My First 21 Day Sugar Detox
Monday, I started a 21 Day Sugar Detox program by Diane Sanfilippo (see www.21daysugardetox.com). The idea of the program is to curb your sugar and sweets cravings by eating whole, unprocessed foods instead of just juice detoxing. My good friend Nicole Crance (author of Eggs, Squats and Curls http://eggssquatsandcurls.blogspot.com/ ) drafted the below questions for me to answer as an Interview as to what the program is about and why I chose to do it. Although I’ve done program such as Whole 30, I wanted to try this program for both myself and to see if it is a program I would recommend to others as well.
Refer to the blog post below for Nikki’s questions and my answers, and check in at the end of the 21 days for the results and my experience on the detox!
1) What is the 21 Day Sugar Detox? I first heard about the 21 DSD from my good friend Nicole Crance (author of Eggs, Squats and Curls). We both did the Whole 30 program together for the first time back in October 2014, and she mentioned that there was another program that had different levels of detoxing, and it was similar to Whole 30. Originally, I was going to wait June 2015 when she and I decided to try it together. However, something stirred in me to try it on my own first and to see what it really was about.
2) Have you done something like this before or something similar? Yeah! As I mentioned earlier, I did a program called Whole 30 2x (October 2014 and January – February 2015), and also did a couple Strict Paleo challenges with my gym, Crossfit Cayman. Whole 30 is basically eating real, unprocessed foods for 30 days straight, with no added sugars or no “Paleo” makeshift treats (such as waffles, cookies, etc.). The program consists of eating the three macronutrients (protein, fat and carb) at every meal and snack if possible. Proteins include beef, chicken, eggs, pork, etc. Fats include coconut milk, coconut oil, coconut flakes (coconut anything really), nuts, avocados, olive oil, etc. Carbs include any veggies and fruits, though some veggies and fruits are recommended over others. Also, there were four good food principles the program aimed to help us focus on every time we ate. These principles outlined that food should promote: 1) a healthy psychological response, 2) a healthy hormonal response, 3) a healthy gut, and 4) support immune function and reduce systematic inflammation. Coupled with the daily emails of encouragement, education, and tips that the Whole 9 (overarching program to Whole 30) provided, this program completely changed my relationship with food, how I felt mentally and physically, and how I looked.
3) What made you want to try this detox out?/Why are you doing this? There are a couple reasons I wanted to try this detox. First, after finishing my last Whole 30 in February, I saw the saving grace in eating foods our bodies were meant to eat, and I wanted to continue to grow in this area by understanding the adequate nutrition our bodies need and what they don’t need. Post my second Whole 30, I made the decision to continue eating the way the program described during the week and enjoy a treat of my choosing once a week on the weekends. This meant that during the week I would avoid added sugars (even Paleo approved ones) such as honey, cane sugar, agave, etc. However, I noticed that after a few weeks, I started to have one too many cough drops as a “substitute” for something sweet. I also enjoyed raisins quite a bit, which are completely okay for Whole 30 and Paleo, but I saw how I sometimes used it to satisfy a sweets craving. By no means am I saying craving something sweet is wrong, for why would God make naturally sweet things such as fruits if we weren’t allowed to eat them? No, I saw my tendency to resort to sweet foods not just when I was hungry, but when I was sad, lonely, upset, and tired.
Second, I wanted to try the program to see if it was something I would recommend to others. See, I have a deep passion to see others restored in every area of health – physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Leading others towards true wellness is a calling from God, I know this without a doubt and others have confirmed it. Therefore, in order to offer others the best program for them in their current stages in their health journey, I thought I would try it myself to be able to walk them through it if they choose this program.
4) Have you tweaked the “rules” for yourself at all/edited it for yourself? Yes I have. I’m doing Level 3 of the program, which is a strict Paleo diet with limited fruits and starchy carbs (grapefruit, green tipped banana, green apple, butternut squash, pumpkin etc.) All three levels prescribe those fruits and carbs above as limited because well as you can probably tell, they aren’t the sweetest of their kind. The aim is to not say you can never have a ripe banana or blackberries, it’s designed to reset your taste buds and tell yourself you don’t “need” sweet foods. The main different between Level 1 and 2, to Level 3 is that in Level 3, no grains and dairy are allowed.
The program offers modifications for those who are considered very active/athletes and/or are autoimmune. Since I do Crossfit most days a week, I need more starchy carbs to maintain my energy levels. Thus, I’m allowed an additional serving of starchy carbs (plantain, sweet potato, parsnips, pumpkin, butternut squash, beets, etc) each day. If I was to say do the autoimmune modifications, I wouldn’t eat any eggs, tomatos, bell peppers, nuts etc. I actually think that next I’ll try the autoimmune modification to see how my gut and body feel.
5) You’ve done the Whole30. How do you think this experience will compare? Or does it? Maybe the two aren’t even comparable, as they do different things for a person…
Whole 30 and 21 DSD are similar programs, but completely different at the same time. One program may be strict in one area, while the other is a little looser. They are both similar in the fact that you can’t have any added sugars, grains, dairy, legumes, and any processed foods. However, while for Whole 30 you are allowed to eat any fruits you want in moderation, 21 DSD only allows you to eat three types – grapefruit, green tip banana (not quite ripe), and green apples. While Whole 30 doesn’t allow any baked goods that resemble desserts or treats, 21 DSD does but just doesn’t allow added sugars. I’m still learning about 21 DSD as I’m doing it, but I am excited to see how it is similar and different from the Whole 30 program along the way.
