HOLY Mackerel !!!!!! I can't believe I experienced this today and it's only been 6 weeks!!!!

So I got a message from an old high school friend of mine yesterday.  She responded to my blog and she read the article that I had put a link to.  The article talks about the dangers of sugar and how it is an addiction.  I’ve already shared on my blog about the symptoms I had from sugar addiction.  Everything from mood swings to irritability to inflammation.  But, I left something out and it wasn’t until I read Nicole’s comment that I remembered another issue that I suffered from. 

Last January I started experiencing pain every time I swallowed.  This wasn’t something that was new.  I had issues in the past, but it came and went.  But, each time it lasted about 2 months.  It probably started about 5 or 6 years ago and it occurred maybe 3 or 4 times.  The pain was horrendous.  It didn’t matter how soft the food was, everything except liquids would cause a painful muscle spasm at the end of my esophagus when the food passed through and entered my stomach.  It was super scary because I honestly thought I’d choke to death.  I feared the muscle would just stop letting food pass and the food would stay lodged.  It was incredibly painful.  Last February I went for an endoscopy and the doctor said I had a hiatal hernia, but that it wouldn’t cause the pain I was experiencing.  He sent me on my way with some medicine.  It was a heavy duty Prilosec.  I stopped taking it because of some nasty side effects.  The pain eventually subsided on it’s own.  I had another bout of it a few months ago, but it didn’t get as severe and just went away without progressing to the point where I needed to go back to the doctors.  It lasted about 2 weeks.  Since the doctor didn’t really have a good explanation of what it was or what caused the issue in the first place, I just assumed it was some bizarre muscle spasm. 

Well, check out what my friend Nicole wrote last night:

‪Nicole Rakoski-Calvin ‪Tiffany Moyer, I agree that sugar is so addicting! I was wondering why my body was craving pure sugar for about 4-5 months last year. it finally ended up that I was having a hard time swallowing any food. I was literally gagging and having food caught in my esophagus. it turned out that I had a huge overgrowth of yeast in my entire digestive track, to the point that it narrowed my throat. once I started on a nystatin mouth wash that I drank, my cravings for sugar began to slow down. sugar is dangerous.

I couldn’t believe it when I read this.  It shocked me!  I wonder if this is what caused my swallowing problems all along.  I never put it together, but it could very well be one of my other symptoms of sugar addiction.  I do know that whenever the issue started happening, I was not eating healthy.  Now, I have no idea if infact my swallowing issues were caused by the same issue as Nicole, but I find it fascinating that sugar was the root of her issue. 

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On a totally different note, something huge happened at work today.  I was writing on the board and my pants were uncomfortable.  I was irritated with them because they stretched out so much during the day, they felt like they were going to fall off.  Now, this may not sound huge to other folks, but I just about fell over when I realized what this meant.  These pants are one of the 4 pairs that I had left that I could squeeze my butt into 6 weeks ago.  When I put them on in the morning my body literally stretched them to their maximum potential.  Normally pants loosen up as you wear them throughout the day.  6 weeks ago, my pants never loosened up.  When I would get home from work, I couldn’t wait to rip them off so I could wear my oh’ so comfortable yoga pants.  I have a secret love affair with yoga pants.  If you ever drop by unannounced, you’ll find me in my bleached stained yoga pants and a super soft, ugly as hell, red and white striped, super warm, Goodwill special pull-over.  I look like Where’s Wanda, Where’s Waldo’s sister.  When I’d rip off my workpants I’d have red marks around my stomach from the waistband pressing so hard into my gut.  Well, today these pants were practically falling off.  I probably have 2 full inches of loose fabric on the waist and they were completely loose throughout the thighs and hips.  They probably looked quite terrible, but for the opposite reason.  They no longer show my cellulite pock marks, instead they look ridiculous because they are 2 sizes too big.  Now, I’m not saying I want to wear pants that hug my butt and thighs, but these were a bit too loose.  I cannot wait to weigh myself in the morning.  I have a feeling good things are going to come!

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5 a.m.  Les Mills Pump (I feel soooooo much better when I get up early and work out.  I have a huge amount of energy throughout the day and I feel happy)

7 a.m.  Breakfast:  ½ cup egg beaters, ¾ oz. of Cooper cheese, 1 tbsp salsa, 1 cup u/s almond milk

11 a.m.  Snack:  ½ grapefruit

1 p.m.  Snack / lunch:  I was supposed to eat lunch, but I was caught up with getting ready for my afternoon class.  I grabbed my lunch and ate the other snacks.  I ate 1 cup of carrots, 1 serving of guacamole, and an apple.

4 p.m.  Late lunch:  I ate my salad while I was driving the kids to the library.  I used my fingers and it didn’t have salad dressing on it.  I ate:  ¾ cup chicken, 2 cups salad,

6 pm.  Dinner:  We had our Wednesday night church dinner tonight.  I brought my own salad again and surprise, surprise it was grilled chicken over salad greens J  but, for this one I added ¼ cup raisins and 2 tbsp sunflower seeds. 

I left church to do some errands.  Bennett and Joe’s birthdays are tomorrow and I wanted to pick up some surprises for Ben.  Joe already got his birthday present / anniversary present over the weekend.  When I got home I was a tad bit hungry and ate a serving of popcorn.  I don’t remember the brand, I think it’s called Skinny Pop or something of the sort.  I can’t wait for tomorrow’s weigh-in J