evening if it's one of your 2-3 meals a day. I usually round up my calories at the end of 1 or 2 meals (I eat 3 meals a day, 1pm, 5.30pm & 8.30pm) with 100cal of sweets. Just be careful with marshmallows as I thought they had gelatine in them, which may not be vegetarian-friendly. I've been amazed at just how few sweets are suitable for vegetarians!

[LacePrincess]

Hmm, this question is coming up a lot the last few days! I just answered that yesterday, but my long post is on the TTC Girl forum which is members only. If you decide to join, here's the thread: http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-girl/18710-want-learn-more-about-idea-low-blood-sugar-ttc-girl.html#post291561

In a nutshell, sugary foods =/= blood sugar. Everything you eat makes blood sugar, that's energy for your body. High sugar foods spike insulin/blood sugar faster but also crash faster, so it means it's out of your system faster and there are more hours in a day where your blood sugar is low. High protein foods digest slower, release blood sugars slower, but also maintain a more even level of blood sugars throughout the day. So we want the first option for a girl sway.

[atomic sagebrush]

Ah ok. So I should have eaten the marshmallows immediately after dinner. Not as an evening snack while watching tv ;)

Before bed is actually a great time to have sweets, because your blood sugar will go up temporarily, then it will drop and you'll be asleep and miss the entire event!

Thanks to all for giving such great answers!

[LacePrincess]

Before bed is actually a great time to have sweets, because your blood sugar will go up temporarily, then it will drop and you'll be asleep and miss the entire event!

Thanks to all for giving such great answers!

Heeheehee, I love how this statement totally justifies my third daily 'meal'. I always have it around 10pm, and it's always a big pile of SWEET - cake/cookies/ice cream/candy. Sometimes all of it combined. No guilt pile o' dessert everyday!

[Dreamofpink]

Heeheehee, I love how this statement totally justifies my third daily 'meal'. I always have it around 10pm, and it's always a big pile of SWEET - cake/cookies/ice cream/candy. Sometimes all of it combined. No guilt pile o' dessert everyday!

Hahaha!!! Me too! Choc philli on a warm, white petit pain, chocolate rice cakes, low-cal hot chocolate, biscuits, cake & sweets. Oooh around 500cal of pure tasty crap! Love this diet!

[Tammy123]

Oh. My. Goodness. I did not know we were allowed to eat so much crap on this diet. How did I not know this before!? And before bed? That's like prime snack time for me. It makes a whole day of practically starving myself worthwhile if I know I can chomp on sugary treats at night! And cookies?? Did someone say cookies? And cake? I'm totally drooling here :)

[Dreamofpink]

AH! Mind they're all low fat :giggle: But most importantly, ENJOY!!! :highfive:
I save 500 of my cals and plan what I'm going to enjoy in the evening, it is a big reward for being so good during the day. See the diet's not bad at all :bigsmile:

[LacePrincess]

AH! Mind they're all low fat :giggle: But most importantly, ENJOY!!! :highfive:
I save 500 of my cals and plan what I'm going to enjoy in the evening, it is a big reward for being so good during the day. See the diet's not bad at all :bigsmile:

Actually you don't really HAVE to monitor the fat. Fat's so caloric dense that you'll blow calories before having enough fat to blow your diet.

I'm sure a blue swayer's gonna want to kill me, but I'm actually getting really sick of ice cream!

[NeedAGirl!]

I felt the key if you are going to eat sweets, is to eat fat free sugary treats rather than anything complex like cookies or cake. I ate a TON of skittles, laughy taffy, etc. I usually ate them with meals along with a low sodium full calorie soda. My sugars definitely would crash. I needed the calories though as I lost a lot of weight and didnt want to go over my fat limits.

