My 21-Day Sugar Detox Update: 2 Week Down, 1 To Go!
January 15, 2013 in 2013
So, I have been following my slightly modified version of Diane Sanfilippos’s 21-Day Sugar Detox for TWO whole weeks (my modification is the addition of grapefruit to the list of allowed fruits, which I explain in this post). I have been doing this in conjunction with following the autoimmune protocol, trying not to snack (no snacks this week, woot!), and starting to wean myself off of caffeinated tea. Admittedly, I am still drinking about at least twice as much black tea as I feel I should be–but I find black tea so comforting and when you combine doing the 21-Day Sugar Detox with the late nights and early mornings of this past, it’s so hard to resist!. Improvement needed on the caffeine front, but I’m okay if the transition is gradual.
Last week, I reported that my 21-Day Sugar Detox was going well but that I wasn’t seeing any big differences (see this post).
So, how is it going after week 2? This is actually hard for me to admit. It’s going freakin’ awesome. My skin looks great. My lichen planus lesions seems to be healing more quickly (I’ll post before and after photos with my final update next week). My energy seems better. My brain seems to be working faster and more clearly. My productivity seems higher. My clothes are fitting so much better. I’ve had no bloating whatsoever. Oh yeah, and I lost two pounds!
Wait, so why didn’t I want to admit that the 21-Day Sugar Detox is doing amazing things for me? Because it means that the amount of fruit that I was eating before was a problem, that I wasn’t managing my blood sugar levels optimally and that that was contributing to some inflammation. Dang. But, this was the point of the experiment: to test how important limiting fruit intake is for my body to heal from this autoimmune disease. I guess, it’s more important than I thought. Double dang.
The hardest part of this week was the combination of my daughter’s 6th birthday on Friday (I made paleo cupcakes to bring to her school and for birthday cake after supper that night) followed by a friend’s birthday party on Saturday where they made paleo baked goods (from my recipes!) for us to enjoy! Everything had nuts, eggs, and sugar of some form. And I did not touch even one minute bit of it. But, I did feel deprived. Combine that sense of deprivation with The Great Server Malfunction of 2013 (we’re still knocking on wood here), and I did have to resort to some comfort bacon. But, I did feel empowered and proud of myself for getting through those days and that sense of deprivation did subside.
So, even though there is a full week left to go, I’m now trying to think about what ending the 21-Day Sugar Detox will mean for me. Now that I am feeling like limiting fruit on a regular basis is probably best for me, I think the first step is simply going to be adding back in variety (I really miss berries!). Then, I think I will just keep to 1-2 servings of fruit per day, but maybe not be quite so rigid. I’m also going to let myself lick my fingers if I get maple syrup or honey on them (because that has actually in many ways been the hardest part for for me). I feel like I want to see how far this will take me. And even though I miss fruit and miss eating a whole lot of it, I am always motivated by things that make me feel really good. And the 21-Day Sugar Detox is making me feel great!
Once again, I have been taking photos of my meals and posting them on Facebook to share with anyone who is interested. Many people see the autoimmune protocol as so restrictive that you can’t possibly eat good food, so it’s nice to be able to show evidence to the contrary. It’s also nice to share with you just how often I eat fish, organ meat, broth, and fermented foods, which many people are intimidated by when they first approach the autoimmune protocol. I also want to share with people just how much food (and fat!) you can eat and still lose weight, keeping in mind too that it’s much more challenging to lose weight closer to your goal weight like where I’m at (which is why two whole pounds is a pretty big deal!). I hope that you have found these photos useful and/or inspiring. You’ve probably noticed that I really do like to eat the same thing most mornings for breakfast. Creature of habit that way, I guess.
Here are my meals for week 2 of my 21-Day Sugar Detox while still following the autoimmune protocol.
I shared these photos on Facebook (with a description of what each meal included), but I thought those of you who aren’t as plugged into social media as I am (or for those who find the week in review interesting) might enjoy seeing them here.
I’m not going to re-itemize everything I ate this week (you can go back over my Facebook posts if you’re really interested), but since I’m on the autoimmune protocol, I thought you might be interested in a few super/healing food facts:
- # of cups of bone broth: 2
- # of meals with bone broth as an ingredient: 7
- # of meals that included organ meat: 13!!! (heart and liver this week)
- # of meals that included fish: 5
- # of meals that included bacon: 1 (pastured, sugar-free, nitrate/nitrite-free from )
- # of meals that included vegetables: 21
- # of meals that included meat on the bone: 0
- # of meals that included fermented food: 13
- # of meals that included seaweed: 1
- # of snacks: 0
- # of days with a spoon of coconut oil between meals: 0
- # of meals shaped like a smiley face: 0 (this can not be allowed to continue!)
