21 Day Sugar Detox

In January, I resolved to take a 90 Day Paleo Challenge.  I've liked a lot of what I've seen of the Paleo lifestyle, and thought I could try it out for a while.  I made it only 10 days before I had enough.  I felt horrible, had headaches, felt like I was cooking completely different foods for myself and the rest of my family, and it just plain wasn't working.  I rewarded myself with a big slice of homemade bread, and life looked so much better again.

I found out what went wrong for me on my Paleo challenge.  First, I gave up all dairy.  My body needs dairy.  We've since switched to raw milk and full fat yogurt and other dairy products, and I feel really good about this.  I also discovered that when you start eliminating things out of your diet, you can get some really nasty detox symptoms.  It would have been nice to know that up front.  Would I have kept going though?  I don't really know, but I'm glad that I was able to reevaluate what my diet should look like.

However, my weight started creeping up, and I wasn't very happy about that.  I've been eating better, but I would still have sugar cravings in the afternoon and eat more than I should (even if it was better for me).  I also was getting some weird stomach cramps that would leave me feeling like I was doubled over for hours at a time, and since I'm a mom, I had to keep going for my kids' sake.  Not so much fun.

Somewhere along the line, I heard about the 21-Day Sugar Detox.  It looked like something I could do.  It was only 21 days, there were three levels to choose from, and I hoped that it would solve some of the digestive issues I seemed to be having.  I now knew about detox symptoms, so I knew to be prepared for some unpleasantness.  I prepared a list of everything I would eat for the next 21 days and went grocery shopping.

The 21 days were interesting.  I decided to go with Level 2 since I could keep dairy there.  Meal and snack planning made my life a lot easier, and cooking for my family wasn't that difficult.  They just ate what I ate with maybe a slice of bread or some rice as a side.  I'd just eat more veggies.  The hardest times I had were when we'd be out, but I'd try to make sure that I either ate just before I'd go or find a place that had salads.  My Toadally Primal Smoothies in the morning were my lifesavers.  The breakfast ones could hold me over for 5+ hours even when I'd get a workout in.

The 21 days are now over.  I'm amazed with the results.  In just three weeks, I dropped almost 5 lbs. and I can tell my waist has gotten smaller.  I don't get cravings, but I know when I'm hungry and need some protein.  I also now have an arsenal of snack options that don't include sugar or grains, and I haven't had a stomach cramp since before I started.  It's been awesome.  I also just love how I ate real food.  Except for when I was out of the house, I never had anything less than fresh.  Nothing came out of a box, there were no special protein powders or pills to take.

What I missed the most was sugar in my coffee and having fruit.  I was amazed that I could be okay with coffee with just milk, but I'll be happy to add sugar to that again although I might add less.

I'm slowly going to start adding things back into my diet.  I've already added in fruit, and I plan to add grains in slowly.  I'm afraid that I may be giving up wheat for good, but I'm starting to be okay with that.  Since I don't have any diagnosed gut problems, I don't have to read every label, but I might strive to be wheat-free.  We'll have to see if that sticks.  I do like my sourdough.

I think I'd do this again.  It might be a good thing to try to do right after all the holidays as a kick-start into the new year.  I highly recommend it.