Diabetes Skyrockets

According to an article in the Oregonian newspaper on Sunday, June 11th, the number of people around the world with Diabetes has gone from 30 million to 230 million during the past two decades. That’s quite a significant increase!

Please Write Again

Someone recently wrote to me about their struggle with sugar and eating and asked for help. I replied but your email address keeps bouncing my message back. Please email me again so we can talk.

Thanks!

Quit Sugar, Step One

Many of you have been asking me how to quit sugar. While all of the points are listed in various posts on this blog, here are a few key points to keep in mind:

YOU ARE NOT QUITTING SUGAR FOREVER.

Don’t try to quit. What you need to do is make the CHOICE to live a healthier lifestyle. I have not quit sugar, I quit sugar for a year. But what I’ve really done is made a choice to live a healthier lifestyle.

Get to know yourself.

Most likely you can’t control your sugar intake very well or you wouldn’t be reading this. What you need to do is learn how tight the sugar demon has a grip on you. Can you last a day without sweets (yes, without ANYTHING sweet)? Can you last a weekend? A week? Two Weeks? A month? More than a month? I’ve been through all of those. Right now I’m working on a whole year.

More to come…

Sugar Free For 112 Days!

They say it takes 23 days to make something a habit. I do want chocolate quite often but not enough to blow this whole deal. I’ve decided that I’ll eat ANYTHING I want between Halloween and my birthday. That’s 3-4 days so it’s not like I’ll never eat sugar again. But it’s possible I won’t want to eat sweets by then.

At this point I’m tempted from time to time to eat sweet substitutes. However, I know where that will lead so I have avoided doing so.

Thanks for the advice about proteins and carbs. My energy levels are better. Overall I feel more centered, more productive, and like I’m getting better at being in touch with my true dreams and goals. I’m eating an apple as I write this.

As for fitness and health, so far it’s been much easier to cut something out rather than add something. In other words, it’s easier to quit sweets and increase health than it is to add a workout regiment to our weekly schedule.

One step at a time. For some of you the removal of coffee is the first step. Then refined sugars. Eventually getting out and exercising is something you’ll not only want to do, but you’ll have the energy and it will feel good when you move!

I URGE you to try something now. Even if it’s not sweets that plagues you, reduce some negative thing in your life. Let go of cigarettes, drinking (both sugar based) or plain old s-u-g-a-r.

Do it! You know you can. You know you want to. If you can imagine it, you can do it. So start by imagining…

Sugar Free Cookies

Don’t shop while hungry! For some reason I went down the cookie aisle and spotted Murray brand sugar free cookies. The chocolate covered crisps looked especially tempting and I found myself reasoning, “They don’t have sugar. It’s not real chocolate.”

Eating them wouldn’t be like eating sweets since they are sweetened with NutraSweet brand sweetener. I was hungry and came that close to getting them—but experience won out.

I’ve eaten many packages of Murray chocolate whatever cookies in the past and always felt terrible afterwards. I knew that if I left the store without them and ate my pistachios instead, I’d forget all about the Murray cookies. And that’s just what happened.

YOU HAVE TO WANT IT.

That’s the #1 rule for successfully quitting sugar.

Is This You?

You love the sweets, and you are sweet.

I’m developing a theory, based on observation, that sweet loving people (who can’t control their sugar intake) are sweet people in general. And by being sweet I mean that you often get taken advantage of, maybe get pushed around a bit, or feel like people think you’re a push-over.

Is there a connection? What do you think?

Avoiding Sugar is Like Brushing Your Teeth

My brother is a good father. When his daughter was young he taught her how to brush her teeth and told her, “Nobody else will do this for you. It’s up to you to keep your teeth clean and healthy…”

He explained that it was completely her responsibility and her choice.

Only she could do it.

Thus I tell you that, “Nobody else can or will do this for you. It’s up to you to stop being sweet.”

I’ve been thinking about you who wrote to me and asked that, if you join me in becoming healthy would you have to give up your (morning coffee / afternoon snack / late night snack) favorite daily sweet.

Basically you wanted me to give you permission to quit sugar while still being able to eat your daily trigger foods.

You can’t do that!

You also can’t buy success.

You can’t buy your way to quitting sugar. It’s not a sustainable solution.

Perhaps it could work for someone for some time, but paying to quit sugar is like running on a treadmill at the gym. You could easily do the same thing on the streets of your neighborhood for free.

It’s up to you.

Only you can stop being sweet.

So ask yourself, do you really want this or is it just a nice idea?

Is this the first time you though of this or is it the millionth?

Can you envision yourself living without soda pop, candy, cakes, breads, and your favorite fast food?

Would you enjoy building your body rather than breaking it down?

Did you know that it only takes five weeks to start a new habit?

FIVE WEEKS.

Want me to be your sugar guru for five weeks?

Sorry, I’m too busy maintaining my own diet!

But here’s my idea:

May I be your inspiration?

Because you are reading this, you are my inspiration.

Can I be your muse?

You are my muse because you are here.

If nothing, let me be the guy who pisses you off enough to cause you to take action.

Stop being sweet.

Do it with me or with your friends.

Or with a stranger.

But do it!

At least TRY.

Tom Peters of tompeters.com asked, “What is the single most important thing you did in 2005?”

For me the single most important thing I did in 2005 was to publicly quit sweets.

Then he asked, “What will the most important thing you do be in 2006?”

In 2006 I have many goals, but the underlying theme is to STOP BEING SWEET.

Changing my diet ultimately changes how I think, feel, walk, sleep, and socialize.

It affects my mood, complexion, sex drive, energy levels, follow-through, how people relate to me, and thus transforms my whole life.

I stopped being sweet on November 3, 2005.

How about you?

Who could you be if starting eating healthier from now on?

Imagine who you would be if you weren’t so sweet.

Imagine.