It's true, a metamorphosis too place, changing into a lab mouse this week, and have some pretty remarkable results for you in my one-person-experiment. Don't I look like it??? Above pic from St. Patty's Day, just to share giving you a visual! You can't see my adorable metallic shamrock tank top. Believe me, it was adorable. For those of you who are long-time readers or followers, you know I do not eat sugar as a rule. Yes, I will eat sugar added to foods, and have no moral opposition to sugar in moderation. However, I have preached for the last 13 years that sugar almost cannot be moderated - at least not by mere humans. My patients used to comment "I can't just NOT eat sugar forever?!" Well, maybe not, but you sure as heck can try. The reason....sugar begets sugar...or at the very least begets hunger....and subsequently more food.
I found the girl child's halloween candy that we were supposed to donate. It's a huge amount, and I put it in the closet out of sight (b/c no child should be eating this kind of volume, even over months) and forgot about it. I took it out last weekend, and thought I would do a little experiment. Normally I eat no sugar. So I decided to begin picking a few small pieces to eat and see what happened. I started with about four starburst. Then...the next day I ate a micro bag of peanut M&M's. Yum. Then the third and final day of my experiment, I ate a few small tootsie rolls and a roll of smarties. I have completely changed my routine with these few tiny choices. Yesterday I felt hungry more, but still okay. By today I want to eat earlier in the day, and more food....directly related to my body's reaction to the sugar. I don't eat much, that's true, but I do not walk around hungry all the time, or else I would eat more. I hate that feeling, and I maintain my weight because I don't eat the refined carbs that make us want to never STOP eating.
Well, it's over. I know that eating sugar as part of my diet (in the form of candy, cakes, etc.) isn't a feasible choice if I want to maintain the weight I am right now. It also isn't feasible for your lifestyle if you want to get fit or lose weight. It showed me firsthand that my hardcore lifestyle is a lifestyle that actually is a lot easier to maintain than one that includes candy and desserts. Like I said, if I wanted a spoon of ice cream at a party, I will take it occasionally...but I don't make it part of my life because I refuse to walk around starving all the time. A food plan low in refined carbohydrates and high in lean proteins and non-starchy veggies actually sets you up for success....because the hunger just isn't there. I don't have the cravings for tootsie rolls (like I have right now) when I am compliant with my normal diet. If you don't believe it, try it yourself. Seriously, make yourself your own lab rat and join me. I can't wait to hear what you find. I want to ask readers what topics they would like to her about for my triathlete guest blogger. I'm thinkin' how to train for your first 5k race??? One of my besties is doing his first 5K in June and I am wondering how many of you will join in? I am going to run it if my hip holds out, but I'm more excited for others than myself in this journey. This weekend I'm going to post my meal plan for the week with downloadable shopping lists for everyone. What fun, it may actually make me more organized just putting it out there. Photos to come!
xoxo Have a fabulous Friday.
Last post two recipes for hi carb cookies, followed by this one saying don't eat em.
I'm feeling conflicted
Posted by: Scott | March 25, 2011 at 05:05 PM
You know, that's me Scott. I'm conflicting. I thought of that as I posed them the other day. I guess the high-carb recipes are for my athlete son, and junk-addicted husband who incidentally is doing a duathlon this week. With that kind of working out daily, these calories are a drop on the bucket. Good point tho, but already realized I am a bag of mixed messages. ;) This weekend I'm determined to share my diet-conscious go-to weekday recipes. Wanna donate one of yours?
Posted by: Barbie | March 25, 2011 at 05:22 PM
I'm happy to give a recipe
I think its evolution and DNA, homo sapien that liked fruit had an advantage, all those vitamins! But with it came the sweet tooth. Now no matter how hard we try we are drawn back to the sugar.
Posted by: Scott | March 25, 2011 at 06:48 PM