21 days of no sugar, or at least so little sugar your body can detox from the massive amounts you normally take in. I decided to try this diet because I found myself wasting the majority of my calorie intake for the day on cake pops: frosted balls of the sweetest, melt-in-your-mouth cake imaginable, decorated like cute little Halloween monsters, ready to devour in their easy access, cupcake wrappers. Anywho, I didn’t necessarily up my calorie intake, I just traded in vegetables and other, you know, “necessary” food groups for the good stuff, like Milk Duds and pumpkin bread from Starbucks. At home, when I was away from the High Fructose Industrial Food Complex (Thank you , I satisfied my cravings with old cookies found and forgotten about in my pantry, ice cream I usually use only put in my morning coffee, and if nothing else, fruit, which never really satisfied the craving. That’s a bullshit tip that dieters say will help your sugar craving, when it really just makes you feel more like a monster in search of sugar.
Now if you know me well, you’d know that I am the one to sit around after dinner and pick at the salad bowl, munching on raw vegetables, no dressing necessary. My 83 year old neighbor, Lucy loves to comment on how I eat like a rabbit, and my mother always agrees, saying, “you should see how she eats corn.” (I’ll have to post a video, apparently its comical…) I’m the dork at work who brought Tupperware with cauliflower and quinoa, when everyone else brought Halloween candy and donuts. Needless to say the cauliflower quinoa festered in my purse, while the Snickers and Krispy Kremes festered in my stomach.
So its clear, I used to eat pretty healthily, why not just stop eating candy, right? Wrong, I am addicted to sugar, and with that comes cravings and crashes, my taste buds are no longer satisfied with foods that aren’t saturated with sugar. I found myself dousing my salads in sauce, not interested in eating the veggies in my fridge, and being okay with going to Whataburger, a restaurant I usually only go to at 3AM after a “good” night. I started using sugar to get me through the day at work because I had zero energy, and in consequence, had a constant stomach ache. It wasn’t until I got the worst migraine of my life that I realized that something had to change. I’ve had my share of bad headaches, but this was an all out, “hide your kids, hide your eyes,” “off with her head!” type. The most likely cause of said migraine, is sugar withdrawl meets vitamin deficiency con hormonal imbalance. Lovely.
So when it comes to changing, I figure, go big or go home. I’ve done the low-carb, no carb thing before for getting in shape, but simple, “just don’t eat these few things,” diets seem impossible simply because the results aren't fast and noticeable. I looked at three day detoxes, all kinds of “Cut Sugar From Your Life” blogs and settled for this 21 day detox because its extremely strict. Instead of a list of things not to eat, I have a small list of things I can eat.
I found the list for the Level 2- 21 Day Detox and have posted a photo of it below. It is from a book called, The 21 Day Sugar Detox by Diane Sanfilippo, where she outlines the entire diet, its benefits, and a cookbook to get you through it. So that she gets her two cents for writing a book about it, I wont display a whole bunch of info from it, only the list of foods you can and can't eat for just the level 2 detox.
Now if you know me well, you’d know that I am the one to sit around after dinner and pick at the salad bowl, munching on raw vegetables, no dressing necessary. My 83 year old neighbor, Lucy loves to comment on how I eat like a rabbit, and my mother always agrees, saying, “you should see how she eats corn.” (I’ll have to post a video, apparently its comical…) I’m the dork at work who brought Tupperware with cauliflower and quinoa, when everyone else brought Halloween candy and donuts. Needless to say the cauliflower quinoa festered in my purse, while the Snickers and Krispy Kremes festered in my stomach.
So its clear, I used to eat pretty healthily, why not just stop eating candy, right? Wrong, I am addicted to sugar, and with that comes cravings and crashes, my taste buds are no longer satisfied with foods that aren’t saturated with sugar. I found myself dousing my salads in sauce, not interested in eating the veggies in my fridge, and being okay with going to Whataburger, a restaurant I usually only go to at 3AM after a “good” night. I started using sugar to get me through the day at work because I had zero energy, and in consequence, had a constant stomach ache. It wasn’t until I got the worst migraine of my life that I realized that something had to change. I’ve had my share of bad headaches, but this was an all out, “hide your kids, hide your eyes,” “off with her head!” type. The most likely cause of said migraine, is sugar withdrawl meets vitamin deficiency con hormonal imbalance. Lovely.
So when it comes to changing, I figure, go big or go home. I’ve done the low-carb, no carb thing before for getting in shape, but simple, “just don’t eat these few things,” diets seem impossible simply because the results aren't fast and noticeable. I looked at three day detoxes, all kinds of “Cut Sugar From Your Life” blogs and settled for this 21 day detox because its extremely strict. Instead of a list of things not to eat, I have a small list of things I can eat.
I found the list for the Level 2- 21 Day Detox and have posted a photo of it below. It is from a book called, The 21 Day Sugar Detox by Diane Sanfilippo, where she outlines the entire diet, its benefits, and a cookbook to get you through it. So that she gets her two cents for writing a book about it, I wont display a whole bunch of info from it, only the list of foods you can and can't eat for just the level 2 detox.
For the sake of working this diet into my lifestyle, because lets face it, I love me some fruit and I like my wine. I have made two changes to the plan. I can eat up to 1 cup of raspberries or blackberries, both low in sugar, per day, and once a week I can drink my favorite Pinot Grigio wine, or light beer, both on the low end of the alcohol/sugar spectrum. Before you start throwing the “alcoholic” card at me, know that I made this stipulation because, A. I work in both the education field, (enough said there), and in the “decorating houses for christmas” industry, and as I chose to do this detox in the height of “decorating houses for Christmas” season, a beautiful time when I’ll be covered in glitter and working long shifts hanging lights, I figure I’ll let myself have a drink once a week. I thank you. The berries are simply because they’re cheap right now and I don’t want to miss berry season and most “cut sugar” diets allow berries, sooo WTF?
I plan to write everyday about the process, letting you know what I ate, how I feel, and all that stuff you really wouldn't care about unless you too are wanting to try this diet and are looking for information about it, or you want to laugh at my pain... I mean, either is fine.
Yesterday, I went to HEB (A Texas grocery store that is better than any other grocery ever) to stock up on sugarless foods. The best part was asking a store employee where to find Chia Seeds, who then asked his manager, who told him it was in the vitamin section only to lead me on a wild goose chase around the store to find the damn things. I don't even know what to do with chia seeds apart from growing a chia pet which I'm pretty sure isn't edible...hmmpf.
Here's what I bought:
I plan to write everyday about the process, letting you know what I ate, how I feel, and all that stuff you really wouldn't care about unless you too are wanting to try this diet and are looking for information about it, or you want to laugh at my pain... I mean, either is fine.
Yesterday, I went to HEB (A Texas grocery store that is better than any other grocery ever) to stock up on sugarless foods. The best part was asking a store employee where to find Chia Seeds, who then asked his manager, who told him it was in the vitamin section only to lead me on a wild goose chase around the store to find the damn things. I don't even know what to do with chia seeds apart from growing a chia pet which I'm pretty sure isn't edible...hmmpf.
Here's what I bought:
- Spinach
- Carrots
- Eggs (I'm gonna be eating a lot of these...)
- Green Apples (1 Max a day)
- Cottage Cheese
- Snap Peas
- Berries!!
- Pecans
- Brussel Sprouts
- Lemons
- Green Tipped Bananas
- A Massive Beef Chuck Roast
- Coconut Water (8oz A Day)
- Chia Seeds
$75, but hey I saved $16 by shopping with my neighborhood HEB ;)
Today is Day 1... Wish me luck. #21DSDLaven