Lessons Learned from the 7 Day Sugar Detox
Last week I took part in Laura's 7 Day Sugar Detox Challenge and though I wasn't 100% faithful to the criteria, the 98% that I did change helped me learn a few things and overall improved my diet over the past seven days. The guidelines for the detox were to:
Cut out refined white sugar
Fresh fruit is fine (2-4 servings/day)
Dried fruit is okay (1 small serving/day)
Naturally occurring sugars like lactose in unsweetened dairy is fine
During this pregnancy I started off craving spicy and salty things, but more recently sweets have been my go-to. So that means my over the past month or so has included A LOT more cookies, sugary cereals, candy and refined carbohydrates than I normally eat. Filling up on sugary treats satisfies for a little while, but ultimately it's not the nutrition I want to be feeding my body or the baby's. In fact last week I stumbled across this article which talked about the effects of eating junk food late in pregnancy:
"Our research suggests that too much junk food consumed late in pregnancy for humans has the potential to be more harmful to the child than excess junk food early in the pregnancy," says Dr Jessica Gugusheff, post-doctoral researcher in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine.
It turns out late in pregnancy and early adolescence are key "windows," as they call them, for turning away junk food and laying the foundation for a healthy diet later in life.
Lessons Learned from 7 Day Sugar Detox
So it seems the 7 Day Sugar Detox couldn't have come at a better time. Here are a few things I learned while following Laura's guidelines and cutting out sugar:
Added Sugar is Lurking Everywhere: When you take the time to look at labels, you realize that there is added sugar in just about everything. Especially condiments: your favorite salad dressing, or BBQ sauce, the protein bar that you always reach for when you're hungry. Whenever I do look at labels a lot of times my focus is on the protein content and I don't bother looking at the sugar content. Sugar is added to a lot of the foods we eat, ones that we would normally think are naturally sweet or don't need sugar. When you start to eliminate foods with added sugar, naturally sweet things like fruit begin to taste sweeter
Slow Down, Make Better Choices: One of the biggest changes I noticed during the 7 Day Sugar Detox is that I slowed down at meal time: I took the time to prepare a protein-packed breakfast: like eggs and toast and avocado vs. simply pouring a bowl of cereal. I also skipped the sweetened fruity Greek Yogurt for plain greek and topped it with fresh or frozen berries. Starting my morning off with something less sweet actually seemed to curb the cravings for the remainder of the day.
More Protein, Less Cravings:I found that eating more protein throughout the day made a big difference in how my body craved sugar: if I ate larger serving of protein at breakfast and lunch I was not only more satisfied all day but didn't feel like I needed that sugary boost that I often reach for in the afternoon or at night. Typically I'll have an egg and toast for breakfast and usually a non-meat protein source for lunch. But this past week I focused on more protein at breakfast and making sure there was a meat source of protein at lunch. It made a big difference.
It Doesn't Have to be Perfect: I found the first three days of the challenge to be relatively easy. Normally when you eliminate something from your diet, like sugar you can experience strong cravings and some "withdrawal" symptoms. But I didn't start to feel sugar cravings until day four of the challenge. And I gave into them, which is fine. In my mind the week wasn't about perfection, it was about elimination as best I could. And sometimes when you crave something you end up over-eating something else. I really wanted that last ice cream bar that was in the fridge, and was headed for the bag of sweet potato chips to satisfy the urge. But then thought: what is the point of devouring half a bag of chips when all I really want is a single serving of that ice cream bar? Ultimately the answer is, there is no point! And it's better to stick to that single serving, even if it doesn't comply with the guidelines than to overeat something that is compliant but isn't what you really want.
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Ultimately if you want to make a change like eliminating added sugar a part of your every-day diet, you have to practice flexibility. Rigidity and extreme restriction can often cause problems and lead to frustration. I didn't look at the 7 Day Detox as a "one and done" experience. I'm going to continue with the same mindfulness and guidelines as I go into this week, and the next and the next, with flexibility as my focus.
Have you ever done an elimination diet for a short period of time? What helped you? Did you stick with the change?
--Sarah
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