Sugar is really, really unhealthy for you. (I’ll go into greater details in a later post).
About five years ago, I decided to ban sugar from my life completely. Before that point, I was a complete sugar-addict, and I’d eat sugary stuff all day long. It helped that I wasn’t a tea or coffee drinker back then. But still, going through days without sugar was very difficult.
I gave in after about two weeks. It was impossible to give up sugar completely back then, but I did appreciate the fact that sugary things were treats, and not things to munch on all day long.
Fast-forward till about two months back, when I realized that I was having too much tea and coffee, with a lot of sugar each time. I decided to start having most of my cups sugarless, since that was tastier than low-sugar. About two weeks back, I started on an intensively self-disciplined program which included waking up very early, cutting out most sugar (one teaspoon a day), exercising vigorously and throughout the day.
I collapsed a few days back, after a really strenuous yoga class left me with a back-ache. As I was leaving the class, the instructor advised me to put hot water bottles over any aches. I disregarded that advice, and the pain went away with some light stretching. But I just didn’t feel like working out. The next day, my workout was a mild upper-body workout, and I had sugary dessert (a little bit). The day after that, I felt I didn’t want to work out, I was craving sugar, and I was tired. So: I didn’t work out. I gave in to my sugar cravings, and had a tiny piece of sugary dessert. At night, I decided that if I still wanted sugar, I would have piece of my favorite dark chocolate. I didn’t, since I forgot the chocolate while I was browsing and talking with my SO, but I woke up two hours late the next day.
And I don’t feel the slightest guilt. I’ve already had a good upper-body workout, I no longer crave sugar, and I know I’ll be up tomorrow 
I think we need to accept the fact that our bodies have limits. Trying to push myself in three directions simultaneously is a bit difficult. But apart from difficulty, I don’t believe you should push yourself excessively. I’m glad I took a break. I feel quite rested, and in retrospect, I didn’t do anything very harmful, like gobbling up two or three chocolate bars.
The danger of taking a break is that it becomes permanent. But recognizing it as a break is ok: and I’m happy, now that I’m back on my track.
