21 Day Sugar Detox Discoveries

My 21-day sugar detox is officially over!

Today I reintroduce things like cheese, full-fat milk, and fruit (other than green-tip bananas and green apples).

One thing is for sure, my taste buds have changed. Grapes taste very sweet, and the protein shake I just drank was like a sugary thick shake. Yet the only thing in there was half a green banana, 200ml of almond milk, a scoop of protein powder, 1 tablespoon of full-fat yoghurt and 4 cherries.

It was delicious though.

I was bound to discover a lot of things while on this detox.

Here are 21 things I discovered.

.1. I’m a sugar addict

It’s safe to say I’m or was addicted to sugar. Seriously sugar is in EVERYTHING!  I knew sugar was a problem, but I didn’t realise how bad my addiction was until this detox.

.2. Headaches

In the first few days, I experienced headaches from not having any sugar.  They weren’t horrible, but they were constantly there.

.3. I craved sugar

This was to be expected.  If I didn’t crave sugar then obviously something would have been seriously wrong. The cravings for sugar only lasted until around day 4.

.4. Carob nibs instead of Chocolate

While trying to find some spices in the pantry, I discovered I had Carob nibs.  They taste like chocolate but aren’t chocolate, and 100% 21dsd compliant.  I only needed a small amount to satisfy my cravings.

.5. I slept more

I normally wake up around 6:30.  Yet during this detox, I was waking up 7:30 am or later.  This is unheard of for me. I’m a parent, I’m usually always up at sparrows fart.

.6. I felt tired

It didn’t matter that I was sleeping in and getting 8 hours of sleep I was still tired.  Some days tired and grumpy, and other days, just generally tired.

.7. It took until around day 16 to finally not feel so tired

Yep, over 2 weeks to overcome that tired sensation.

.8. Fuelling for a long run

Normally in a long run, I take gluten-free amazeballs, a gel, or dried fruit.  Alas, this time around all I took was half an apple.  I also ate some nuts beforehand.

One thing is for certain.  While the apple did help, it didn’t give me the boost I needed.  It’s just as well this was a training run, and training runs are what you do all your testing in.  While apples may work, I need something more.

.9. Herbal Tea’s

Were and are, and will always be my best friend. They are hidden little gems.  They give you that sugar hit, but without the sugar.  Noice!

Chai tea with coconut milk didn’t work for me though.  I put too much coconut milk in and I didn’t like the consistency.  Oh well, lesson learned.

.10. Don’t make pastry on a hot day

I was making chicken pot pies.  It’s more of a winter dish than a summer dish.  In fact, it should only be made on cooler days.

Why I hear you ask.  The pastry needs to be cold.  And when it’s too warm, the butter melts, and that just makes rolling out and placing the pastry a lot more difficult.

Leftover pastry makes for great biscuits though.

.11. Vertigo

If you have never experienced vertigo good for you, you don’t want to.  There is nothing worse than standing up and feeling like you are going to collapse. I experienced a few episodes of vertigo and I put it down to low blood sugar.  Mostly happened at night time after relaxing on the couch.

.12. Keep a food journal

I decided to use Evernote to note down the meals and snacks I was eating.

It was actually really helpful as if I had any issues I was able to pinpoint exactly what it was. (Like getting food poisoning only a few days in).

.13. Embrace leftovers

For the first week of my detox, I was cooking for 2 instead of 4 (the kids were having a holiday at their grandparent’s).  It was inevitable that we were going to have leftovers.

Embrace the leftovers, which means less cooking!

.14. Make mayo with an immersion blender

I love homemade mayo.  The first time I made mayo in the blender it worked out perfect.  The next few times they were all total failures, and I was completely frustrated.

Then I came across this recipe made with an immersion blender. Now I’m a convert.  Immersion blender for the win.

My fav oil to use is macadamia nut with Mount Zero Lemon Infused Olive Oil. Delish!

.15. Preparation is vital

I mentioned this in my 4 ways to rock your 21dsd post a few weeks back. And alas I will say it again

Preparation is Vital

This could be from reading material, preparing meal lists or just getting things ready the night before.

.16. Always read labels

Then re-read them.  It is so easy to overlook something.  I bought a Darikay soup from Coles, and it was beautiful, but it had chickpeas.  Which are compliant with level 1, not level 3.  Needless to say, I still ate the soup, just not the chickpeas.

I read the label, which is why I bought it, but I was looking for the usual non-compliant items, so when I read chickpeas I overlooked it.  It happens.

.17. My running got worse before it got better

I knew this was going to happen. As the same thing happened when I did Whole30 for the first time. It was a combination of being tired, and not using sugar as a source of fuel.

So when did it get better?  Yeah, day 21 go figure.

.18. Fasting

Because I was sleeping in until 7:30, I found I wasn’t eating breakfast until 8 am.  So I made a note of when my last meal was and discovered I was naturally fasting.

Fasting from 8 pm and 8 am surprising worked really well for me.

This leads me to my 19th discovery.

.19. Run before breakfast

I normally run an hour or so after breakfast, which is usually 9:30ish. But as it’s summer here I wanted to beat the heat, so I decided to try running before breakfast.

Guess what it worked for me, so I kept doing it, and I will keep doing it.

.20. No more constipation

You may think this is TMI but I don’t care.  We all know how awesome it is when you do an easy poo.  Laugh if you must, but it’s true.

.21. I lost weight

My intention was not to lose weight, but it happened.  In 2 weeks I lost 2kg.

I lost muscle mass at that time as I wasn’t doing strength training, just running.

What happens now?

First up I get to rejoice in having cheese.  Cheese how I missed thee.

I will also make better food choices, especially fuel choices when it comes to running.

The discoveries of fasting and running before breakfast will continue that’s for sure.