21 Days: Just a Little Sugar


For the first 21 days of March, I will watch my sugar intake and see how it affects my mood and appetite. I won’t be avoiding completely… I will have a little sugar first thing in the morning in fruit or fruit juice, some sugar when I work out, and maybe a dessert once or twice a week.

Popular health and weight loss literature compares sugar to alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine in terms of addiction and mood alteration. Some experts will even tell you that sugar is “poison” and should be avoided at all costs. While I feel this is a stressful way to look at sugar, I do agree that Americans consume far more sugar than their health can tolerate. Over the next 21 days, I’ll post what I know about sugar, and I hope this helps you make better eating choices for your fit lifestyle.

If you’d like to watch your sugar intake with me, you will need to pay attention to the “Sugars” number on a nutritional label, under the “Total Carbohydrate” section. Other resources I like using for nutritional information are Calorie King and The Daily Plate at Livestrong.com.

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One response to “21 Days: Just a Little Sugar”

  1. Hi Christine,

    Do you have any comment about the “low carb high fat” diet advocated by this guy?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSeSTq-N4U4&list=PL9E35F689C3F67D03&index=1&feature=plpp_video

    I”ve been trying to follow that starting Oct 2011, but it’s really hard to eat that way in this society. Following LCHF I lost about 20 pounds over 6 months, but then gained back 10. (I’m 6’4″, 215lbs right now, age 62 male, regular light gym workouts). I was starting to have persistent chest pains, saw doctor, and learned the “bad” cholesterol was very high (350), so just on my own I decided to experiment with the LCHF diet. Chest pains ceased!

    Christine, do you have an opinion about whether that LCHF idea is correct or maybe is off base? One aspect of LCHF that makes me a little doubtful is that fruit is so naturally appealing to humans…yet LCHF says to avoid fruit due to high sugar content. Just seems wrong intuitively.

    Anyway, in case you decide to comment I will be extremely interested.

    Received your LinkedIn broadcast to the Anderson alumni.

    Thank you, and I understand if you don’t have time to reply. Scott Bailey