Honey, Can I Get You Some Sugar?

Where are you on your health journey? If you are like me, you may have paid attention to your weight, but have you paid attention to your health? Or more importantly, have you explored your habits, tastes and the WHY behind what you eat? My exploration into the why started about seven years ago.  After the twins were born, I was overweight and out of shape. This resulted in a decline in my health. Not only did I have high blood pressure, but I was pre-diabetic as well.  

One morning while waiting to meet with my therapist (yes, my mind was struggling as well), I got a Facebook message from a former co-worker asking me about my health. I was mortified; I hadn’t seen her in years and how would she know I was not healthy, other than it was obvious I was struggling from my Facebook posts and photos. A long story short, she introduced me to clean eating, daily workouts and over the course of two years I shed 60 pounds and successfully lowered my blood pressure.  

I was successful in lowering my blood pressure because I made several habitual changes: daily exercise; protein shakes; eating every 2-3 hours. Nevertheless, I was still pre-diabetic. It was maddening to me, but I admit I was my own worst enemy. Once I was back in my normal weight range, I went back to the comfort food of my childhood: sugar. Growing up with a single mom on a tight budget, sweets were a treat she could afford, she bought sugar cereals, and regularly made cakes, cookies, rice crispy treats, lemon bars.  Barely a week went by without a treat, this is one of the ways my mother comforted me.  Her mothering was full of love plus a treat. She is no longer alive and I miss her terribly; treats make me feel good and remind me of her. As a result, I could never pass-up a dessert. This was (is) my WHY.

After an additional two years of healthy weight and continuation of consistent exercise I was still pre-diabetic as measured by an A1C test. A1C is the blood test that measures average blood sugar over a 2-3 moth period. At this time, my doctor recommended I see a nutritionist. My homework was to track the glycemic index (GI) of the food I ate. Glycemic index is a system that ranks foods on a scale from 1 to 100 based on their effects on blood sugar. I had counted calories, measured food, I knew I could do it, but nine times out of ten I still fell victim to whatever sweet thing was around and I just lost track. I would even buy donuts for the office and send an e-mail message, “A new drug just showed up in the form of sugar, help yourself to some donuts.” I was mothering my team a way I knew how.

As you can imagine my A1C did not drop and my weight started to creep back up. This was at the same time as the Coronavirus Pandemic, which kept us at home and allowed time to get creative in my workouts and food choices. I knew I needed support to get on track. I went back to my former co-worker who reached out to me years ago. She has a motivational Facebook page, Strong Mama Rising, focused on daily exercise and eating clean. As a part of one of her weekly challenges she asked her followers to watch the movie Fed-Up, from Laurie David and Katie Couric. The film immediately taught me some important lessons that are sticking:

• Not all calories are equal, counting calories in vs calories out doesn’t work if the calories are full of sugar and devoid of fiber.  
• Sugar has many names: high fructose corn syrup; fructose; aspartame; honey; etc. No matter the name they absorb the same way. Too much sugar in any form gives the same result, the desire for more sugar.   Sugar triggers a hormonal response to produce more insulin and as a result you crave more sugar.  It essentially turns into an addiction.  
• The American Heart Association (AHA) suggests a sugar limit of no more than 100 calories per day (about 6 tablespoons or 24 grams of sugar) for most women.  The average American’s diet contains 41 grams.
• Processed foods have higher amounts of sugar to help them taste better. Whole food options such as fruits, vegetables, chicken are not more expensive than processed food, but the marketing behind processed foods offers the perception that it is.  

Health is complex and as I age my body changes. Have you noticed this for yourself? I have learned that unless I dig into a problem and really understand it, I may think I am doing things in my best interest, but after some research I learn that I am not. I can’t fault myself for my past choices, all I can do is recognize something that is a bad habit and take steps every day to change it. The movie Fed-Up, along with the resources I share below have had a profound effect on me. I am not perfect, but now when I am faced with the possibility of a sweet treat, I ask myself, “Will it serve me? Is it worth a negative effect on my health?” Sometimes the answer is, “Yes, it is worth it.” The big shift is that now that I am armed with this information, I actually think about it and I more often than not make better choices. This may help you too. My A1C is out of the pre-diabetic range for the first time in years, I can’t be certain it will stay there, but I am grateful for the knowledge I now hold and the small changes I have made to better health.