I Quit Sugar For 29 Days – Here’s What Happened

#SugarBalancedLiving

As a recovered sugar addict, I decided to go almost a whole month with no sugar (I’m talking zero added sugar) and no junk food - here’s the week by week tell all, along with everything I learned from the experience. The good, the bad, the cravings, and the sugar addict thoughts! It turns out, going totally sugar free can help reset your sugar cravings and your overall eating habits…

Whoop whoop! I made it 29 days sugar-free (again!)... and over these now numerous sugar-free periods, I've really learned, each and every time, something new about my health, mindset and body-- it’s been an amazing ongoing journey and a real eye-opener!

If you had told me that I could live HAPPILY without ANY sugar for 29 days a couple of years ago I would have laughed at you - ‘Impossible’ I would have yelled!

Because I know that the idea of going sugar free at first can seem impossible, scary, miserable, and many people starting out can experience awful cravings and sugar withdrawal symptoms, only to then go straight back to treat binging.

BUT, I can tell you that with the right steps, mindset, routines and recipes you can do it. And, best of all, you’ll never feel like you’re missing out (plus, you’ll feel incredible). It’s a win-win!

My Sugar and Junk Food Addiction

There was a time in my life, a few years ago now, when I started studying for life changing exams, while also suffering from a very badly injured ankle - I was in mental havoc and I turned to sweets to comfort me.

Well, for years before this stressful time, I’d suffered with a chronic sugar addiction, so the stress only compounded it - yes, sugar addiction is real. Many people experience it without realizing it, so of course at the time I didn’t call this issue that because, like most of us, I didn’t take seriously (I just put it down to having a sweet tooth).

But here’s the thing. Did you know sugar is even more addictive than cocaine?!🍭

Yep. I have a whole blog-post on this called: 8 Ways to Know If You’re a Sugar Addict + How to Stop. Its got the full low-down of why SUGAR and REFINED-CARBS are addictive, and included are all the simple signs to help you find out whether or not your cravings are in fact sugar addiction, as well as a free download to help you crush those cravings. CLICK HERE TO READ.

My sugar addiction just got worse, heightened and fueled by my negative mental and physical state - but the thing is that this worsened sugar addiction only escalated my ill-health and left me in really bad shape.

It was a disaster; for my mind, for my body, and for my overall health. Eventually I realized that my heavy reliance on sugar in my diet had been the trigger. It was time to do something about it - I was at war with my body, completely out of alignment, and feeling powerless.

I ‘hit the books’ researching and learning everything about sugar, and I mean absolutely everything. I was obsessed! I investigated everything-- from the types of sugar, the history of sugar (who knew that this could be so interesting?!), the science of sugar, how to reduce and balance sugar consumption.🔬

You see, I was so very desperate to save my health.

But I kept hitting the same problem over and over again. There was a lot of information on the subject but there was no one strategy that I could follow. I was left overwhelmed, and more insecure than before that I was never going to be able to get sugar balance in my life.

The question was: how badly did I want to regain great health, control and power in my life?

Essentially, I didn’t have a choice. Live like this - miserable, in pain and just get worse - or, tackle the problem, no matter how complicated, daunting and time-consuming it felt.

I got to it.🤗

Curing My Sugar Addiction

I set about developing a system that would help me heal myself and my sugar addiction, and YES it did work out for me. After hard trial and error, I can now go sugar free, and the crazy part is, I honestly don’t feel like I’m missing out (this is what I feared the most because I felt it would be a weakness back into my cravings and addiction).

This doesn’t mean I don’t think you can still indulge in a treat every here and there, but sugar is connected with health issues including heart disease, obesity, and high cholesterol, so we must be wary of that.

It's why I believe people must have balance, control sugar cravings, not over consume, or be able to break their sugar addiction and have a balanced lifestyle.

Happy and grand events in our lives are celebrated🎉 with sugar, and that doesn't have to completely end.

Finding your path to live without sugar or with less sugar in your life is an amazing goal for everyone and anyone, no matter whether you’re healthy or unhealthy. I have personally learned so many lessons every time I decide to cleanse and go sugar free for a long period of time, but I have never really realized it until this round of sugar cleansing.

