I have once again reached a plateau in my weight loss strategy. I have had so many plateaus now in my weight loss journey that I now know that a plateau means that my body has now reached a new set point. It isn’t something that I can point to right away, but after three weeks of steady weight (not really going up or down) I know something new has to be added to the mix. I have been avoiding giving up sugar for a long time, but now it is time to cut down. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe in eliminating anything from my diet, but you do have to understand your body and keep it in moderation. What is good for me is not necessarily good for someone else.

Anyhow, in order to get through this next plateau I am going with a reduced sugar plan. It is very simple plan. For the next 30 days I will not any anything that would be labelled as a “sweet food”. This includes (but not limited to: cake, candy, chocolates, juice, honey, most breads, and artificial sweeteners. I know artificial sweeteners are not sugar, but I have found they cause a reaction in me and I often crave more sugar after eating them. I am giving myself some exceptions. If I make the juice myself I can drink it (because I know I am not going to add sugar), once every other day I can eat up to 70 calories of dark (70% or higher) chocolate (good for the heart), whole fruit is unlimited (I never met anyone get fat by just eating fruit), and small amounts of peanut butter is ok (good protein source for running).

In order to accomplish this feat I am going to need to monitor my food intake a little bit better. All food we eat turns into glucose (body sugar), but if I can keep my glucose levels regular I am hoping to avoid insulin spikes. Anytime there is a increase of insulin in the body it tells the body to store energy, which turns into fat. If your glucose level goes down, you get hungry and with the level of exercise I am doing my body screams at me to bring the glucose level back up. That is bad however because it is almost impossible to bring it up without overshooting. The best way is to keep it steady. My plan to do this is going to be by eating more protein. Protein also gets converted to glucose in the body, but a lot slower than refined sugar. I am going to attempt to get my protein sources from more stable foods such as meats, avocados, and nuts.

We shall see how it goes. As with any goal if it is not measurable, it isn’t a good goal. My current weight is 198. I plan to post again in 14 days to see how I am doing. If you don’t see a post by 4/7/13 feel free to give me a call and ask me how I am doing.