Julia E Hubbel
Nov 4 · 1 min read

Large bingo. When you and I choose an artificially sweetened goodie over an apple or a pear or a banana, it really does make much difference from a caloric standpoint. It does from a quality of food standpoint, and that’s the whole issue here to my mind. When I moved myself off donuts (well, not entirely but mostly) to pineapple and berries, the difference over time was profound. It wasn’t just the weight that fell off, it was how I felt over all. That was many years ago, more than 33 to be exact. One of the obvious benefits is that after releasing some eighty pounds they haven’t returned.

I haven’t lost my taste for ubersweet. However, because there is such confusion around sweeteners I choose Stevia. When it comes to the occasional goodie, I have a big bowl of apples.

Yeah, on occasion I succumb to a Snickers bar or a donut or a cookie. But the retraining of the reward system in its entirety has a lot to do with long term success. It isn’t so much the sweeteners per se, for my part, I think it has far more to do with redirecting our expectations to love what is natural, full of fiber and really good for us.

Julia E Hubbel

Written by

Prize-winning author, veteran, adventure traveler, animal masseuse, athlete, international traveler/speaker. Perpetually curious.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade