Cookies for Breakfast

August 28, 2012

Oh friends. I’ve been sprawled out with my head on the desk for a good portion of the morning. Is this foggy brain exhaustion the result of a raging night of partying last night? Hardly. It is the result of cookies for breakfast.

Sugar sucks the life out of me.

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Sugar is the devil for me. During some of my heaviest years, I had moments of thinking I was narcoleptic when I would return from lunch and literally fall asleep at my desk for 60 seconds at a time. To describe the feeling, it’s like having vodka-soaked cotton balls jam packed in your brain with two mini kettlebells resting on your eyelids forcing them shut. No matter what you do, your body is disconnected from your mind and there is little you can do to stop the rush of the sugar coma making its way to the surface.

No amount of Jock Jams this morning has been able to bust the sugar funk. Usually, it is enough to get my booty wiggling in my chair for a few minutes. Today? It’s like hearing the thumping bass of some souped up car from down the street: just noise.


(I literally had to stop here and save this draft for later because I couldn’t keep my eyes open long enough to read what I was typing.)

Back when I first started trying to lose a big chunk of weight, I did the extreme low-carb plan where I eliminated sugar, flour, bread, rice, etc. Protein and veggies were my besties. The first two weeks, I felt completely awful: headache, incredible cravings, irritable. After that though? I had more energy and was magically cured of my self-diagnosed narcolepsy. One day I indulged in a Frappucino, and all of a sudden, it was like someone had turned off the lights and I was operating in the dark. Extreme sluggishness, foggy brain, unable to stay awake. Just like I felt this morning. It shocked me that sugar had that much of an impact on me, especially since I’d been tested nearly every year for diabetes or blood sugar issues without any issues.

I still try to limit sugar because it is what personally makes me feel best. I have enough problems with low energy to complicate things with a sugar coma. This morning though? I wasn’t firing on all cylinders. I woke up and was still half asleep, brewing coffee. I stood staring in the refridgerator for something to eat for breakfast. Then I stared at the freezer and spied a bag of cookies from Trader Joe’s that my husband bought. With complete disregard to how sugar makes me feel, I grabbed them and started munching mindlessly. It was the quick, easy choice, and it was quickly apparent that it was the wrong one. Don’t get me wrong – I have no problems with others who choose to eat sugar – to each their own. For me though? Bad news. Sugar is one of my gateway drugs to binge eating.

Sugar-zombie Emmie reared her ugly head for 4 hours. Almost worse than the zombie symptoms? The beating myself up over a really idiotic choice for the remainder of the day. Hubs has hidden all contraban and I have zero interest in finding it. Lesson re-learned for the 34,232nd time: sugar and I will never be friends.

What about you? Can you tolerate sugar? Does anyone know the physical symptoms I’m talking about?

  • http://twitter.com/BubblyHeart Sarah

    I know exactly the symptoms you are talking about. In my heavy days I worked at a coffee shop in college. We had all sorts of tasty pastries and cookies. I’d have several a day, most often in the afternoon as I worked 5:30 am – noon. I’d have a peanut butter square or slice of apple coffee cake between classes and then find myself barely able to make it 5. The sugar coma is hard to explain but I’ve so been there.

    To lose the baby weight this year I went LOW carb for the first time ever. I was impressed. BOOM almost 50 pounds gone with little struggle. I fell off the wagon about a month ago and sugar has crept back into my life. I do notice that things are way sweeter now… and my knee is killing me again. There is a definite connection between my pain levels and the amount of sugar I am eating. Less fog this time, but I don’t allow myself to eat that much. Not all carbs are bad but I’m certainly not eating the right ones currently!

    • http://www.skinnyemmie.com/ Emily Sandford

      While I’m not glad that you’re affected by sugar the same way, I AM glad that someone knows what I’m talking about! It’s seriously one of the worst feelings! I am working on restricting my carbs more as well right now as it’s what makes me feel the best.

  • http://twitter.com/gardengirlkp Carlsbad Karen

    Sugar and wheat both do that to me. I eliminated all grains and almost all processed sugar from my diet for weight maintnence. Best thing I’ve ever done in my life. Finally keeping 72 pounds off. Took me 40 years to figure it out. You are younger. Now is your chance to kick the food triggers to the curb and live food sober.

