Do you have that one food that was, or still is, your kryptonite? I sure did!
It was sugar!
Let me share a story with you…
In my former life as a structural engineer, we had a giant stash of candy at the front desk. It was all the “good stuff.” Reeses, Butterfinger, Twix, Snickers… You name it, we had it. Oh, and if the dish didn’t have exactly what you were looking for, we all knew that there were hoards of backup in the closet nearby.
Each day, I’d tell myself that I wouldn’t go by the front desk so I could at least avoid the visual temptation. It didn’t seem to matter though. The afternoon would come and I would feel that big dip in energy. That feeling like I could fall asleep right at my desk, pencil and calculator in hand. The candy dish was calling my name, and singing a sweet song that loured me there. I would drag myself from my desk, hit the vending machine for a Diet Pepsi and then to the candy stash for some sugar to get me through the rest of the day. Depending on the day, I might go back for more candy before the day was over. This pattern happened just about everyday for years.
I felt out of control. I was exhausted. I was cranky. I was bloated. It all sucked.
When I started to embrace a more real food lifestyle to help heal my body from the effects of Rheumatoid Arthritis, my sugar cravings were still hitting me. I didn’t consume the soda anymore, but I was still feeling drawn to the candy in the afternoon. While I was eating much more nutrient dense foods, I was allowing a fair amount of natural sweeteners into my world. I would make maple syrup or honey sweetened treats often to sooth my inner sugar monster. These are definitely better quality sugars than high fructose corn syrup and white sugar, but they are still sugar. They still do the same thing to our body.
I needed a reset badly, and that’s when I did my very first 21-Day Sugar Detox.
The first week was rough. My body was detoxing off sugar and that led to headaches, brain fog and more crankiness. It was a joy… NOT.
Soon the fog cleared, and I began to experience more energy. I didn’t have that afternoon slump anymore, and I noticed my tummy was feeling much less bloated.
By the end of the detox, I felt incredible! My skin had cleared up, I was sleeping better, my mood had improved, and I dropped a few pounds. Best of all, I was proud of myself for actually doing it! I had given up sugar for 3 weeks!
What I learned about my body over those 21 days have stuck with me. The biggest discovery for myself was being able to see a direct relationship between how I felt, emotionally and physically, and how much sugar I ate. Knowing my own boundaries with foods has given me so much freedom!
Because of my own success with the 21-Day Sugar Detox, I knew that I wanted to help others get control of their cravings and experience more food freedom. I’ve been a Certified 21-Day Sugar Detox Coach now for 3 years! I love working with my groups, helping them troubleshoot their struggles and celebrating their wins with them!
If you feel like you need to break up with sugar and start feeling your best, I would love to invite you to my February online 21-Day Sugar Detox group that kicks off on Feb. 5th. We’ll spend 5 weeks together where I’ll help you navigate the ins and outs of ditching sugar before, during and after the 21 days of the detox. You can learn more about my coaching group on the 21-Day Sugar Detox page on my website. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to reach out to me via email at suzie [at] thetastyremedy [dot] com.