Busting Sugar and Staying Healthy
By Adrienne Amos
This is the lifestyle change that my husband and I implemented last year when he had a diabetic scare. By following it, he was able to stop all diabetes medicine and control his sugar by food alone.
The whole process is outlined in a wonderful book called Sugar Busters. We went through our pantry and refrigerator and eliminated all refined wheat and sugar items, then replaced them with whole wheat and items using Splenda. We no longer have sweets in the house, so the temptation is never there. When I do get a sweet craving, a small candy bar fulfills it for a long time. We don’t eat white potatoes as a rule, though we do occasionally have them when we eat out.
Photograph by RJP. Some rights reserved.
It didn’t take us long to figure out that we could eat healthy with tasty foods, and quite frankly mealtime became more pleasurable than it had been for a while. We eat controlled portions most of the time, though on occasions one or both of us will over indulge in something that is particularly tasty. Read your labels at the store before you buy and plan ahead.
Along with the healthy diet we strive for daily exercise, though we don’t always succeed due to our schedules. The benefits of these changes have been great. Controlling his diabetes with diet alone has been the biggest boon for my husband, but both of us have lost weight in the process. It has come off slowly, but the advantage to that is it is staying off. As a general rule, we feel better and have more energy as well.
Making sure you get enough protein is a big part of this lifestyle, too. Too many people cutting back on carbs end up cutting out their protein as well, which leaves them feeling sluggish most of the time. Our body has to have the protein to run efficiently. Moderation is the key. The plan also reminds us to eat regularly. It is better to have several small meals than to starve ourselves for a large part of the day then gorge ourselves once or twice.
Eat right, Exercise, and Live Well!