Sugar. It makes me feel...

[maxlharris]

Like crap.

I have been off plan for a bit now. No particular reason. Partially due to the season (why be good when I know I'm going off from this, that and the other), partially due to relocation (hard to do properly when you don't know where a grocery store is), and partially due to inertia (I might be a little burned out). I have had some sugar binges. This makes me feel like an addict. Only yesterday, it wasn't the typical addict binge. I didn't feel the need. I just kind wanted to do it as an abstract experiment.

I feel like a dog turd that someone has stepped on. My head is fuzzy. Very fuzzy. Even for me. My concentration is nil. My body feels wrong. I am on fire. I feel like I'm sick. I'm pretty sure I'm not sick.

So, why write about this? I want to have a record. Keep a journal. Make sure that I understand that sugar might taste okay but is less than a fleeting pleasure.

I'm gearing up for the new year. Not a resolution, but an 11 month commitment to see what can be achieved. I want to remember these days (today and wednesday and thursday of last week) and how I feel so that I can contrast it with how I feel on January 17th (15 days after I come back to Kansas City). I know I will feel great then. Untired. Excited. Clear. healthy. Etc.

Sugar may not be poison. It may be perfectly fine food for some. But I'm starting to think that, rather than an addictive substance, it really is something that I'm not particularly interested in anymore. And wouldn't that be something. I don't want to be in recovery (once you admit addiction, you are always in recovery. I don't want abatement, I want a cure). I want the cure. I know what it is. I know I can do it. So, let this post be a reminder once I'm ready (Jan 3, sweets are cut back to small serves on special occasions), that as bad as I may think the cure is, the alternative is clearly worse.

Thanks for listening.

[Ammy]

Boy do I hear you Max!
I don't usually overdo it on "sugar" per se...but I will eat carbs, and I always feel so TERRIBLE afterwards!

The other day I ate cheddar chex mix. Not an enormous amount, just some with my supper.

That night I woke every two hours.
I had TERRIBLE breath in the morning - truly killer.
I felt "fuzzy" the next day.
I was lethargic and a bit crabby the next day.

It's like my body doesn't know how to digest it...and when it does, my body rebels!

Isn't it crazy we would choose to eat something that makes us feel that way??

[Rhyme'n Reason]

Same here. It's no longer a pleasure even thinking about carbage because it makes me feel so bad--not to mention the fact that within a half hour of eating off plan, I'm running to the bathroom.

Best wishes, Max. Better days to follow as your system gets back to normal.

[Ammy]

It certainly does screw with the intestinal tract!!! :jawDrop:

UGH

[lczeledoc]

Carb binging is like alcohol binging, it feels good when you are doing it, but you pay the price later. A week ago I paid the price. It was my kid's birthday, And I stuffed myself with pizza, carrot cake, etc. Boy did I pay the price the next day. Fortunately for me, when I do go off the LC wagon it is only for a day or a meal. The thing is not feel guilty about it, so you fell off, get back on it.

During the Holidays I have been eating LC, about 90% of the time. NExt year is the drive to drop the last 20-25 lbs of chub

[maxlharris]

I'm hgoing to start tonight with protein: Lamb Ribs. Then we'll see what else finds it's way into me. Not back on plan yet, not planning on starting, but I'm going to make an effort to do the following between now and the official restart on Jan 3:

1- No Grazing.
2- Protein first, then look at other things.

If I can make these habits, between now and Jan 2, then Jan 3 will not be very hard, as I remove some things and emphasize others. Need to find a target here in the worst way. Have need of a gym bag type thing, a fry pan, a lunch box and a cooler, though I think I might get by without the cooler. My rented furnished apartment has a full oven/burner combo, and a bunch of pots, but no pans. I know I can make stews, but if I were expected to broil, I dunno. No tinfoil included either. And how to fry an egg? Well, how to make an omlette in a 1 quart sauce pan. Sigh.

[laughingW]

Wow Max, that's an impressive challenge.

If it makes you feel any better - Marty Gallagher the powerlifter guy is a big fan of completely changing your diet every so often. So the diet change part is good even if the sugar part wasn't so good.