A no-sugar experience can help you see and understand so many new things about your health and mindset. That’s why today, if you are considering a no sugar experience period or you want to just cut back how much of the sweet stuff you're eating, I want to guide you, inspire you and share the fantastic lessons you will learn while getting through the rough days and learning live without sugar.

Why I Went On a No-Sugar Challenge?

Although, after much mindset practice and diet balancing, I have created a sugar balanced life for myself - one where I can surprise myself with a donut for breakfast on national donuts day or enjoy a small treat on every Saturday in June without it triggering a craving cycle for more sweets or a binge, I'm still taking long periods of time where I go completely sugar free.👍

I call it my sugar cleanse.

There doesn't have to be any particular reason for me doing it, other than just for my body to feel its healthiest, detox, and for me to reset my sugar sensitivity, or after a holiday or celebration where I indulged a little.

My recent 29 days of no-sugar, I went on after eating a little treat once every-weekend for a while. I felt like it was time to challenge myself a bit and really detox while there was a big gap between holidays in my family household.

My Sugar Cleanse Challenge Rules

My rules for this challenge were, absolutely NO: added sugars, natural sweeteners (like honey or agave) or artificial sweeteners and very limited refined carbs. What I gave myself permission for was: Pure Natural Stevia twice a week, and naturally occurring whole food sugars, like in dairy, and fruits were OK but limited in moderation.🍓

Sugar is not necessary - if you NEVER ate a tablespoon of granulated sugar again, you would be totally okay. You only need natural sugar from nature - whole food sources including whole grains, fats, veggies, and fruit in a limited manner - so my rules for this challenge were perfect!😉

And… if you’re wondering why on earth I'm limiting my refined carbs, it’s because when you eat a food containing carbohydrates, your body will release the hormone insulin to take sugar out of the bloodstream and onto our cells, this is fine.

The problem is that when the carbs are refined carbs or in the form of simple sugars, our bodies digest them too quickly, meaning they enter the blood rapidly. This just makes for a super large insulin release.

So, because they spike our blood sugar levels, I decided I would eat only small portion of refined carbs in the form of pasta only on Saturdays, and eat a biscuit on Sundays.

Of course I made sure that the pasta was sugar free, and the biscuit I made from scratch so I knew there was no sugar!

With so many people consuming too much sugar in the world, I think we could all do with a cleanse.

In fact, the average American consumes a MASSIVE 19.5 teaspoons (82 grams) every single day, according to research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Basically, an average American will take in more than 3X the recommended amount.

Plus, this recommend amount of sugar should be coming from natural sources, and for most people it does not.

I have found through helping people with their sugar-free challenges, and from when I first started, that a no-sugar challenge is a real eye opener. It really helps folks to clearly see how much sugar they’re eating daily.

Even if you don’t have a sweet tooth for candy, when you start looking at how much refined carb you’re eating and start reading the labels for everything you eat, you will be incredibly shocked at the excessive amounts.

My goal when starting this time’s challenge was to reset my sugar and refined carb sensitivity, help clear my skin, and clear up my overall body health by paying close attention to my diet.

I’ve done cleanses many times, so by now I’m pretty used to what contains sugar and what doesn’t, but as many people find out, sugar is in absolutely everything. This can make a no-sugar cleanse really hard for people who like to socialize or who haven’t learned a system.

For many people, I have learned that they tend to struggle with control and if they do break, and have let’s say one cookie, they will keep on coming back for more. They’ll find it very hard to stop.

This is another reason why a no sugar challenge is amazing - especially if you work on your mindset when it comes to food during the challenge - because it will help you to reset your sugar control.

Now… you know everything about why I did this challenge/cleanse let’s take a look at my experience and what you can truly learn about your body!

What Are My Sugar Weaknesses?

There are moments and certain times of the day where we become more susceptible to breaking our diet and eating something we shouldn’t, and I was no exception to the rule. It is important to note your weak times of the day, so you can identify and attack them.

• I’m someone who is currently studying and working full time, so I spend a lot of my day behind a desk. I live in Florida so it gets really hot, so I find that after I start getting tired and overheated at the desk, that my mind starts asking me for a pick me up - in the form of an old personal fave of mine: a Frappe or a small ice cream Popsicle.🍦

  Although after I’ve quit sugar, I don’t find myself getting tired so often during the afternoon, when I do sometimes from a long day, it’s still a habit really, so I look for a healthy pick-me-up at the desk.

