The Road to a Healthier Me: Battling Sugar Addictions

I love food. Seriously. I think in a different life I would have been a food critic or the wife of a chef; I suffer from an affliction where I love to eat, but am a disaster in the kitchen.

Up. Down. Repeat.

That has been the story of my weight journey. You name it, I have probably tried it – Weight Watchers, plant-based, smoothies/liquid dieting, low-carb, low-fat. And full disclosure – I’m still on my own personal journey – perfecting it and tweaking to find what works for me. I’ve lost 40 lbs, but still have a ways to go!

Sugar Addict

For me, I have realized that I am 100% a sugar addict. Some people love creamy pasta, other people love salty chips, but for me, ice cream and chocolate are my go-to foods. And plain black coffee? No way. I need at least a drop of creamer, preferably one with sugar or a flavored syrup.

I’ve always been prone to random stomach pains. They didn’t come with any particular food that I noticed, they would just come, pain me for a few hours, then go away. It wasn’t until as an adult, I’ve realized it usually hits when I’ve eaten too much sugar.

Addiction to sugar is on par with heroin and cocaine.

That’s right. In 2014, there was actually a study done with rats, they when given a choice, found that rats actually chose sugar over heroin and cocaine![1] In this case, sugar was actually shown to be more addictive than these two illegal drugs. Terrifying, right?

I got to a point where I wondered what my life would be like without refined, processed sugar, even just for a couple of weeks.

An Experiment: Life Without Sugar

When I went to the grocery store to stock up, I realized sugar can literally be found in almost everything. It goes by different names, but it’s still there.

I realized my best bet was to stay away from foods that had a nutrition label.

The beginning was painful. I even had headaches for the first couple of days, and I felt constant cravings. By the end of the week, the effects of transitioning had subsided and by the end of the first week, I had lost 5 pounds, which was motivational!

I found that during my second week, my quality of life actually improved. I have more energy, sleep better, am productive during the day.

I’ve found that if I can just manage to stick with something for 15-20 days, wild things happen! My taste buds begin to change, sugary things that I loved before taste too sweet, and overall I just feel different. Better.

I managed to make it 21 days, and on the 22nd day had ice cream, but I noticed it wasn’t as satisfying as it once been. Going through this rigidity gave me a good foundation to make healthier choices in the future.

Even now as a general guideline, I try to abide by the 85/15 rule. Meaning 85% of the time, try to eat clean, and 15% of the time, eat what you want. Assuming during a week, if you have 21 meals, then you can have 3 cheat meals a week.

This doesn’t meant that cravings miraculously go away, but after about 2-3 weeks, it does get better. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

When dealing with “dieting”, it’s not about short term, quick fixes. Instead, it’s about about creating lasting lifestyle changes. Furthermore, it means changing the way we think about food.

In summation, the key is sustainability.

The game changer is truly understanding food is fuel.

Just like you wouldn’t drive a Bentley and put in 87 (regular) gas in it, we should think our bodies feel the effects of the food we put into it – whether it’s quality or trash.

Empowerment

If you struggle with making lifestyle changes to a healthier you, I hope that this inspires you to either make change, or get the wheels turning to realizing that change is possible!

It isn’t easy, but it is doable.

All it takes is the desire for change, and continuously making good choices.

To your health!

[1] Madsen HB, Ahmed SH. Drug versus sweet reward: greater attraction to and preference for sweet versus drug cues. Addict Biol. 2015;20(3):433-444. doi:10.1111/adb.12134

A Call to Action – Neighborhoods and the Power of Community

“No man is an island”

— John Donne

A neighborhood is strength. It is caring. It is compassion.

I’ve been fortunate to go to a good college, travel the world, and hold some awesome jobs. But I didn’t do any of these things on my own. I had support from family, friends, teachers, school administrators, and local community organizations.

I used to live in downtown LA, and loved it. Before the pandemic, you could go see a film on a rooftop, check out the newest restaurants, walk to the Broad Museum, or go see an NBA game at the Staples Center. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

But when rent prices in DTLA started to skyrocket, and I learned how important budgeting actually is (major life lesson), I made the choice to move to a small place in Alhambra. In downtown, I never knew my neighbors. Even my friends living in condos downtown didn’t know their neighbors.

But I’ll never forget, not two weeks after I moved in, a family of five moved into a house right behind my place, and came over to introduce themselves.

When I was out of town, they offered to pick up my mail, and even amidst this pandemic, they’ve never stopped caring or offering to help.

I wish the pandemic had never happened, and my heart breaks for all those lives that have been lost or touched by loss.

However, the small silver lining in my life is that I’ve been able to meet and get to know many of my neighbors – people of all ages from all walks of life. Before, I had been too busy with my job to make the time.

Crises illuminates emotional common ground and cements bonds between people. Neighborhoods ban together to support small restaurants, communities create funds to help people keep afloat, and your neighbor wears their mask so they won’t infect you.

But we can do more.

I can do more.

You can do more.

The call to action is this – Love on your community. Find ways to serve the people you don’t yet know in your community. This is the time to educate ourselves, and have those uncomfortable conversations. There are internal biases so many of us hold perhaps about race, religion, or sex. It’s okay. Almost all of us have them in some form or another. But we don’t have to stay that way. According to a 2019 psychological study by Van Dessel and De Houwer[1], we can change our internal biases when we encounter strong evidence that changes our belief systems. This is why research is important. Connection to the community – all types of community members—is important.

Growing up, many in our generation were told that we are special – and we are. But now that we’re adults, it is time we start investing in and learning about others’ uniqueness, not merely focusing on our own.

Change is uncomfortable and stepping out of our comfort zone is even more terrifying.

But fear cannot be our master, and fear of change cannot be the principal by which we live.

We’re a part of our neighborhoods, we’re a part of our community, and we’re stewards of the planet. It’s time to educate ourselves, vote (if possible), and make lasting change – together.

[1]  Van Dessel, P., Ye, Y., & De Houwer, J. (2019). Changing Deep-rooted Implicit Evaluation in the Blink of an Eye: Negative Verbal Information Shifts Automatic Liking of Gandhi. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 10, 266-273. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550617752064