LIFESTYLE 7 years ago

I Quit Sugar & This is What Happened

About 2 months ago, a childhood friend of mine came to visit me and she looked amazing. Her skin was glowing, her energy was high, and it looked like she shredded a few pounds. I asked her what she had been doing differently because she looked so great, and she quickly said, “I quit refined sugar!” My initial reaction was, “Wait… what? I must’ve heard wrong. You quit what?” You see… she was that one friend who would literally spend hours on Yelp trying to scout down the best donut shop in town to try out their new maple bacon extra glazed sugar coated cronut. (I mean is that even a thing?)

So when she told me she quit sugar it was the last thing I expected to hear from her. After she spent the weekend at my house I was completely inspired and motivated by her new lifestyle. I told myself that if she could do it, and have the willpower to pass on desserts and replace them with fruit… then so could I! My sugar addiction was getting out of control and I thought this would be the perfect way to reboot my taste buds and cut my cravings out. I was at a point where I needed something sweet after every meal… chocolate after my lunch, then ice cream after my dinner. I needed to put a hold of my addiction and not let it control me!

THE FIRST FEW DAYS
The first few days were extremely challenging, but I knew it would be going into this. After every meal, I needed a sugar fix so I replaced it with fruit. I actually kind of over did it with fruits (which also could be a bad thing if you have too much of it), but I needed to do whatever I could to calm my cravings. Also, please note that I quit REFINED sugar, as there are a lot of good sugars out there (in fruits and such). I also stocked my fridge up with Kombucha as it really helped me with my cravings in the morning and at night. I would have one the morning and then one in the evening after dinner. There is something in the fizzy drink that somehow satisfied my sweet cravings.

I realized that half the battle was just saying “No!” So after successfully getting through the first week, it got a lot easier until I started to travel…

[parallax]

[/parallax]

TRAVELLING
So a month after I got control of my cravings I started to travel to Europe heavily. I went to Cannes, Rome, Paris, and Ibiza. Now, this is where it got really challenging. I literally was so nervous about not sticking with my no refined sugar detox during this month because I knew I was going to be in places with some amazing meals and desserts. Although I do not have any specific tips on HOW to stick with your detox during your travels… I would say 99% of it is just sheer will power and reminding yourself why you are doing what you are doing.

For me, it was a mental challenge more than anything else. I knew if my mind was strong enough I could get through it… and I did! We did find a place in Ibiza where they had all natural foods with tons of organic and natural ingredients. And for dessert, they had a date cake that had no sugar in it and it was absolutely divine. I had 2 servings of it!

THE RESULTS
Although I wish I could tell you some miracle story about how I dropped 10lbs from cutting out sugar- I can’t. Keep in mind I’ve only been doing this for a little over 1.5 months and I’m sure I’d see more profound results if I actually kept with it and made it into more of a lifestyle choice. I did, however, feel a lot more energetic in the morning and not as sluggish and tired. I also felt like my skin became slightly brighter and more youthful. I felt like I was able to make smarter choices in general just from cutting out refined sugar.

It’s almost like when you can eliminate one bad habit out of your daily routine all of a sudden you can see clearly with everything else. I definitely felt like my brain was less cluttered and I was wayyyy more productive with my time than I usually am. And although I did not do this detox to shed any weight, I did drop around 3 lbs on the scale.

CURRENTLY
I had my very first bite of sugar last week, and I’m not going to lie it was absolutely divine. Through all of this, I realized that sugar does not have to control my life. I completely cut refined sugar out of my diet for almost 2 months to challenge my mind and body. Now that I know I’m capable of doing that, I don’t have to be so scared of it anymore.

I’ve now slowly been introducing small bits of sugar into my diet here and there, but I decided to ban the word DETOX. It’s more of a lifestyle choice.

After this experiment, I decided that it’s just part of my lifestyle to not eat much sugar, but if I really want to try a bite of my mom’s hazelnut cookies then I’ll take a bite, completely enjoy it, and move on. It no longer controls me and I’ll enjoy it in bite sizes here and there!

So now, I’m challenging you guys to do something similar. Let me know in the comments if you guys have any questions and I’ll answer them to the best of my abilities!

Credits:

Photography by Karla Ticas