The 10 Day Sugar Detox

Back in June, The Today Show hosts participated in a 10 day sugar detox. I heard about it because I was looking for something on their website and the detox was on the front page. I read through the article and thought it sounded really interesting. I wanted to see what sugar did to my body, my mood, acne, etc. So I said what the heck and decided to try it! Now, in some of the recipes below that I didn’t completely follow the rules. But I did learn a lot about it…so that’s why i’m sharing today!

Changes I made:

– No “pumps” of anything in my coffee. Just my coffee and my soy milk.
– Unsweetened almond milk is what I used at home when I needed milk.
– I omitted sugar from any recipes that I was using…for the most part.
-I drank unsweetened tea with lemon as a sweetener.
– Mints weren’t allowed, “sugar free” wasn’t allowed, ketchup, and some other simple things you wouldn’t think of.

Here’s what my food looked like during the detox. To be honest, it’s not much different than a normal day’s food in my world. When you’re limited to what you can have (thank you food allergies) it’s fairly boring. But for instance this first pancake recipe below, I would have normally used a pancake mix. But those usually have sugar.

Banana Pancakes:

2 Frozen Bananas (or 1 if you don’t want as much of a banana-y flavor)
2 Eggs
Ground Cinnamon to taste
1/2 package travel sized flax seeds
Vanilla Extract
Chocolate Chips (if you don’t care about going sugar free!)

Banana, Flax seeds, egg, all put into a pancake. Warning: These smell weird when you first make them, so don’t be freaked out! I thought something was rotten but it’s just the smell of those ingredients mixed and heating up on the stove!

Butterscotch Fudge Brownies

– 1/2 cup of flour (I have to use my gluten-free flour)
– 1/2 cup of sugar (I didn’t want to completely cut the sugar out, but I probably would’ve been okay with less)
– 1/3 cup of cocoa (I used unsweetened – this may give a bitter after taste)
– 1/4 teaspoon salt
– 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Mix these all together. Then add:
– 2 eggs
– 1 teaspoon vanilla
– 1/2 cup oil (vegetable, canola, whichever)

Omelet

Egg whites, turkey sausage crumbles, my lactose free cheese, and bagged spinach/kale mix with one tomato sliced and a bowl of blueberries and cherries on the side.

Quinoa Bowl

This day I threw a bunch of leftover things we had in the refrigerator together and called it a Quinoa bowl. I made some quinoa in the microwave, added leftover steak, snap peas, peppers, and onions. Then some Picante on top. I just loved the crunch and the salsa brought it together. I really liked it!

Cheeseburger in Paradise

HA! Totally kidding. Actaully, it probably wasn’t paradise because this was a late night at the office and I came home STARVING. Enter already grumpy Molly. But then we were getting our roof re-done and as I was trying to enjoy my good ol’ burger I heard “bang bang bang bang bang” (is that the sound a hammer makes??). I may not have enjoyed my cheeseburger in peace but we have a better roof now??? #halfglassfull But, this dinner is pretty self-explanatory served with snap peas and some cherries on the side.

Blueberry Chocolate Pancakes

Gluten free flour mixed with other ingredients (I took the flour back because it was disgusting and the recipe was on the back) with some bluberries, some chocolate chip, and some made plain.

Omelet #2

This particular morning my omelet was made up of egg whites, cheese, peppers, grape tomatoes, and mushrooms. And that thing on the side is the first pancakes at the top. It kind of looks like sausage here, but it really is that pancake!

Spaghetti Squash Chow Mein

I found this recipe on Pinterest. I am obsessed with spaghetti squash right now and when I saw this recipe I knew i had to try it. Guess what? It was weird tasting and I didn’t like it, so i’m not going to put that recipe on here. Haha i’m thinking of you guys okay!! But just so you know….I do make some things that taste terrible and end up being thrown away! 🙂

Conclusion:

– Did I really see a difference? No. Maybe if I would have continued it longer than 10 days I would. But I didn’t even make it the full 10 completely sugar free hence the 1/2 cup of sugar in the brownies.
– Food you wouldn’t normally expect became really sweet. I had an apple the other day and it tasted so sweet! I got a pump of mocha in my coffee yesterday morning and it was really sweet! I was so surprised!
– The more you cut it out, the less you crave it.
– I’m still cutting out sugar because according to the AHA (American Heart Association), the average person consumes about 20 teaspoons a day…calculated out that’s FIVE POUNDS of sugar in one month.
– However, everyone needs sugar in their body….but the ways you get that sugar is what we need to focus on. Modify your brownie recipe like I did, do what you need to. It’s all about the moderation!
– Overall, I think it is good to be aware of, but cutting out all sugar is just plain crazy. In fact, Hoda actually said she was up 3 pounds from when she started after the detox, because you’re just going to make up those calories usually somewhere else.

Hehe ^^ Well, have you done any kind of sugar detox? Did you think the same as me or differently??