thirty-one days sugar free

I'm sitting at my desk with a bowl full of apple slices and a jar of natural peanut butter in front of me. Apple slices slathered in peanut butter have become one of my favorite snacks, and to my sugar-deprived senses, they have also come to taste remarkably like dessert.

One of my 2017 goals was to conquer my sugar addiction. To be quite honest, on January 1st, no part of me believed I would make it to the end of thirty-one days without breaking down and eating dessert, ice cream, chocolate, or some other delicious temptation - especially considering that my birthday falls in the month of January - but I have!

Why I did it

There were two main reasons I decided to commit to this goal. First and foremost, I wanted to see if I could do it.

I know myself. I know myself with ice cream. I have probably eaten hundreds of gallons of ice cream in my life, and along with chocolate it is my chief sugar-related craving, my weakness.

Not only that, but I've tried to do this before - for three weeks in GCBI. I don't remember if it was Hannah's idea or mine to embark on such a doomed cause during one of the most stressful times of our lives, but we both look back on those three weeks as one of the darkest periods of our Bible education. It really did a number on my confidence in my ability to ever break free from the addiction in the future.

My second reason was to see how my body would respond. I didn't do this to lose weight, but I wanted to find out what functions of my body had been impacted by my diet. I wanted to find out what kinds of withdrawal symptoms I would have and how long it would take to detox from it. (Evidently curiosity is an excellent motivator, at least for me.)

What happened

Day one, I thought I would die if I didn't have something sweet after dinner. I kept wandering around the house aimlessly, looking for something to satisfy. The whole venture seemed doomed.

For the next ten days, I had headaches every afternoon and felt as if I could eat the whole world and not be satisfied, but I didn't have many specific cravings - maybe just because I was getting good at ignoring them. I put my head down and stayed busy and loaded up on meat, fats, and vegetables. This is also when I noticed that I felt leaner and less puffy, and that I had been spending less time mindlessly watching TV. Apparently late nights on the couch watching Netflix were a huge trigger of my "need" to consume empty calories, so kicking sugar actually helped me deal with another unhealthy habit at the same time!

Then, after the first two weeks or so, I began to notice differences in the function of my body. I was less thirsty; before this, I would drink upwards of a gallon of water a day and still feel like I needed more. Now I drink an average of 64 ounces and it's enough. Also, my usual blood sugar swings and hormonal symptoms began to fade - I now stay full longer, haven't been overwhelmingly "hangry," don't get nauseous on an empty stomach, and actually desire whole foods much more than I ever did before. AND, though it wasn't a big part of my goal, I was pleasantly surprised to have lost almost ten pounds, including several inches from my waist and hips!

What's next

What I really enjoyed about doing this challenge was that it made me view the whole month of January with a more intentional mindset. I had one big goal, one big thing I wanted to have done at the end of it, and I actually relished the sense of slowed time that came with looking forward to the victory. Life usually moves too fast for my liking. I would love to create a new goal for the month of February - maybe more character-related than health this time - so that I don't slip back into just letting days go by in an empty, forgettable blur.

As to what I will eat now that I'm free from my sugar ban . . . I'm not sure. I have plans to keep making healthy, whole-food meals, and I REALLY don't want to go into the new month with a sugar coma, but there is most definitely some celebratory ice cream in my future. ;) As my Grandpa Loyd would say, "Moderation in all things, even moderation."