Comments on: M2A! November Week2: 3 Months Without Sugar

By: 30 Day Weight Loss Kick Start, Change One Bad Habit

30 Day Weight Loss Kick Start, Change One Bad Habit — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 18:49:08 +0000

[...] 3 Months Without Sugar [...]

By: 30 Days: Kick-Start Your Weight Loss by Changing One Bad Habit for 30 Days

30 Days: Kick-Start Your Weight Loss by Changing One Bad Habit for 30 Days — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 02:31:12 +0000

[...] 3 Months Without Sugar [...]

By: Absolute beginner’s guide to quitting sugar | All You Can Be Buffet

Absolute beginner’s guide to quitting sugar | All You Can Be Buffet — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:10:25 +0000

[...] physical drawbacks. Eric Hamm, over on Motivate Thyself, wrote a very interesting post about his three month sugarfree experiment, which you may want to read before you throw yourself in at the deep [...]

By: ADHD: Scratch’n The Itch With Distraction (Part 2) : “Motivate Thyself”

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 22:30:48 +0000

[...] blend of high school rebellion), but I had started exercising and eating healthy foods. (Read about the effects of sugar on ADHD.) This alone allowed my brain to process life in a much stronger, clearer way. By itself, this [...]

By: M2A! November Week3: Eat Less, Live Longer? : “Motivate Thyself”

M2A! November Week3: Eat Less, Live Longer? : “Motivate Thyself” — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:04:53 +0000

[...] used this analogy in last weeks Motivate2ACTION! post, but it’s quite appropriate here. Our metabolisms are basically our fires burning inside [...]

By: Eric Hamm

Eric Hamm — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:08:49 +0000

@PeaceCat: Thanks for sharing you thoughts. Everything you mentioned is exactly what I’ve found. I never new about the Oats thing, though. I eat oatmeal every morning, so it’s not for the lack of consumption. I knew that mixing sugar with certain other foods helped slow down its ingestion, but the oats thing is a new one. Thanks for turning me on to the idea.

I’ve made that mistake many times before (eating sugar on an empty stomach.) And as you, seriously suffered the consequences. Eric.

By: PeaceCat

PeaceCat — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:02:50 +0000

Hi Eric,

Thanks for sharing the findings of your personal sugar free experiment!

I did a complete sugar free trial for a few months about 10 years ago. My findings were much like yours, some loss of energy plus gain in focus. If I ever need to loose weight, I just go on a strict no sugar regime for a little while.

Now I avoid white sugar and white flour as much as possible, but have learned I can have the occasional treat if I stick to the following rules:

Choose natural sweetness (honey, raisins) or unrefined sugar over refined sugar.

Only eat sweet foods after (or in conjunction with) complex carbs, fat and/or protein.

Choose sweet treats that contain oats to slow absorption of the sugar, this is probably why flapjacks & granola bars are my favourite treats

I found that the longer I have gone without sugar, the less of a taste I have for it (e.g. crave it less, and can taste the natural sweetness in foods much more, require much less in a sweet food, e.g. oatmeal).

Recently, I had a complete lapse in judgement and decided to eat some cake (on an empty stomach) before going to my weekly Capoeira class, figuring that the sugar would give me a nice energy boost. BIG MISTAKE! Just five minutes into the class I was at the point of exhaustion, and suffered from muscle aches and pains that were so bad I was more or less a spectator by the end of the class (whereas normally, my stamina is good and nothing hurts!). Just a cautionary tale about what sugar can do to a sensitive individual!

Good luck managing your sugar balance

By: Eric Hamm

Eric Hamm — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:24:54 +0000

@zenbastard: WOW! That’s by far the longest comment I’ve ever read, and it’s packed with great stuff! I can relate to so much of what you’re saying. There’s such a balancing act going on with our sugar levels (especially those with hypoglycemia) that it can be a daunting task to keep up.

I appreciate you taking the time to share your experiences with us/me. I look forward to more of your insight/thoughts in the future! By the way, very interesting name!

@Lindsay: Great points! I guess my body was SO used to the white stuff that it just ‘shocked’ it a little. Whatever it was, there just wasn’t the right balance going on in my diet.

I do eat a lot of nut, by the way. My lunch has almost always consisted of trail mix (almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds and grain sweetened chocolate chips) for the last 5 years or so.

@Tess: Thanks, Tess. I would definitely give it a shot. You may find it to be a wonderful experience. Just make sure you find a good balance that you can stick to. Eric.

By: Tess Marshall

Tess Marshall — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:06:14 +0000

I'm ADHD and just read a book on this exact subject. I'm considering changing my diet to see if I could actually get off medication. I admire how you changed your plan without feeling like you failed. Tess Marshall´s last blog post..What Happy People Know

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 04:57:37 +0000

Interesting read. I’m actually surprised you started feeling bad after a while. The closer I get to the “paleo diet” (meat, fish, veggies, fruit, nuts…), the better I feel and the better my various health symptoms are. Human beings didn’t evolve eating flour or sugar, so there’s no reason a lack of them should make us feel poor. It’s the opposite, really. A lot of the “diseases of civilization” didn’t start showing up in the fossil record until we became agrarian and started eating grains regularly.

There are plenty of complex carbs simply in fruits and veggies. When I gave up sugar (note, I didn’t stick to this… love my desserts too much), I soon noticed that fruits tasted awesome and after a week or two, I stopped craving sugar.

But, as so many do, I went out to eat and had a restaurant dessert and fell down that slippery slope back to a dessert a day, heh.

Lindsay´s last blog post..Mailing List Basics for Bloggers and Authors — Part 2