The warm breezes of spring mean that Easter is around the corner! After the heavy colors of Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentine’s Day, the bright, cheerful colors of spring are a welcome sight. But the cheerful colors are not limited to flowers and eggs. There is no escaping the onslaught of sugar that threatens us at every turn. From jelly beans to chocolate bunnies, empty calories abound.
You need a plan.
First, the facts
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you really do need to know what you are getting yourself into when you reach for that fluffy, yellow peep. Brace yourself, this is going to hurt…
Sugar is really bad for you.
When you consume Easter candy, you are getting a large dose of sugar. Whether it is in the form of High Fructose Corn Syrup or cane sugar, it slams into your system like a bowling ball, and the effects are disastrous.
Within the first 20 minutes or so, your blood sugar level spikes as the sugar enters your bloodstream. It arrives there in the form of glucose, which is your body’s main source of energy. This sudden rise in blood glucose stimulates your pancreas to start pumping out large amounts of insulin, which is the hormone that helps your cells take in the available glucose. Some of this glucose is used immediately for energy. But the rest stored as fat by insulin, to be used later.
The more sugar you eat, the more insulin your body produces as it works hard to remove the glucose from your blood. But these high levels of insulin are not healthy. For one thing, the extra insulin in your blood stream signals to your body that you need more glucose, which causes you to crave even more sugar. But even worse, after repeated exposure to high insulin levels, your cells begin turning numb to the effects of insulin, and this leads to a condition called insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes. When your cells no longer respond properly to the storage effects of insulin, the sugar in your blood has nowhere to go, and so it continues circulating in your blood. This is what is known as a ‘high blood sugar level.’
The result is that you feel fatigue, because you have no way of accessing the energy that is in your blood stream. You will likely feel weak, tired and have trouble concentrating, because your brain uses glucose to function.
If your blood sugar levels stay elevated, damage begins happening to various parts of your body. For example, the capillaries become damaged (which leads to blindness), your kidneys become diseased (which can eventually require dialysis) and nerve damage occurs throughout your body (which can lead to amputations). The heart muscle also suffers, which leads to heart disease, and your organs begin aging at a faster rate. You also become more susceptible to infections.
The ravages of sugar cannot be overstated: that handful of jelly beans is not worth it.
But it’s Easter!
Easter only comes once each year. Do you really have to be so uptight about it?
Yes, you do. Because there will always be an excuse to eat poorly. Last month it was Valentine’s Day. The month before that saw New Year’s Eve. Before that was Christmas. Before that was Thanksgiving.
And the holidays in each of these months weren’t the only excuses for eating unhealthy food—no doubt your schedule included countless other “can’t-miss” opportunities to throw all caution to the wind! You likely had business dinners, birthday parties, evenings out with friends, fundraising banquets, breakfast meetings, church dinners…
Every one of these occasions screams, “But this is special!! It’s okay just this once!”
At some point, you have to stop the insanity, make a decision and choose health, so that the indulgence truly becomes the exception; not the rule.
Easter Alternatives
So let’s look at some alternatives for your Easter celebration. You do not have to sit there munching on steamed asparagus while those around you are tossing back marshmallow ducklings by the dozen.
Consider the following ideas for Easter basket treats and munchies. Sticking to this list will ensure that you are clear headed and full of energy while your buddies are slipping in and out of consciousness after their sugar highs!
- Dried fruit (eat with a protein such as nuts)
- Very dark chocolate (choose some with very little sugar)
- Nuts
- Fresh fruit
- Whole grain crackers and pretzels
- Cheeses
- Popcorn
Non-food ideas for kids’ baskets:
- Play dough
- Ball
- Jump rope
- Sidewalk chalk
- Crayons
- Garden starter set
- Butterfly habitat
- Beading supplies
- Swimming toys
- Card games
Have a healthy Easter!
To your success,
Coach Travis Barrett MS, CSCS
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Check out these testimonials below
Traci Counley said “I have been working with Travis for 6 years and he is an amazing coach! I have had several personal trainers over the last 15 years and by far Travis is the most dedicated, thorough, and up to date trainer I have ever had the pleasure to work with. He programs workouts for me on a really progressive and easy to use iPhone app and I do the workouts in my home gym. I love this flexibility and the ability to track my workouts easily. He really gets to know you as an individual and focuses on your goals and how best to achieve them. Travis has an extensive background in kinesiology, various training methods and power lifting and is constantly adapting to the needs of his clients to get them in the best shape of their lives. He consistently seeks out additional training and workshops to expand his fitness knowledge and then passes that onto his clients with new workouts. If you are committed and follow his scheduled workouts and put in a little extra time for mobility work, I guarantee you will be satisfied with your fitness goals. I am in the best shape of my life in my mid 40’s and the strongest I have ever been and the reason why is because Travis has me on a program that changes every 4 weeks and uses different exercises with different rep ranges, intensity and volume each block. He is amazing at coming up with new exercises that work muscle groups in different ways so that you are consistently making gains. He also uses the concept of periodization effectively to maximize strength but also works in appropriate deloading weeks. I cannot say enough great things about Travis not only as a strength and conditioning coach but as a human being. He is one of the kindest people I have ever met and is very easy to talk to and work with. Working with Travis has been the best decision I’ve ever made. Make the commitment now to the best trainer out there!
Emma Price said “Travis has been phenomenal to work with! As an avid runner and a stay at home mom, I was struggling to find a workout routine/program that wasn’t all “fluff” workouts and cardio, yet was also nervous to do anything at the gym beyond a treadmill due to a 15 yr old chronic back injury. Enter Travis! He has 100% met me where I’m at and created a path forward. I’m an absolute novice, and he’s helping me become comfortable in the gym, has handled all my questions and concerns, and most important to me, is helping me get stronger and more limber without hurting or aggravating my injury. Travis is extremely knowledgeable and attentive to detail, which I highly appreciate. As well as meeting in person, he uses a great coaching app we can communicate through and where he can share videos of the workouts I need to do and in return I can share my videos so he can check my form. I’m just a regular person, not a gym rat or body builder, so I was a bit hesitant to seek out a personal trainer, but it has been one of the best decisions I’ve made! Travis is just all around a great guy and amazing coach!!”
Fredrick Lee said “Travis is an absolute professional! I’ve been in special operations for over 12+ years and have had many injuries. I was about to get another back surgery when I started working with Travis. Within 6 months I was pain free, 6 months later I was reaching performance and strength I haven’t seen in years!”
