Happy New Year!!  Here’s to the BEST change I made in 2022!

The start of a new year finds many folks setting goals, making resolutions & thinking about things they’d like to change.  Maybe this is you too??  It really is a good thing to evaluate where your current trajectory will put you in the next year, next 5 years and/or next 10 years.  Often, when we think longer term, we suddenly realize that where we’re headed ain’t such a great place!

Over the past two years I’ve been working on dietary adjustments – some minor & some major.  My adjustments were prompted by menopause & the accompanying weird feeling that the body I now have is very different than the body I had 10 yrs ago.  While my menopausal symptoms were/are fairly mild, I couldn’t overlook that:

• I was getting injured more frequently
• I was losing strength in the weight room
• I couldn’t recover as quickly from hard workouts
• My muscle to body fat ratios were changing…and not the way I wanted them to!

If I projected where these trajectories would put me in 10 yrs, I knew something had to change!!!

The Best Change I Made in 2022

Truthfully multiple things needed to change.  But…I made one major change that I consider THE BEST:  I drastically cut down my sugar intake.

I recently saw a Facebook post discussing the challenges to staying fit.  One of the Comments was “SUGAR”.  In hindsight I completely & 100% agree.  I say “in hindsight” because it’s only after getting unhooked from sugar can I speak to its negative effects on me.

To be honest, I was never a huge sugar junkie – I didn’t eat candy, I only had baked goods sparingly & I have always enjoyed cooking & making things from scratch.  But…sugar is devious…it’s hidden…it goes by many names (here are 56 different names for “sugar”).

Where Was I Getting Sugar?

Once I started to look at my daily foods more closely, I began to see all of the ways I was getting a little bit of sugar here & a little bit there.

• My daily handful of chocolate chips – OBVIOUS!
• Craisins which I put on my morning oatmeal – 7 t of sugar in 1/4c!!!
• Newman’s Own Parmesan & Roasted Garlic salad dressing – Most salad dressings have added sugar.
• Graham crackers with Nutella – Aaaack…my afternoon snack!
• Beef jerky – Another afternoon snack…because I was trying to get more protein.  Lots of brands have added sugar.
• Pasta & Bread – Both are simple carbs which quickly break down into sugar.
• Vanilla yogurt – I often added this to my oatmeal (again to boost protein).  But flavored yogurts really ought to be categorized as “dessert”…lots o’ added sugar!
• My daily glass of wine – Yes, I know wine does have good qualities, but it also has a double sugar whammy:  The carbs from the grapes & sugar is sometimes added to create a “sweeter” wine.
• Sports Bars/Gels/Sports Drinks – All are loaded with sugar which some dieticians blame for the rise in Type 2 Diabetes among endurance athletes.
• Fruit – Yep, fruit.  Yes, it is natural sugar & yes, it has fiber with it.  But it’s still a sugar source.

Cutting My Sugar Intake Down

After taking a hard look at my daily foods, I decided it was time for a big change – more to the point…the best change I made in 2022!  It was time to drastically reduce my sugar intake.  So, what exactly did I do?

1. The obvious sources were eliminated.  No more chocolate chips, graham crackers, Nutella & Craisins.
2. I replaced store-bought salad dressing with homemade – here’s my go-to recipe.
3. I looked for alternatives.  There are No Sugar Added beef jerky options & I switched to full-fat plain yogurt.
4. I drastically cut back on pastas, breads, wine & fruit.  I still eat these, but I now choose to enjoy them on weekends rather than weekdays when my sleep is more critical (more on that below).
5. Instead of sports bars/gels for my exercise fuel, I now use real foods like boiled, salted potatoes.  And I drink water with electrolytes rather than sports drinks.
6. I changed my meals.  Since I reduced my fruit intake, I replaced all with vegetables.  Eating veggies (instead of fruit) for breakfast meant that I needed something different than oatmeal.  I now eat a delish combo of zucchini, sweet potatoes & eggs!  Here’s the recipe!

Here’s the upshot.  The first week was rough.  I REALLY missed my chocolate chips & wine!!  The 2nd week…still pretty rough.  Basically, the 1st month was rough.  But after that I could tell that my thoughts were shifting into new directions.  I was no longer thinking about what I couldn’t eat.  I was now focusing on how much better I was sleeping…and how much better overall I felt!

Here’s What I Noticed

These changes to how I felt were what really sold me.  With my Oura Ring I was able to track exactly how my sleep & recovery were affected.  And, to the night, I could see that:

• Sugar increased my nighttime heart rate & body temp
• Sugar decreased my percentage of deep sleep
• Alcohol had the exact same effects
• Sugar & alcohol together were a NIGHTMARE!!

Over the holidays I made conscious decisions to enjoy wine with my Christmas dinner, to eat the traditional Christmas cookies that I made & to generally enjoy the festivities!  I made those decisions knowing full well that my sleep (and therefore recovery from workouts) would be adversely affected.  And I definitely felt it.  Through that 1 week of holiday craziness, I slept pretty poorly, felt pretty lethargic &, as a result, reduced my workout load.  It was sure fun…but draining!!

And now…I’m back to my structure.  I’m back to very low sugar consumption…and I’m feeling really good again!  I am sleeping solidly, waking up refreshed & recovering well from more intense workouts!  I love it!!

We often can’t know how significant the impact of our changes will be until we’ve made them & are on the other side.  I had NO IDEA that I would feel so significantly different without sugar.  That’s the “hindsight is 20/20” part!  And that’s why I can say with confidence that this was the BEST change I made in 2022!

It’s 2023…it’s time for a change!  What significant change will you make?

Happy Training!