  Obviously I shouldn’t have any sugar, so I created some mantras for when these tired cravings come about. They really help me reset my mind, and I also have a cold no-sugar natural fizzy water, to help pick me up and give me a little break.

• My other weakness is weekend nights. I love watching foreign movies and binging TV shows📺 with my family on the weekend, and we usually like a sweet and ‘savory’ snack - it used to be ice cream and chips. I gave this up of course, but found my mood dropping. I felt a loss of tradition - everyone else was enjoying treats and I wasn’t, so I kept finding myself wanting to raid the freezer. I had to use my mindset practices to keep this in control.

• Also I decided to join the tradition, but in a healthy way. By eating some extra berries, sugar free whipped cream, and sometimes whole grain crackers and brie cheese during Netflix weekend time, I felt much better and like I was a part of the gang.

If you can beat ‘em, join ‘em… but, with a healthy twist, am I right!😉

Those would be my two main weak times, where I had to be very careful. But as you can see, I worked around them and I am now easily able to conquer them, and you can too.

If you’re not sure how that is okay, I have a ton of practice and steps, and I'm happy to share any advice you need to help beat the weakness times. You can get more support and advice from me and other people beating their sugar addictions in my Sugar Balance + Wellness Circle!

I have to say - I've learned that being prepared with practical and effective steps for your vulnerable food trigger times is step #1 in reducing sugar and refined carbs. This is exactly why I get my members to share their ‘vulnerability times and what they eat at that time’ so I can help them apply my many actionable practices and steps, to help them easily beat the weakness times.

The First Week of The NO-Sugar Challenge/Cleanse

The first week was by far the hardest, especially the first day. I find that on the first day of giving something up like sugar, your mind will tell that you should have just one more day of eating that something and that you should start again tomorrow. This is totally the wrong mindset, as your brain will keep on telling you one more day and then you’ll end up not starting - the ‘start on Monday theorem’.

That is why on the first week I had to be super strict, by eating all super healthy craving busting foods and make sure I worked on my mind everyday that week.

I make sure to eat more high-fat, moderate-carb and protein foods.

Also, I did experience a little initial sugar withdrawal. Overall though, I'm surprised how easy it got after the initial withdrawal and mind conquering on the first day! Although I have to say, I was only eating sugar once a week when I started, so that could be why the withdrawal wasn’t as bad as after Christmas or other ‘sugary holidays’.

There was a small moment when I did almost eat sugar in the first week - I bought some vegan sausages that I skim read for sugar at the shops and it looked all clear. As I waited for them to heat for dinner that night, I looked at the packet just for some entertainment and I noticed a hidden sugar called barely malt in the ingredients.

Luckily, I caught it - I was about to eat sugar without even realizing it, that’ll teach me not to skim read ingredients!

Additionally, I also made sure to eat more high-fat, moderate-carb and protein foods.

What you’ll learn after the first week sugar-free…

If you want to succeed, you’ll have to educate yourself about sugar or get some help from someone who is educated about sugar-free living. Lucky for me I know like everything there is about sugar… and how to conquer it, but it wasn’t always like this. When I first started a no-sugar challenge, I had no idea what I what I was doing.😵

And when you finish you'll first week, you’ll have realized all the questions you never asked yourself in beginning like:

• What will help replace the sugar in your diet?

• What particular foods help with cravings?

• What in particular do I do for my mindset?

• What should I do about withdrawal symptoms?

That’s why I recommend for my Sugar Balance + Wellness Circle members to go through these type of questions first with me personally, so I can use my experience to guide them more easily through any roadblocks, problems, struggles or even general questions to come. You’ll find support and experience is really important!

29 Day Sugar-Free Challenge: What’s Going On 2 Weeks in…?

Week 2 you’ll start to feel really healthy - your skin will be glowing, your mood will be much more positive, and your body will start to look a bit more defined. By now your cravings will have subsided.

What you’ll learn after the second week sugar-free…

By week 2 you’ll be feeling super confident, after all the meal prepping, you’ll start wanting to go out more, especially with a new found trust for yourself control. You’ll find that:

• You'll realize that reading the ingredient lists is a must and so is memorizing the names of sugars. Sugar is often hiding all over and far down the list, under unassuming names, and in the most innocent things, even salad dressing, and bread.

