It’s official. 21 days are over. 21 days, sugar free has finally come to an end. If you haven’t heard, I’ve been doing the 21 Day Sugar Detox by Balanced Bites. And I’ve loved it!! Which is  sick and weird since that meant no sugar, including fruit. And if you know me, I LOVE sweets. Like, love love love them. BUT, sweets don’t love me. Not only do I gain 6lbs from eating 1 banana, but I feel bloated, I don’t have a ton of energy, and well, I crave even more sweets. And I found all of this out from not eating sweets. I had no idea I felt like that until I took these beloved foods out.

So let’s recap. Something else to remember that I have cut out of my diet is nuts. All nuts. One day, I just woke up and decided to not eat them because I was sick of feeling like sh*t all the time and wanted to know if they were the culprit to my bloated belly and stupid acne. I’m just such an all-or-none person. I have no middle ground, no sense of moderation. Just not how I roll. So I cut out nuts, then shortly after cut out fruit and sugar.

At first, this was pretty tough. My go-to night snack is anything sweet. Whether that’s eating Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips from the bag or chocolate covered mangos from Whole Foods, I wanted it all when the sun went down. So the first 3 days were kind of annoying, then the 4th day SUCKED. I mean, REALLY sucked. I was super light headed, really really dizzy, felt like I was blacking out half the day. It just sucked. So I went home, loaded up on sweet potatoes and sweet potato chips and instantly felt better the next day. I was just super low on carbs since I hadn’t really stocked up on vegetables in the first 3 days. After that, it was easy. I even made a couple sweet desserts and didn’t even taste them, just gave them to friends instead.

What I did find was that I craved something crunchy way more than I usually do. I really wanted sweet potato chips or Tyrrell’s vegetable chips on a regular basis. I day dreamed about them a lot. And I wanted to eat beets and carrots a ton more…probably because they are sweet. I ate more meat and more fat than I usually do, fat coming mostly in the form of coconut butter. I’ve stopped craving sweets most of the time, just once in a while I’ll get that.

So here were some of the things I ate while on the diet that aren’t entirely sugar free (but are acceptable in moderation on the sugar detox)

  1. Sweet Potatoes (mostly post workout)
  2. Green Apples (I had 3 over the course of 21 days)
  3. Tyrrell’s vegetable chips
  4. Coconut Butter
  5. Coconut Water (1 per day, if that)
  6. Kombucha (1 per day, if that)
  7. Alcohol (ok, that’s not allowed, but if you remember, I just couldn’t say no. 5 shots of Grey Goose were consumed)

So here’s what I think after 21 days. I think it’s awesome and everyone should try it. Yes, fruit is natural. I get it. But, if you’re anything like me, life sucks because even fruit makes you gain weight and feel bloated, so you may actually benefit from removing that excess sugar. After cutting out the treats, I felt WAY better and had more energy than ever. I also felt like my hormones were more in balance because I never felt like I was going through any mood swings. I felt like I was in a good mood almost every day.

So I was going to post photo results, but then I got scared and backed out. That’s just too frightening to me even though I’ve post half naked pictures of myself in the past. My bathing suit pictures is just serious. Sorry people, I’m lame.

What I can say is that even though my goal was not to lose weight or change anything body wise, I did feel like my body changed. I felt like my stomach got smaller, I felt a bit leaner, and I honestly thought my cellulite didn’t look quite as bad. I don’t think it’s anything that any of other person would notice, but I did and that’s all that really matters to me.

This is what I think. I think EVERYONE should try it at some point. We don’t really know how much sugar affects us until it is completely stripped of our diet. I, will probably not go back to eating sugar other than a once-a-week cheat, but Laura who wasn’t as greatly affected probably won’t be quite as strict as I am. So try it out yourself. Man up. If I can cut out sugar, anyone can. ANYONE.

Stop complaining. There will be a recipe tomorrow, ok? Geez.

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128 Comments

  1. Michelle says:

    Hey, Juli! Great blog! I have a question for you about the 21DSD. I’m getting ready to start the next one in October, but I was curious if it helped you with your sugar cravings, even a year later? I am the kind of person that can’t just eat one or two pieces of candy. Example – I brought in Rolos for the candy jar at work, and didn’t just grab two Rolos. I grabbed two handfuls, then went back for more. And I wasn’t even hungry! They were just there. So for me, I’m hoping 21DSD will help control that. In the back of my head, I think “But I’ll always love candy/sweets”, so I hope to get to a place where 1 or 2 pieces will be sufficient!

    Anyway, just wondering how if you are still feeling the good results a year later. Thanks!

    1. juli says:

      I can completely tell the difference when I eat sugar now. I become completely addicted and can instantly see the difference in my body almost right away. it’s amazing how much sugar changes our body. i’m waaaay less addicted to sugar as well. still definitely go on some binges, but way better than i was before

  2. Erin B says:

    I am so glad I found this post! I was already seeing improvements from no fruit on the detox, but I finally realized how much I rely on nuts and how my digestion doesn’t like them. Feeling better after not having nuts (or cutting way WAY back) too.

  3. Felicia says:

    Although they say misery loves company, I’m not exactly miserable, but… It’s nice to read that other people have issues with fruits and nuts. With the exception of a date here and there, I haven’t had fruit in 30 days. I cut out nuts for 21 days and have decided to have them in treats or bars, only, and not handfuls or snacks at work. I really don’t miss the fruit at all, and I enjoy having vegetables for breakfast every day.

  4. Amy @ A Little Nosh says:

    I’m on Day 14 of a sugar detox and I’m noticing exactly what you did. I dropped some pounds, my stomach isn’t protruding quite as much, and I feel a lot better. It’s not something anybody else would notice, but I definitely do.

    I’m really glad I stumbled on your blog. My husband is paleo and I’m doing the detox so your recipes have really come in handy!

  5. Paleodude says:

    Im about to start on my 21 day sugar detox Sunday 083014, it looks like it can go well with paleo. I thought you cAn have green apples? I sprinkled organic Saigon cinnamon on them and it tasted pretty good. I’d even baked half of it with light drizzle of coconut oil and Saigon cinnamon. Pretty good. Let me know your take? I see some eat green apples and some don’t in sugar detox.