Monday, January 3, 2011

Day Three of (almost) Sugar Free

2011 is my year of No Added Sugar. 

In an effort to reclaim my health and my good fitness level, I decided to cut the crap and lower my sugar intake. Having thought through my current nutritional needs as a runner and hypoglycemic person, I decided that eating more whole foods, reducing my overall sugar intake (in things like fruits and other carbs) and avoiding added refined sugar, cane juice and other sweeteners was a really good challenge for me.

I've been monitoring the nutritional breakdown of foods I've adopted to stabilize my blood sugar and improve my fledgling athletic performance. Turns out that despite my overall good eating habits and active lifestyle, I am a sugar fiend.

Things got pretty real when we adopted a puppy - this little guy needed constant training and supervision, so my personal time, and my running routine, went completely South. I gained almost 10 pounds in just a few months. That's quite a bit for my frame. It also destroyed my balance of fitness/nutrition. I eat healthy foods, but need a high activity level to process what I eat in a healthy way. Add the holidays and all the sugary foods I love and it's a recipe for complete disaster.

My mission: to stop eating added sugar unless I bake something for the family and to cut my naturally occurring sugar intake drastically.

The challenge: I love sweets, and even though I typically eat them in a balanced way, so, so many of the "healthy" convenience foods I rely on to keep my blood sugar at the right level contain hidden sugars.

Wish me luck. Bye-bye, cane juice.

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