6) Are you planning on doing any before-and-after measurements/pictures? What are your reasons behind doing/not doing them? With the Whole 30 challenges in the past, I’ve both weighed myself and took measurements. However, I found that just weighing yourself isn’t good because although you may have lost only or lb, gained, or stayed the same, weight isn’t always the best measurement of health. It’s actually how you feel, look, and perform in the exercise of your choice, which is important. There are scientific tracking tools such as BMI, Body fat %, Blood sugar levels, Cholesterol and Triglycerides ratings that will help one see where they are health wise, but in the end, you will know how healthy you physically are by how you feel, look, perform in the gym, and recover. For so many years, I based my physical success on simply how much I weight, but after doing Crossfit, I’ve come to see that weight is a bogus indicator to your health. For example – since joining Crossfit nearly 9 months ago, I’ve lost 6lbs, but I’ve lost ___inches and lost 5% body fat. I’ve also gained a great deal of muscle, strength, flexibility, endurance, and much more. If I solely based my success and progress in Crossfit and Paleo on how much weight I loss, I would miss out on the other successes and milestones I’ve reached physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
Furthermore, for the 21 DSD, I actually decided to not take measurements or weigh myself. Part of me still wanted to , because part of me wanted to see the tangible results of the detox in those ways. However, I want to practice what I preached and really start basing my health on how I look, feel and perform, so these will be my main indicators on how the 21 DSD is helping me throughout the challenge. I did however take before photos just because I’ve never done that before. It’s going to be interesting to see the difference in the end! But you know what? Even if how I look hasn’t changed drastically, that’s okay with me. For the first time in years, I’m actually at a place in my life where I love how my body looks, feels, and am not going to change it just to fit into a size smaller or fit a standard quota. I feel beautiful on the outside for the first time since, well, ever. I know that feeling of content is linked to how I eat and workout now and my overall health in other areas such as sleep and reducing stress. So I can proudly say that for the first time, I’m actually going into this detox/challenge not out of feelings of shame of how my body looks or fears, but out of love for myself – to further improve my health and honor God with keeping the body where He dwells, in the best shape possible.
7) What do you hope to feel/achieve by the end of this detox? I hope to really see food as a source of energy, nutrition, and enjoyment, and not something to be used to copy with various emotions. I hope to enjoy the sweetness of real, whole, and natural foods without the feeling that I “need” those foods to survive. Really, I hope to take back the freedom Christ gave me when it came to food by eating to truly nourish my body, instead of eating to feed my emotions and desires. I hope to stand on the fact that Food has no control over me anymore, I have control over it.
8) How do you treat “sugar” now in your life now? How were you before? Before Whole 30, I ate hidden sugar in the various things I ate such as yogurts, cereals, bread, etc. Most of the treats I had once a week also had sugar. I also ate processed foods at time when I was stressed (any other recovering emotional eaters out there?), which not only had sugar, but also had a high unhealthy carb content, which in the end, is broken down into sugar in the body. However, after my second whole 30, I saw the havoc sugar wreaked on my mind and body, and chose to not have even eat naturally occurring sugars such as honey during the week, and only have sugar once a week in whatever treat I chose (ice cream, glazed carrots, BBQ wings, etc.). Having this treat once a week would reduce the insulin spike that eating sugar brings, and further reduce systematic inflammation and stress in my body.
9) Do you have a plan for how you will be eating during these 21 days? (Ex: only vegetables as your carbs? etc.) Yeah! In order to give my body the adequate nutrition it needs, for every meal I plan to have each of the three macro-nutrients present: protein, fat, and carbs. Carbs will include the Level 3 approved vegetables and fruits, Protein will include chicken, fish, beef, pork, eggs, etc, and fats such as the Level 3 approved nuts, avocados, coconut oil, olive oil, etc. See, it is important to have all three macro-nutrients in at least every meal. Carbs are important because they provide energy, Protein helps build muscle and various body structures, and Fats provide energy and also help transfer nutrition and needs to the various areas of our body.
Furthermore, as mentioned above, because of the energy modification I chose to do for Level 3, I’ll have a serving of starchy carbs at 2 meals a day (plantain with my breakfast, butternut squash with my dinner, etc.) For each Level, there is a recommend meal plan for the 21 days. However, I like to have more flexibility in making my meals so each week, I’ll plan the meals I’ll cook and go to the grocery store for those items. Whenever I eat out, I’ll check the restaurant’s menu before-hand to make sure there are meal options I can eat. For snacks, I’ll try to have at least two of the macro-nutrients present, such as having 1/2 a green apple with nuts, or a small portion of broccoli with a little baked chicken. Overall, as long as I can get the three macro-nutrients present at each meal, I’ll be happy.
10) How do you want help/assistance from others during these 21 days? Just encourage me when it gets hard and remind me of what I started the detox in the first place 🙂
Also, come back to my blog at the end of the 21 days to hear about all that happened!
