Lisa Joshua Sonn
As people we are funny. Not always in an amusing way, mostly in a peculiar way. We go through periods of introspection, it lasts three seconds and then we revert to the way we always do it, whether it works or not. My father died at the age of 49, he was at the prime of his life and healthwise had made some better choices regarding light exercise and healthy eating (again).
It was too little and too late; he was a chronic diabetic and one night, after a restful day, he had a massive cardiac arrest and died. His face pained not peaceful.
There are things we know because we’re taught and there are things we know because we are interested and pursue the information. If it suits us, we agree, if it doesn’t we ignore, avoid or delete.
Sometimes we have to revisit pearls of wisdom as it becomes relative to our lives. Like widowhood, single parenting, diabetes or cancer! For a while, a low carb, high fat (LCHF) lifestyle was a more controversial dinner topic than sliced bread, pun intended. What I know now about how a healthy lifestyle looks for me; I didn’t set out to find it, it found me.
It really was my last resort. I am a diabetic, I am insulin resistant and I am an addict recovering from carbohydrates and sugar cravings. This addiction is more like an escape than a psychological thriller. I say recovering, as some days are better than others.
When I say it together, diabetic, addict, overweight, it makes no sense. I’m guessing it’s like the warning label on the cigarette box. It’s loud but I choose it to be unclear. I am educated, I am raising four children and I have a family history of strokes, cancer, diabetes and early graves. Even if I put it in alphabetical order or bold italics, knowing some days does not matter.
After 20 years of diets, gym memberships, home-exercise equipment, some liposuction and a tummy tuck, I discovered by default that I am a sugar and carbohydrate junkie. Like a lot of smokers and drinkers, my story was that I could stop when I wanted to; I consumed them because I like good food and good chocolate. I had it all under control I’d tell them.
The truth is IT had me. It was my getaway place from sad, angry, resentful, lonely and rejected, and my safe space from happy, grateful and joyful. It asked no questions and made no judgements. I didn’t fall around drunk; neither did I smell of smoke or get high and out of my life.
What I know now, in 2016, is that I believe my parents had the wrong dietary information: they were always on a “healthy eating plan” – a high-carb, low-fat one. This is not a good plan for people who, like us, are insulin resistant.
Today while we have more answers than we have questions, obesity and diabetes is rampant and silently killing off generations. Similarly, being informed fully about my family’s health history, knowing sometimes doesn’t matter; it is also only a start. We have to wake up that one day and choose to do something different, to look in the mirror and say, I only have me. I should look after me.
Carbohydrate and sugar addiction to my horror is no different to alcoholism, drug dependency, retail, technological, gambling or sex addiction. That was a shocker to absorb, it made my eyes sting. In my stereotypical opinion, addicts have no discipline, they don’t consider the risk they open themselves or their families to and they don’t value their longevity.
Unlike me, from my high horse, they are not organised, they don’t have great relationships, comfortable homes and nice children. In my new reality, mostly, they are me and I am them.
This is how my education began, it was ugly! I had to stop looking out there and start looking into my chest! Unfortunately, I had exhausted all other diets, eating plans, none eating plans, injections, shakes and pills that make your head whoop and your waist shrink for a while.
I decided to give LCHF, NO sugar and medium-protein eating plans a go; of course to prove it wasn’t my fault, it was the addiction and no other eating plan had worked without leaving me “hangry”, hungry or angry or both! Addiction and LCHF were my new hooks to hang my excuses. To my discontent and pleasure, this lifestyle gave me a new life.
I now had audacious but reachable goals! I suspect Professor Tim Noakes will one day be heralded as a Nobel Peace Prize winner as his new theories are common sense when you are ready and you want something new that is measurable.
I lost 24kg, my crippling sciatica disappeared, I started to walk, jog, run when nobody was looking and finished my first Two Oceans half-marathon a year later. These were bucket list items, nice-to-haves. I planned to dream about them, but they became my reality when I got real about addiction, obesity and the evils and prevalence of sugar in all its names and forms.
As I shifted gears from losing weight to getting healthy, and maybe a little fit, the weight came off without me noticing at first and then everyone noticing at once!
Once I adapted to the lifestyle, I realised I was eating nutritious everyday food without weighing any of it and, with a deliciously clear and creamy conscience, I could distinguish between hunger and cravings; I had more energy and I slept through the night without waking to look at Facebook or in the fridge!
The support from people who knew my weight struggles was extraordinary. Many of them gave this lifestyle a go, some with little or others with enormous success.
Of course there are the critics, these are all alive but I don’t always know how well they are. I do know that too many of us are diabetic, too many of us cannot face another diet (it literally gives me gooseflesh and a guarantee I will fail again). If I want to stay healthy to be in the photos at my children’s graduations, to walk them down the aisle and to die healthy, I have to make the changes now.
I cannot deliberately die at 49 like my father, because “when you know better you should do better”.
The sugar addiction is around my neck like a snake every day, hissing and directing me to a lunch bar or some honey in my red tea. I am a recovering addict, sugar-free remains my goal. I managed for 26 months.
I know that my awareness that “I have all I need to look after myself within myself without having to turn to sugar or carbohydrates!” makes sense to a thinker. Mostly knowing matters, some moments it doesn’t. I am in conscious practice.
About this thing called a “sin tax”. If we object to it, then there must be a good reason. My reasons would include sugar is in everything, sometimes obviously, sometimes hidden. If we are not deterred by a sin tax, our health will be a non-refundable tax and so either way we have dues!
Working towards sugar-free is a slog; it’s pretty unpleasant being that person reading all the labels, asking questions in restaurants about sugar to the rolling eyes of other diners.
As we educate ourselves, the retailers will have to take seriously our customer dissatisfaction about feeding ourselves and our family’s diabetes!
I heard a great story: my friend who is sugar-free, asked whether they added any sugar to their coleslaw (I know, I thought it was a weird question too!); the waitron’s response was “No, it’s coleslaw”. My friend asked her to confirm with the chef, his response, “definitely not, they don’t add any sugar to coleslaw, only some Fanta orange for taste”.
My goal weight now is to be healthy. It’s a whole new world. The pressure valve has been released. This is a war we have to win one battle at a time. I choose to target sugar in all its guises.