Tuesday, April 23, 2013

The Sweetest Mother of All Evil

Sugar is evil.

I've phased out sugar from my diet almost two months ago, and it feels great. Well, technically I still get sugar from my daily intake of carbohydrates (I make sure to keep carbs at a minimum), fruits and milk, so I'm not exactly sugar-free. But I've managed to stay away from sweet cereal, dessert, sugary drinks, sauces, vending machine junk items, and I drink unsweetened coffee, dark as night.

For the longest time my staple breakfast menu was sugary cereal at around 7.30 a.m, inducing an insulin spike in my body. This, in turn, would drive me into a trembling fit at around 11am and I'd find myself racing for the cafeteria. On several occasions, I got dizzy during afternoon classes due to sugar crash, resulting in a trip to the vending machine for a quick sugar fix.

Cutting back on sugar has been a wise decision. I now find myself rarely hungry, and more energetic than before. I can now survive on as low as 1400 kcals per day, and my bowel movements have never been more luscious. I also drink a shitload of water every day, making my pee look like a glistening stream fit for salmon rearing.

Now that spring has finally graced its presence upon the city of Toulouse, I make it a point to go cycling any chance I get and to go for a run every day. I've been doing a 5km run every day for the past week by the Garonne river where the air is pure and the view is just lovely. Toulouse is such a beautiful city with its old, pink buildings and sunny climate, it's a shame that I didn't take up running earlier.



This is Pont des Catalans, the bridge I cross on my daily runs. It's hard to feel tired when the view is this amazing. As much as I'm thrilled that my sojourn in France is coming to an end, mundane stuff such as this bridge always makes me think twice about leaving this country for good. Besides, I'm pretty certain that once I set foot on Malaysian soil, sugar is going to get to me and never leaving.

Given my genetic predisposition for diabetes (both sides of my family have had a history with this bitch of a disease), I can't help feeling that unless I do something about it, sooner or later it's going to get me.

5 comments:

WP said...

If you really don't want to take so much sugar, you could make your own coffee/tea in Malaysia...instead of ordering from a coffee shop/mamak stall. Keep those orders to air kosong ;)

Kahuna said...

Easier said than done, though. Going to mamak stalls without having teh tarik is almost blasphemous in my book. I always order teh tarik kurang manis, but that stuff is still loaded with sugar anyway. Easiest thing might be to avoid eating out altogether in Malaysia.

Anonymous said...

i've been a silent reader to your blog and been loving the way you write. Your language, i mean your english is awesome.

can't wait to read what you gonna write about malaysia.

till then.

linapencilbox said...

Hi Kahuna,

"I also drink a shitload of water every day, making my pee look like a glistening stream fit for salmon rearing."

What? Hahaha,hilarious! it is good that you cut on your sugar for 7 month now! Must be losing a lot of weight!

I am still trying though (-_-"), azam tak kuat

linapencilbox said...

Hi Kahuna,

"I also drink a shitload of water every day, making my pee look like a glistening stream fit for salmon rearing."

What? Hahaha,hilarious! it is good that you cut on your sugar for 7 month now! Must be losing a lot of weight!

I am still trying though (-_-"), azam tak kuat