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.
Ok I just need to say that you are awesome and have seriously inspired me. I was sad to read your post about people not being nice. I don’t get people but don’t listen to them. There are so many of us out there that love to read what you write and so far I have loved all your recipes I have tried. Definitely going to try coconut milk in my coffee!
I have recently cut out gluten and feel do much better. But still feel bloated and not great sometimes. I am so inspired to try this 21 days of no sugar! Thanks for being you and I honestly look forward to your posts!!
Congrats girl! I think I’m going to try this, especially with all those amazing dessert recipes. I was wondering though, do you take casein protein ever before bed? Sometimes I’ll make a little protein “ice cream” and that helps with sweet cravings.
I’ve been trying to cut out sugar as much as possible ever since I read Deep Nutrition last summer. Recently, I’ve been doing almost no fruit at all except for a possible green banana or handful of berries post workout. And seriously, I feel SO much better. I need less caffeine (nixed coffee and trying to just do tea) and my cravings are insanely less. I crave chicken with tomato sauce or ketchup more than anything. I’m still eating nut butters (no peanut) which I don’t think are a problem for me, but now that I think about it, my acne may have been better when I was eating JUST sunflower seed butter. Anyway, the point of this is that I’m feeling awesome, even though I didn’t track it or anything, and my muscles are definitely feeling the positive effects, and I can see it. Xoxo!
You rock! Props on keeping it up for a whole 21 days that is amazing!!
Great sharing. Your article inspire me to start reducing my sugar intake and I’ll try to replace them with more fruits and vegetables. I have to take care of my cellulite before it became more!
Congrats on your detox!!! 🙂 I have actually been COMPLETELY (and I mean COMPLETELY) sugar free for 10 years now!! It’s crazy; I crave salmon not donuts! Some people think I am odd, I think I am awesome, LOL! Keep it up, hope you can stay sugar free!
Congrats on your accomplishment Juli!
I’ve been eating Paleo for about three months now and have noticed WONDERS of improvement in my digestion and overall composition. Summer has been hard though, and I’ve certainly “cheated” more than I’ve wanted to. I am also a sugar and nut addict—and my ONLY snack during the work week is nuts. I circuit train (which is nothing compared to cross fit) and have built up a lot of muscle but can’t axe the “pooch” no matter what I do.
You’ve inspired me to purchase the 21 Day Detox (just did!) and I plan to start it after Labor Day. Thanks for the push to challenge myself even further…oh, and thanks for all the recipes—you’ve certainly helped me along the way.
Hi Juli – I’m new to this paleo diet but was forced to give up so many foods because of some severe intolerances. The biggy, fructose. Giving up all fruit and anything with fruit and almost all sweeteners was so hard because I have a huge sweet tooth! I love to hear your story because it makes me realize giving up sweets is hard for so many people. Sugar is addicting but I feel so much better now too. Good for you for sticking with it and carrying on! BTW – I just made your paleo granola recipe but with a little bit of brown rice syrup instead of the other sweeteners and it’s awesome! I love your site! Pam
Hey Juli! I was just wondering what kind of sweet potatoes chips you buy… And what kind of oils are okay as an ingredient in them. Thanks!
I buy ‘Food Should Taste Good” sweet potato chips (make sure they are not the sweet potato tortilla chips, those are different) and i buy them at whole foods. they ae made with soybean oil which isnt the best but i prefer that over soybean oil
I love, love, love your blog! Congrats on your detox! I got through 15 days of the Whole30 program before my mother showed up for a visit and I ruined it. I’m going to HAVE to do this again, and I’m going to take your advice and cut out both fruits and nuts as well.
I didn’t cut those out the first time, even when I was cutting out everything else sugary.
Your blog is awesome. You seem so with it, but human and admit your failures. I think that’s why I like this blog so much. It’s one of the only ones i consistently read.
Anyhoo…congrats again! I’ve got to kick these damn sugar demons!