There is another way to think about addiction besides the older one where you're constantly in recovery... and that's the "disease state" end of a continuum. If you do thus and so with diet and exercise, you get X outcome we call disease... but if you don't do those things, you don't have to have the outcome. Diabetes is another one where some older docs say "you always have it" and the newer practitioners say, "if you don't overwhelm your pancreas you don't have to have it." If one rebalances the brain chemistry - and not use again - there's no reason to say still addicted unless the constant recovery model helps, like the constant diabetic model helps them I suppose. It wouldn't for me because I don't like identifying with a disease state either.

This is different from infectious diseases like cholera of course.

[WakefieldWendy]

I've never really had this reaction. Sometimes I wish I did, because that would be a big incentive to avoid carbs.

I do have more energy when I'm eating perfectly healthy, but the drop off occurs when I go from perfectly healthy (purist style) to slightly less healthy (but still PP). Complete non-compliance doesn't actually make me feel worse than "regular (i.e. non-purist) eating".

I suppose I could do purist, and I have no doubt that would be better for my weight loss, better for my physical health and better for my energy in the short run. But in the long run, I'd become depressed and frustrated because I'd feel deprived. So purist is fine for small bursts (sometimes unplanned - it just works out that way) but not for regular life.

[Karole]

I'm sorry, but as I read Taubes new book I can't help feeling and believing with all my heart:

Sugar is poison . Sugar is poison. Sugar is poison.

It just affects too many of our systems in horrendeous ways for me to any longer believe it is just an innocent sweet taste.

Perhaps if we humans could ever pay attention to our bodies, (it knows sugar is bad for us or why would it react so strongly --make us feel so bad when we indulge?), we'd be better off. But, instead, we let our brain override (addiction) what the body already knows and we pay the price over and over again.

I know it is oversimplification, but I do think we need to pay more attention to what our bodies are telling us.

[maxlharris]

Karole, thanks. I'm feeling better today. Not wonderful, but then the sugar was way down yesterday. Starting with protein seems like a good approach (and fat, which is supposed to slow down carb absorption as I understand things, though would also seem to add to the weight aspect of things).

The point of this post, now thread, is to make sure I understand it. If you read Stumbling on Happiness (not a LC book, but an Eades recommendation none the less, although I read it way before Dr. Mike did), you understand how memory isn't really up to the task. So, I pay attention yesterday, and remember all the grossness that a really over the top sugar indulgence created. But two months from now, around my birthday and valentines day, I don't remember it as clearly, if at all. But, maybe, by writing about it, it will crystallize in memory, rather than morph.

FWIW: I ate less sugar yesterday, and feel better today. Not great. But yesterday was about a 4, today is about a 7 on a scale of 1-20.

So, soft commitment ongoing, hard commitment coming on the Jan 3.

[Missy]

Hang in there Max. :) I hear ya! I'm with ya! Me too. Soft subtle committment.

Come January I'm back on track myself...and I will have the time to incorporate all those new things/attitude I was learning about before I dissappeared. I can't say that by ANY means I've ate 'well' in the past few months....but the ONE committment that I have kept has been assuring that I go without regular pop after 'experimenting' and noticing what it felt like post pop. :eek: That was a real eye opener to me. That's my two cents anyways.

I just wanted to add my support Max and to let you and everyone else out there know that I'm here...and I'll be back doing things properly. I don't mind that it's a typical 'January resolution' thing....OR that I've identified myself as an addict. lol....recovery actually sounds just about right. lol

Funny thing is for me this 'next' time....the 'weight' issue isn't really my focus...which that is a new and interesting feeling to me. I just want to feel better, feel in control and feel like I belong again.

I've missed you all....especially YOU MAX! ;) lol

[gitfiddle]

Missy, you have been missed alot! You'll always belong.

[Karole]

Hey, Max and Missy, I'm looking forward to January too. It just always seems the proper time to get with it, doesn't it.

Max, I hear you aout the memory thing-- it is so darn easy for the previous indulgence to be forgotten when some goodie comes up !! I have been there (and been really sick from it, only to swear never again) about 3 times now. I am to the point , I hope-really, really hope--that I am remembering how I felt , before I over do. Plus, I hope I will remember all the info in the Taubes book. --Okay, just part of it would be good. I really have been astounded as I have been reading about all the disorders that can be laid at high carbohydrates doorstep.

Sometimes I wish we could be as smart as the animals as they seem to know instinctively what is nourishing for them.

