Over the past several weeks I’ve been blogging on Fitness Friday about lessons learned during our “new normal” eating habits. This week, it’s all about the sugar.
I picked fresh blackberries at a friend’s house, and she gave me an awesome cobbler recipe. When she makes it she uses xylitol instead of sugar, but I can’t use that so I was going to use coconut sugar.
Then I noticed I had some organic sugar so opted to use the real thing, and use almond flour instead of wheat flour to keep it gluten free. Recipe calls for 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar, and 1 stick of butter on 4 cups of fruit. Without a thought, I made the recipe as-is.
WOW was it good! But, I could have used 1/2 cup of coconut sugar and it still would have been amazing with the natural sweetness of the fruit. And we could have bypassed the restless sleep, wakeful 1AM hours, and night sweats brought on by eating sugar. We forgot how much sugar affected our sleep!
When I look back, I realize that we once accepted restless sleep as normal. I woke up hot and thirsty in the wee hours, usually more than once a night. I’d have to get up and drink water before I could go back to sleep, and even then sleep was not restful. But hey, that’s just how it was when you got older, right?
Wrong.
That’s how it is when you eat sugar (and also dairy for me). Before the sugar this week, our new normal was to sleep well, sometimes not waking up at all…even to go to the bathroom. No thirst or sweating, and felt rested in the morning. We didn’t have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep.
Oh, but that sugar was SO good! How easy it would be to slide back into the old ways!
But hmmm, let me see…the cost for minutes of sugar enjoyment is hours of good sleep, and the cost for hours of good sleep is foregoing the minutes of eating sugar. Plus we have substitutes for sugar; there is no substitute for a good night’s sleep.
When put in those terms, the choice is clear. That’s what we all need to keep in mind when we’re tempted to slide back to our old ways. Our new normal lifestyle will build better health and therefore more overall enjoyment of life.
Yes, we should always be mindful of our eating and count the cost…both ways!
Beloved, I pray that in every way you may succeed and prosper
and be in good health [physically],
just as [I know] your soul prospers [spiritually].
(3 John 1:2)
In what area of eating lifestyle do you desire a new normal? Take a moment to consider the cost both ways, and then resolve to act!
