Peeps, I am exhausted. EXhausted I say. I have been uncharacteristically exhausted for the last week. I was wondering why this might be and I think I have the answer. Sugar. Sugar. Sugar. We lurch from one sugar laden holiday to the next in this society. It is catching up with me.
My body cannot process sugar well. It gives me the shakes, it gives me terrible stomach woes, it makes me irritable, it exhausts me. Yet I continue to shovel it in. Now considering sugar is prevalent even when you aren't aware of it, shoveling massive quantities of it into your maw on a daily basis, knowingly is very self-destructive behaviour.
I believe going cold turkey off obvious sugar is the way it's going to have to be for me. No more chocolate, candy, cakes, pies and various yummies. NO MORE I SAY. (Are you reading this Aaron??!!! Do not tempt me, boy!!!!)
I find it interesting to note that when I finally lost my accumulated four baby weight a few years ago, it was at just this time of year (to the day really) that the process began. I suddenly resolved that the sugar must go and the rest would follow. (There must be something about Valentine's Day that just finally puts me over the edge). From that day forth, I got very serious about consuming no sugar and sure enough, the rest did follow. (Now don't get me wrong-it took a psychotic determination, great deprivation and huge amounts of exercise along with the no sugar to lose 40 or so lbs in 3 or so months-and I do not recommend my methodology,) but eschewing sugar was definitely the first step and I think it gave me the energy to pursue the psychotic level of exercise and contributed to considerably less cravings in general.
Last night I was watching this thing on the travel channel, ( it was some tribe going about their business in some remote area of the world where it is apparently sexy to put a huge chunk of wood through your lower lip and chin), and what struck me was that the adult members I saw of the tribe were very rotund. They were fat. And they had multiple rolls everywhere (I know this as they were naked). I am perplexed as to how they could be fat since the documentary was pointing out what an enormous amount of work went into creating a small amount of something edible from some really un-fatty looking root thing. Their kids were scrawny though. Maybe they eat the fatter kids. Interesting. ANYWAY, I paid close and careful attention to the roly poly matriarch's thighs and buttock area and noted NO CELLULITE. I have a very non-scientifically supported theory that the hideously ugly CELLULITE comes from processed food and sugar. This woman was fat, but the fat was smooth and uncomplicated. That kind of fat is easy to lose and even when it is around, infinitely less objectionable then the *gag*, *puke* pockets of cellulite.
Did you know that sugar also wreaks havoc on the immune system? My other highly non-scientific theory is that the reason kids get super sick en masse around the beginning of November, is not just because the weather gets cold and they are locked up back in school with other snotty kids. It is because around the end of October they started glutting themselves on all that Halloween candy! And don't forget all the crap that comes with the multiple Halloween parties for a full week or more preceding that spooky night. So the immunity they would have to ward off the other kids' germs gets destroyed at just the time that everyone starts huddling together. It the Perfect Germ Storm. I'm telling you, I'm right. Watch for yourself this October/November. It is scientifically proven though, that sugar drastically suppresses immunity.
So anyway I'm thinking that for the sake of not feeling like a 98 year old woman at the age of 33, I am going to have to say goodbye to the sugar. There are about a thousand other compelling reasons to do so (or at least 124). Now don't overestimate my commitment here. I am not going to get completely crazy about it ferreting out every gram of sugar in every piece of fruit and so forth, but no more overt sugar consumption at least until I am feeling more like myself. Hopefully at that stage I will have lost all desire to self destruct in this way again.
Anyone wish to join me with my quest?
PS: This does not mean I endorse fake forms of sugar. Splenda, Sweet 'n Low and such freak me out big time. Aspartame is straight up poison, so if you are kidding yourself that you are doing something good by drinking the diet soda, let me assure you that you are not. To the contrary. Go with the real sugar or nothing at all. The fake stuff is freaky deaky. Trust me. I am not a Dr. but I watch them on TV all the time.
PPS: My husband just walked through the door with the shipment of Girls Scout cookies. Out! Out! Damned Thin Mint!
