As of August 1, I have decided to end my No Sugar resolution.
The main reason is that I simply don't feel any different, and have not noticed any change in weight (although to be fair, I probably have put on muscle mass and burned some fat to maintain the same total weight). Unfortunately, I can't make this assessment scientifically as I didn't take any measurements when I started other than my blood tests (and my final blood tests after 7 months without sugar should be in next week).
I haven't given up exactly--in fact, I still haven't eaten any sugar products. What I'm doing is trying a new "slow carb" diet as outlined in
Tim Ferriss' book The 4-Hour Body (I highly recommend this book--even if you don't agree with the pseudoscience, it's a hilarious read and it will realign your idea of how you should think about health and human potential).
For 6 days of the week, I will be adhering to the diet rules:
- No "white" carbs (basically any rice, potatoes, flour, etc. of any kind)
- Don't drink calories (no milk, juice, or beer, but some red wine is OK)
- No fruit
- Repeat a few simple meals (to make it easy to stick to) and eat as much as you need to avoid hunger
On the last day of the week (probably Saturday), I will be following rule 5:
"Go nuts."
This means I can eat whatever--and as much of whatever--as I want. Look out internal organs!
Yo-yo-ing your calorie intake like this is supposed to be good to maintain a high overall metabolic rate--that is, if you keep a low-calorie diet, your body learns to burn fewer calories at rest (or something like that, I think).
To see what effect this has, I had a
BodPod analysis done here in Calgary, and the results are in the photograph above. I have also taken body measurements (circumference in inches) as suggested in Tim's book:
Left arm, mid-bicep: 14.5
Right arm, mid-bicep: 14
Waist, at navel: 37.25
Hips, widest below waist: 36
Left leg, mid-thigh: 22
Right leg, mid-thigh: 22
TOTAL INCHES: 145.75
Tracking inches (if you main goal is weight loss) helps you see how your body is changing even if you're not losing weight. In addition to shifting some inches from my gut to my arms, I'd like to see a reduction in my overall body fat percentage, in addition to gaining another 5 to 10 pounds of muscle mass by this time next year.
I feel bad about giving up my New Year's Resolution, but I think this diet will be a much harder challenge, and I am confident that if I decided I wanted to commit to a no sugar diet for other reasons, I could stick to it.