Childhood
I was an incredibly picky eater as a child. As my Dad says (and will still say to this day), "I didn't fight with you about food. You ate what you wanted, when you were hungry." I love my Dad, and his logic makes sense, but I was definitely eating the "wrong" foods as a child, and never trying anything new. My diet literally consisted of: Chicken nuggets, French fries, hot dogs, bologna (ugh!), salami, American cheese, bread, an occasional salad, carrots, celery and most fruits and desserts. This is pretty much all I ate from the age 2 or 3 to 12. And believe me - it didn't get much better at 12! I only expanded my "acceptable" foods lists to add pizza, mozzarella sticks, grilled chicken (yay me!) and a few bites of turkey and mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving dinner.
Fortunately, I was a very skinny and active kid! It wasn't until around the 6th grade that I slowly started gaining weight and feeling self-conscious. I compared my body type to many of my friends and other girls, wondering why they were so skinny and I was not.
Me with my Mom, at age 7.
High School
As I got into high school, I continued to pack on the pounds. I was fairly active, playing soccer in the fall and summer, but I did spend a lot of time watching TV and on AOL. I had absolutely no concept of eating healthy - nor did I know what foods were "healthy" and what foods weren't. I was still the pathetically picky eater too! I got so nervous to have dinner at a friend's house or eating on a school trip, because I didn't know what I'd be able to eat. During my sophomore year, I started working ticketing and concessions at our town pool. I was surround by junk ALL THE TIME, and I certainly ate my fair share of it! Going into my junior year, I was at my heaviest. I'm not even sure what my weight was, because I avoided scales. I remember purchasing a pair of jeans at American Eagle in a size 10, though. That's when it kind of hit me.. I needed to move a bit more!
Once my soccer season was over in the fall of my junior year, I started going to an aerobics class that my Aunt taught. It was 1 hour, 2 days a week. Easy commitment! I would say that I went to class pretty consistently and enjoyed by 2 hour workout each week, and I started noticing results! But it wasn't until my senior year that I really paired diet and exercise to shed most of my excess weight. During my senior year, I began to bring salads and healthy snacks to school for lunch almost everyday. The only day that I bought lunch was on Monday: baked potato day! Along with my healthier eating, I joined a local gym and began running on the treadmill or using the bike about 2-3 times per week and continued to go to my Aunt's aerobics class. I was ecstatic when my clothes kept getting looser and looser! I remember having to get my dress for senior prom altered, because I had lost so much weight after purchasing it.
College
I continued most of my healthy eating habits and exercising through college. My big breakthrough was when I started working at a banquet facility, and began trying lots of new foods! I fell in love with fish and many vegetables that I wouldn't dare to try before. Working at the job opened my palette up to a host of new and healthier options for me to eat! I would say that my college years were easy for the most part: I ate healthy and exercised. If I gained 5 pounds, then I watched what I ate and moved a little bit more.
25+
After I turned 25, something happened. The weight didn't come off as easily as it used to, and I didn't understand why. In my opinion, I was eating healthier than ever! With my education career, finding the time and energy to workout always the easiest, but I definitely felt like I ate healthy! Then one summer, I got back lab results from my yearly exam. I had high cholesterol. I was baffled. "I don't eat that much fried food," I thought. "I eat tons of fruit, veggies and low fat food!" Completely confused, I researched to no end, found a few helpful tips and new recipes. When the next year came around, the results were still the same. Honestly, I felt ashamed. I only told a few close people about my "problem", and they seemed as shocked as I was. For the past two years, I have completed numerous "diets", juice fasts, exercise programs, and gone through testing for hypothyroidism, all with no help to my cholesterol. In fact, all of these things only seemed make my numbers rise.... I got to a point where I had no idea what to do.
I Quit Sugar
Somewhere in all of my researching over cholesterol, I came across a woman named Sarah Wilson. She was saying that by quitting sugar, I could potentially lower my cholesterol. I read a few articles about how there was added sugar in low fat dairy products, and her thoughts intrigued me, but being the soda and ice cream lover that I was, I wasn't ready for this concept of "quitting sugar". I think the final straw came this past spring when I was at a loss. After months of trying to shed about 5 pounds to fit comfortably back into most of my clothes and trying all of my usual weights loss tricks, I decided that something had to give. What could it hurt to try? I bought her book.
I Quit Sugar by Sarah Wilson
I stayed up very late reading the introduction. I couldn't believe the research, and the ideas in this book. Sugar was the enemy, not fat. If I gave up sugar, then I potentially could feel better, lose weight and most importantly, lower my cholesterol. I was finally sold, and ready to give this sugar free lifestyle a try! I had planned on slowly accumulating the ingredients for the recipes and waiting at least another week to start the program, but I totally dove in head first! ...And was met with major sugar withdraw, including nausea and the worst headache that I've ever had. I know that this isn't helping me sell this lifestyle to you right now, but I will get to that shortly...
Once the initial ill feelings left, I immediately noticed an increase of energy, my moods improved, my skin and hair felt softer, and I even lost a couple pounds! This definitely gave me enough motivation to keep going! As the weeks progressed, I continued my new found sugar free lifestyle. At first, it was a big challenged to read so many labels, and check sugar content on online restaurant menus, but that has become almost second nature to me now! It seemed as through every week I continued this program, I noticed another change in my body... First I lost some of the puffiness in my face, then stomach flattened out, then I slowly began shedding all of the excess pounds from my hips and thighs that I've so desperately wanted to get rid of. And when others started noticing my results, I became ecstatic! Oh, and did I mention that my cholesterol went down?
Left: March 2014, around 135 pounds
Right: June 2014, after 8 weeks without sugar, 125 pounds
I'm so excited as I continue my journey through life without sugar. I'm enjoying trying new foods, and watching my body continue to change. I'm getting to a point where I don't need to lose more weight, but I just need to tone up some areas, so I'm trying to integrate more exercise into my daily life. But eating is so much easier now!
I'm excited to share more of my sugar free lifestyle with you, including research, recipes and my results.