[babydust]

With this sway, if I ate any sweets it was usually at or around bedtime ( after dinner). Some milk chocolate or something yummy I baked that day ;)

[Tiggerian]

Well... in that case I'm currently doing an unintentional girl sway lol! :cheer:

[Dreamofpink]

Whaaattt? I am so confused :(
What abt weight loss then, I thought the end result we want by doing LE is weight loss. Please help me get this straight...,

I've lost 24lb by eating exactly this way! It does work, I promise you as long as you are eating within the LE limits. I never go above 30g fat a day and am staying around 1600cal to maintain my weight & BMI of 20.6 Low-fat cake and sweets with only calories in (i.e no gummy sweets with gelatine in them) help to bump your cals up without going over your protein and fat limits for the day.

[fish2012]

just with sweets check they are veggie...then scoff away ;-0

[Tiggerian]

For those in the UK - try Tesco's! I found some new sweets from Katjes there today that are veggie. The flavour is OK - but defo not the type you overdo it on.

[LacePrincess]

Whaaattt? I am so confused :(
What abt weight loss then, I thought the end result we want by doing LE is weight loss. Please help me get this straight...,

Well first of all, the point of the LE diet is not always weight loss. For anyone who's already at the low end of normal BMI we advise NOT to lose weight, just eat the LE diet foods on an LE diet schedule (2-3 meals daily and no snacks) and maintain their weight. Too much weight loss can stop your ovulation and hamper fertility.

The point of the LE diet, really, is low nutrients and low blood sugar. Yes desserts are rich and high calorie in not huge portions, but most of us hit the protein limit long before we hit the limit on calories. So by the end of the day a lot of people find themselves left with hundreds of calories to eat (you don't want to eat too little, it'll starve your body and that's BAD), but no more protein allowed. So the answer is high calorie low protein foods, which tends to be the purely sugary stuff.

Remember, you're only eating 2-3 times a day. And mostly no meat. And we're not adding dessert to a full meal like a normal person (which WOULD make you gain or prevent weight loss), we're eating dessert *instead* of a balanced meal. That's a very different thing.

[LacePrincess]

just with sweets check they are veggie...then scoff away ;-0

I don't think there are a lot of sweets with meat in them! ;)

Just joking. But you don't have to be vegan or anything. Some people want to avoid dairy for their girl sway, and that's fine, but a lot of us are eating an awful lot of ice cream and that's fine too. Ice cream is pretty low in protein. I'd probably avoid the cheesecake or peanut butter desserts (high protein) on any sort of regular basis but even cheesecake is fine once in awhile as a treat.

[LacePrincess]

I've lost 24lb by eating exactly this way! It does work, I promise you as long as you are eating within the LE limits. I never go above 30g fat a day and am staying around 1600cal to maintain my weight & BMI of 20.6 Low-fat cake and sweets with only calories in (i.e no gummy sweets with gelatine in them) help to bump your cals up without going over your protein and fat limits for the day.


I agree with this, but wanted to point out that you really don't have to get crazy over the details like gelatin. I really don't think you could measure protein intake in gelatin if you tried. If you prefer to cut out all animal byproducts that's fine, but PLEASE don't feel like you *have* to stress over little things like this. Gummy candies are FINE. Jello is okay! Heck, not counting calories is fine too as long as you're sensible and watch your weight.

Bottom line is, if it's starting to stress you out or feel like 'work', don't do it. Stress itself will ruin your sway. So be sensible, use your common sense. Just cutting out the snacking and going mostly vegetarian will already be a huge pink sway for you, you do NOT have to do every little thing suggested on GD. That'll only make you crazy and ironically sway blue anyways!

[fish2012]

sorry the gelatine thing isn't a vegatarian or protien thing it's cause it can increase testorone (may this is an ig thing?!) but i ate a ton of haribo before concieving my ds2 so i'm not risking it ;-0

[LacePrincess]

sorry the gelatine thing isn't a vegatarian or protien thing it's cause it can increase testorone (may this is an ig thing?!) but i ate a ton of haribo before concieving my ds2 so i'm not risking it ;-0

Ah, gotcha. Learn something everyday!

It's a matter of moderation though, I would think. As usual, don't go overboard on any one thing and you're fine, but don't go crazy trying to eliminate any one thing either.

