Would You Power Your Car With Sugar?

May 03, 2008 ↓ Comments (0)

When I lived in New York my Tai Chi teacher, Roberto, would ask me to come for lessons at 7 am. He was a morning person. I was not and still am not. 9 am wake up is the best I can do. However, some days I’d go early.

One morning I remember he was training me, as I had requested, but I just couldn’t keep up. In fact at one point I could barely breathe. Let me clarify that the Tai Chi we were practicing is a martial art and part of the training included a more rigorous workout. The thing I have come to understand that I didn’t know then was that sugar was ruining my life. I was fit, in decent shape, and exercising regularly. But I had zero stamina and very low energy levels because I was still eating copious amounts sugar on a daily basis.

Now that I’m off sugar I can do so much more. I currently exercise about 20-22 hours a week, not counting my bike rides to and from different locations. I know a big part of the ability to keep that up is avoiding sugar. The hardest part of being a fitness instructor and a sugar-addict in remission is seeing people come to my classes eating sugar. It surprises me but people show up to class sipping a coffee and sometimes drinking soft drinks. Starbucks is one of the worst things a person can drink and yet people use it as fuel to get through class.

What’s more is certain Yoga people. I knew a woman who had been practicing Yoga for close to twenty years with some well known teachers/practitioners. Yet she had all kinds of muscle pain and joint problems. The more I got to know her the more I heard her tell stories about her college days and partying all weekend. Then she’d “stretch and detoxify” her body on Monday in Yoga class. What’s worse was that it turned out she was still behaving like this even though she was in her forties. A weekend of partying meant she needed to spend more time doing more vigorous Yoga the following week to make up for the damage she did to her body over the weekend. Yikes.

You can’t fuel your body with sugar and expect it to run well. Remember, you are what you eat. If you eat sugar and then exercise, guess what’s going right into your muscles as you stretch. Sugar. Nutrition (something I’m learning more and more about) is more than just avoiding sugar and is a whole science in itself. By simply quitting sugar it forces you to eat things that aren’t products with long shelf lives. Avoid sugar.

Swap the coffee or energy drink for plain water and you’ll be amazed (after you get through the initial physical reaction) at how good H₂0 makes you feel. Fuel your workout with plenty of sleep and foods that are naturally colorful and delicious. If it’s so simple and easy, why is it so hard for people to do?