Why do those who can moderate have to be so damned condescending to those who cannot? For me sugar has a one/two punch that is not really covered in the discussion. Yes, I've always loved the 'wow' factor of sweets. Who doesn't? But I also think that I have always had a weak, slow, or otherwise muted sense of satiety, which makes it more difficult to stop once I start eating (sugar or anything else). So sugar + a broken "off switch" is a bad combination. For me it was a recipe for weight gain and increasing metabolic problems.

My #2 punch was for carbs in general (including but not limited to the sweet stuff) and what those foods did to my blood sugar once insulin resistance entered the picture. Eating carb loaded food from breakfast until bedtime kept my insulin levels high, so my own body fat was not available for use as fuel. My energy lived an died by what I put in my mouth. Blood sugar and energy swings amplified. I was increasingly drawn to the foods that would get my BG and my energy back up... more carbs. One problem built upon another and the whole thing snowballed out of control. I don't think all of this can be construed as psychological. There are a lot of physical/chemical/biological process going on that build upon the thing that started it all... Yum, that sugary treat tastes good. Ultimately I wound up extremely sensitive to carbs. After eating even a small amount of any food high on the glycemic index I'd get immediate BG spike. More insulin to the rescue! That would result in a rapid BG crash within 30 minutes of eating. Spiking BG feels good (an even bigger WOW factor). Crashing BG feels horrible (chain me to the floor or I'll eat that 2nd or 3rd donut) and low blood sugar left me with a nagging pull to go back to the pantry for more food. Over time the brain learns how to fix crashing and low blood sugar issues... MORE SUGAR. If that is not addiction, I don't know what is.

So this is the thing that a skinny 'moderator' who has never had a problem with sugar will never understand. They have never experienced what I experience from eating the same foods. Rather than see things from another POV, many take the holier than thou approach and spew condemnation. I see it like alcoholism. We all start off at the same place. Over time, some can moderate and others develop problems that lead to a true addiction. But unlike crack cocaine, the full fledged addiction does not happen with the first puff. It is a process over time.

So the problem with me, Jean, and a multitude of others, isn't that we are weak and undisciplined. The problem is the SAD food environment coupled with bad dietary advice. We were told that the key to success is 'everything in moderation'. That is bad advice for me. I wanted to believe it but I could never make that advice work. I had to find another key to success. For me that is absence. Now that I know what I must do it is on me to abide. But it is more than a little unfair to arm people with bad food and bad advice, then blame them for their failings.