Day 16: A Visit From the Sugar Monster and Why I Fought Back

Day 16 has been pretty good. Day 15 (yesterday) was not so good, although I didn't tell you about it last night because I wanted to focus on the good things, like celebrating my 15 days and looking at myself and all the changes that had occurred. I didn't want to talk about the bad things, I was cranky enough. But today, now that I'm back to normal, I can tell you about it and not dwell on it. So my day started out good, had a healthy breakfast, a yummy, lunch that I couldn't even completely finish, and then... around 3pm... it happened! Ever feel like you are being chased by a huge slice of cheesecake that you know you can't eat? That's what happened. The Sugar Monster paid me a visit! I felt horrible! I was cranky, I wanted something to eat but couldn't figure out what - other than something full of sugar. I wanted a muffin... or a piece of banana bread with chocolate chips... or anything! Just make this feeling go away!


Thankfully, I have a wonderful resource at my fingertips. I picked up the phone and called Nicole. She helped me to understand why I was feeling so bad (we think it had to do with a lack of healthy fats as I had used lite coconut milk in my coffees instead of the full fat stuff) and she helped me walk through the grocery store and pick up only the things I needed. One of those things was a Larabar. I've been trying to avoid any type of food that might be considered SWYPO (Sex With Your Pants On - see the Whole9 for an explanation). But now I'm realizing that that might not be totally realistic all the time. At this point, that apple Larabar was the difference between a horrible evening and an enjoyable one. I don't think I would have cheated, but I would have been miserable for the rest of the evening. Amazing what a few dates, almonds, and dried apples mushed up in bar format can do for you... And it really helped me to once again focus on what is important to me in the Whole30 and why I'm doing this. In the midst of my Sugar Monster battle I tried to remind myself of why I really didn't want to eat sugar so I thought I would share my thoughts on why sugar is bad and why the Whole30 is going to work for me.

*Please note, that as Nicole said in an earlier post, we are not nutritionists, the intend of the spiel is to explain what I believe in. It is up to every person to determine their own beliefs. 

Symptoms of high blood sugar.

Basically, at this point most of us are sugar burners. Meaning that we eat so much sugar/carbohydrate and have lower activity levels that our bodies only ever have to burn sugar, and they've gotten really good at doing so. It's easier to burn sugar/carbs, and there is always a steady supply so we have trained our bodies to go for sugar/carbs, not fat. Not only that but our bodies can only burn one type of fuel at a time. We've effectively trained our bodies to forget how to burn fat. So, our fat accumulates and the body doesn't know how to access the fat that we eat or that we store in order to use it for energy. So whatever we eat gets stored, and any extra sugar/carbs also gets stored as fat. But remember our bodies don't remember how to burn our own fat for fuel, so it's like a bank account we constantly make deposits to but can never withdraw from. So our fat just accumulates and our body just holds onto it because it doesn't know what else to do with it. You can pretty much store an unlimited amount of fat for an unlimited amount of time. Compounding that problem is the fact that you can only store enough fuel in the form of sugar/carbohydrate for about 90 minutes of intense activity. Kind of like a short term savings account.

So what happens when you get up in the morning and have cereal and sugar in your tea? Your body shuttles off all the nutrients that it can get, any excess fat gets stored and the carbohydrates get put into that short term savings account. You probably feel great, awake, and ready for the day, but consider that to be like a high. Your body is all out of whack and working really hard to regulate your blood sugar levels because you just dumped a ton of sugar/carbs in there (imagine insulin being the teller at the bank who tells your body which account to put your food in, the short term or long term with no withdrawals). You may not perform intense activity, but throughout the morning your body dips into that short term account to get enough energy to sustain you. By mid morning, that account is empty, you need more energy, but your body doesn't know how to burn the fat you have stored, so you start to feel hungry and go off in search of your 10am coffee and a muffin. The process then starts all over again. You ride that roller coaster all day, everyday, constantly feeling hungry and eating sugars/carbs to burn, while all your fat sits there, untouched.

The only way to retrain your body to start burning that fat is to cut out all sugars/carbs and force your body to use fat. Fat is actually what we are biologically predisposed to burn as fuel, that's why we can store so much in the first place. It's a very efficient fuel and we burn it well. One of the benefits of strict adherence to the Whole30 for 30 days is that your body relearns how to burn fat. It has to, because you aren't feeding it sugar/carbs. For the first week or two of the Whole30, there is a lot of information about sleep and being tired, and not necessarily feeling the "magic" yet. It's because your body is trying to relearn how to get energy from fat. It's kicking your sugar/carb addiction (and yes there is science that indicates that wheat in particular but sugars and carbs more generally, are actually addictive substances - see the Wheat Belly post, Wheat is an Opiate) to the curb and your body is healing from all the bad stuff you normally would put in there. Once your body starts burning fat for fuel, energy levels increase, because we are good at burning fat. For me, becoming a fat burner, means not experiencing that roller coaster feeling, I have steady, consistent energy all day long (no more 3pm slump - except for yesterday), I feel satisfied for longer after a meal, and I don't have periods of ravenous hunger. 

So, back to my battle yesterday day afternoon with the Sugar Monster. My final response, after spending a hour or two feeling miserable was: NO I will not break my Whole30 for sugar. There is NO sugar allowed for 30 days, except natural sugars found in fruits. Also, by the end I sill find a change in your taste buds and sugary things just won't hold the same appeal anymore. By the end of the 30 days I will be used to going without sugary foods, so why do would I need to add them back, unless they are really worth it. Not only am I switching my fuel source, I am adjusting my metabolism, my hormone secretion, my immune system responses, and changing my relationship with food all together! I don't intend to eat Whole30 compliant all the time, after my 30 days but the times that I do intend veer from the path (after the 30 days) are the times that a food is really worth it. Is a granola bar worth it? Probably not. Is a piece of homemade chocolate cheesecake worth it? Probably! But I will have faith in the Whole30 and follow along till the end! 

Today's food: 
Breakfast: three soft boiled eggs on wilted spinach and 3 slices of trimmed pork belly. 
Lunch: seared salmon with roasted sweet potatoes. 
Supper: pan fried shrimp in coconut oil, covered in paprika and chili peppers, a few spoonfuls of curry broccoli slaw (thanks Nicole for the mayo!), and stir fried veggies. 

Activity: 
100 bathroom push-ups and I've started doing squats while waiting for my food to heat in the microwave, I did 75 today and my legs are KILLING me!

PS. The Whole9 reposted one of their most popular articles today on their blog today. It's totally worth a read!