Hello. My name is Ashley and I am addicted to sugar. What is it about the holidays and falling completely off track? The past few months have been especially bad. When it comes to sweets, I tend to be an all or nothing kind of girl. I can’t just have a piece of chocolate and put the rest away. Oh no! That chocolate calls to me from the cupboard (in a secret spot away from little hands!) until I devour the rest!
With the new year, I knew I needed a detox to lose a few bad habits and re-gain a bunch of good ones. I wanted to cleanse my insides a bit and get rid of some of my belly bloat. I also knew that a better diet would inspire me to consistently exercise again. So No Sugar January, a 30 day challenge, was born!
My rules:
+ No sweets: cookies, ice cream, cheesecake, brownies, etc. are all off limits.
+ Nothing with artificial sweeteners.
+ Natural sugars (in the form of fresh and dried fruit) are allowed.
+ This is not Whole30. Gluten is allowed, but try to limit how much I eat.
+ Traces of sugar seem to be in everything, so try to eat as raw and clean as possible.
I’ve been keeping a bit of a daily diary through the process. Take a peek:
DAY 1 | Feeling positive. This is going to be easy! DAY 2 | I have a minor headache that has lingered all day. DAY 3 | The headache is back…thank goodness this is the worst of the detoxing so far! DAY 4 | I’ve re-discovered that I’m an emotional eater. I had a hard day with the kids and I just want a bowl of ice cream! DAY 5 | French onion meatballs and green beans for dinner…yum. DAY 6 | Starting to crave smoothies as my something sweet. Bringing the fruit & spinach smoothies back into regular rotation. DAY 7 | Italian chicken with broccoli for dinner, which was gobbled up by everyone. I had a double serving of the broccoli…who am I? DAY 8 | Jumped on the scale today “just to see” and I’m down almost a pound and a half. Good push to keep going! DAY 9 | A couple of dried apricots seems to satisfy my sweet tooth. DAY 10 | Dinner was pork stir-fry with lots of veggies. Delicious. DAY 11 | The boys asked for chocolate chip cookies. I bought some (which I never do) because I don’t trust myself to not lick the batter. DAY 12 | While walking today, I happily discovered that I felt no lingering aching or pain in my ankle. Maybe there’s a connection to the change in diet? DAY 13 | Today was the launch of Big White Farmhouse and I decided to break the “no sugar fast” to celebrate with an apple fritter. Tasted good going down, but I had a belly ache later. Worth it. DAY 14 | Even with the taste of sugar yesterday, I feel ready to continue the challenge. I think there’s a lesson in moderation here.
Two weeks down, two to go!
This is so inspiring! I love that you aren't cutting out natural sugars. I'm definitely tempted to try this… I am such a sugarholic. I give myself leeway with ice cream when I'm pregnant (because you know, I need the calcium?) so I'll consider a challenge similar to yours, but including the occasional ice cream too. Hah!
Giving up sugar (or at least going off it for awhile) is difficult, but so worthwhile. Even if it’s for the pain to offer up 🙂 You can do this Ashley 🙂 I am a sugar-aholic myself. I get on and off the wagon so many times I can’t even say where I stand right now. I think for Lent I’m going to challenge my whole family to do this!