http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

This is an amazing video by Dr. Lustig on the insidious food additive, high fructose corn syrup, or HFCS. It's long, but worth the effort to anyone who has a desire to stop sugar.

Day 2

I'm re-reading Connie Bennett's book, Sugar Shock. In the foreword by Dr. Nicholas Perricone, he says that most of his patients do best with an 80/20 approach to sugar. That is, they eat healthily 80 percent of the time, allowing themselves to indulge 20% of the time. But, he says, he doesn't recommend this 80/20 approach to people with a compelling reason not to eat sugar, such as diabetes or hypoglycemia. Those people react to sugar the way an alcoholic does to alcohol. Even a small amount--one taste--leads to a second, third, fourth, and ultimately, a binge. That's me.

For so many years, I've been trying to find that "easier, softer way." Trying to find balance. Trying to "control" it. It doesn't work. It doesn't work. It doesn't work.

Normally, I'm starved within two hours of eating breakfast, even though my typical breakfast is "healthy." Old fashioned oatmeal, milk, a boiled egg, banana. Today, I pile-drove water--3 liters in the morning, and had only the oatmeal and some melon and berries, and I honestly wasn't that hungry at lunchtime. I had an apple and some strawberries this afternoon, and was fine until dinnertime, which today didn't come until about 9:30.

I've got to be paranoid about the sugar. Scott made spaghetti--white pasta (out), ground beef, and canned diced tomatoes. Checked the label on the can of tomatoes. Sugar in it. Out. So, I stuck to the boiled cabbage with a piece of cheese, and another apple.

Basically, it's water, whole grains, fruits and vegetables for today. My beloved whole-grain pita bread and Wasa crackers are out. Can't give up my oatmeal or brown rice, though. Even though Connie says we should for the first three weeks.

One day at a time

It is 10:00, I'm in bed, and the kitchen is closed. I made it through this first day without the stuff, and I'm fine. I drank lots of water. Lots of it, like 5 or 6 liters. My brain tells me I'm hungry, when I'm really dehydrated. It boggles my mind to learn how much water it takes to get me hydrated. My measure of this is how often I have to pee. Once isn't enough--I want my pee to run clear and to "rinse and repeat" at least three times. Then I've had enough water. The other thing is to be prepared--take snacks with me so I have something to eat when I get hungry. That way, I'm not tempted to go to the corn station for candy and cakes.

The quick carbs are insidious--they sneak their way into my body and then I crave the hard stuff. Something like some matzo or pita bread. Or a banana or milk. They're not "sweet," but they spike my blood sugar and get me hungry. Today I had apples, chicken, green beans, brown rice, a cubed steak, broccoli, almonds, cheese, and an orange. I ate a lot--but I didn't binge on junk food.

I remember watching a guy in a class with me a few months ago. He was so obese that the couldn't put his legs together. He sat on the corner of a chair and spread his legs and let his stomach hang down below. He wore shorts and it was not a pretty sight. He would come in with a quart-sized plastic cup filled with ice. Then he would empty two 20 oz. bottles of orange soda into the cup and drink it over the course of an hour and a half. During breaks, he would go to the soda machine, buy two more bottles of orange or Coca Cola, and do the same thing again. At lunch, he would top of his lunch with a bowl filled with cookies and three of those little cups of ice cream. He would say, "Cookies are so much better with ice cream." The poor guy never drank a sip of water, but continued to stuff himself with that HFCS-laden crap. We had to keep the AC at about 60 so he wouldn't overheat.

Sugar addiction is very real. I don't know if this guy knew he had a problem. But that could be me. I know I've got a problem.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

I'm an addictive personality. And that's not in a good way. I don't mean that people become addicted to me. I mean that I abuse and depend upon substances or behaviors that are not in and of themselves bad, but that cause my life to become unmanageable. I have recovered from some of these--alcohol and tobacco. Negative thinking and resentment are still a struggle, but with the help of my Higher Power, I have gained freedom from these. Why, then, do I still binge on sugar? I feel physically bad after a binge. But when it comes on, nothing can stop me. I am like a heat seeking missile and will find and consume anything that contains the drug. I usually get through the day OK. It's in the afternoon after work that I get into trouble. This afternoon, I was tired and hungry. I went to my apartment before my drive home for a snack--a piece of pita bread, some string cheese, some almonds, a glass of milk. On the way home, I had to stop for gas and broke one of the rules--Don't get your food where you get your fuel. I came out of the On The Run with two Bimbo snacks. I had to stop at JR's to buy cigars for my neighbor. At the register, my favorite junk food was on sale--moon pies. 3 for a dollar. I bought a pack and ate two of them on the way home in the car. OK--four sugary snacks. That's not going to kill me, but it's more than is healthy or necessary. I don't seem to be able to enjoy sugar like a normal person. I get it into my system, and then I'm off to the races and I have no idea how the bender will end.

I want to start a community of people who get this. Most people I know don't get it. Sweets are a social thing, just like drinking. Look at birthday cake and dessert-sharing in restaurants.

I think the Weight Watchers food plan is pretty good. The amounts of food and the balanced diet are good. Not too much food. Lots of water. Exercise every day. I need this.

It seems nutty to think I can swear off sugar forever. So, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to not eat sugar or refined carbs tomorrow. That I can do. Because I'm not like normal people. If I eat it, I eat it immoderately and it makes me not well. Who's in?

I need one other person to do this with me.