Eliminating extra sugar for Olive Kim was not about a crash diet or a remedy for a problem.
It has to do with clarity, mental, emotional, and physical. Months of unrelenting tiredness, mood swings, and that obstinate afternoon slump had Olive realized something had to change. Her doctor advised one modest change: keep an eye on your sugar consumption; she did not recommend anything radical.
Olive started to feel overwhelmed at first. She notes, “It was everywhere — in my cereal, my salad dressing, even my pasta sauce.” She grew inquisitive instead of feeling demoralized nevertheless.
She began looking at hidden sugars, learning the several names they go by, and seeing how they affected her concentration and energy level.
She stayed away from cold turkey. Rather, she made little adjustments: she changed her morning yogurt to an unsweeteled kind, prepared tea instead of grabbing Coke, and started preparing more meals at home.
She saw changes every week. < Her appetite dropped, her sleep got better, and her skin even seemed more radiant.
Her change in perspective happened when she began to perceive the lifestyle as emancipation rather than as a constraint. “I felt as though sugar was running the show no more,” she adds. “I felt more equal, more grounded.”
Olive still tastes sweet, but in natural forms—such as ripe fruit or a drizzling of honey in her tea. She also lacks combative attitude regarding it.
“Good if I have a slice of birthday cake. I no longer feel, though, that I need anything sweet to get through the day.
Not just the physical advantages but also the mental clarity impressed her most. “I could honestly think clearly after the sugar fog cleared. That was not the present I had in mind.
