Vibrant Living: The Sugar Drug

Since it’s now the middle of February and most of us are already losing steam on our good intentions, I thought I’d share a little inspiration from my past experience.

During the end of high school, I began to struggle with my weight after abruptly quitting ballet. Ballet had been my daily routine for ten years, and after stopping something like that, it was difficult to change eating habits that had become second nature to me. Rigorous dancing meant LOTS of food. I loved food; who doesn’t?

After quitting, I had to come up with a plan to maintain my weight without the intense exercise I had been used to. This was not easy. It took me a few years to figure it out. I tried everything, from calorie counting to fad diets. But everything left me frustrated with no results. Where was the answer?

During this time, my mom became really interested in nutrition. She had struggled with different health issues over the years which pushed her to find answers. So she began sharing her knowledge with me and I realized that maybe the answer to weight loss had more to do with real (as opposed to fake) food than I thought. After a couple years of no results, I stumbled across a book by Sarah Wilson called I Quit Sugar. At first, it sounded crazy to me, “What kind of person could really live without sugar?” But as I read what she had to say, a light went on in my head and I realized that this might be the answer I had been looking for. Her book gave practical advice on how to slowly cut out sugar from your diet and eventually get to the point of rarely craving it.

At this point I knew I had to try it, so I did a month long experiment of cutting out sugar. Even after one month I saw huge improvements. Not only was I losing weight, but I had less emotional mood swings, I had more energy and wasn’t as lethargic as I had been. My acne started to clear up and I didn’t have the intense craving for sweets like I used to. I couldn’t believe what a difference it was making.

After that, losing the weight I wanted was so much easier. I was able to control what I ate without “falling off the wagon” so much. I learned that sugar really is an addiction; it keeps us from having control over what we eat because it starts to control us. I felt free.

I went on to learn that most grains also act like sugar in the body and started looking into the Paleo lifestyle. I found a blog called Beyond Diet that really gave me the knowledge and motivation for the way I eat now. This was finally the answer. I no longer had to obsessively count calories, feel guilty about the things I ate and constantly feel discouraged about not making progress.

Now when I eat sugar, I feel terrible. I still eat small amounts every now and then, but mostly natural sources like honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar. My body’s used to not having it anymore, so it doesn’t react well when I start eating it again. This is a good thing though, because now it’s so much easier to resist the bad foods. I also don’t feel deprived at all, since I’ve learned how many amazing things there are to eat that make me feel great! It's like I can taste flavors again too. It’s really all about having the knowledge and changing your habits.

I know this can still seem pretty extreme for some, but I wanted to share my experience because it was so life-changing for me. I never thought I could do it, until I tried. And now I’m not constantly obsessing about weight loss or food; I’m free to enjoy it and not let it control me. Food is a pleasurable, wonderful thing again instead of a burden