Bye Sugar Bye!

eatsHealthWellness

Feb 25

Written By

The challenge 30 days sugar free. Who’s in?????

Both Anna and Myself and well I hope some of you babes are inspired to join along.

I feel like everyone, regardless if you consider yourself a sweetaholic or not, could benefit from the occasional sugar break. Sugar is literally lurking everywhere. Used in approximately 75 percent of packaged foods purchased in the United States, most of us, myself included, don’t even realize how much sugar we actually take in every single day. The average American consumes anywhere from a quarter to a half pound of sugar a day. Every time I read this statistic my mind is blown.

I’m pretty sure you have already seen countless articles and post breaking down the reasons why you need to correct your relationship with sugar, but in case you are in need of a reminder here my top 5 reasons

1. Sugar suppresses the immune system.

I don’t have time to be sick period end of discussion.

2. Sugar promotes inflammation.

Constant struggle for me. I am going to dive into this topic in another post because well it requires a full post.

3.Sugar suppresses the release of human growth hormone (HGH).

HGH is basically the fountain of youth and I don’t know about you but I want as much of that being released in my system as possible.

4. Sugar increases your risk of cancer.

Need I say more really. Who the F*ck wants to F*ck with that?

5. Sugar raises insulin levels.

If you eat too much sugar at one time, your pancreas will put out the extra insulin without too much trouble. However, it you eat too much sugar frequently, the long-term wear on your pancreas may cause it to "age" more rapidly than the rest of your body. This can ultimately result in pancreatic failure, which is a fancy way of saying "diabetes.” For those of you already in the know I only have half a pancreas and I can’t afford to be stressing that half out.

A sugar detox can look differently for everyone, but as for me I am going all in. What does that mean?

All sugar is out both refined and unrefined.

The natural sweeteners like maple syrup, honey, and agave they are out as well.

Stevia yea not doing that either (only the little bit that happens to be in my protein).

Only eating fruits in the berry family as everything else has two high of a sugar content.

Dried fruits are out of the question.

I am going strict here, but by no means should that deter you from modifying this detox to your own needs. As this is a Sunday post babes let me mention SELF CARE. Love yourself, be kind to your body, and listen to your body. If you want to do this detox but you’ve never done one before start off slow and maybe only take away refined sugars at first. Keep doing you. We want you to feel inspired to take a break from your love affair with sugar not pressured.

Without further ado here a glimpse into my first six days sans sugar

Day 1

Seemed to breeze through the day not really phased by the lack of sugar. I guess this isn’t surprising considering I made sure to go out with a bang and hit up my favorite “healthy” junk food spot, Moo Burgers.

Moo is legit. Basic menu hot dogs, burgers, veggie burgers, fries, milkshakes, and one or two specials. Everything is sourced locally, GMO free, and organic.

My dinner was complete with burger Burger, fries, spudz, and a black and white milkshake……It is shameful!!!!!

Oh and did I mention the macaroon appetizer? Yes, that happened. They are after all my favorite desert.

By the time I finished my meal I was completely sugared out. I went to bed feeling completely over sugar, but knowing full well that in just a few days I would be singing different tune.

I opened this by saying, " I breezed through the day unfazed." The key word there is DAY because it is now evening and my brain is reciting, “chocolate, chocolate, chocolate.” It is the sugar mantra and it is quietly nagging at me. Oh I can’t wait for tomorrow as I know the volume on that is going to be amplified!

Day 2 & 3

Combining days here because I really don’t want to bore you with the menotia and minutiae. For better or worse these last two days have been crazy for me. I had a massive work presentation to prep for Thursday and as always I work best with my back against the deadline ( I need to work on this I know but let us focus on one bad habit at a time). I don’t know if it was how busy I have been or if it was the Kriya I have been using for addiction, but I don’t feel like my sugar cravings are nearly as horrible as they have been in the past.

A little bit about the Kriya. If you don’t know what a Kriya is ….. Knowing that I was planning on doing this cleanse I specifically looked up Kundalini Kriyas used to help addiction. I stared this specific practice about four days prior to the start of the sugar detox. What I found extremely interesting was that the first 4 days the I practiced the Kriya I did not find it particularly hard but during my 5th the practice, which fell on day two I actually broke out in a cold sweat.

Side note: if you don’t know what a Kriya is may very very abbreviated explanation of it is that it is a type meditation.

