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.
I’m starting the detox on Monday. I’m hoping it won’t be too tough. I’ll have to cut my oats, berries and beloved protein powder. Oh and the sugar free creamer 😉
Thanks for all the wonderful recipes! I can’t wait to try them. I’m not Paleo but after this detox may rethink it depending on how I feel.
Juli,
I am looking into ordering the 21 Day Sugar Detox. I have a carb and sugar addiction… the first step is admitting you have a problem.
Since I don’t have the plan in front of me yet, I was hoping you could enlighten me about the rule for honey. Unlike many of my fellow friends, family, coworkers, etc. I do not like coffee at all. I hate the taste of it. I am a tea addict. My favorite tea is straight up breakfast black tea with honey in it. I drink several cups on a normal work day. Is honey allowed in the detox?
If it isn’t… I am not sure how I will cope. Any suggestions?
Thanks for everything! You’re blog is a lifesaver! Give yourself some credit or just reward yourself with something tasty 🙂
no honey my dear. just cut it out. cold turkey style
I have been contemplating doing no nuts and no sugar for a month now. I think I’m just scared to try it since nuts and their glorious butters are/is the air I breath. Fruit I know affects me, I have 3 strawberries in the morning and find I’m bat-shit crazy for sugar all day long. I’m just going to man up and kick the habit all at once. Do you have a run down of what you ate, I’m just nervous ill be stuck and just eat anything, thanks for this post and all your posts, love this site!
This is the only post I have about it, but I can say I ate way more root vegetables and sweet potatoes when I cut sugar out. And I ate a lot more avocado and coconut butter to keep from feeling that no sugar drag. Hope that helps!
good stuff julie! i’m considering the detox and was wondering if you have consolidated your 21DSD recipes?
I don’t, but i’ll work on that for you. check out the post this friday for a list!
Yay! I was hoping for a 21DSD recipe list from you. Your recipes rock!
yay! you rock!! thank you so much! don’t know what my Paleo life would be without you 🙂
How did y reintroduce alcohol into your diet? I can’t go dry forever! The fruit nuts was much easier than I thought to give up..I’m on day 6 though….
i just had clear liquids and drank smaller amounts when i had alcohol back in my diet.
I’ve tried this before (but not as extreme, I still ate fruit), and it’s amazing how great you feel, and how you don;t miss sugar. The first few days are so hard though! I’ve also recently realized that nuts make my skin break out, and I’m trying to cut them out (but it’s so hard!)
I am on day 3 of the Detox and find myself going straight to nuts Nuts NUTS anytime I’m craving anything remotely sweet. I also feel bloated and get a stomach ache when I eat too many (which is every time I eat them). How did you give up nuts? What do you replace them with? There are only so many carrots/snap peas and Tyrells chips I can eat. Suggestions? Thanks!!!
Hi,
When you did this detox, what kind of snacks did you go to?
I’ve been snacking on nuts and banana chips a lot, but since that also casues me to bloat I need new easy snacks for work. I usually have about 7-8 hours between lunch and dinner so a snack is kind of crucial otherwise I go crazy on anything sweet or fatty at the end of the day. I’ve brought stuff like cottage cheese and berries to work, carrots etc. What else do you suggest? Did you cut out berries too from your diet?
Long rant…
Ciao!
I ate a good amount of plantain and sweet potato chips when i needed some extra fuel. also ate coconut butter and raw vegetables to fill me up. yes, i cut out berries also
what brand plantain plantain and sweet potato chips did you eat? At trader joes they all have sunflower oil which is not approved for the detox. Thanks for your help!
the ones i have found eaten have sunflower as well, but i didn’t worry much about those. i’m sure you could find some online without that though!
Thanks for your fast response! I’m getting so many great tips from your blog! I found these Glories Sweet Potato Chips online but…..all these and or statements!!!
Ingredients —
All Ingredients are GMO-Free
Sweet Potatos
Expeller Pressed Canola Oil and/or Corn Oil and/or Olive Oil
Sea Salt
http://www.goodhealthnaturalproducts.com/good-health-natural-foods/products/glories/glories-sweet-potato-chips-original/glories-sweet-potato-chips-original-ingredients/
You couldn’t be any more amusing or inspiring! Im on my final day of whole 30. I do not miss cheese, bread or even alcohol…haven’t once this whole time. But I dream about sugar morning, noon and night. I’ve let myself binge on fresh and dried fruit more and more. Tonight I ate a slew of fruit and almond butter…so much so I made myself write it all down. It looked like a shopping list!! Im proud of how far Ive come but I know I have a long way to go. A sugar detox is definitely in order! Thank you for the motivation!