About Me
I’m Miriam. Over a year ago I was bored. I sat on my couch and idly thought “maybe I should give up sugar for a week. See what happens. I mean how bad can it be?” Turns out surprisingly bad. But once I set a goal, I see it through. Besides, I was really surprised by my strong reaction. What was going on? To stay motivated (and distracted) I dove headfirst into learning more about my body, nutrition and molecular biology.
Metabolical
That’s the title of Dr Robert Lustig’s second book on sugar and carbohydrates. I had already read Fat Chance a few years earlier. His second book goes into much more detail about how our glucose metabolism works and why it’s so bad for us to eat refined carbohydrates. I learned that sugar is a drug I was addicted to and that my liver was sick.
The Fifth Day
When I woke up on the fifth sugar-free day, all the withdrawal symptoms were gone. Just like that, my head was clear and I felt calm. I didn’t even crave sugary foods any more. The thought “I am clean” popped into my head. It was the nail in the sugary coffin because I realised there was no going back for me.
Thanks to Metabolical, I also knew that I had insulin resistance and a sick liver. For years, I had worried about my pre-diabetic symptoms. Diabetes seemed to be my unavoidable future. Now I know better.
Healing my liver
I went on a keto diet to heal my liver. The plan was to stay on keto for 3 months, but extended my plans because it worked! Wow, did it work! Keto is an extreme low-carb diet that forces your body to switch to the fat metabolism. Because 40% of my liver was still healthy, it could heal itself.
While it did that, my liver also burned up all the unhealthy types of fat (belly fat and fat around organs). Being in ketosis, (that’s what it’s called when your main energy source is fat instead of glucose from carbohydrates) felt good. I had more energy, focused more easily and even the low in the afternoon was completely gone. Heck, I suddenly enjoyed exercise!
I gave up keto after 5 months because it is too restrictive for me. Besides, my body was clearly healthy and I had learned a lot more about carbohydrates and food. It’s not about what we eat. How food is prepared makes the difference between unhealthy and healthy food.
A New Life
My new eating habits are simple. Unprocessed food. That’s the only rule. If I want to eat it, I make it. Do I sometimes go out for a pizza? Sure. Do I ever eat sugary sweets? Never. (I wouldn’t take cocaine either so that decision is easy now that I know what sugar is.) Do I lead a happy and healthy life? Oh, heck yeah!
Sometimes I get pitying looks when I tell people I don’t eat sugar. They think I am depriving myself which is hilarious to me. One of those looks inspired me to start this website because I realised that people don’t know. There is no deprivation here. Quite the opposite. I usually eat two desserts a day and often a sweet afternoon snack. Guilt free.
I know how my body works now, how to take care of myself and lead a balanced, healthy and most importantly happy life. That’s what I want for everyone. That’s what I want for you. Food is the key.
Thank you for reading my story.
My “Achievements”
So apparently people enjoy numbers because this section was part of the template I used for the site. Well, let’s have some fun with it, shall we?
grams of sugar not eaten
%