TRUTH OR MYTH...YOU BE THE JUDGE

 

Sometimes I think trying to make the right choices concerning my health is going to end up killing me. You would think trying to remove sugar from my diet would be an easy thing, but I'm finding it more challenging than I first thought.
 
Oh, I can take care of the obvious. I don't have candy or sugary drinks in the house. You won't find jams or jellies or powdered donuts in my pantry. Those are the easy things to turn my back on. I've always been more of a salty eater than a sweet one so removing them from my diet was easy peasy.

It's those hidden sugars I'm having trouble with. So I turned to the Internet for answers. And ended up more confused than ever.

I stumbled across an article talking about ten sugar myths. The more I read, the more I thought the article was full of baloney. Either I'm misunderstanding the entire angle Mr. Lyons is trying to convey in his rant about sugar not being all that bad for our health or he really is just writing hogwash in an attempt to gain a bit of publicity for himself. 

Either way, I've fed into it by even posting the link to his article here, but I'm really curious to see what people think about his thoughts on sugar and diet. You be the judge.

Am I wrong?? My search for answers continues...

DERAILING MY SUGAR FIX...

So, in my last post I said I think I might have a way to derail my sugar fix. I have other medical issues to consider and they all impact my eating habits. Remember those little steps I said I needed to take?

Little step number one:

Identify the problem. The problem is that I probably have consumed enough sugar over the years to sludge up my bloodstream to just short of concrete. THAT'S a terrifying thought. But I believe it's never too late to turn around and head in a healthier direction.

Little step number two:

Start searching for information that will help me reach that goal of breaking that sugar cycle. The first article I stumbled across is one from Dr. Mark Hyman's blog.

I started reading and thought to myself...this guy makes sense to me. He might just be talking smack, but it's smack I like. Here is a link to the article I read:

http://drhyman.com/blog/2014/03/06/top-10-big-ideas-detox-sugar/

He also wrote a book called the 10 Day Detox Diet.

I can buy this book and fully commit to taking charge of my life. But I'm scared. When it comes to losing weight I've dealt with so many medical issues which complicate the weight loss that I'm also afraid to even hope this will help me.

Little step number three:

Decide on a course of action.

Oh, should I take this little step? Will it be what I'm looking for??

What would YOU do?



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316230022/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A21UNXQ0T4N38

I NEVER REALIZED I WAS ADDICTED...

Did you know that sugar is FOUR TIMES more addictive to our brains than COCAINE?

I read that statistic in a doctor's report the other day and I think that's just insane!

When I was younger I never thought to myself, "When I grow up, I'm going to be a drug addict." But now I am an adult and I am pumping into my body a "drug" more dangerous for me than an illegal substance killing thousands of people every year. And I do it with a smile on my face.

Did you also know when the food companies try to reduce the fat content in their food to make it more appealing to the public perception, they will add SUGAR as their main substitute for fat? And that once the sugar enters your bloodstream it causes your whole system to become inflamed to a point that, over time, it will cause your body to destroy itself?

All from a little bit of sweetener added to my daily cup of tea.

I promised myself I would take baby steps this time. I promised myself I would be honest with myself and so I must look myself in the mirror and announce to the world what my heart knew all along...

I'M ADDICTED TO SUGAR!

There. I feel better now. Now I just need to figure out a way to break my habit and I think I might have found a way...

THE FIRST FIVE

 

I found this flag somewhere on the internet. It actually belongs to the people of the Gambier Islands but I think I will borrow it for now. I know nothing about the Gambier people but if this island is like most places, there was struggle in the beginning to grow the culture which lives there now. Two steps forward, one step back sort of pace as the roots of one civilization dug in and began to grow.

I like the look of this flag...five little stars to represent the start of something bigger. Just like the first five pounds I've now lost since beginning this journey to a healthier me. No, it's not been easy. For me, food is tied to my emotions and it's been a roller coaster week where that is concerned. My boss came down with the flu and I ended up running the entire school by myself for the week. It's not that I thought myself incapable of handling it. I felt bad my best friend was so ill and I'm really happy now he's on the mend. It's just I am responsible for soooo many things in my life (even if it's of my own choosing) and being fully responsible for the school, even for only a week, put more emotional stress on me than I would have liked. 

The old ME would have come home every night and dove into chocolate...or maybe chips. I typically use food to put a damper on my stress induced emotions but, at least for this past week, I didn't. I had already cleaned out my cupboards so when I got home, the only indulgent food in the pantry was the peanut butter and sugar free strawberry jam I eat for breakfast. Not exactly the stuff of binging fantasies so I drank a mug of hot green tea with Splenda instead and watched some TV til the urge to eat ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING passed.

It's a baby step for me...this purging my system of the craving for sugar. I watched a documentary recently on sugar addition in America and it said our brains react in the same way to the "high" from sugar as it does from the "high" of cocaine or heroin. That's kinda scary when I KNOW those drugs will kill you so just what is SUGAR doing to me???

So wave on little five-star flag. Wave on for the first five pounds I've said goodbye to on the road to a healthier me and may many, many more stars be added to my little flag in the days to come!