Sugar Did That!

I have recently become fascinated by nutrition even though I considered myself a fairly healthy eater. However, as a pediatric nurse, I have seen an increase in extremely obese children and personally, I want to live a healthy, fit lifestyle.  I have watched documentaries and read multiple books and articles on the subject. All of this lead my husband and I to decide to do a 2 weeks challenge in which we ate nothing with preservatives and nothing with sugar of any kind other than fruit. That meant no pasta, bread, desserts, store bought spaghetti sauce, most condiments, etc.  What I was not prepared for was the effects of cutting out sugar and artificial products.

    
1. SLEEP!!! Both my husband and I work 12 hour night shifts, so sleeping during the day with the sun up, neighbors mowing their lawns, dogs barking, garbage trucks, solicitors knocking on the door…anyways, sleep is always impossible. Now put two restless sleepers in a queen bed…needless to say, neither of us got any sleep. This is how it had been for the past 3 years and we just assumed it was because we worked night. Nope! About 1 week into our challenge, we were sleeping completely through from the time our heads hit the pillow until our alarms sounded it. It was a deep, restful sleep. I kid you not, that never happened before (unless we took an Advil PM, which we sometimes did).

  2. Since we slept so well, we felt so rested when we woke. We had so much energy at work whereas before we would start dragging around 1AM and only be half way through the shift. I was wide awake all night and even had more patience for my patients and their families.

  3.  I was satisfied after eating and did not feel hungry again for hours.

  4.  I began to crave real food and fruit actually tasted sweet…almost too sweet.  Our dinner plates were actually colorful and looked appealing. Ever notice how plain a plate of fettuccini alfredo looks or a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios?

   5. Weight Loss and muscle definition. My husband lost 12 pounds in those 2 weeks and both of us had more definition.

  6.  Ever since I have known my husband, he has always gotten sick in January. Every year without fail. I attributed it to his job as police officer where he is outside on cold, wet traffic stops then back into a warm car repeatedly throughout the night. However, this year he has not had one little sniffle or sore throat and the only difference has been our diet.

  7. My joint pain has disappeared! I love running and high-intensity workouts and as a result I often push myself too far. Since before thanksgiving, I had been struggling with pain in my right leg, foot, and ankle.  I had tried everything to relieve the discomfort-rest, ice, ace wrap, Motrin. Nothing seemed to help. However, about 10 days into the challenge, the pain was gone. I continue to run (up to 9 miles) and still did not have the pain I had when I was only running 6 miles. My husband had also stopped complaining about his knee pain as well.

 There were some downsides too.

1.       After 2 weeks, we were somewhat bored of having eggs for breakfast. I guess there are worse problems to have.

2.        I still craved pasta and desserts and would even dream about my favorite foods.  However after eating them when the challenge was over, I learned I was not missing a thing!

3.       The biggest negative for me was the lack of energy I had when working out. It was difficult to accomplish that 6 miles and even harder to complete 9 miles without carbs.

After my 2 week challenge, I decided that I earned a break and so I broke down and ate a sugar-cinnamon bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. Once I finished the bagel, I was still so hungry and the worst part was that I was back to another restless “night” sleep. Additionally, my husband and I went out for a date night to an Italian restaurant and followed that up with dessert at Cheesecake Factory. BIG MISTAKE!!! Overall, we felt horrible. I definitely did not feel satisfied. My stomach was killing me and I began getting a slight headache. My husband actually complained of blurred vision after finishing his dessert. Within 15 minutes of us being home, we were sound asleep (we had only been awake for few hours as it was)…sugar coma!!

I was completely shocked at how much these foods can POISON your body. In the future, I will continue to eat clean however, I will add brown rice, quinoa, and oats back into our diet so that we have the energy we need to workout. The overall sense of well-being is so worth it. As far as desserts go (I have a sweet tooth that takes so much DISCIPLINE to control), I will attempt to only eat things that I make at home because I know they will not contain artificial ingredients. I will also strictly limit those times. There are plenty of healthier desserts such as banana ice cream, baked cinnamon apples, homemade quinoa oat bars or avocado chocolate mousse.

FYI: Most people do not realize that when they eat pasta and bread (except breads such as Ezekiel  products)  it is quickly broken down into sugar (high glycemic index), which causes a fast release of insulin. It is insulin that causes excesses sugar to be stored as fat. Not exactly what you want to happen if you’re looking to lose weight. Plus there is no nutritional value in those products. There is a compound in grains that prevent the absorption of important minerals. So do not let the package fool you when it says it contains vitamins and minerals because your body won’t be able to use them. What you eat will either be beneficial for your health or detrimental, though you may not see these effects today or tomorrow, there will be long term consequences.

Books I suggest:

1.       The Daniel Plan by Rick Warren, Daniel Amen, and Mark Hyman, M.D.

2.       It starts with food by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig

Documentary I suggest:

1.       Fed Up (released 2014) Excellent!!

We ate plenty of meats, seafood, eggs, dairy, nuts, fruit and vegetables. Look how colorful! 

Avocado and Mozzarella topped chicken with broccoli and a mixed green salad (balasamic dressing)

Venison burgers with cheese, spinach, and guacamole. Cucumber and onion salad. Side of sweet potato fries and homemade ranch.

Scrambled eggs with spinach, green pepper, cherry tomatoes, and ham. Half a banana.