Wednesday, September 4, 2013

I Quit Sugar :: Weeks 2 & 3

Okay, here I am finally with an update on my "I quit Sugar" detox. On Sunday just gone I completed week 3 and, my it was tough! Week 2 was still in the 'cutting back' phase and I was still allowed to eat sugar in very small doses but then week 3 came along and it was 'cold turkey' time. No fresh or dried fruit. No juice. No muesli or muesli bars. No jams. No condiments containing sugar eg. bbq and tomato sauce. No flavoured yogurts. No honey. No chocolate, soft drinks etc. And basically nothing with more than 6g sugar per 100g.

It was particularly tough because I had my parents and one of my brothers make a spontaneous visit to Darwin and, it gave me that holiday feeling. 'Holiday feelings' tend to come with celebratory food! I wanted to chill out with my family with chocolates, cake, lollies and a bottle of soft drink. Its what you do right?! I was strong enough to resist but I did make a few mistakes along the way.
In the [welcomed] chaos of having 3 extra people bunk in our 2 bedroom unit I ate a few fruit bars and didn't even realize till days later that I ate them - and wasn't supposed to. I also ate a bit of carrot which I later found out is high in fructose. Not really the kind of sugar I'm addicted to and need cutting back on but I did feel like I had let myself down a little. Oh and I've also had an issue with low milk supply (breastfeeding) so along with a herb called 'Fenugreek' (which by the way is a miracle worker for getting your supply back up!) I also took Sustagen which contains a fair bit of sugar. At this point I had to weigh up what was important and of course it was Samson's well-being. I contemplated whether there was even any point continuing the detox if I couldn't do it thoroughly?! I felt like I had failed what I so desperately wanted to achieve.
The two foods that have really helped me through my challenging moments have been natural yogurt with cinnamon and bacon and egg cupcakes
I came to the conclusion that surely it would still be better for me to continue even if I couldn't follow all the rules. The purpose for me doing the detox program was to break my addiction with 'sour worms' and 'chocolate coated licorice', and to replace them with healthier snacks. Although I've made 'Sustagen' the exception I have been keeping to the rules of the detox and I am feeling proud about that.  I will no doubt do the detox again somewhere down the track.

Something else that has also been challenging is peoples negative responses to others wanting to live a healthier lifestyle. I've discovered that there are some narrow-minded and condescending people who think its ridiculous to cut back on sugar. I don't believe I've pushed my 'detox' ways on others, and other then here on my blog I don't tend to talk much about it, or at least not in a way that should make others feel bad about their own eating habits. So its been very frustrating that people will try and bring you down with negative comments, which anyway reads to me that they need to make you look bad in order for them to make themselves feel/look better. I am part way into week 4 and I shall not be moved by negativity!



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4 comments:

  1. Good girl! It isn't easy, but you're already knocking down those sugar-walls! It's great that you're keeping your milk supply a priority. I didn't have a problem with my supply during the detox ( I think I ate wayyyy too many nuts and natural yogurt for that to ever happen!) but thanks for sharing the fenugreek tip! I have a constant fear of losing my milk (always in the back of my head) so it's nice to know there is something I could take if that ever did happen.

    Mmm yes I did yogurt with cinnamon a lot! And yogurt with cocoa powder... oooo!!!

    I'm sorry you've been faced with negativity. People really don't understand, and it just makes them feel bad I guess. I just used to tell people that it was 'just an 8 week DETOX' and not a forever thing, and not a diet, particularly when fruit came into question. Just to get me out of the habit of 'closet chocolate binging' while I'm home all week! ;)

    You're doing an amazing job...don't stop now! How's hubby doing?

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  2. Sounds to me like you're doing really well, and goof on you for not letting other peoples negativity get you down! Keep it up Jess!
    PS. I've just started taking Fenugreek suppliments myself in hope of getting off my current medication, I've heard from many that it is amazing :-)

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  3. My milk supply was dropping before I started detoxing and the only thing I could put it down to is just the busyness of two babes and some stress from home ownership and a death in the family. I spent a week or two trying to build supply by pumping and extra feeds but that was also getting very tiring. The community nurse put me onto fenugreek and I noticed a change after 1 - 2 days! Hope it works just as well for you Erin. And although I drink 2 - 4 ltrs of water each day And eat a ton of food I thought I'd take sustagen which is also recommended for building supply. So we are back to normal now, thank goodness for that!

    I'm feeling so great for having eliminated the 'junk' foods in my diet. Hannah it's so easy to eat more of the unhealthy snacks when you're at home I find so I know exactly what you mean. Oh and unfortunately hubby caved! So I'm on my own. At least Matt doesn't have a sugar addiction so he won't be hindering me at least.

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  4. Oh I see. Well I'm feeling your relief at it all being back to normal now!

    Haha, yes, my husband didn't do it with me, although he said it would be 'easy' for him to give up sugar as he wasn't into chocolate, just salty things like chips. Well what do you think he started looking for a couple of weeks into my detox??! Since I wasn't popping around in the evening with chocolate for him like I used to, he suddenly started craving it LOL. He says he wants to do the detox again with me some time though, but we'll see.... ;)

    Yep! Just think about how much junk food you would have eaten in these last 3.5 weeks! None of it went in your body.. woot!!

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