In high school, every year on the first day of both Winter and Spring track practice, our head coach would ask one of the guys to come to the front of the room and hold up his arms. He'd then try to push the guy's arms down... and he wouldn't be able to do it. Then, he'd tell the same guy to take a tablespoon of sugar and let it melt in the back of his mouth... a few minutes later - he'd do the same thing and the guy's arms would fall with barely any pressure.

We didn't learn too much more about nutrition in track practice, but, we did learn that sugar can really wreak havoc on your workout.

Today, I had one of those not so pleasant reminders that sugar is, for argument's sake... poison. We all know this. Refined sugar has absolutely zero nutritional value. We all know that it gives a quick high and then makes us crash and burn and then leaves us in search of the nearest coffee machine to fill up on caffeine. Why do we keep eating it? Because it's ADDICTIVE. Yes, just like caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol. Click through the below image to get a full explanation of why its addictive, why all sugars are not created equal (ie: glucose vs. fructose), and finally why it raises triglycerides and ultimately cholesterol. Oh, and it increases the waistline. It's not about fats, my friends... it's about SUGAR.

So what happened? We had cupcake delivery at work yesterday... I had been eyeballing the strawberry one since yesterday so when 3pm rolled around... I made my way to the fridge - chopped off most of the frosting and ate the rest of the cupcake. I tried to reason with myself because I chopped off the frosting and thought I'd be fine for boxing class. WRONG. Wrong wrong wrong...

I felt like total and complete crap for the first half hour of my workout. I felt worse than I have felt in longer than I can remember at class. Now, yes, I've had sugar before class before... we have birthday celebrations and I dabble in a cookie or a mini cupcake here and there. That being said, I never feel 100% on those days. Today, was just another reminder. So here's my PSA for the evening: Stay away from the damn sugar. You'll thank me later.

To clarify, am I saying to not eat birthday cake or get dessert at an amazing restaurant or never make cookies? No, not at all. I'm saying that is it really necessary on a Tuesday afternoon to eat a cupcake for no real reason? Not really. Is it ever a good idea to have a cupcake or an ice cream cone before a workout? No, haha it's never a good idea before a workout!

Have you had a similar experience during a workout? Do tell!

Have a great week! xo