• With cafe and restaurant menus not coming with ingredients labels, you’ll quickly learn to ask lots of questions. Sandwiches are almost always out because the bread always has sugar. Working with your server will be your best tool, so you can find something no-sugar, or customizing a dish with only cleared no-sugar ingredients.

• Social settings can provide a big challenge. It can become easier though if you surround yourself with supportive people, and tell the truth: you’re on a no-sugar challenge. That way social pressure will deflate and there will be no hurt feelings at birthday parties when you say no to the cake. Also, working on your mindset by accepting that you’re going to have to decline things you previously accepted without hesitation, will help you stay positive and happy.

• Something really positive that you would have also learned by now, is realizing just how much sugar you normally eat on a daily basis. With everything containing “hidden” sugar, after reading labels and treading carefully you see by now that a ton of foods - even ‘healthy ‘foods you eat have been sabotaging your health without you even noticing. Do you eat granola for a health boost for breakfast? Oh no.😲

• Let’s take a ‘healthier’ granola like Nature Valley Oats ’n Honey Granola for example, just 1 cup contains 480 calories and has 24 grams of sugar, pretty much the whole of your recommended amount of sugar for the entire day.

Going Sugar-Free: What You’ve Completely Realized and How You Feel 29 Days in?

You would have learned a lot and felt really good by the end of it - with a sugary break, food will probably be tasting even better, and your taste buds will be able to discern more quality flavors. You’ll discover some unexpected and big lessons you’ll love including…

1. Better Clarity

At first, of course you will experience a bit of sugar withdrawal, which hinders clarity, but after you snap out of that haze, you’ll suddenly feel more focused than ever-before.

This is down to that fact that elevated glucose in the bloodstream is harmful to the brain, which results in slow cognitive function and deficits in memory and attention. So clearly, when you stop elevating your glucose so much, by eating pasta for lunch everyday or always snacking on skittles, you’ll experience better clarity.

Research has even suggested that high sugar consumption cam causes inflammation in the brain, enough to cause memory difficulties. Yikes!

2. More Energy and Say Goodbye To Energy Slumps

YIPPEE… goodbye afternoon slump…!!!!!!🤯

After an initial adjustment phase, once you’ve quit sugar your energy levels will JUMP.

Your body will feel and adjust in a more balanced manner, so you will no longer look for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up in the form of a sugary treat from the back of your desk drawer to give you a boost… which won’t even last.

You’ll wake up feeling more refreshed with high energy levels, which will usually last all day.

3. Balanced Hormones

Less severe PMS symptoms, a better regulated period, thinning hair starts to grow back, acne fades! Sound good to me, ay?!

High sugar, refined carb food intake is one of the number one ways to mess up hormonal signals and therefore cause hormonal imbalances. Make cutting sugar out of your diet the first way you can start healing and restoring your body balance.

4. You Might Start to Love COOKING

I have always loved to cook, and I find that friends and clients who go on a sugar-free cleanse gain a love of cooking.🍳 Which you may find too!

Since most store bought packaged foods contain sugar, you will probably find yourself cooking healthy home meals with friends and family, like sugar free pancakes and jam -  and there is nothing better than that! Considering even if you do find packaged food without sugar, fresh is still BEST.

You will know every single thing in your meal, if you made it yourself, and that is a real key to a successful sugar detox. A-mah-zing!

Plus… healthy sugar free cooking is actually really delicious and easy. Yep… cooking isn’t as hard as they make it out to be in your fave ‘sitcom’. If want some really tasty, sugar free, and simple sugar free recipes, then make the recipe section the place for you - feel free to click here so you can check it out. 🍰

5. Weight Maintenance

Before I talk about anything else, I need to ask probably the biggest question you’ve been wondering this whole time: did I lose weight?

*Drum roll please...

No… and

... yes… but weight loss was not my intention this time round…

I did not go on this cleanse to lose weight. I eat pretty healthily, I'm at a healthy weight, and I’m quite happy where I am right now weight wise, so I didn’t need to lose weight.

