Sugar Detox Upate: Day 25 of 40
Happy Friday! The last time I shared a sugar detox update was 20 days ago! Wow time flies when you’re having fun!…Wait…I’m having fun? Crazy! A lot has changed for me over the past twenty days, so much so I’m actually a bit surprised myself. So sit back, grab your coffee, or tea, or whatever you’re drinking enjoy this in-depth look at what my sugar detox has done for me!
Before any of that though and to clear up any confusion here is a rough outline of some of the things I’m not allowed to eat…the actual list I received is pretty extensive, so I’m just listing the major stuff here:
——–NO——–
gluten, dairy, sugar, chocolate, alcohol,
dried fruit, soy, peanut butter, processed foods
I have definitely gone through a few different phases while on this cleanse, many of which I think are similar to the Whole 30, so if you’ve done that/know about that, I think it can put some things in perspective. Phase 1: Withdrawal— seriously! I was addicted to sugar prior to this challenge, and going cold turkey sucked! I didn’t feel well the first few days; I experienced massive headaches, my head was cloudy, it was hard to concentrate, I even think I had a cold sweat or two. Luckily this part didn’t last more than the first three days (and it was a lot less noticeable days 2 and 3). Phase 2: This Isn’t So Bad— After the symptoms of withdrawal wore off I was doing pretty well. There was all this excitement about putting my body through this challenge and putting my willpower to the test! So of course my judgement was clouded with the idea that “this won’t be awful…” Phase 3: I Hate Everyone/I Just Want To Nap– For the first two weeks it was pretty bad, at least it was for me, but everyone will have a different experience. I struggled most with feeling like I couldn’t eat anything, and being repulsed to eat certain things because out of the gate I just ate way too much of them (ex. sweet potatoes- I started the first week of the diet having sweet potatoes around the clock and by week two I couldn’t even look at them without wanting to barf. And still can’t!) While I didn’t actually hate everyone, I wasn’t very pleasant to be around. I was cranky because everyone around me was eating and drinking everything I wanted to be eating and drinking! (In case you missed it, I’m not allowed to drink alcohol during this challenge!) I think the “I just want to nap” component came from constantly feeling defeated. I would walk into the kitchen seeing everything I wasn’t allowed to have, but wasn’t focusing on what I was able to eat. At times when I got so frustrated about my “lack of options” I would just not eat anything instead of settling for something I didn’t want. Phase 4: The Feel Good Phase— I really didn’t think this phase existed. After being more than two weeks into this cleanse and still hating the world (I’m kind of exaggerating here, but not entirely), I read every review online with such skepticism. Little did I know, I just had to hold out a little longer! I’m more than halfway done with this challenge now and I feel a lot different. I wouldn’t say I feel GREAT, in many ways I feel the same, but I feel good in the sense that I know I’m doing something that’s good for me. More on this below!
How has a sugar detox changed me?
I had no expectations going into this challenge, aside from expecting it was going to be REALLYY hard. And guess what? I was right! Yay…. What I didn’t expect was to be able to see visible differences in myself only after 2 weeks, I didn’t expect to have so much willpower, I honestly didn’t expect to be able to last more than a few days without chocolate, and I certainly didn’t expect to be able to change my mindset so quickly. So when someone asks me what has changed my answer is: (almost) everything.
Visibly speaking, and I can’t believe I’m actually typing this right now (eek! so surreal!), my acne has gotten a lot better. It’s not completely gone, I’m still getting a few pimples here and there, but my cystic acne located all along my chin and sometimes even on my cheeks, that’s completely gone! Guys! This is huge! Over the past few months I’ve been spending a lot of time on my blog and on Instagram sharing my struggle with acne, and of course some part of it is superficial, but a huge part of it was actually just how painful this cystic acne was. I could have the same cystic acne for months. Yes, MONTHS, and no matter what I used on my face it wouldn’t go away. Fast forward to now, and I don’t have any cystic acne, my skin looks better than it has in years, and I’m seeing minimal pimples! This. Is. Incredible. Except there’s just one thing…I can’t eat anything I like! Ugggg! Okay, that’s not completely true, as I said before, my mindset has changed. I realize I don’t have to have wine and dessert every night, but on the other hand there are those nights that you just really need a glass of wine or crave a big piece of cake! I miss my sweets and my wine a lot, but on the other hand, the results speak for themselves.
I’m so much stronger now, and I don’t mean physically (even though I have worked out 23/25 days of this challenge!). This cleanse has forced me to have the willpower and strength not to cheat, it’s incredible! I’m not kidding when I say I used to eat 4-5 brownies or cookies at lunch all through college, and you know what? I would eat another 4-5 more after dinner the same day! Every day! And I think it’s pretty spectacular that I’ve only “cheated” 2 times in the past 25 days! (Come to find out though when I met with the nutritionist in charge of the challenge, I am allowed to have a “cheat meal” and two glasses of wine each week without deducting points! So in reality I think I’m still ahead of everyone else if they’ve been allowing themselves cheat meals. Yay me!)
Alright, this has been an unusually long post, so if you’re still reading, wow you deserve a prize! In fact I’m doing a giveaway this coming week since I reached over 1000 followers in Instagram and over 5,000 blog views! So if you’re reading this, you can get an additional 10 entries for my giveaway, all you have to do is comment below!
In hopes of wrapping this up in some sort of way, I guess the biggest thing I want to convey here is, if I can do this, then ANYONE can do this. Really, anyone. Before diving head first into this challenge I was the last person that would ever think of giving up sugar. I would have given up my laptop or phone before giving up dessert for a day! Seriously! Alright, that’s all for now. Keep an eye out for the next post on my sugar detox!
