Tuesday, April 26, 2011

McKenna Quote

"I'm not motivated, as you see. I need a place to keep some books dry. Having achieved that my motivation falls to pieces. "

From "The Last Interview" part 1, 1:00:20
 

Monday, April 11, 2011

Making a break with refined sugar

On the way to work everyday, I would stop by the local convenience store and buy a cup of coffee and two pieces of bread. You can see what those treats look like of you do this search on Google Japan. Each one of those items has something like 350 calories in them, and most of it comes from refined sugar. Then maybe white flour. 

On the way home I would often buy another one for eating in the car.

I don't really want this post to be fear mongering about the ill effects of white sugar, so I'll just say that I have eaten more than my share of the white powder in my life, and don't need any more.

I'm on day six of a white sugar fast, which means that I am cutting out anything that contains refined sugar. That is pretty easy for me, as my family eats a predominantly whole grain, vegetable, bean, and fish diet. We don't even have sugar in the house, so if I eat what is here, thanks to my wife, I'm fine.

This idea came to me when I found one day that I craved something sweet at certain times of the day. Normally I would have given in to the temptation, but six days ago, I decided that it was a bigger problem than just a craving. The sugary treat would satisfy me, but why did I have that strong desire to eat it anyway? The only conclusion I could come to was that I am addicted to sugar.

I did some searching and found that there is indeed addiction to the stuff, so I decided to get the monkey off my back.

I did a similar thing with alcohol some years ago. At that time I thought that I had an addiction to alcohol, so I gave it up. I had cravings, but none of the feelings, physical or emotional, that came with that experience were as bad as the feelings that I had after drinking.

Just like alcohol, I've had more than my share of the world's refined sugar.