Chronicle of removing processed sugar from my diet part 2

It’s been 2 days short of a month since I swore off sugar, and I just tried to eat a piece of cherry pie and a scoop of vanilla ice cream and I feel dizzy and like I’m going to…well I feel unpleasant.

I’ve managed to avoid sugar pretty much entirely the last month. My only missteps have been a couple of mistakes on things like potato salad from Food City (who knew that had High Fructose Corn Syrup in it?), one glass of Gatorade, and me finishing off my Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds (Malt-o-meal brand version). Also I’ve eaten a few bowls of Frosted Mini Wheats but I’m going to cut that out once I get another box of Grapenuts.

I only drink milk, water and 100% fruit juice now. My desserts are fruit. I’ve replaced sugar with honey as a sweetener.

I think it will take a month or so before I can really tell if this has had a lot of impact on me or not, however I can tell you I’ve been able to think a little clearer and have been more focused lately.

Chronicle of removing processed sugar from my diet part 1

I have officially sworn off refined sugars from my diet. I am going to do anything and everything I can to avoid sugars in their non-naturally occurring forms, in other words I’m avoiding processed sugar. Note that for months I’ve been drinking only water and for years I haven’t been drinking soda, so it won’t be THAT hard. What prompted me to do this with food also are these two stories which have led me to believe that eating processed sugar is akin to smoking:

• Is Sugar Toxic?
• What Sugar Actually Does to Your Body and Brain

So far here are some foods that I’ve decided need to go:

• Ketchup (which I don’t use much of anyway)
• Candy
• Ice-cream

As replacements I’ll be eating more:

• Fruit
• Mott’s Healthy Harvest Apple Sauce (have various pureed fruits added)

I may also be changing over to whole wheat pretzels as my snack food.

Windows Phone 7 Developer Launch

I’m pretty excited about Windows Phone 7. You can find out a lot about developing for the phone by clicking the image below:

Review of Supreme Power: Nighthawk

Supreme Power: Nighthawk TPB by Daniel Way
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Much better than Supreme Power: Hyperion. While this story doesn’t appear to carry forward the overall story arc of Supreme Power it is a good read. The fact that the main villain is an “evil clown” is only part of the draw. It does not rely on a “twist ending” and just tells the story from beginning to end without apologizing for itself at any point.

View all my reviews

Review of Supreme Power: Hyperion

Supreme Power: Hyperion TPB by J. Michael Straczynski
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I didn’t enjoy this nearly as much as the first 18 issues of Supreme Power. (Spoiler) I don’t like that they went forward in time and recapped what happened previously. Not only was it obvious that was what had happened, thus rendering the “twist” ending worthless, but it was a cop out way to summarize events. In general I don’t like time travel, and I especially don’t like it when people go back to their normal time with “knowledge that can change the future.” This is the same issue that ruined the television series Heroes.

View all my reviews

The Red A

I ran across a big red A when reading an article that really hit home with me: How Do Atheists Face Death.

It made me realize that I shouldn’t be ashamed of who I am. I’m not an adulterer (Scarlet Letter). I do on to others as I would have them do onto me. I feel good about my ethics and morals. And yet I don’t let people know I’m an Atheist. For that matter I play along with people when they are discussing Christianity. I don’t ever say I’m Christian because I don’t have to since I agree with many of the things that Christ preached. But I never admit that I don’t believe many of the things they are talking about. Despite the fact that my Atheist friends know, my mom and dad know, and my wife knows I still feel like I’ve been hiding in a closet since my senior year of high school.

So for the first time ever on the internet and in public I’m going to say it: I don’t believe in a God.

I currently don’t intend to try to convince others to give up on their supernatural belief systems. However if you are reading this and feel intimidated by religion in the workplace, in family or even amongst friends I encourage you to Come Out too.

Two Years Later

So a lot of things have changed since my last post to my blog. I’ve changed jobs (involuntarily). Had another child (voluntarily). Lived through the breakup of Beth’s parents and the divorce of mine. And Beth and I enjoyed our 10th anniversary back in Jamaica! I’ve been able to enjoy Maxx growing up because I’m able to walk normally, in fact I haven’t had any pain in my hip until the last couple of months. I’ve been treating myself well, taking plenty of vitamins and eating healthy foods.

I don’t have a whole lot to add because I mostly update my status using Twitter/Facebook which I’ve linked as a feed to the right of this new WordPress blog. If I come up with a topic to write about though I’ll be doing it here.