Sunday, August 2, 2009

The Hardest Decision of my Life, kind of.

When I was in high school I was the poster child for bad nutrition. I ate Swiss Cake rolls for breakfast, Zebra Cakes for an after school snack, pizza, Big Macs, you name it I disposed of it. But I was also burning at least 2000 calories a day. I played basketball, it was my sport. I was known for my endurance and speed. I was a legend because I NEVER had to sit down because of being tired. I was in shape. I ran cross country to stay in shape for basketball. I would go from cross country practice straight to basketball practice with only a hint of whining when we were instructed to jog our one mile warm up or 5 suicides. I would run anywhere from 5 to 13 miles a day on top of basketball. I was grossly underweight at 120 pounds and 5'10. I don't say this to brag but to get the point across. I was in shape and starved of proper nutrition.

When I went to college I walked on the basketball team my freshman year. It wasn't the same, the team comradery was gone. It was more of a hot-shot-look-at-me show and I didn't enjoy it. So I quit, walked off. It wasn't paying the tuition so no real loss really. Except I didn't really know how to work out without a coach yelling at me FASTER! HARDER! AGAIN! PUSH-UPS! So I slowly put on the weight. My eating habits didn't change and to be honest I added beer, wine coolers, captain and coke...you get the point. So by my Junior year of college I realized something had to change. I cut out soda. That was a good choice. A few months later I had lost 20 pounds!

So as I was sitting in my back yard this afternoon, in my bikini (big shocker) I realized that I have been afraid to give up what it is that is REALLY keeping the pounds on. Sugar. I have always known it was the reason I can't lose these last 10 pounds. It is the reason I run 30 miles a week, lift weights three times a week, teach water aerobics once a week, do yoga on an irregular basis, and boot camp twice a week when I can and I STILL remain a size 32 jeans, or a size 10. It is the reason I look at my waist and cringe. So today, my friends, I pledge to you that I am going to cut out sugar for one month. The month of August I will only eat necessary sugar such as in my morning coffee and one, just one piece of my son's 4th birthday cake. Can I do it? I don't know. But if I do and I lose even 5 pounds I believe I will be motivated to cut sugar for an extended length of time. After all who likes running ridiculously long races only to squash it's benefits with a giant piece of cheese cake?

Here goes nothing! Wish me luck! And feel free to leave me a comment if you care to join me in my August Sugar Free Month!!!

5 comments:

  1. good luck. I dropped sugar for sweetener while trying to slim down. It worked like a charm.

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  2. GOOD LUCK!! FYI 5'10 is TALL and I am SOO HAPPY to be a size 10...LOL.. OK so I would love to see if we can find a way to meet up to run even once. I am not training for Portland due to lack of funds (one income) but I am totally willing to do a LONG run on a weekend morning. Anything I can do to help someone reach her goals!!! Let me know. Email is best. tallmomontherun@hotmail.com

    I live on the Southhill in Puyallup almost Graham..

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  3. Good to know Chris! Check back this evening to see how my first 24 hours of sugar free went! Not as easy as I had hoped! EVERYTHING seems to have sugar!

    And Mel, I would love to get together! I just did my 10 this morning! I will definitely shoot you an email so we can try to do a long run!

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  4. I'm in! I need to drop sugar. Or else just mainline it into my carotid along with caffeine. I just use it to get through the day, to have enough energy, then don't eat enough healthy food.

    So, I've gone without sugar before, and instead of cutting it out entirely, I have started with cutting out sweets. No cookies, cakes, ice cream, etc. Once that goes, its easier to get rid of the other stuff.

    So does it count if I start 5 days in? And try to maintain in while on vacation? Maybe I should shoot for September.

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  5. Oh man, maybe I should shoot for September! No I like your idea of cutting back. That is what I decided to do: SERIOUSLY CUT BACK! I also like the mainline into the carotid idea too...might as well go all out!

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You're pretty much awesome!!

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