How Quitting Sugar Helped Me Reach My Peak Performance In life and Business

By Mike Koziol, A business and performance coach helping others reach their peak performance in life and in business

The thing about sugar is that it’s not only addictive but also induces brain fog, makes you tired, and creates sugar insensitivity so that you need more, which essentially creates a cycle of addiction, brain fog, and fatigue.

Exactly two years ago, I quit eating added sugar. I vividly remember watching That Sugar Film on Netflix in June 2017 (currently available on Amazon Prime); once the movie had finished, I stood up, opened my kitchen cabinets, and read every label in my pantry. With a heavy heart, I threw away (or gave away) 95% of the food in my kitchen because it was then that I realized 95% of the food I had been buying for years–the food I loved so much and that was supposed to be healthy–had added sugar. 

Realization 

I remember having to pick my jaw up from the floor when I saw that my favourite “healthy” Pad Thai sauce had 62 grams of sugar. I repeat, 62 grams (for reference, a nasty, sugary can of Coke has 11 grams of sugar)! I was utterly confused! To put it into perspective, nutrition experts say we shouldn’t go above 6-7 teaspoons of sugar per day. So I did the math. Each teaspoon of sugar equals 4 grams of sugar, which meant my beloved Pad Thai sauce had 15.5 teaspoons of sugar! Twice the daily limit. 

Before watching the movie, I knew sugar wasn’t great. But I knew so little about sugar’s impact on the body and mind that I didn’t bother to do anything about it. I also wasn’t aware that a lot of the “health” foods out there had tons of added sugar. Sure, I expected fast foods, sweets, and sodas to have lots of sugar. But Pad Thai sauce, ketchup, or peanut butter? Not so much. 

Sugar Daze and Disillusionment

The thing about sugar is that it’s not only addictive but also induces brain fog, makes you tired, and creates sugar insensitivity so that you need more, which essentially creates a cycle of addiction, brain fog, and fatigue.

Before I eliminated sugar from my diet, I would go through my day with a constant need to snack, drink coffee, and snack more. After each meal, if I didn’t get another helping of sugar and caffeine, I would almost fall asleep. I couldn’t focus; my mental and physical energy was completely depleted. At around 3-4 PM, I would feel so sleepy to the point where it would’ve been dangerous for me to drive a vehicle. I needed another shot of sugar and caffeine. 

This weird energy cycle made me disappointed with my performance. You need to understand that I was a young, healthy, fit, and ambitious individual who was having the time of his life running an online business and helping others start and grow their online empires! But I felt my performance was lacking because of those spikes and drops in my energy level. I knew I needed a change, and I looked to a sugar-free diet to see if it could stabilize my energy.

Read the full article here.