[maxlharris]

Karole,

Funny you said this:


Sometimes I wish we could be as smart as the animals as they seem to know instinctively what is nourishing for them.

Reading a book (Choke by Chuck Pahalniuk) where the protagonist's insane mom talks about doing away with the forebrain, un-knowing all the junk, and getting back to animal instinct and appreciating the world like that. It makes sense as you read it, but the book is a satire and the character is mostly insane, so, you take from that what you want to. But, makes some sense to me.

[Missy]

I know Carol, I know I belong here...lol :eek: heck, who'd put up with me elsewhere! :eek: I mean I miss feeling the sense of 'belonging' when I'm not participating...that's what I'm looking forward to reclaiming.

I need this bit of time till the first of the year though to get myself calmed down and emotionally prepared to frame this all properly again. I'm looking forward to it.

Speaking of animals...I read...somewhere??....that we humans are the only species that differentiates what we eat for certain meals. lol I just thought that was an amusing realization. lol

If you think about the subject you are talking about above...just think how our lives would be totally different without the bombardment of TV in our lives.

[LeslieJ]

Well I'm kinda glad to hear other people slip up and feel like crap - I was worried I was the only one -- you all sound so committed in your posts.

I almost wrote the other day after my work xmas luncheon where I went nutso and ate about 3000 calories, 90% of which was sugar. I wanted to warn people: don't do it!!! I really felt messed up, not just the obvious physical reaction of upset stomach and jittery, shakiness, subsequent crash in energy level to the point of wanting to crawl under my desk for a nap but also messed up in my brain. I felt like I had a bad alcohol hangover. Not to mention the guilt.

It was almost worth it to be reminded of how awful eating that way makes me feel - I did lose the desire to do it again the next day when they hauled out leftovers. But you're correct about memory fading and losing its deterrent value. I'm nervous about bingeing at my family's big get-together tomorrow. My husband is of the mentality "it's just one day, give yourself a break" but once you get your body "clean" and know how good it feels, it's just totally depressing when you blow it and eat tons of carbs all day long.

I'm taking brie and macadamia nuts so maybe I can stick to those kinds of treats rather than loading up on cookies and candy.

Good luck to everyone getting through the holidays with all of the temptations that are out there.

[Karole]

Hi Leslie, I have had good luck and success when I attend a party or other gathering with using NEAN (Not Even A Nibble)

You and I are the only ones in control of what goes in our mouth and if we don't allow that first little bite, there will be no second bite or plateful or full blown face in the carbage fall.

It really works for me. But, the mind set has to be there as I've mentioned before. Anyway, it is one way of dealing with any temptations.

If the memory of how awful we feel after a sugar binge fails us , the knowledge that we can do the "NEAN " thing won't.

Good luck to you and to all of us as we get through this stressful time of the year.

[LeslieJ]

Wow, Karole, that is the strongest thing I've ever heard of...I bow down to you!
The only time I've managed to not even nibble is when making Christmas cookies and that's only through stuffing my mouth with wads of sugar-free gum instead.

I have a whole plan for this brunch -- stick with the eggs, bacon, the brie, nuts, a few bites of the fruit salad. Avoid the waffles & pancakes & sticky buns like the plague.

But even knowing with 100% certainty that I'd feel soooo much better all day if I could stick to that plan, in all likelihood, I'll allow a taste of this, a nibble of that, and so on.

Part of me wants the fleeting yummy taste in my mouth more than the long-term physical and mental well-being that doing without would bring. Makes no sense...

If I could say it's only one day a year that would be one thing, but there are many special occasions and holidays where that excuse gets whipped out.

[gitfiddle]

Leslie, no need to despair and please don't give up. Did you know that after a certain length of time (different for everyone) on this plan your cravings will diminish and possibly even go away entirely? It took three years of no baking, but this year I made candy to give away and didn't want to eat it. You can do it.

Slips happen, of course. It's very important for me to plan to have the right food available so I don't mindlessly munch the carby stuff. I pretty much know what I can order at a restaurant, but parties are sometimes an unknown. Sounds like you have a plan to bring food you can eat.

With some foods one bite is too many and a thousand bites isn't enough. Know your triggers and avoid them. NEAN is the simplest way not to slip.

