Day 12: "Shake the Sugar" 21-Day Challenge

Warning: Long post, personal story, but you'll want to read this!!  Please take some time to do so!



As I’m not eating nor wanting sugar, I’m starting to notice how it truly is everywhere.  I’m looking at what I CAN eat and sometimes that’s hard to find.  That said, it’s such an awareness now that I have this protective mindset.  It’s like I’m seeking the food that will only keep me on track and make me feel good, while getting pretty defensive against the sugary foods that I don’t want in this body.  That’s a good thing to be in that mindset.  If you’re there, congrats.  BUT, if you’re more in the “I’m missing out” mindset, then that tells you you have more of a sugar addiction than you thought you had.  Sorry to break the bad news.

So what do you do about that?  While I'm not a medical doc, I've learned a lot and know that the more you practice not eating it, the better it will get and the less you'll have in your system.  What I can tell you, is that I learned about sugar and it's effects very early on in my life and can speak from experience of someone who was "overtaken" with it in my body.

In my early 20s I landed at IU and started drinking a lot of alcohol and eating the typical dorm and college foods that kids do.  I had been a competitive swimmer for nine years and this was my first year to not swim AND I started adding in all this extra junk to my system.  Double whammy!  My body could not handle the activity change and poor nutritional shock and my periods stopped out of the blue.  My Mom took me to the OB and she wanted to put me on birth control so I could get a period.  However, my Mom knew that was a band aid to the issue and she wanted to find out the "why" to the issue (Thanks Mom!!) 

We proceeded on to a Naturopath and he discovered that I had a major yeast overgrowth in my digestive tract and it was overflowing into my female organs, therefore stopping my cycles.  Measured on a scale of 0 to 5, my young system was a 4.  It's in my opinion, from what I've learned, that was the start to endometriosis and had I not sought out alternative medicine, I would have likely entered into infertility and a whole host of other complications affecting me for the rest of my life.  Can you imagine if we would have just masked that with unnecessary birth control pills?  I would have been miserable and on a different life path for sure!

It was the summer of 1995 when I was home from college that we discovered this.  I went on a major detox diet, which is pretty much the way I eat now: only meats, veggies, and hardly anything else sugary/grain/carb/processed that would "grow my yeast", as the doctor would say. To clear the issue, I also was taking some recommended anti-fungal pills that we bought at the health food store, all under guidance of the doctor.  

It was a hard switch for this 20 something to go from major processed to major clean.  I do remember feeling restricted and "different" than all the rest of the kids my age, but I WANTED THE CHANGE AND IMPROVED HEALTH MORE THAN THE FOOD!  So, my discipline kicked in, I followed the diet, took the pills, and when I returned to IU that fall, I was 15 pounds lighter, had a flat stomach, more energy, a healthy system and a returned menstrual cycle to go with it.  My body had detoxed of the yeast, which was caused by an imbalance of too much sugary, processed foods and alcohol.  My issue came up from a 2-year diet change (my first two years of college), which was different from what I had been eating as a kid.  Imagine what happens to people's systems over the course of many, many years?  What if my periods had never stopped?  I would have never known what was going on internally.  

Fast forward into my mid thirties and I visited that same doctor to help with an issue with one of my children.  I was now a Mom of four, and with all the knowledge I had gained in that time, I looked the doctor in the eye as tears flowed from mine.  I thanked him for treating me back then, in turn allowing my system to return to a healthy state and jump starting my female organs back to good health.  Without that path, I know I would have been suffering from tons of side effects and potentially endometriosis and other health issues.  Without his help in my early 20s, I know in my heart it would have been a challenge to bear children with my body headed towards disaster.  To him I'm forever grateful and for my Mom for having the push to get answers to the problem and not just masking the symptoms.

As an adult now looking back to that experience, I have spent years learning my body.  History tells me that if I don't keep it clean, my system will begin to fail.  Old habits have tried to reappear and by the birth of my fourth child in 2009 (left picture), I'd say I was back on the fast track to physical disaster again with a stressed out lifestyle and poor eating and low activity habits in tow.  Thanks goodness for change!  The whole reason for this Challenge was to curb any lurking sugar habit that might have been trying to get back in!

I tell you all this because I've been in a state of poor health.  I've been challenged with cravings and experienced all the effects that go with it.  Now on the other side of the struggle, I urge you to consider your options and survey the big picture.  I'm not telling you to visit any certain doctors or take any certain pills, but I am telling you that if sugar runs you, controls your day, it would be in your best interest to take it up a notch and take control of the situation.  There are options for a stronger detox than this 21-day challenge and this might be more serious than you know.  If you want to get more info from me about this story or the doctor I saw, simply email me at mindy@fitgalclub.com and I'll be happy to make the connection!

TO DO: 

Focus on your health.  The long-term effects of a high sugar diet are more serious than just "I like sugar and I eat it everyday....Boy, I really wish I could stop it."  I'm telling you from experience, it will impact you in greater ways than you can imagine in years to come if you don't take action to clean it up with serious intent and focus NOW.

From my heart to yours,

Mindy

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