    Glad your husband is on board and not sabotaging your efforts. Even if he did , the mindfulness of your choices must be ther 24/7. Our choices either make us sick or well. There is no moderation in my world. And it’s pretty good, 40 years is a long time.

    Take care and steer clear of your triggers always.

  • http://twitter.com/gardengirlkp Carlsbad Karen

    Sugar and wheat both do that to me. I can totally relate. I eliminated all grains and almost all processed sugar from my diet for weight maintnence. Best thing I’ve ever done in my life. Finally keeping 72 pounds off. Took me 40 years to figure it out. You are younger. Now is your chance to kick the food triggers to the curb and live food sober.

    Glad your husband is on board and not sabotaging your efforts. Even if he did , the mindfulness of your choices must be ther 24/7. Our choices either make us sick or well. There is no moderation in my world. And it’s pretty good, 40 years is a long time.

    Take care and steer clear of your triggers always. Your health is worth it, you are worth it.

  • Holly

    I so know this pain! Chocolate chip cookies will literally knock me out. The carb/sugar combo is deadly for me. I’ve noticed that I do much better when I limit myself to servings where the sugar doesn’t exceed 10g/serving. That seems to be about my max before I start feeling like crap. Carbs in general make me sluggish. I’ve tried to go sugar-free but it’s tough to be a purist about it and a lot of the sugar subs make me stomach angry. Sugar alcohols especially damn near kill me. The last time I ate sugar-free jelly beans I had a stomach ache for two days. :( Hang in there and I hope the “lesson” sticks this time!

  • http://www.theyearofthephoenix.blogspot.com/ Jill (Lady Lazarus)

    I actually get headaches from sugar. I don’t eat sugar that often, so when I have something really high in it (like the chai latte I had the other week. First one in years) I had a headache within a few minutes. Time before that it was after two bites of cheesecake. They spike really quickly and don’t last long, but are still very annoying. Just another reason for me to avoid sugar.

  • mary ellen fine

    my oncologist told me ‘cancer loves sugar’ …if that isn’t a deterrent i don’t know what else is.

  • http://themegan2project.blogspot.com/ Megan Armstrong

    Too much sugar makes me anxious, but small doses seem to be OK for me.

  • Nina D

    I stopped or should I say decreased my sugar consumption. I have found that natural sweeteners have been a great aid in my weight loss. I now enjoy many of the same delicious recipes I used to but now I use all natural, organic sweeteners that work wonders, taste amazing, and leave me satisfied without spiking my blood sugar levels and without giving me crazy mood swings and sudden bursts of energy and then making me crash.

  • http://twitter.com/StarvingDiva StarvingDiva

    Too much sugar makes me completely sluggish as well. There is no “sugar high” for me. When I started cutting back, I too had major withdrawal headaches. It’s truly addictive. When I juice veggies and fruit I get a great energy high that lasts a long time. I love it!

  • http://twitter.com/neophytegirl Cindy

    The only thing that has ever made me feel like that was Topamax which I was put on to alleviate the chronic headache I had (have). It made me a zombie pretty much, I could hardly function and it ended up being partially the reason I lost my job. I am so sorry that anyone has to feel that way for any reason.

  • hugga

    sometimes the evil sugar rears it’s head and i found a way that helps me in my struggle to lose lbs. I hunt the stores and read the nutrition lables and find the lowest possible cookie (digestives called Maria) One or even two of these satisfy me and so far have not done any damage to my wieght loss. If i feel deprived i can do a lot of damage so I’m better off having just one or two and putting them out on a napkin with a nice cuppa.
    Works for me. If you can’t find Maria, keep looking for a small biscuit like cookie, my shoprite carries these in the international section

  • http://www.facebook.com/arlene.hittle Arlene Hittle

    I know exactly what you mean. Before I started Atkins for the first time, I weighed up to 306 pounds — and had a habit of falling asleep in front of the TV every afternoon on my days off from work. Then I started the low-carb diet and — miracle of miracles — the urge to nap disappeared.

  • Christine

    I completely know the symptoms you are describing! I have celiacs and if I eat wheat I am a zombie! I cannot function. I feel fuzzy headed, sleepy and oh so cranky! Not a nice feeling at all!

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