[Dreamofpink]

I agree with this, but wanted to point out that you really don't have to get crazy over the details like gelatin. I really don't think you could measure protein intake in gelatin if you tried. If you prefer to cut out all animal byproducts that's fine, but PLEASE don't feel like you *have* to stress over little things like this. Gummy candies are FINE. Jello is okay! Heck, not counting calories is fine too as long as you're sensible and watch your weight.

Bottom line is, if it's starting to stress you out or feel like 'work', don't do it. Stress itself will ruin your sway. So be sensible, use your common sense. Just cutting out the snacking and going mostly vegetarian will already be a huge pink sway for you, you do NOT have to do every little thing suggested on GD. That'll only make you crazy and ironically sway blue anyways!

Yippee!! So I can eat my favourite dolly mixture sweets! I've been eating veggie sweets like jelly beans which really is no hardship, but I have a packet of my fav sweets calling my name in the cupboard.....will have to wait 'til tomorrow now as I've eaten my fill for the day. I've never been one for chewing gum, but now I can really understand the appeal of it. Mentos sugar-free gum is lovely in between or just after a meal as something to taste my mouth.

Thanks for your comments though Lace, appreciate it. I must admit I'm not stressing about little things like this as I'm so much more mellow since being on this diet. I did all my severe-stressing this time last year when on the Dutch diet and I wouldn't even use the same knife to eat from if I'd cut-up something 'not allowed' on my kids' plates!

It was hard today not scoffing lots of the gingerbread that we made for Xmas gifts (early I know, but parents going to visit family down south this week) and soem of my sis' birthday cake that I made for her. I allowed myself a couple of (little) mouthfuls of cake as I had to be happy that it was good enough to ice! I also tried a biscuit too, mmmmm!

[Dreamofpink]

sorry the gelatine thing isn't a vegatarian or protien thing it's cause it can increase testorone (may this is an ig thing?!) but i ate a ton of haribo before concieving my ds2 so i'm not risking it ;-0

This is what I thought too Fish, but perhaps I'll have my dolly mixtures as I'm in the 2ww, but then again I'm more than happy with my jelly beans and american hard gums! I must admit I'd stay away from jelly, don't think I like it enough to waste my calories on anyway!

[LacePrincess]

Dream - yes, I would say the cross contamination with the knife thing is probably taking things just a *touch* too far. ;) I get you though, being a fellow boy mom, LMAO!

[Dreamofpink]

Dream - yes, I would say the cross contamination with the knife thing is probably taking things just a *touch* too far. ;) I get you though, being a fellow boy mom, LMAO!

:rofl: At least I'm in great company on this site, hey?! :giggle: So glad I was totally over my sway-cession before I even found the LE diet. I think I've finally found the silver lining of STILL TTC a year later! I'm so chilled with it all now :bigsmile:

[atomic sagebrush]

sorry the gelatine thing isn't a vegatarian or protien thing it's cause it can increase testorone (may this is an ig thing?!) but i ate a ton of haribo before concieving my ds2 so i'm not risking it ;-0

Yeah, it ~can~ but the blue swayers have to drink whole entire packets 3x a day and even then it prob. doesn't make a superhuge difference.

[atomic sagebrush]

This is what I thought too Fish, but perhaps I'll have my dolly mixtures as I'm in the 2ww, but then again I'm more than happy with my jelly beans and american hard gums! I must admit I'd stay away from jelly, don't think I like it enough to waste my calories on anyway!

Avoiding the gelatin is one of the "can't hurt may help" sort of things.

They do have gummies without gelatin - look for "pectin" instead

[rainbowflower]

recent research I've done has shown that high sugar intake can raise testosterone quite a lot - I think that probably sways more than the short-term effect on blood glucose. Next time I sway I'll be cutting down on this.

[atomic sagebrush]

With this sway, if I ate any sweets it was usually at or around bedtime ( after dinner). Some milk chocolate or something yummy I baked that day ;)

Sweets alone (with no/low protein) at bedtime have an added advantage becasue your blood sugar will crash during the night when you're asleep and you'll miss it!

