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)
- Sweet Potatoes (mostly post workout)
- Green Apples (I had 3 over the course of 21 days)
- Tyrrell’s vegetable chips
- Coconut Butter
- Coconut Water (1 per day, if that)
- Kombucha (1 per day, if that)
- 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.
You’ve inspired me. Just bought the manual. We’re going on vacation next week, but once we are back our 21 day sugar detox is on!
“5 shots of Grey Goose were consumed.” Ooooh, if I had a nickel… Or even a penny….
You are definitely right, if you can cut out sugar, anyone can! Big ups!!
Congrats!
I was so inspired by you, that I’ve decided to give a sugar detox a shot, too! I’m on Day 2. So far not bad at all, but I’m now fearing this Day 4 you speak of. Thanks for that!
I really need to do this… I can tell that fruit and nuts don’t really suit me, as I have the exact same experience as you. And yet…it’s blueberry picking season, and my little girls love blueberry pancakes. I never plan on eating them and yet somehow they always end up in my mouth…perhaps after apple picking season…
How did you celebrate Juli??? I made chocolate chip brownies from tgipaleo’s website which were phenomenal. After 21 days, I definitely feel and look leaner, my recovery and energy has been really good, and my moods have been consistently high. There were two night where I ate way too many banana chips from this international market (masala flavored!!!) but otherwise it went really well. Day 13 or something was really hard for some reason. I wanted to ditch the whole thing and make brownies. Luckily, my husband hid all the chocolate and wouldn’t allow me in the kitchen. I have tried the detox/whole 30 before and never made it all the way through. So glad I actually completed something in my life now. 🙂 I also had cut out nuts, and I don’t really foresee going back to eating them or much fruit besides berries and stuff. I totally agree that although it’s natural, I don’t feel I look or perform best when I have all that sugar. Fruit especially makes me and my husband bloated and gassy (not fun or sexy). Through the detox I also gained an understanding of the emotional implications of certain foods. Banana chips for example are like pringles, I just can’t stop. They taste too freakin good. And I don’t like how they make me feel like a compulsive fat kid, so I’m giving them to my husband to take to his office. There’s a lot more satisfaction in making really delicious good-for-you food and enjoying it-not just thinking about what sweet sugary thing I can stuff my face with after dinner. Sorry to blab, I learned a lot, and I think this has been a huge step in me understanding what works for me. And I think everyone should do it. In the span of your lifetime, 21 days is nothing.
I haven’t celebrated yet! I guess I’ll be celebrating with alcohol in powell BUT I will make a huge blackberry loaf to make into french toast once I get home!
Juli-thanks for the inspiration! I think I’ll go Paleo again. It was definitely worth it the first time around. -Danielle
I did this in March and while it was hard at first I absolutely loved how it made me feel too! I even lost about 3 or 4 of those pesky pounds that are always just hanging on! I plan to do it again next month and with the right amount of will power, do it about twice every year… To get me back on track 🙂 Agreed that it’s something everyone should try! Congrats on being done!
May I ask, what type of coconut butter do you use?
Usually Tropical Traditions or I make my own OR in Whole Foods, they have a brand called Let’s Do Organic Creamed Coconut
Ooo, you make your own coconut oil? I’d love to know how! and thank you for this site…I come here to read even if I don’t need a recipe because you make me laugh and remind me why I’m doing this! THANKS!! (and ignore the haters, means you’re doing something right.)
Awesome! I’ve got two days left in my Whole 30, my first full on experience with Paleo. Eliminating sugar has changed my life. I’m a full on sugar addict, it acts on my brain like drugs. Breaking free from it has been illuminating!
I’m the same way with sugar and fruit, really need to do this again (I went 30 days with no sugar in April and lost 4 pounds the first month and the other 2 months of my 90 day challenge, I only lost another pound!). I’m just going to wait until I can’t get fresh fruit here in Michigan 😉