Therefore I didn’t put myself into a calorie deficit or anything like it - I was still enjoying quite large portions of hummus at dinner and extra large scoops of no-sugar overnight chocolate oats for breakfast. These foods are totally healthy for you, but, of course, like with anything, if you eat too much you won’t be in a calorie deficit, and you maintain instead of lose.

The thing is, by coincidence I did lose 4 pounds, but.. after losing the 4 pounds I put 1 of them back on the next week - I’m assuming this is just weight fluctuation.

So, all in all I have technically lost three pounds.

Furthermore, I can tell you this: that going on a no-sugar diet is great for maintaining weight, especially if at the moment you’ve been slowly gaining weight, since cutting the excess calories from sugar will stop them from adding up bit by bit on the scale.

Although, if you’re at an unhealthy weight you should be able to easily drop weight or if you want to make weight loss your goal and focus a little more than me on excess calories you’re eating, you should lose weight fairly easily too.

6. A Happier Friendship with Sugar

Many folks, along with me of old, can have a horrible relationship with consuming sugar. Like let’s say, when you can’t eat caramel popcorn at the movie theaters on Friday like normal, you will end up just feeling terrible and broken, and even ending up splurging the next day to make yourself feel better.

And then there's those of us who squeeze binges within a calorie goal, but in return they give up actual healthy sources of calories that your body needs to thrive.

Through a no sugar challenge, you’re able to realize the damage that sugar is doing to your mindset/lifestyle choices and you are better able to make peace with sugar. Also, recognizing the hidden sources of sugar which have been adding unnecessary calories to your diet helps you develop more of a balance.

7. Shock… Sugar Shock

You will be shocked about how your palate adjusts to eating less sugar, and how quickly it adjusts to eating excess sugar. For example, my first sweet treat after the challenge ended, was a small bowl of my fave vanilla ice cream. I'll tell you my head went spinning around the room - I couldn't finish it, and it literally tasted like raw sugar.😝😝 I mean come on, right?!

Although the sugar reset can be short-lived, if you go back to eating a lot of sugar, you will quickly go back to adjusting to the sweetness.

Sheesh, it is a real eye opener to sugar's effects on your inner foodie.

As I am a professional no-sugar eater, I know how to adjust. I used lemon water and kimchi to help my body adjust to the sudden sugar intake, which worked quite well.

A no-sugar diet should be the dream goal… but if it doesn't happen… it’s okay to have a healthy diet balance...

As you can see… my detox/challenge went really well, and I can’t be happier than where I am with my healthy balanced diet. Is a complete no-sugar diet supremely healthy? YES! But I also like a little lifestyle balance as long as I know that my body is healthy.🍎

Just to clear things up.

I want you to know, I do believe we can still indulge in an unhealthy sugary treat every once in a while, as long as you are able to control your sugar cravings, not over consume, or have broken your addiction and have a balanced lifestyle.

The problem is many folks out there don’t realize that their sweet tooth maybe hurting their health and there are people who may think: "I don't really eat a lot of sugar", being oblivious to how much sugar they actually eat every day, and not realize how badly they’re effected by cravings - be it in the form of chips, pasta, burgers or cookies.

You can break sugar cravings and have your own healthy balance, where you can still enjoy treats every-once in while, without causing endless sugar cravings and creating unhealthy habits.

I did it, you can too!!👏

If you want to, or are actively trying to curb your sugar cravings and your mind is holding you back and you feel totally overwhelmed at the thought of taking those first steps…

Don’t worry I have some free help for you!!🤗

Because I want to help everyone find balance, I've created a FREE ‘Ultimate Guide to Crushing Your Sugar Cravings’ Downloadable Guide.

It’ll help you get started on effortlessly breaking your sugar reliance/addiction for good with help + support. AND, most importantly, while maintaining a healthy balance between your mind and your body - because low-sugar living shouldn’t feel like deprivation.

I can’t wait to help you out and catch you there!!

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It’s your turn!

Do you experience sugar cravings? Have you tried/done a sugar challenge/detox!? What do you think about my journey? Do you need any sugar busting advice? Give me a shout & I'll help out, were here to support each other!😉

Let me know in the comments or on Instagram @itsisabellem using #SugarWithIsabelle!

That’s it from me, 👋

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