[maxlharris]

I forgot. Sugar also gives me really wicked heart burn. It takes about a week or so of really crap eating, but once it's here, it's really here. Debilitating. ARGH! Two antacid tablets and I'm okay, but all things considered, I'm thinking Jan 3 cannot get here soon enough.

Rock on.

[Karole]

Hang in there Max !! January is just around the corner !!

Leslie-- Carol is absolutely right--after a period of time, if we stay away from them, many of us find that those "sweet thangs" just don't have the hold on us they once did.

I used to buy all the candy bars (LC ones of course) and I bought the low carb ice cream each week , but after a while (long while) I got where they didn't even sound appealing. Our tastes can change--thank goodness. Mostly now I really enjoy one small square of Lindt 85% chocolate and I let small pieces of it just melt in my mouth and really savor the flavor. It is so satisfying and lasts me as long as a candy bar used to.

As for the Nean thing I mentioned earlier-- I just found it easier not to have to go through the mind games of "one little bite won't hurt" or "should I have a teeny bite of that" or "just one more teensy bit won't hurt" I just found it easier to say Not Even a Nibble--no inner turmoil about that. (No guilt feelings the next day either):cool::cool:
It just really worked for me. Regardless, it sure helps when the cravings actually stop knocking at the door and hopefully that will happen for you soon.

Take care and good luck.

[maxlharris]

Sugar also apparently makes me feel congested. Particularly overnight and into the morning. I think it's a response to an inflamatory response to high blood sugar.

I think Sugar also makes my skin break out. Or at least makes pimples worse. Not sure how this works, but have noticed a difference in volume, duration, and all other forms of annoyance stemming from pimples.

I do remember that low carb makes your hair grow slower. So, sugar causes faster hair growth and more hair cuts, too.

Today, I'm off the sugar. Of course, it's only a quarter to 10, so we have a ways to go. But breakfast was consumed, and I'm looking forward to noticing all the things I don't feel anymore once I'm clear of the sugar.

[hawk]

Sugar causes hair growth??.. With lo carb, I've noticed stronger fingernails and hair. I've been doing this for 3 years and I notice my hair does not break as easily as it used to . It is good and strong. So maybe it grows slower but stronger. But if you're a guy who gets alot of hair cuts, I guess you'd notice.

I agree with the congestion. Wheat and grain cause congestion also.
I think that sugar causes the body stress and that causes break outs on the skin.
I ate some carbs at Thanksgiving and still have congestion. I fasted for a few and it helped.

[maxlharris]

Consistent with most reports. Hair is stronger and glossier on LC, but slower growing. Many (guys) have reported slower hair growth on LC. Slower nail growth as well. Strudier nails, but slower growth. Might be a nutrient thing on the better quality. Might be better assembled ones last longer, and don't need as much replacement on the slower front. All very interesting.

Still feeling a little congested and "allergic" in the AM. Sinuses clog, and eyes get itchy. I'm starting to wonder if I'm allergic to something, except it happens in my KC apartment, my in laws house (was really bad there) and my home in NoVA. I think it's the carbs. Hoping it clears soon.

LC makes me pee more. But that might just be the volume of fluid passing through and the dump of liver glycogen. I have been known to dump 10 lbs in the first week on LC. No scale here, so no way to know, but am pretty sure that's stored water being dumped from the liver as it lets go it's glycogen stores in the absence of dietary carbs.

[gitfiddle]

My hair is also very healthy-looking, but I think it's growing faster. I keep it short and I'm in the chair every six weeks or I look like a sheep dog. My nails are slower, especially toe nails. I thought it might have something to do with the diabetes, actually.

One benefit of lc is that my skin cleared up. I used to develop small "boils" on my skin. No more! I know high insulin or high blood sugar did that.

Max, are you sensitive to dust? Pillow filling?

[maxlharris]

Not that I know of. My brother is, though, so maybe.

At any rate, it happened in my apartment in Virginia over this break, but not before, not even last winter. So, either we're dustier than we've been, or I'm developing a new sensitivity. Or it's the sugar. I dunno. But, we'll see about the sugar.

[gitfiddle]

I think that's a possibility, Max.

I just happened to think that during a period of about a month of rising blood sugar, I was getting yucky just catching a whiff of someone's after-shave or using cleaning products. It had been a non-issue for quite some time. I think it may be connected.