[atomic sagebrush]

Oh. My. Goodness. I did not know we were allowed to eat so much crap on this diet. How did I not know this before!? And before bed? That's like prime snack time for me. It makes a whole day of practically starving myself worthwhile if I know I can chomp on sugary treats at night! And cookies?? Did someone say cookies? And cake? I'm totally drooling here :)
\
crap is totally allowed. :agree: Worked for me!

[babygirl]

ok i am more confused than ever :worry: i thought i had it sorted in my head and now i feel like i got it all wrong. I have read and re read the foods but am totally lost. should i just avoid ALL meat in every shape and form and just eat veggies and pasta,rice small amount of bread. but small meals 2-3x/day.
The way most of you have said is how i have been eating for years, no breakfast crash and burn foods with the exception i would have meat. I have 6 boys:think: maybe i should just drop the meat and carry on colombus lol
whats a girl to do?

[black&gold]

sooooo happy to read this as I started to worry about my few candies for dessert after my 2 meals! I like the answer because I LOVE candy :)

[atomic sagebrush]

recent research I've done has shown that high sugar intake can raise testosterone quite a lot - I think that probably sways more than the short-term effect on blood glucose. Next time I sway I'll be cutting down on this.

I think it depends on the person - but yes, for those who may have some IR or PCOS tendencies, high carb intake may potentially sway blue. For others, they need the sugar to keep the weight on and so I don't want anyone to be afraid to include sugar so long as they do not have a PCOS diagnosis or reason to believe they may have it. Sugar did the trick for me.

[atomic sagebrush]

ok i am more confused than ever :worry: i thought i had it sorted in my head and now i feel like i got it all wrong. I have read and re read the foods but am totally lost. should i just avoid ALL meat in every shape and form and just eat veggies and pasta,rice small amount of bread. but small meals 2-3x/day.
The way most of you have said is how i have been eating for years, no breakfast crash and burn foods with the exception i would have meat. I have 6 boys:think: maybe i should just drop the meat and carry on colombus lol
whats a girl to do?

Yes, avoid all meat and eat less often. You can def. get a boy eating this way if your calorie, fat, protein intake is high and you eat fairly often. The only people who can't do this are those with insulin resistance and PCOS or tendencies that way, because their blood sugar tends to stay elevated a long time after eating.

[atomic sagebrush]

Also, everyone should realize that sugar/carbs adds up fast at 1500 cals...it's just not a lot of food if you ate pure carbs.

[myurkanin817]

Atomic is this something you think I can do? Eat one meal of rice or veggies & then right before bed time have some chocolate to raise but then drop my sugar levels?


I think it depends on the person - but yes, for those who may have some IR or PCOS tendencies, high carb intake may potentially sway blue. For others, they need the sugar to keep the weight on and so I don't want anyone to be afraid to include sugar so long as they do not have a PCOS diagnosis or reason to believe they may have it. Sugar did the trick for me.

[vilandra]

Hi everyone!

I am new to this site and I really love all the information I can find here. I started the LE diet a few days ago and it´s not easy for me because I used to be a huge snacker all day long... I also love sweets so this thread sounds great to me :-D
My question: My last "meal" of the day and my only sweet treat of the day is a cup of hot chocolate (made with low fat milk). I drink it at about 8 PM. I am delaying breakfast (not able to completely skip it at the moment, but working on it) and eat again between 10-11 A.M. Is my hot chocolate okay as a last "meal" of the day or should I try to find something else as it contains both carbs and protein (9 g)?

Thanks in advance!

[atomic sagebrush]

please bump this for me tomorrow!! thank u

[vilandra]

*bump* :-)

[atomic sagebrush]

LOL this was actually a much shorter q than I thought when I first read it.

No, that is perfectly fine and I always ate at about that time of day because I couldn't sleep otherwise.

[vilandra]

Thanks Atomic! I can´t sleep either if I am hungry. Skipping breakfast (or at least delaying it) is a lot easier to me.

[atomic sagebrush]

me too! I think the important thing (and this is what has been shown iin a couple studies as well) is that there's a nice long run with no food coming in. Regardless of time, 12-16 hours without eating seems to help improve insulin sensitivity and in animals has been shown to sway pink.