What 30 Days Without Sugar Taught Me

I did it!  I finished a whole 30 days with no sugar, or sugar-substitutes.  I did start the first two weeks with no fruit either as mentioned in the Sugar-free Society.  Sometimes it felt super easy, and other times, I had to just walk away from some great smelling treats.  What surprised me most was how much I craved certain candies towards the end of this 30 fasting of sugar.  The following are some of the other things that I learned in this sugar free journey:

Sugar is in almost everything

 The first thing that I would do when shopping was to read every label.  For the purpose of a full 30 day detox without sugar, I did not buy anything that stated that it had sugar, honey, or sugar substitutes in it.  For the first two weeks, I had no fruit besides my Greens drink in the afternoon. After that I would have one serving of fruit, if I wanted, in the afternoon, and only with some protein so that my sugar levels would not spike as much.  Anyways, the point is that sugar is in so much of the food that is produced today. Even foods that do not need sugar. I ended up making my own pizza crust, and my own bread, because I could do both without adding any sugar.

Cheeseburger with a homemade bun, and cabbage from the garden with homemade salad dressing, and sweet potatoes.

 

Sugar is everywhere

 It turns out that everywhere I went it felt like everyone I knew was eating sugar, and most of them would offer me some!  The second day with no sugar someone brought a Costco chocolate cake to our homeschool co-op. That was difficult to turn down, especially since it was out during lunch, and it seemed as though everyone had some.  The same co-op had a Krispy Kreme doughnut fundraiser on another week. After church there are baked good out for fellowship time. It just felt like everywhere that I went there was sugar. The good news is that now that I am finished with the detox.  Sugar is still everywhere, but I can resist it, and it is not that hard.

Eating out was especially difficult since I couldn’t find out all of the ingredients, but my daughter had no problems.

 

Sugar doesn’t really give me energy

 I did not notice an energy increase when I cut sugar from my diet, however, I did also begin to wake up earlier, so that could be why.  Also, maybe sugar doesn’t really give me that much energy. I did notice less mood swings, however. I thought that this was interesting because I would have thought that cutting out sugar would make me moody.  I think that because I cut it out gradually, I did not have has much of a withdrawal from my addiction. Two weeks before my detox, I cut out eating any sugar before lunch. The week after that I cut out eating any sugar before 2pm.  This helped me to cut back before cutting it entirely out of my life. Also, the body does metabolize sugar differently in the morning, so it is best to cut it out there first.

For coffee in the morning, I would either drink this Keto Coffee, or make some butter and coconut oil coffee.

 

I am more psychologically addicted than physically addicted

 Into the last week of my sugar detox, I began to dream about eating candy.  Skittles has never been a huge temptation for me, but there it was, creeping into my dreams at night.  The last few days I could not stop thinking about all of the things that I could eat. This shows me that it may be out of my body, but it is still in my head.  Now that I am off the detox, and feel that I have more choices, it is not as tempting. I have had dessert once, because my husband brought home baklava. I have also began to eat things that have less than 2% sugar if I want to (like bread).  

Bread is not needed with every meal, but at least I can have it when I want to

 

My family is supportive, but not that supportive

 I did not make my children completely go without sugar with me, however, the amount of sugar that they ate was greatly reduced when I was eating none.  I was not baking, and I was more conscious of how much sugar was in the food that they ate. They did not appreciate some of the breakfasts I made like yams, and breakfast sausage (that I had to special order to find some without sugar), and steal cut oats with spinach, tomatoes, and an egg on top.  Sometimes my husband would bring something home that was tempting to me that I wish that he could have just kept out of the house for 30 days, and my children would sometimes get candy or treats at some of the activities that they do.

One great benefit of the detox was trying new recipes like this: yams, sausage, and eggs.

 

I have more self-control than I thought – given to me by God through Bible Study

 At the end of this sugar detox I have to say that I no longer crave sugar all day long.  I am also less tempted by sugar when it is offered at home, or at a social gathering. I have known for years that I should try this, but never had the will power.  What made me feel able was the Lord’s Supper Bible study that I am doing. It includes fasting, which has shown me what I can do with God’s help. After all going without sugar, is only fasting sugar, and fasting from sugar for 30 days has changed my life.

I just hope and pray that this change is around forever,
for my health, and the health of my children.