sugar challenge

When I first heard about the Sugar Challenge, I was kind of annoyed, because the challenge was to do something that I try to do every day. After a few years, it's still not easy, but I wish that I could do something more challenging or at least relevant to me. Even HCC is a little boring now, but sometimes, my friends turn to me and say, "Oh, that's why you don't eat sweets?"  Not to be cocky, but I'm very confident that I can meet the challenge, because it's already something that's integrated into my daily life.

In seventh grade, when I started cutting back on added sugar, I tried going cold turkey. Because sugar triggers dopamine in the brain's pleasure center, it takes a while for your body to get used to a large difference in your sugar levels. I started feeling cranky and tired, and eventually opted for a periodical binge on sweets, instead of my regular constant flow. I didn't realize it at the time, but it had a big impact on my mood. I started to develop anxiety, and made an increasing amount of impulsive decisions.




One night in eighth grade, when I was bored and home alone, I watched a documentary called "Fed Up" on Netflix. It was the first of many. "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead", "Forks Over Knives", "Hungry For Change", "Bite Size", "Vegucated": somehow, the corny-sounding documentaries seemed more appealing than TV shows to easily-impressionable, hoping-to-be-a-nutritionist, 12-year-old me/ I learned more about the effects of sugar, and I realized that binges are unhealthy. I slowly cut back on sugar, until I was within the recommended amount. If I was only counting added sugar.

Even now, I still get a weird look when I order fruits instead of dessert, or buy water instead of lemonade. "Freaking health freak" is the most common comment I get from my older sister (who doesn't give a single heck about added sugar even though I always tell her how bad it is).