Wellness Wednesday
There is one thing you can be doing right now that will have instant positive effects on your health and wellness. In less than 12 hours of doing this one simple thing your body will begin to heal itself, reduce inflammation, stabilize metabolism, stop fat creation, normalize hormone levels, increase positive mood energy and all in all make you feel better.
Have you guessed what it is?
STOP EATING SUGAR!
Stop eating refined and processed sugar. As a matter of fact, try to eliminate all sugar from your diet.
I know, easier said than done. Trust me, I totally get it. Sugar is everywhere. They put it into everything because humans are predisposed to becoming addicted to it.
I know exactly when I realized that sugar probably wasn’t good for me (for those faint of heart, this might be a paragraph to skip). When my son was born just a little over 13 years ago we decided to be like the majority of most American parents and have him circumcised. As a combat medic and nurse in the Army, I felt like I had seen it all and could handle just about anything when it came to medical stuff. I guess I was wrong when it came to my baby boy. He wasn’t more than 2 weeks old when it was time for his appointment. I had falsely assumed that there would be some semblance to a surgical procedure for something as great as the removal of foreskin. But I was mistaken. It was barbaric! I’m still traumatized by it. We were in the ‘normal’ exam room when the doctor walked in, very gracious, and said, “Are we ready?” I thought we were. Where we the drugs? The anesthesia? Nurses? Support team? Crash cart, for God’s sake? Nothing. The doctor pulled a sugar packet out of her coat pocket and opened it up. Placed the medieval surgical devices on the counter and picked up my son. I was getting a little nervous to say the least. She took the Binky from his mouth, dipped it in the sugar packet and placed it back into my son’s mouth. Everything else happened in a flash. Next thing you know his foreskin was lopped off and there was faint cry from my son. I couldn’t believe it. The sugar was the drug. The narcotic. It gave him such a HIGH to have pure cane sugar for the first time that he barely felt the pain of it all.
Sugar as an anesthesia. Crazy.
It numbs the brain. We are addicted to it. And it robs our bodies. It forces our metabolism to convert energy to fat as opposed to using fat as energy. It causes inflammation. Diabetes. It’s linked to Alzheimer’s. It’s insidious.
So, how to do you give sugar up?
It’s not easy. But it can be done. You can kick the habit. You can reprogram yourself to not crave it. It’s one day at a time. For me I had to switch foods out. And I weaned myself off of it gradually. Start slowly. Stop drinking soda (for so many reasons). Stop adding sugar to your coffee (try maple syrup, it’s really good). Don’t buy foods with added sugar. This is the first step. You’re going to have to start reading labels. Looking at the nutritional statement and the ingredient list.
Every now and then you will probably slip and have some sugar. It’s okay. Just get back on the wagon. I slipped up a little today and had a few bites of the Very Berry Sundae from Costco. I don’t feel guilty. I don’t feel bad. It tasted great. But I didn’t eat the whole thing. I had a few bites. And now I am satiated and don’t need anything for quite a while. This isn’t about depravity. It’s about changing.
You can do this. Ask me how. I can help. I’ve been where you are now.
I have faith. I believe in you. You can make this one change. Just think of all the benefits it will bring you.