Sugar Part 1

Sugar and I had a love-hate relationship. I craved it endlessly, and always gave in to that craving. How could I ever give it up when it made me so happy? Well, it made me happy initially. About an hour later, however, my blood sugar would crash, I would become depressed, muddled, anxious and, if I really had a lot of it, I also would become nauseated. (Interestingly and likely not coincidentally, these were all the same symptoms I experienced with gluten.) I would hate myself and swear I needed to stop, but before long that craving would return and I would give in all over again.

Cutting gluten in 2013 had greatly lessened the above symptoms but did not get rid of them entirely. Unfortunately, during this time my sugar intake had skyrocketed as I basically used it as a gluten replacement. I found myself buying gluten-free cake and cookie mixes, candy and various other treats, convincing myself I could eat them guilt-free because they were gluten-free.

Then in 2014 I began reintroducing gluten, adding insult to injury. I even reached the point that summer of eating four s’mores every night before going to bed. That’s right. I kept a supply of graham crackers, Hershey’s chocolate and marshmallows and would microwave it to make it soft and melty. I was half-heartedly still avoiding gluten and rationalized that graham crackers were small and thin and wouldn’t affect me in the way pizza, pasta or doughnuts would.

And this was only my before-bed dessert. My coworkers regularly brought in goodies to share, (“I can have one cookie/cupcake without the gluten affecting me”), I snacked on candy throughout the day, actually always keeping a big bag of almond M&M’s in my purse so they were always within reach (“But they’re not so bad; they’re mostly almond, and they’re gluten-free!) and any time I had to stop at a grocery for any reason after work, I always picked up some kind of chocolatey something, frequently one of my all-time favorites, the Snicker’s ice cream bar, for the drive home. Don’t even get me started on ice cream, my one true weakness that continues to this day. Long story short, I was a sugary mess.

Is it any wonder I was pushing 200 pounds and my size 14 clothes were becoming dangerously tight by the second half of 2014? I felt terrible, and I knew I was staring down the barrel of diabetes. I knew I had to change, that only I could stop this in its tracks. I hated what I saw every time I looked into the mirror — not just my size, but the dark circles under my eyes; my sallow, unhealthy skin tone, texture and coloring; and my thinning and graying hair — and I avoided the scale like the plague.

I had never been one for new year’s resolutions, especially one so cliche as losing weight and improving my health. But on Jan. 1, 2015, my new journey began. Instead of setting my goal as a vague and sure-to-fail “eating healthier,” it was very specific. I again would eliminate all gluten and I would limit my added-sugar — that is, any sugar that does not occur naturally in a certain food — to 25 grams per day, the amount recommended for women. Everything else was fair game, including foods with naturally occurring sugar, such as fruits, vegetables, dairy and nuts. I didn’t count calories, and I didn’t limit my portions. I wanted to make sure I was never hungry to help keep cravings at bay.

Amazingly my willpower held out. I definitely craved sugar at first and went through a withdrawal of fidgety anxiousness and volatile moods followed by a dragging tiredness. This only lasted a few days, perhaps a week at most, however, and somehow I was able to stay strong and not give in. Afterward, saying no to sweets became easier. Don’t get me wrong, the desire never leaves. To this day I fight an internal battle whenever I see or smell a treat. But it does become easier to say no once you’re past the addiction. Though I’ve never been an alcoholic, I imagine the process is very similar and they must deal with the same struggle every time they are around alcohol.

I obsessively counted added-sugar grams, making sure I trimmed my daily amount to 25. (To put that amount into perspective, 4 grams of sugar equals 1 teaspoon and is considered one serving.) Whenever I was faced with an item that I knew contained sugar but didn’t have a nutritional label, I didn’t eat it. Some foods, such as yogurt, had both naturally occurring- and added-sugars and until recently, food manufacturers didn’t have to differentiate on the label how much was added and how much wasn’t, so I guessed. I looked at how many grams of sugar were in plain yogurt and did the math. If the total number was too high and I didn’t know the break down, I wouldn’t eat it. If it was relatively low but I still didn’t know, I would just count all or most toward my daily allotment.

Looking back, I still don’t know how I managed it, but I did. The weight just began to melt away. It really was relatively easy, because I never deprived myself of other loves — such as meat and dairy — and was never hungry. If I was hungry, I ate. Simple as that. I ate meat, dairy, fruit, veggies and nuts to my heart’s content. As for fluids, I drank (and still do drink) only plain water and decaffeinated teas sweetened with Stevia (roughly 100-110 total ounces each day). I’ll have more on water intake in the future.

Peanut butter turned out to be one of my biggest saving graces — not just any peanut butter but the all-natural kind with only roasted peanuts and salt on the ingredients list. Every time I craved a sweet, I would turn to my jar of peanut butter. My favorite is Smucker’s Organic Creamy Peanut Butter. I kept a jar in my desk at work and one at home. Although peanuts are actually legumes (any dry fruit contained in a pod, such as peas) and not tree nuts and so are higher in starchy carbs and should be avoided, the butter provided the perfect transition snack and amazingly helped knocked out my sweet cravings.

Cutting added-sugar became so easy that by May I felt 25 grams was too much. I decided to cut it to no more than 5 grams per day and continue that to this day, most days having none at all. I do allow myself occasional splurge days (usually the main holidays and other family gatherings), but afterward I get right back on track. The weight continued to disappear and by the end of 2015, I had dropped 35 pounds, reaching my goal weight of 160 pounds/size 10. My complexion brightened and, amazingly, my hair not only returned to the thickness it was when I was a teenager, it also became increasingly wavy and even a bit curly. That was quite a shock for someone who’s always had straight hair.

Simply by cutting gluten and limiting my added-sugar intake, all of my aforementioned symptoms — foggy brain, forgetfulness, anxiety, depression, etc., 100 percent disappeared. I can’t explain the euphoria of seeing life through a fully clear and happy lens for the first time, made all the better because the new-found health and happiness were brought on by natural, healthy means and not by the unnatural highs of addicting foods or medication.

After reading Dr. Dale Bredesen’s “The End of Alzheimer’s,” in 2017, I was blown away to learn these symptoms I had been experiencing were likely the earliest steps toward cognitive decline. The thought both terrified and thrilled me. Thank God I had taken my health into my own hands and turned things around. How wonderful and empowering to know we all have the ability, no matter our age, to change our course in life from one of disease to one of health and happiness.

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