聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 It was kind of by accident, but at the end of September last year I cut out soda from my diet. It was kind of my sipping drink if I was out visiting anyone. My mom sent me this challenge thing where for one month you cut out pop, you don鈥檛 eat after 8 p.m., and you did push-ups and squats in the morning. I accepted the challenge and for that entire month I looked at the Vanilla Coke in my fridge, there鈥檚 still four sitting there if anyone wants them, but I was tempted to have a sip. Instead I鈥檇 grab a glass of water avoiding it, adding lemon to it for a little flavour. I had been drinking soda twice a week, so it was pretty much a staple in my diet and cutting it out completely was tough. Your body comes to crave the sugar and caffeine in the drink.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 After that one month was up, I decided I would treat myself with a Coke. To my surprise it tasted terrible. It was overly sweet and although I drank it all, came away with a headache. During this time I had also been reading about how bad sugar is for you, so had decided to avoid chocolates and sweets as well. Which meant this liquid sugar hit me pretty hard. At Christmastime I had a few cookies and that because mom made them special, but I couldn鈥檛 eat many because they were actually sickenly sweet.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The other day I had been invited out for dinner and they had dessert. I had some, asking for a very tiny amount, as I didn鈥檛 want to be rude; but, it went straight to my head. I had a sugar rush quickly followed by a headache.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 On the positive side, fruit has never tasted so good, because it is naturally sweet and not overwhelmingly so like desserts and sweets are to me now.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Treats to me now includes fruit, naturally flavoured carbonated water, and old fashioned plain doughnuts. Very little added sugar, only 7 grams in the old fashioned plain doughnut versus something like 23 grams in a honey cruller.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Reading about sugar I discovered it鈥檚 literally empty calories and is bad for your teeth, it鈥檚 bad for your liver in large quantities, it can cause insulin resistance and is a stepping stone towards diabetes, it actually has 鈥渇at-promoting鈥� effects because calories from sugar aren鈥檛 fulfilling you might increase your intake of calories in a day, it鈥檚 quite addicting 鈥� which is why for that entire month I thought about soda a lot, and according to new studies it affects cholesterol and contributes to heart disease.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I鈥檓 not a health nut, but I just figured if I got rid of soda then it was logical to cut out all sugar because I didn鈥檛 eat a whole lot of it anyways. When it came to salty or sweet things, I was always more of a fan of the salty, which in large quantities isn鈥檛 the best for you either; so, I鈥檝e at least kicked one of these two things to the curb, and I鈥檝e been trying to kind of watch my intake of the other. However, some salt isn鈥檛 bad because your body actually uses it to absorb water; it鈥檚 one of those electrolytes that sports drinks have in them.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 People always say, everything in moderation, and I think that鈥檚 really what being healthy comes down to. Don鈥檛 make yourself unhappy to be healthy because you like certain foods; but, just be aware that certain foods aren鈥檛 the best for you and maybe look at limiting your intake.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I have noticed that by cutting out sugars, I have lost weight, and that is without making any other real changes to my lifestyle. I鈥檒l still go eat a burger and fries (everything in moderation), but instead of having a soda to wash it down with I鈥檒l ask for water, white milk (which does have some sugar in the form of lactose), or the other day at Taco Time there was an option of non-sweetened iced tea 鈥� just to have a little flavour.
