21 Day Sugar Detox Day 11 and still holding fast. I have never in my life gone without sugar for 11 days. That seems like a ridiculous thing for me to say. I've spent large chunks of my life on diets. I've spent the last 11 years trying to eat a mostly traditional diet. I've been paleo for long stretches in the past 3 years. In all that time I still managed to get my sugar fix. Before you judge, I wasn't cheating with Twinkies or Little Debbie Nutty Bars. *sigh* I was getting my sugar in forms that were perfectly allowable on any and all of the previously mentioned eating plans. I could ingest tons of sugar and still come in under my POINTS thanks to lots of low fat, high sugar treats. Whole milk puddings, soaked grain breads, pies with a crust made with real lard are excellent for the sugar addict following a traditonal diet. And the web is full of recipes for paleo friendly versions of your favorite desserts and treats. Cookies sweetened with dates? Dates are a fruit, how can that be bad for you? Yep, any diet I was on the first thing I did was figure out how to make allowable versions of those foods that got me here in the first place. Don't get me wrong, if we are speaking strictly blood sugar, high fiber,high fat, naturally sweet treats are waaaay better for me than my beloved Nutty Bars. But in the end sugar is sugar is sugar and it's all bad for me. That was a painful sentence type.
Here is what I have learned about myself in the past ll days while doing the 21 Day Sugar Detox.
1. I think about sugar a lot. A LOT!
No I don't sit around like a young drooling child dreaming of raiding Willy Wonka's candy factory....very often. The first four days of this detox was me having a continuous inner monlog about how I didn't need stevia in my morning decaf, how I could use oil and vinegar on my salad instead of Russian dressing. I don't even like Russian dressing but guess what it's loaded with? I had to convince myself that my craving for an orange Izze was really a craving for vitamin C, easily solved by eating a bell pepper. It was very n.oisy in my head those first few days. Then I learned something else important.
2. I don't have to think about sugar a lot.
After the first week it has become pretty simple to pass up many treats that used to plague me if I "deprived" myself of them. I've heard this over and over from people that went on Atkins or other really low carb regimens. I never stayed on a strict low carb diet long enough to feel that. I had begun to doubt that I would ever have that ability. I just needed a longer and stricter detox period than many people. The first four days I didn't even consume any fruit or dairy products. I don't feel compelled to eat sugary treats when they are available. On day 5 of my sugar detox my family was baptised. To celebrate we invited friends and family over to our house for cake and punch. If you know me at all, you know that cake is my favorite food. I stayed out of the kitchen and I visited and had the best time. At the end of the evening I realized that I hadn't sat around having an internal pity party because I couldn't eat cake. I hadn't thought about it much at all. That was the turning point where I decided I wasn't making a big sacrifice I was just making a good choice.
3. I can live this way for the rest of my life.
Living with type 2 diabetes is like trying to solve a puzzle. There are so many components to put together when trying to even live with the disease, much less reverse it. You think you have all the pieces in the right place but then something new pops up that you have to deal with. But what you eat is most definitely the main component. I have learned that I absolutely can control the evil voice in my mind that is telling me to go through the drive through or have a cookie. I can even get through restless periods or boredom without eating my way out of it. This is big people!
I am half way through the official detox and I feel better than I have in a couple of years. My blood sugars that have been very high have come down slowly but surely to much better levels. I have energy to take my toddler out in the hot Texas sun to ride her tricycle. I have energy to clean my kitchen late at night after our guests have left. I'm feeling more positive, happy, and calm then I have in a while. I have the energy and desire to write a blog post! While starting the detox felt like a big last ditch effort to control my diabetes it has become an empowering event in my life that has let me feel like I have regained the upper hand again. Not bad for a mere 11 days.
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