Sounds like you’re doing great! I saw lamb kidney and lamb liver at my Whole Foods yesterday and thought of you.
I was tempted to buy the kidney, because it was really cheap, but it was “1″ on their scale, so not really pastured; also, not sure how to cook it. Do you just fry it up in a pan with some oil or tallow? And is there any reason to be stricter on whether an animal was pastured or not when you’re eating organ meats? We bought a side of grass-fed beef, and can sometimes get pastured chicken, but more often it’s whatever is at Whole Foods now that the farmers markets are mostly closed for the winter. Thanks!
I always try to buy grass-fed of everything, but lamb have to be fed mostly grass to survive, so the 1 probably relates more to pens. Usually the butchers will know exactly why a certain supplier has the scale they have, so you can always ask.
My favorite way to eat lamb kidney is to fry it up with some sausage. Cook the sausage completely first, slice the kidneys and the sautee in the sausage fat for about 2 minutes per side.
Sigh…. It looks like I should try the Sugar Detox next. I can’t say that I’m very excited at the thought of it, though. Although I’ve found the autoimmune diet helpful, I still feel sooooo restricted by it. It’s really hard to conceive of not eating any snacks, and especially restricting fruit. I probably eat 5-6 pieces a day right now.
I have two added complications:
1) I have adrenal insufficiency caused by long-term steroid use, and absolutely need to eat at least 70-80 grams of carbs every day, as my body can’t produce the cortisol necessary to create carbs from protein. What are your main sources of carbs right now?
2) I’m also supposed to be on a low oxalate diet. That would eliminate sweet potato, as it is very high in oxalates. If I can’t eat fruit, I’ll probably have to add white rice (bleh!) to my diet to maintain enough carbs, though it’s not allowed on the autoimmune.
I’m waiting for a final diagnosis, but it looks like I may also have lichen planus – the very painful oral type – in addition to my other autoimmune disease, psoriatic spondylitis. Thanks to the autoimmune diet, I’m off all immune suppressant medications, and most pain meds – but I still have a long way to go to finish healing.
That’s what I was eating, but without many starchy vegetables. I’m eating more starchy vegetables on the not so dense side of the spectrum. I don’t know if a sugar detox is really what you’re looking for but maybe just a reduction in fruit and a move to squashes, carrots, beets, turnips, rutabagas, etc. I definitely recommend upping the coconut oil if you are going to do this as well as taking probiotics and digestive support supplements.
What are you eating for breakfast. I can identify the sausage…what else is your staple? It’s not eggs, because you don’t eat eggs. It’s yellow…hmm. I can’t tell by the picture!
homemade sauerkraut
Hi I’m on day 4 and I feel great but I am finding I get tired quickly. Also very gassy..I read that’s a side effect from the candida die off..Any suggestions? I am not eating any fruit.
Really, the best thing to do is get through it. Liver detox support (eating mineral and antioxidant-rich foods like organ meats, fish and organic locally-grown produce) will help. You could also take some liver detox support supplement (like milk thistle tea) but you need to be careful with these because most of these supplements only support phase 1 liver detox, which works great if your phase 2 liver detox system is working properly but makes things worse otherwise. Another great help is to increase your fat content, especially coconut oil which is a great energy source for your cells but doesn’t require digestive enzymes.
How do I now what phase I’m in? Thanks And..
What is the difference in coconut oil and coconut butter
Your body does both at the same time. But if you support the first phase and the second phase isn’t working properly, you get a a build-up of intermediate compounds which can still be toxic.
Coconut oil is the fat from coconut expeller-pressed separated out. Coconut butter is more like peanut butter in the sense that it’s whole coconut ground to a sticky paste.
Is one healthier than the other? I am an athlete but I also watch my weight. I have IBS-c and most of the markers for Behçet’s disease ( there is no test). I can’t tolerate eggs dairy or many meats so I find myself eating whole avocados and coconut oil a lot . Your site is very helpful!!
Coconut butter is a FODMAP but coconut oil is not. I would stick with the oil if you have IBS.
Thank y!
Hang in there….I believe it takes 2 1/2- 3 months to see real change due to the blood cells rebuilding. I have always seen improvement after 3 months. I believe you need to be patient!
Ok so how does one incorporate alcohol again….I can life without fruit but wine for three mos??
what’s in the bowls that look red with some white?