I started an annual sugar cleanse idea in 2011. 2 weeks with NO SUGAR. Sounds crazy right? (all the sweet tooth adults know what I mean) But Christmas was filled with so much food and sweets I knew I had to do something drastic. I am not going to lie, I had never been without sugar completely in my entire life so I didn’t know what would happen, and I was 7 months pregnant! Would I be sick? Desperate? Emotionally crazy? My husband didn’t even think I would last. Amazingly enough, it wasn’t near as hard as I thought. And it was eye opening to how many processed foods and condiments have sugar in them. There is the possibility of withdrawal symptoms like a headache, but if you are eating clean sugar sources like organic cane or coconut sugar, I will doubt you’ll even notice you’re without it. Just to entice you… I’ll share how it went.
A small group of friends did it with me. We all succeeded, with a few accidental blips here and there. For example, my sister made a stir fry and didn’t read the bottled sauce she purchased. It had added sugar, but she pressed on reading bottles carefully after that and even learned how to make her own sauce. Once I was finished I felt AMAZING! My skin was the best it had been my whole pregnancy and I had more energy. I also stopped gaining weight so quickly. (I ended with a healthy 8lb3oz baby from 36lbs gained) so this year I will see what it does while breastfeeding and getting back into shape! It also re-set my sugar threshold. Once the two weeks were up, I barely needed any sweets to be satisfied. The unexpected benefit was the creativity while cooking and baking! I had to figure out ways to use fruit to make anything I wanted sweetened. Well here goes… three days left. I underlined all of the benefits I had, so if you see one you like I DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU TO TRY THIS! What better way to start your year off than detoxing from your Christmas indulging? All 5 rules posted below:
1. NO SUGAR in any form may enter your body for 14 days, starting Jan 1st. This includes alternative sugars, cane sugar, coconut sugar, honey, molasses, or any other sucrose-like product.
2. Naturally occurring sugar in fruit and vegetables are fine to eat. These come with enzymes and vitamins that supersede the negative effects their sugar has. Try to limit the tropical fruits that are the highest in sugar like pineapple, melons or mango. You can use these to bake and cook with for your sweetening needs. Expect some failure. Our sugarless banana muffins last year are going to be re-done with vigor this year!
3. Dried fruits are extremely concentrated in sugar so limit these as well, but they still are a natural form of sugar. Consider them a treat. I suggest removing all tempting “treats” from your house before you start. Much easier when you only see an apple and not a chocolate bar, bottle of juice and piece of cake beside it.
4. READ THE LABELS! Glucose, fructose, corn syrup, sugar, liquid sugars, honey, stevia, extracts are all banished from your cleanse. The bottles that will catch you are dressings, condiments and sauces! Be prepared to have your eyes opened to the sugar craze.
5. If you slip up, don’t start over, just resolve to learn from it and keep going!!! I think this is also called “LIFE”. Post any questions/struggles you have and I will help along the way! You’ll be so proud of yourself after and if you lose a couple real lbs. = BONUS!
Organic Is Awesome 