Today I was staying the night at a friend’s place while switching apartments. I haven’t been perfect in eating well recently, and I’ve definitely suffered as a consequence.

We woke up, and his grandma started making pancakes. Mmmmmm….

Deep down, my intuition said NO. But I was too nice, and agreed to “just one pancake.”

One HUGE Dose Of Sugar

This pancake was made with lots of flour & sugar. Both are very bad for the body.
Sugar for example is not needed to survive, and the large quantities with which it is found today are absurd (and deadly).

I haven’t done that well on not eating sugar, fructose, and bad carbs, despite my self-study and personal suffering over and over every-time I indulge is such drugs.

Alas, this was the tipping point. This short story is my motivation for NOT eating sugar ever again! It is simply not worth it!

Note: Yes, I know sugar is in bananas and some fruits. The fiber in bananas for example will prevent the bad sides of sugar from occurring, assuming you’re eating protein and other healthy items.

Anyways, this was one freaking sugary pancake. I had a second right after. Here’s what happened…

Overdosing on Sugar: Never Again

The morning was pleasant. I hadn’t been eating perfectly in the past week, but it wasn’t that bad. I was tired the previous day, but slept well this day.

With a small sense of peace & inspiration to get a lot done today, I was excited to get going!

My friend mentioned his grandma was making pancakes. Deep down I didn’t want the pancakes, but I figured I’d give one or two a try.

After all, it had been quite some time since I had enjoyed pancakes! It can’t be that bad, right?

I sat down and eat both pancakes, which were filled with sugar & flour. It was almost too strong for my mouth because of all the sugar.

After not even 5 minutes, the effects hit like a bitch.

Fatigue, depression, feeling out of it, etc. Just half an hour earlier I was motivated for an epic, successful day, and now all I wanted to do was roll back into bed!

I left the home feeling quite out of it. My stomach started to ache. I felt negative, but it wasn’t the type of negativity you can cry & release.

It was like anti-high. “Why did I take this fucking sugar,” I asked myself.

My motivation for working out completely went away. I wanted to lay down and do nothing.

So I ate some chicken, hoping this could flush out the pancakes quicker. I also drank lots of water, but for the next few hours I would still be so out of it and exhausted from sugar!

My stomach was causing so much pain, and let’s just say #2 wasn’t that fun…

I went to a park, and slept for several hours. I felt heavy in my chest & stomach (which could be from other causes).

The rest and bathroom breaks helped tons. The park I was in was filled with natural beauty & the birds are magical. I felt heavy, but still I was able to appreciate the songs of the birds.
After that I came to a coffee shop to work n’ chill a bit.

My stomach is still a bit off, I still feel a bit hazy, but I’m finally recovering from my breakfast.

Oh, and it’s something like 7 hours after having eaten the pancakes. Ridiculous!

TMS & Sugar?

Recently I’ve been studying something called “Tension Myositis Syndrome,” or “The MindBody Syndrome.”

This is when suppressed intense emotions result in chronic pain in the body. This is something I’m currently recovering from.

As part of my studies, I’ve been seeing how two negatives interact with each other.

For example, sugar isn’t good. Suppressed rage isn’t good. But what happens when you have suppressed rage, and eat sugar? Hint: It’s REALLY not good…

So my rather intense reaction to a lot of sugar could be something most would experience, or perhaps my already exhausted body might not be able to easily handle intense drugs such as sugar (yes, it’s by definition a drug).

It could be also that I’ve slightly detoxed from sugar, so now it’s hitting harder. Or maybe there really was just a shit ton of sugar & flour in the pancakes!

Who knows. What do you think?

Real Drug Lows vs. Sugar Lows

You know, I’ve taken lots of different drugs. Some the kinds doctors prescribed, and some the kind dealers prescribe. You follow?

And let me tell you: no drug low has ever compared to the feeling I felt this morning after eating this pancakes. 

I would rather recover from an intense drug high than eat another one of these pancakes!

Sugar is one hell of a drug for sure…

Lesson Learned

So here’s what I learned today. After napping and doing yoga, I felt a tiny bit better, and was able to enjoy the day a bit.

Not all is lost! My stomach still hurts a bit though. Here’s what my hurting stomach has to say to me:

Intuition

ALWAYS follow your intuition. I’ve never hear someone say, “my intuition told me to eat pancakes,” or, “my intuition guided me towards this sugary-filled dessert.”

Nope. Never heard of it. The most sugary thing my body tells me to eat is a banana, and that’s because fibers and other things prevent the sugar from reacting like this in the body.

Follow your intuition!!! I’m no expert, I’m writing this for myself.

My intuition said NO and I disregarded it for the sweet taste of a pancake. Not worth it at all.

No sugar

It should go without saying that sugar should be completely avoided. The long-term health detriments are not worth the intake, even if you don’t have such short-term reactions.

When I first started doing no-sugar challenges, I experienced massive withdrawals.

Another problem with sugar is that it’s found in something you need: FOOD! It’s easy to say being addicted to heroin is bad, and not sugar, because sugar is found in food, which is masked as something you actually need. 

Growing up I ate fast food & sweets like every other human. Quitting was tough, but I’ll never forget my first McDonald’s meal after over a month off of it.

It was hell. My stomach hurt, I fell asleep, and it wasn’t fun.

Remember, quitting sugar doesn’t mean you’re quitting pleasure. It may feel that way, and a lot of people think that when I say it.

This is because sugar explodes dopamine reward centers just like cocaine, except it’s more addictive than cocaine. Quitting sugar has been proven to increase happiness, but it’s hard to quit because it feels like you’re giving up happiness!

It goes without saying that sugar is a dangerous drug, and should be avoided (except in instances like “bananas” in which sugar occurs naturally).

Saying “no”

I don’t know what it is in me that wanted to be “nice” and eat those damn pancakes.

My friend is letting me stay for free for a couple of nights while I wait to move into my new apartment. I perhaps unconsciously pushed myself to be a “good guest” and enjoy his grandma’s pancakes.

Saying “no” is something I’ve done great at recently, but messed up today. I always had good-ist tendencies as a kid which I’m learning to overcome now.

I need to say no and follow my intuition. Not eating breakfast would’ve been better than eating these pancakes!

Challenges Moving Forward

I wrote this post for me, but I hope a lot of you guys can take from it through my learning experience.

Following intuition, avoiding sugar, and learning to say “no” is what I need to work on. I think my next challenge will be to avoid sugar.

Looking back at my self-studies, my happiest days were those days which I ate “healthy.”

An interesting look at formal studies will reveal that most diets actually “work.” Paleo works. So does Atkins. Low carb works. So does high carb.

What do almost all of these fancy diets have in common? NO SUGAR, and no bad carbs!

This will be something I will work on. To start I’ll make it an easy 7 day challenge: NO SUGAR!

Anyone else in? Hit “reply” and we’ll make an accountability group for it.

Talk to you later,
-Michael