Oh… Sh-ugar!

I’ve said before that this blog will feature both my highs and the lows.

Yesterday, there was a HUGE bump in the road.

I managed to eat four 80g bags of Mini Eggs in four hours.

FOUR BAGS. FOUR HOURS.

Nutritionally, this is how that breaks down:

Mini Eggs (320g)	Total Recommended Daily Intake (Source: British Nutrition Foundation)
Calories: 1587	Calories: 2500
Carbohydrates: 230.4g	Carbohydrates: 333g
Free sugars: 217.6g	Free sugars: No more than 30g
Fat: 69.1g	Fat: No more than 97g
Saturated Fat: 39.7g	Saturated Fat: No more than 31g

I know what you’re thinking.

WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING?

When I got home from work last night, I asked myself the exact same question.

My nutrition goes completely off track when I’ve not slept properly or when I’m really feeling under pressure. It’s almost like I lose all self-control.

For some reason, I’d only managed three hours’ sleep.

I forgot to bring in my porridge, blueberries and healthy snacks (but thankfully, I’d packed my healthy lunch!) I needed to do a food shop anyway so went with the intention of buying my breakfast there too – but also ended up buying the chocolate.

Work was also slightly busier than usual yesterday, with one particular situation taking up a lot of my energy. It all worked out but look at my mental response.

“I need to deal with this. Put your energy in that. Don’t worry about what you’re eating.”

To be clear, I’m not being critical of my workplace. I love my job and my team! Every job has its challenges and I’m sure most people can get through them without seven times the amount of their recommended daily intake of free sugars!

In the past three years, I’ve become much more mindful about what I eat. As I write this blog today, I’ve consumed no free sugars whatsoever today. I’m not itching to eat anything sweet. I slept well and I’ve worked out, so I know all the good brain juices are in full flow!

I have learnt how to be more controlled and how to overcome these crazy urges. But I broke yesterday. A bad day in the fitness journey.

Previously, I would have been beating myself up massively about the decision I had made.

Why did I even buy that many packets in the first place? If you come to my flat, you won’t find any biscuits, crisps, chocolate or sweets because I’m still learning a lot about moderation. Ask my sister – I used to smash through the Jaffa Cakes my mum would buy for her, when we used to live at home. One time, I remember coming home from school feeling really stressed and then eating a whole (unopened) tub of chocolate spread. My sister was, rightly, devastated.

But free sugars (added sugar rather than naturally occurring) should, and are, a big concern for me. At my biggest, I was a Type 2 Diabetic. Between 2010 and 2015, I was also taking Metformin, a widely-prescribed treatment for Type 2. Because of my South Asian heritage, I am up to six times more likely to have diabetes.

I actually managed to reverse my diagnosis in 2018. At my last check earlier this year, my fasting sugar levels were good. But just because I’ve reversed it doesn’t mean it can’t come back.

Bizarrely, I’m not even a dessert person. Always prefer a starter and main! But offer me a sugary treat and I’m only just getting to a point where I can say NO. And as this post has clearly demonstrated, if my fitness guard is down, I break easily! I know what my triggers are now – I didn’t previously. Now, I need to learn how to mentally control those triggers so that I don’t respond by stuffing my face with sugar.

I’m thankful I’m writing this blog – previously, there’s no way I would’ve shared an incident (yes, incident!) like this but NJ Fitness Journey is about accountability. It’s important for me to be truthful about this because it helps me to learn, grow and change my response.

Just as importantly, I’m learning not to punish myself for a bad day. There will always be bumps in the road (ideally, not as big as the bump I self-inflicted yesterday!) but it’s about picking yourself up and getting back on track.

In fact, as my mate Michael, has just said to me:

“If you’re going to fall off the wagon, fall off in a highly enjoyable way and then get straight back on it.”