Sugar Cleanse: Planning Phase

Well, hello there blog world. It's been a while. I've been busy. You've been busy. But that's no excuse. We must see each other more often...it's not you. It's me. ;) The last time I wrote I excitedly shared my weight loss/new pant size. I've lost more weight since then (in size 18 pants and have lost about 90 pounds total)!! However...I've hit a wall. I've discovered why so many weight loss surgery peeps have become sugar addicts: it's easy to consume. The ugly truth of weight loss surgery for me has been the vomitting when I've eaten too much. There's just not much room in my little pouch. Half a cup to be exact. Half of cup of meat/proteins is hard to measure. I'll stop there but trust me. It's a challenge. Half a cup of sweets is a totally different story. Sweet tea, candies, chocolate, etc don't take up much room and never hurt my stomach. So I gravitated to them when I got sick of getting sick. As time has passed, I've figured out the protein thing. I do much better at reading my natural body signals of being full. Vomitting/sickness is not as much of a problem. Yay! But now I'm in a cycle of sugar addiction and all the symptoms that come with. Yuck-O.

So I started to research sugar addictions, sugar cleansing, etc and happened upon a website : http://www.rosecole.com/handouts/21DaySugarDetox.pdf

 Talk about eye-opening. Wowzers!!! This stuff is bad. Like, really bad. Here's what I'm learning: "Sugar makes you fat, tired, and ugly...eating fat doesn’t make you fat, sugar does. Eating too much sugar and carbs is the reason that most people are tired all the time as well. Not to mention that sugar zaps the collagen in your skin, and dulls your complexion. Most Americans consume up to three pounds of sugar every week! It’s not always easy to get away from sugar because they put it in almost everything these days. It’s added to so many processed foods we eat, not just in what we consider “sweets”. Raised blood insulin levels causes weight gain. Insulin promotes the storage of fat; so, when you eat foods high in sugar, you increase fat storage. Resulting in rapid weight gain."

Luckily I haven't gained any weight back but if I continue in this cycle of sugar abuse it seems inevitable. So, I'm gonna do something kinda drastic. I know, I know. I tend to get excited about things, go strong for a while, and then fizzle out. Like the last time I watched Super Size Me and told Will, "We're not eating at McDonald's anymore, Buddy. It's bad for our bodies to eat that kind of food." When Will started getting upset, Jason said, "Buddy, mommy watched a documentary but don't worry. I'm sure we'll be back to McDonald's in a few weeks." He was right. This time needs to be different. I'm tired a lot more than in the past, my complexion isn't what it once was, and I crave sugar/simple carbs VERY often. Most of every day, actually. And don't get me started on McDonald's sweet tea. It's a problem. Truly. Like, a real problem.

 The Cleanse

 According to the site, signs that your blood sugar may be out of balance include:
• Cravings for sweets, sugar, or bread products. (This is almost a guaranteed sign that your blood sugar is out of balance)
• Fatigue after eating a meal, or “food-coma”
• Get lightheaded if meals are missed
• Eating Sweets does not relieve the cravings for sweets
• Depend on coffee to keep yourself going or started
• Difficulty losing weight

So, the website I listed above has a plan for a 21-Day Sugar Cleanse. This is going to suck BIG TIME!! Side effects during the cleanse that they warn about include:
Headaches
Flu / Cold-like symptoms / Chilling
More emotionally sensitive
Lethargic / Low energy
Diarrhea / Constipation
Gas / Bloating
Body odor / Bad breath
Skin breakouts / Rashes
Irritable Sporadic sleep
Old memories / emotions resurfacing
Mucus drainage

Fun, right?! Wrong. BUT!!!! The positive side effects will (hopefully) make it worth it:
Fat loss
Less bloating
Clearer skin
Less craving for sugar / food
Increased sense of taste (healthy food starts tasting better)
Increased energy
More consistent energy
More regular bowel movements
Increased sense of wellbeing
Elevated mood/less depression
Lower cholesterol
Better sleep

So, the journey begins on Saturday, June 1, 2013. Tonight I planned out my menu. I'm going to plan to blog daily over the course of the 21 days including food intake, emotions (including any table flipping that might occur), thoughts, side effects, etc. I hope this is a good read and I REALLY hope it gets me out of this cycle cause I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. :)

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