Could it really be from SUGAR?

I think by now we’ve all heard that sugar is at the heart of the preventable health diseases and the rise of obesity (especially childhood obesity) in our nation.

And let me tell you, I’ve had a 20 year love affair with sugar, mostly in the form of classic Coca-Cola. I know there are die-hard “Diet” drinkers, but I loved the real deal all the way. 🙂

I’ve had my moments where I broke the habit and was able to go Coke-free for perhaps a month or two, but always found my way back. And although I knew the negatives on the health side, it’s hard to take them seriously when you don’t currently have any health problems!

But I found myself not just loving Coke, it was adding large amounts of sugar and sweetners to my coffees (don’t even get me started on Starbucks…), chocolate, cake, brownies, cookies….etc. All the carbohydrates that also break down to sugars in their lowest form. So my diet as a whole was some healthy protein and vegetables for dinner, but almost every other time of day was filled with something that in one way or another contained sugar!

So enough was enough. I knew I needed to break this cycle plus wanted to shed a few extra pounds and knew that my love of sugar was standing in my way.

I needed to do something drastic.

I’m an all-or-nothing type of gal, so the guise of “moderation” was not going to cut it.

Then I found The Whole30. Awesome program. The premise is a total detox from sugar and carbohydrates (except what you’ll get in veggies and a little fruit) for a 30 day “whole food” eating plan. No counting calories. Just good, wholesome, non-processed, non-sugary food.

And since my husband and I love to cook, this forced us to take more control of our eating and actually prepare properly, as to not fall into last minute “I’m starving and in a hurry” binge eating.

And it’s been an incredible, very fulfilling and rewarding 30 days! But I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you I missed my sweets, and I would have loved to add sweetner to my now sugarless morning coffee, but I stayed strong.(I did however have a VERY VIVID chocolate covered donut dream about day 18 or so. Lol!)

So of course the day came when the 30 days was up, and you’re supposed to strategically reintroduce foods back into your diet one by one, to get a true gauge on how your body responds to each one, but I was just excited to have a cookie again!

(As I write this I realize all of these sweets and love of Coca-Cola probably make me sound like a crumb-covered Jabba-the-Hut, candy wrapper laden, sugar fanatic but I’m really only 5’7”, 145 pounds! Lol)

So I happily (I was almost giddy) dive into to my first snickerdoodle cookie. After 30 days of abstinence and since I said I’m an all-or-nothing gal, I didn’t stop there. True confession: my 1 cookie turned into 4, plus a burger with a King’s Hawaiian bun – and we know how sweet those buns are. Lol But let me tell you, I enjoyed every bite and didn’t feel guilty one bit!

I deserved it after-all, right?

Since I knew my glucose and insulin levels were now going crazy from 30 days of very mild activity, I expected to have a crazy child-like sugar rush, as if I was a kid on Halloween with no abandon, but it never came.

So I figured, “My body’s a champ! 30 days clean and no consequences from my sugar binge. Nice work!”

But boy was I wrong. (This scenario was last night, by the way.) And I didn’t realize what was coming today.

I woke up this morning and it was one of those mornings that I felt like I must have overslept because I felt so groggy, but when I looked at my clock, it was still only 7:47am. So I had had plenty of sleep. I figured I just needed to get going and eat some breakfast and I’d shake that feeling.

So I made my new morning ritual (thank you Whole30) of eggs with sauteed garlic, tomatoes and greens. Still no change. “No worries, I just need my morning coffee to get going” I thought. Headed off to my favorite local coffee shop and get “the usual.” Iced americano with almond mild, and cinnamon powder instead of sugar. I had actually become quite accustomed to this modification during the Whole30, and now I enjoy the flavor and don’t miss the sugar! Go figure! #cinnamonftw

But the morning caffeine still didn’t shake the grogginess. Two hours later, after I had seen two patients and driving around town (I’m a Doctor of Physical Therapy and make house calls) I was literally sitting in my car and my eyelids felt so heavy I wanted nothing more than to take a nap!

So that’s exactly what I did!

I drove to the beach and parked under the shade, tilted back the seat and was determined to nap until I could feel my energy return to a functioning level. I didn’t care how long that would take! Thirty-five minutes later I was finally able to open my eyes and not feel them immediately want to shut. I could finally muster up enough energy to think straight and felt somewhat “normal.”

I kept thinking maybe I just didn’t sleep well, maybe I was tossing and turning, maybe…..wait!

Was it the SUGAR???

It took me awhile to connect the dots of my crazy sugar binge the night before, and since I didn’t feel like I had a “sugar high” and wasn’t up all night hopped up on sugar, I didn’t put the two together initially.

My conclusion now is that my body had a longer delay in processing the sugar consumption, and what I had been experiencing all day was the effects of my glucose and insulin levels struggling to bring me back to normal ranges after I sabotaged them after 30 days of silence.

What an effect. My takeaway from today’s experience is that I used to go through the sugar cycle highs and lows on a daily, even hourly, basis (as most American’s do with our fast food and 3 o’clock cravings and ice cream desserts) but now my body had been stabilized and regulated by non-processed, non-dairy, non-sugar whole-food consumption, and it DID NOT like the reintroduction to my old ways. Well good!

I started the Whole30 to be a stark contrast to my typical ways, and I’ve loved the result. I love good homemade food, local produce, fresh fruit for dessert and yummy eggs in the morning. I know I won’t be a strict “no-sugar” consumer from here on out, but I’ve learned a valuable lesson. I didn’t realize how much my body had masked the internal ups and downs of my poor diet choices until they were stripped away leaving only that which nature provides in it’s fully natural offerings.

We have so much to be thankful for with the bounty of food and convenience that we get to enjoy here in America, and if we get back to basics and stop coating the natural goodness of what we eat by adding excess sugar, salt or fat to it, we’ll realize what God provides us is already amazing and doesn’t need to be filtered or altered to be enjoyed!

Here’s to better habits, less sugar and more energy!

Take the 30 day challenge for yourself! http://whole30.com/

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