21 Day Sugar Detox Adventure

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.

A Socially Acceptable Addiction

     "I'm addicted to sugar."  I know a lot of people who say this and then follow it up with a little laugh and a roll of their eyes.  Is this because they think they're joking?  Maybe they think that sugar can't be a real addiction like cocaine, heroin, or alcohol.  Well, they need to think again.  Would you like a peek inside of my head for just a moment?  Don't be scared, I really do have conversations with myself inside my head all the time.  Heck, I probably have whole conversations with you inside my head all the time.

First thought upon waking this morning:

 "Okay, no sugar or grains today…period." <a moment of silence>

 "But I can't drink my coffee black!"  

"Yes you can!"

"Okay..." *sigh*

I then proceeded to have one cup of black coffee. I ate my grain free and sugar free breakfast.  With my breakfast I drank another cup of coffee.

     ”a little sugar and whole cream won't hurt anything"

     ”okay but you can have only one teaspoon and plenty of cream."

I followed that cup up with another.  Then I decided it was great idea to make some chocolate chip meringue cookies.  

     "Chocolate chip cookies sure do sound good."

     "I shouldn't make those.  It will kill my blood sugar."

     "If I make meringues they will be grain free.  I can reduce the amount of sugar and use sucanat instead of regular sugar. 

     ”That’s not too bad.  The kids could have much worse."

     ”At least these won't be full of high fructose corn syrup and other nasty ingredients."

   For lunch I made some grain free crackers that I served with almond butter, raw cheese, and apples. 

     ”You know what? The kids would sure enjoy a glass of chocolate milk with that."

     "They sure would and I guess I'll have some too since I've already blown the whole no sugar thing today."

So yes, we washed down an otherwise healthy lunch with chocolate milk.  The only member of my family safe from my self destructive behavior is Little Bit who is too young to know what she is missing.

     Are these conversations any different than one that an alcoholic trying to kick the habit would have?  No.  Wait; there is one major, glaring difference I see.  Most alcoholics are sensible enough to not make a gin and tonic for the kiddos at lunch time.  Sugar is a socially acceptable addiction. It's no less harmful than drugs or alcohol but readily available in steady supply to even the youngest and most vulnerable members of our society.  I am my kids’ dealer.  I am diabetic.  I know that they are genetically predisposed to it so I try my best to feed them well and teach them sound nutrition.  Then I feed them sugar.  I think a little here and there won't hurt but if I am honest with myself, those every now and then treats tend to happen on an almost daily basis.  Even if they go a day without some sort of sweet, I am sure to have some.

Do you need further proof of the serious nature of sugar addiction?  In a French study presented at the 2007 annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, rats given a choice between water sweetened with saccharin or cocaine overwhelmingly chose the sweetened water.  If the amount of cocaine was increased, they still chose the saccharin water.  Given a choice between sugar water and cocaine, the sugar water won. It is thought that sugar actually causes a more intense reward signal in the brain than cocaine!  I have no doubt.

These internal conversations I've shared with you are not unusual.  I battle with myself like this on a daily basis.  I know that I will battle this addiction for the rest of my life.  Well meaning friends and family, that wouldn't think of offering me alcohol if I were an alcoholic, will continue to offer me my favorite treats.  I know I will be faced with them at parties and holidays. Do I want them to stop?  Heck no! I would be sad if my mom didn't make me a cake for my birthday or if my husband didn't buy me that small box of my favorite chocolates for Valentine's day. The emotional pull that sugar has on my life is a topic for another day.  I know that I will not go the rest of my life without sugar but I sure hope to spend about 90% of my time without it.  I'll write here about my progress and share tips and recipes that help me along the way.  I'd love to hear your tricks and tips too.  The next time I'm invited to a party I hope they have a big table full of cocaine.  I can totally pass that up!  Cake... well that’s another story all together.