Project: Eat Less Sugar

As my parents and relatives assimilate more and more into Western and Canadian culture, they have begun to take more notice into their health.

Yeah, my mother still insists that a sprained ankle can be remedied by a noxious topical balm and Jasmine tea. She also swears that rubbing a fresh slice of lime to your underarms will cure over excessive sweat glands (I just had horrible flashbacks to my early stages of puberty). Despite her Asian voodooness, she has come to terms to her inevitable future diagnosis as a diabetic.

My uncle and aunt (my mother's older siblings) were recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Thankfully this is a non-insulin dependent condition -- which means no needles or intravenous anything. Type 2 usually falls upon overweight or obese people who don't take care into their diets or exercise. My mother is about 5 feet tall, weighs more more than 90 pounds. My uncle is about 5 feet tall, weighs no more than 90 pounds. My aunt is about 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs no more than 90 pounds. Lao cuisine usually consists of leafy greens and fish, generally accepted on the healthier side of the food spectrum. So why has this condition plagued my family? Not too sure, but I know that my family has been deemed unfit to pass Darwin's Test of Human Worth. Actually, I blame it on the change in dietary patterns for the adult in my family. Supermarkets in Laos differ greatly from supermarkets in Canada.

We're riddled with disease and health conditions. Breast cancer has infiltrated 3 generations of women on both my mother and father's side. We have weak bones (thanks to my 5+ broken bones, the number ups to 20+ if you count fingers and toes). Heart attacks (not fatal, but still) plague us at a young age. And now we have high blood glucose to worry about. Shit, eh?

Anyway, back to my declaration of my War on Sugar.

I love sugar. Candy, chocolate, brown, white, icing ... I love it. After every hearty meal -- no matter how stuffed I am -- I always get a hankering for a sweet treat. But this must stop if I plan on living to see the age of 50.

I have to cut out sugary sweets unless I MUST eat it (i.e. birthday parties, baked gifts, etc.), thankfully I don't have many occasions where I am forced to eat sugary snacks out of gratitude. And if I must have some sort of sticky sweetness on my palate, I will have to turn to fruit. I should cut up a shitload of fruit so I would feel much more motivated to eat it, since all I'll have to do is open the fridge and open a container.

I also must commit to a more rigorous exercise routine. Running a few kms a day doesn't seem to cut it anymore. Weight training and stretching needs to be added. I should also add more kms to my run, but one thing at a time.

Why am I worried about a condition that won't rear its ugly head until my mid age? Especially since I already do exercise on a regular basis and standing at 5'3", 115ish pounds, am in the healthy range? Habit. I should start early on a healthy lifestyle while I'm young so I don't have to struggle when I am older. It's been proven that maintaining a strict diet and exercise routine will restrict the debilitating effects of Type 2 diabetes. I'm also doing this for vain purposes as well. It scares me that I see women my age (18-25 year old bracket) who have asses out to here and guts out to there. I've already gained 20 lbs in a span of 18 months. When does this road to obesity stop? Now is the time to do it, so you don't have to start on the road to sickness and disease.