The Snickers Diet

It was wrong and I understand that now. I've been organizing files in my klunker tonight and that's made me tired, but it should make for some fun posts in the future. Anyway, back to the Snicks. I'm a glutton with a modicum of self-discipline. So, for the longest time I was able to resist the temptations to buy the large boxes of Snickers or Twix as I passed them every trip we took to PriceSmart--the Costco of Costa Rica. I'm also cheap and it just didn't seem like that great of a deal. At the height of my corpulent decadence, however, I gave in. I threw a box of Snickers in the cart and then figured if I was in for a penny . . . and in went the Twix. Buyer's remorse set in soon after getting home. It was too much. I was too fat and there was no way I should eat all this candy bar. It was time for something drastic. So the Snickers diet was conceived. At first, it would be just a Snickers a day and water. I was sure to lose weight. Before starting, though, I considered that the nutrients from fruits and vegetables were probably important and I shouldn't just drop them altogether. She recommended that I at least have some fish as well and I acquiesced. My final compromise was allowing for grains, which I also understand are good for the body.

And so, March 1st I began the Snickers diet. And it worked. I was pretty faithful. The Snickers were at work, so I didn't have any at home on the weekends. That led to allowing substitutes on Saturdays and Sundays. I may have gotten carried away. Regardless, I lost about 5 pounds the first week, gained a pound the second week, then lost another 4 pounds the following week. By then, I was slipping and cheating on the diet more and more. I didn't totally fall off the wagon, though, and have managed to maintain my weight loss. The diet ended April 1st and as its end neared, I conceived of ways to keep the weight off while eating more than just on the diet. This involved more exercise. I started with pull-ups 3x a week. Then I added push-ups on the non-pull-up days. Then I added additional running (I was already running and biking everyday (about 2.5 miles each (the distance between home and work))). This has helped as I increased my caloric intake following the end of the diet. I've kept up with the exercising. The Snickers box, though, had 48 bars in it and the diet wasn't long enough to consume them all, so I've continued ingesting one a day. I've got about a week's worth left.

That's where I was when I found that New York Times article last week. A friend had posted it on Facebook. I was mesmerized. I didn't even finish the article before going to the YouTube video it referenced and staying up until 2 AM to watch the 90 minute lecture on sugar. It all made sense. Here's the article: Is Sugar Toxic? I highly recommend it. It's changed my whole way of thinking. My revolutionary Snickers diet was based on the assumption that if I burned more calories than I consumed I'd lose weight. It basically worked, but I was doing my body no favors by eating a candy bar every day. So, I'm jumping on the bandwagon and looking to drastically reduce my sucrose/fructose intake. I've already given up soda (not too difficult--I've done that before). I'll go much further than that when I start my low-sugar diet on May 1st--about the same time I finish my 48th Snickers.

I feel so empowered!