Day 4

Another crazy day I really had no time to miss sugar. Arming myself with detox friendly snacks has helped to keep temptations at bay. My strategy stick to eating the lunch I packed for myself about 20 minutes before lunch meetings. That way I was satisfied sipping on my tea and avoiding the temptation to stray from my detox during meetings out at restaurants. Yes, I could have certainly figured something to eat a most spots, but it can be tricky. Sugar finds itself into so so so many unexpected dishes. Sauces and salad dressings can be the biggest offenders of added sugars.

Here’s What My Lunch Bag Looked Like.......

Overnight Oats: Blueberries, Chia seeds, and Unsweetened Vanilla Milkadamia Milk.
3 Hard Boiled Eggs ……. I eat 2 whites and 1 whole egg. Your probably wondering why. Well, I do it because the yolks are arguably the healthiest part of the egg and should be consumed lightly cooked or raw (provided it’s free-range and organic). Egg yolks provide valuable vitamins (A, D, E and K), omega-3 fats and antioxidants, much of which is not found in egg whites. That being said, eggs are still high in cholesterol and I eat at lot of eggs. I feel that if I ate the yolk with every egg I would eating way too much cholesterol.
Baby Carrots
Epic Venison Bar

Day 5

Heading into the weekend I’m slightly worried. I don’t know if worried is the correct adjective, but basically I feel like the weekend is likely the most perilous time for anyone detoxing.

Friday my biggest struggle was trying to figure out how to make an exciting totally sugarless dinner for me and the guys. I mean I would be totally cool eating a salad and some salmon, but I wanted to make something bit more exciting for my other half. After some brain storming and settling on two random ingredients : shrimp and the garma marsala spice blend; I popped open my laptop and did a google search for a sugarless recipe that featured both. I found the yummiest Garma Marsla Curry Recipe! I promise you I will be sharing my edits on the recipe soon but for now check it out here.

My babe was pleased and so was my belly!

Day 6

The day was filled with temptations and yet I somehow made it to the other side unscathed. I have a Saturday ritual that involves donuts. Every Saturday or at least most Saturdays I go to my morning yoga class and stop at my favorite farmers market post class. There happens to be the most amazing donut with a gluten free donut flavor that changes on the regular. It is rare that I leave the market without, well that is until now.

The night out with friends was tough. Dinner was easy, but I watched everyone get down on some insane toffee chocolate moose desert. It was legit fantasizing about dipping my finger in the mouse if not just for a tiny taste. The desert temptation was hard but what I found perhaps even harder was being out at the bar with everyone. Not drinking doesn’t usually bother, but last night everyone was in full rage mode and it was hard being the only one not on that level.

The Synopsis:

The first 3/ 4 days I experienced some detox symptoms……..

Dry as the desert mouth

Unquenchable Thirst

Inevitably by going sugar free I am eating way way way less carbs. The very nature of a low carb diet acts is diuretic. "When you significantly lower your carbohydrate intake and stores, your body produces less insulin, which prompts the kidneys to release stored water. Along with this release of water, you lose electrolytes -- particularly sodium .”

If your going to join us on our sugar fast this is an important one to watch out for. If your replenishing yourself with enough water and electrolytes then your going to end up feeling fatigud and almost like you have the flu. I have made this fatal mistake in the past. I recommend sipping on bone broth and carrying a massive bottle of water with you at all times.

My bathroom habits are off.

Isn’t this a given especially if your system, like my own, is particularly sensitive to any type of change. I will be getting after a coffee enema this upcoming week. If you don’t know about the amazingness of coffee enemas you have to check out Anna’s post ASAP.

Mild Headaches

Headaches could be coming from the detox dehydration (see 👆🏻) and/or the release of toxins in your system. Again, the best thing to help with this is water, water, and more water.

My skin actually looks kind of shitty right now.

Detoxing from sugar will often cause skin reactions such as rashes and breakouts. To expedite the healing of the skin irritation ( I want the glowy post detox skin sooner then later) and aid with pulling the toxins, I will be making a bentonite clay mask to help soothe the skin and draw out the toxins that are being released in my body. Post on this coming at you in a few days.

In 6 short days of no sugar I am already seeing and feeling some changes in my body and I’m excited to see how they progress. Honestly, all in all the week was way less of a struggle then I thought it would be. I have done countless detoxes and I can hands down say that this past week for whatever reason was the easiest first week I’ve ever had. I swear to you my daily Kriya practice for addictions has to be partially responsible for this. Last night was a challenge for sure, but I prevailed and am happier to have not woken up not mad at myself for straying off the detox. I’m feeling good about heading into week two babes. Seriously, I hope some of you you babes feel inspired and join along with us. Anna and I will be sharing our experience with you regularly on the gram so stay tuned for our favorite treats, recipes, and sugar detox tips and tricks.