sugar rehab

i'm not really quite sure what precipitated my decision to give up sugar for a week. well, i do know what catalyzed it. it was an article i read on-line, basically saying how bad sugar (in particular high fructose corn syrup) is and how it's in everything. but i read tons of those articles. what i don't know is why this one read on this day made me take action. whatever the reason, one of the last items in the article states:

Enter sugar rehab. Like any addict, you need to detox before you can fully recover. According to DesMaisons, it takes five days to fully overcome your cravings for sugar, and you'll feel awful for three of them.

i saw this as a challenge: go 5 days without sugar. simple as that. and i think the simplicity of it was what made it doable. it was concrete, tangible, quantifiable. it wasn't as vague as most diet dictions: "eat more fruits & vegetables". "eat less fat." "eat healthy". and it wasn't telling me to restrict an entire food group (fat or carbs). nor was it telling me to not eat, or eat less, or count calories (i drive myself CRAZY counting calories). this was focused on being healthy, not on losing weight. (although the article does allude to weight-loss, this particular "rule" in and of itself doesn't.)

in reality, i don't eat that much sugar. but once (or twice) a day, i eat something that would send a diabetic into a coma -- a muffin, a cookie, some ice cream (and a large quantity, too). and it's usually in the afternoon and the late evening.

i made myself some allowances. i wouldn't restrict anything else -- fat, carbs, caffeine, alcohol -- as long as there was no sugar in it. and i wouldn't restrict eating -- if i wanted a snack, i'd eat something. i had cheese or natural PB and whole-wheat crackers pretty much every day this week. if i felt anxious or snacky at night, i'd have (low-fat, but sugar-free!) popcorn, or soy-crip thingys. or a beer.

i should clarify what exactly i mean by "sugar": refined white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, and anything with over 10g of sugar of other sources that wasn't fruit. (i never really picked a number...but anything in the double-digits usually scared me off.) i limited juice to 100% fruit juices and 6oz a day or less (i think i only had OJ once, and 4oz of it.)

i started on monday. i had my first "severe" craving wednesday afternoon, when i was feeling anxious in lab. i realized it had been over 4 hours since i'd eaten, so i went and had a snack. i felt better. i resisted a celebratory cake for my friend dean's defense wednesday night; i had another strong craving thursday evening, but allowed myself some soy crisps; today, day 5, was fairly easy.

i should say that i had one "slip" -- i had a cosmo wed night (in honor of dean's defense!), not realizing that it has sugar in it. i really thought it didn't. eff. so, maybe i haven't really been "sugar-free" for 5 days. but i've been pretty damn close...

i should also say that i've had a beer (or more) every night this week. i checked -- beer has no sugar and even has a low glycemic index. (hooray, beer!) it helps me relax, somehow satisfied my cravings (maybe i'm just thirsty?), and makes me feel not as deprived.

things i was surprised to find had any/a lot of sugar:

• Clif bars. granted, it is from "organic brown rice syrup", but it's the first ingredient!
• Low-fat salad dressing. The article did say that a lot of low-fat products replace the fat with sugar, but I guess I didn't believe it until i saw it for myself.
• Whole wheat bread. i still ate it, but there were 3g of sugar per slice. from brown rice sugar, so not as bad, but still -- why does sugar need to be in bread?!
• GoLean Crunch. OK, i new it was sweet, and i new it wasn't from refined sugar, but i didn't realize just how much sugar it has: 13g per cup! not a great way to start the day.
  

the article also says, "Prepare to be edgy and irritable starting on day two; by day five, you'll feel like a whole new person." today is day 5. and, not to sound cheesy, i do feel like a whole new person. i have more energy overall, and less dips in it throughout the day. my mood is great. i am motivated in lab, and excited about things going on in my life. i'm content.

it's probably not accurate to give all the credit to going sugar-free. i got up at a decent hour (8:00 -- decent for me!) every day this week; i exercised every day; i began 4/5 mornings by doing a Core Performance routine; i ate smaller, more frequent meals; and somehow, i had an new/different out-look on lab and on my social life (which made them both less stressful to me). these all helped. but even if the changes i've noticed aren't the direct result of avoiding sugar, the small decision to enter into sugar rehab was certainly a catalyst for being healthier, and this manifested itself in myriad other ways.

it feels empowering to set a goal and achieve it. maybe i'll do it again sometime...

no surprise here

it's no surprise that i suck at blogging. huge, major life events, and i haven't taken the time to document them.

- my first first-author paper (aka my ticket out of grad school): rewriting it, resubmitting it, it getting accepted, going through the proofs. most of this sucked. the only good feeling was hitting the "submit" button, and seeing my name in "print". the rest, sucked. i am not completely happy with how it turned out; i guess that's the perfectionist in me. it was a struggle with my adviser on how to rewrite it; i won some battles, he won others. he probably does know best... still attempting to write up a second paper...but that's been hard.

- giving my first talk at a conference (during the super bowl!): realizing i was giving it only a week before, practicing like crazy, being super nervous, getting some stupid questions, but overall doing a good job. way more rewarding than writing the paper. i didn't handle ALL of the questions well -- didn't realize how hard/impossible it is to prepare for them (i guess all you can do is just know your project really really well) & how unpredictable they can be -- i got one two days after my talk that i totally bombed. argh, oh well.

(aside: both of these experiences, plus witnessing many of my friends defend recently, have colored my perspective on academia. I'm still leaning towards doing a post-doc, but i am still not convinced i am "cut out" for being a professor: i have a hard time taking criticism; my motivation waxes & wanes more than i feel it should; i still don't feel like i see the "bigger picture" well enough (that's where not handling the questions well comes in); the competitive aspect of it could be overwhelming. besides, i enjoy free time, weekends, relaxing evenings -- i.e. a lifestyle that is not compatible with academia. i just don't think i want it badly enough. sigh. we'll see...but i feel like that's what i've been saying for months...time to make a decision already!)

- being elected captain of Slow White. still hasn't quite sunk in, since frisbee isn't really in-season. but we're gearing up to recruit and are starting a fitness program, so it'll all become real soon enough. i'm have some trepidations of the increased pressure this will put on me (at least, that i'll put on myself), but i am trying to see this as (1) a great opportunity to develop my leadership skills, (2) a natural progression of my role on the team. i've already been a leader; this is just putting a more formal title on it. besides, i still have sean & frank as my support team :)

other not-so-major things, but important things nonetheless:
- being named Regional Coordinator of the Year for College Women's
- being told my old car is dying (more on that later, hopefully)
- deciding to buy my friend Shannon's car

other not-really major, but still memorable:
- lei-out 2008 with hurt locker. i am sold on southern CA weather in january. also sold on how awesome everyone on the team is: andrew brown (AMAZING ultimate player and hilarious when drunk), ryan carrington (like a big, friendly, loud teddy bear), tyson park (possibly the angriest asian i've ever met), hector valdivia, adam "chicken" simon (i was so excited he remembered who i was from nationals!), josh "richter" ackley, ted tripoli, anna schott, georgia & anne bosscher, betsy calkins, lori nacious (coolest last name ever), and sam kennedy (when he wasn't working the VC tent). i hope to make lei out an annual trek. especially if i get invited back to teddy's dad's house & their hot-tub...

- february b-day party. i was very proud of how i managed my alcohol consumption. i was coherent enough to have meaningful conversations with several groups of people i don't normally get to chat with....and then i passed out. perfect evening.

that's about it. i'm sure i'm forgetting some things, but the benefit of only blogging once every 3 months is that you really focus on the major things :)