I guess
I can sort of trace it back to my recent cholesterol test, which was
weighing on my mind. Now that I've reached the ancient 5-0 milestone,
it's time to start thinking about how to care for the old body, or
rather not just thinking, but actually putting a plan into action. I
knew I was going to have to have my blood tested, and since it was a
source of anxiety, naturally I put it off and ignored it in the hopes
that it would just go away. Of course it didn't. My concerns were
exacerbated by the fact that in the years leading up to
this, I was eating ice cream, on average, about 327 days a year. On
the days that I wasn't imbibing in my favorite food, I would put away
cookies or chocolate by the handful. It was a little compulsive, to say the least.
At some
point I knew I had to deal with this, so in the months leading up to
my blood test, I quit eating ice cream, and believe me, it wasn't
easy. I contemplated joining a monastery to help me in this quest,
but then I'd have to cut my hair and quit playing hockey, and I
wasn't willing to go there (though the robes wouldn't have been half bad).
My ice cream abstention lasted about a month, though I still consumed
plenty of cookies and chocolate, and then I had my blood tested and
if you can believe this (I still can't), my cholesterol was in good
shape. They say the ratio of good/bad is what you want to keep in
mind, and I ended up okay on that front... can you hear the huge
sigh of relief?
Naturally,
that very night I had a big bowl of ice cream to celebrate, and
believe it or not, it didn't get my endorphins firing like I thought
it would. Sure, it tasted good, but it wasn't life altering like I anticipated. It dawned on me that maybe I didn't need ice cream
and cookies, after all. I felt like Woody Allen in Hannah and Her
Sisters when he learned he didn't have a brain tumor - he was so
stoked, but then he had this epiphany about life. I had a similar
epiphany, except about ice cream.
I
decided that maybe I should give this ice cream abstinence a chance,
and then why not just apply it to all sweets? It really began in
earnest when we went up to Maine for a family vacation, and for
whatever reason, I decided to stop having dessert at that time. This isn't easy
when you're at a breakfast buffet, where muffins and danishes are
screaming your name, but I managed.
And you
know what I discovered? I felt a lot better, so much so that the difference was
striking. Within a couple of days of removing sugar, or at least
copious amounts of it, I had more energy and didn't
feel like crap all the time. I naturally attributed my constant state
of fatigue to sleep deprivation and just getting old, both of which
are valid, but since I cut sugar out, my head has cleared, as if a
cloud has been lifted. Again, I can't believe how significantly
different I feel. Even when I'm tired, I don't feel all crappy and
cloudy like I did in the past, and this sort of makes sense because
my golden hour is in the AM when I wake up and have coffee. That's
when I feel the most alert and invincible, probably because I'm
rested and I haven't eaten any sugar. As the day progresses, I just
feel worse and worse.
Looking
back, I realize how bad sugar made me feel. My kids will vouch for
this, but I was always tired throughout the day... then again, I
still am, but in a different way. After eating sugar, I had this
cloudy fatigue that made me just feel awful, like a hangover, or as
if my brain was stained with something, which it was. I didn't make
the connection in the past, despite all the info that's out there,
not to mention the wisdom of mom, who is always railing on sugar. I
guess I was in denial because sugar it's hard not to love the stuff.
Either
way, there are numerous positives to cutting out sugar, besides the
health benefits, which alone are reason enough. The kids might not
like this, but since I am reducing sweets, I'm not buying or making
them, thus denying them in the process. Since my caloric intake has
been reduced, I'm eating less so I naturally feel lighter on my feet,
and my clothes fit better. I have more time because I'm not baking
cookies or cakes, and we're saving money because sweets can take up a
significant portion of your grocery bill.
Needless
to say, cutting sugar out of my diet has given me a new perspective
on life. I know how corny and extreme this sounds, but I'm pretty
stoked about it, and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. If
anything, I thought it would be impossible. I don't mean to sit here
and proselytize, and I'm not denying mom or the kids their chance to
eat sweets, but I figure if their worst dietary role model is
cleaning up his act, it will probably encourage them to clean up
theirs, as well. For the record, they do a fine job without my
encouragement.
Until
the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to kitty nancy for the pic.
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