The Sugar Detox

Hello! I told you this post would be coming eventually 🙂

As y’all know, I did a sugar detox from February 28 – March 11. I originally planned on doing a 21 day detox, but I chose to stop my detox before I went to Omaha last week. I decided to not worry about sugar because I knew it would be too difficult with eating out and the recipes my family was making. I really just didn’t want to inconvenience anyone.

Back in June of 2015, I did a 10 day sugar detox. But I didn’t really do it. A couple times I would get sugar free pumps of vanilla in my coffee and I would put 1/4 of a cup of sugar in my brownies and justified it by saying I was cutting down. NO! That didn’t do anything!

This time I decided to get real and take the detox seriously. I wanted to really see how it maximized all of my fitness efforts as well as how it made me feel.

Some things I learned:

1. YOU MUST READ LABELS.
2. If you aren’t sure of a specific ingredient from a label, google it or just skip the product.
3. Freaking pickles have high fructose corn syrup in them. Wtf?
4. Spices have sugar.
5. Ketchup (and many condiments) have sugar.
6. Peanut butter has sugar.
7. My protein powder has sugar.
8. Vanilla extract has sugar.
9. No breads (you’ll have to make your own…no worries there are plenty of recipes online!). Follow me on Pinterest to see some I pinned.
10. I started craving carbs because I wasn’t getting sugars. And carbs are a sugar. I also found myself craving salty foods too.
11. If you look up sugar detoxes on the internet, they all say different things. Some say you can’t have fruit, some can. Some say you can have a limited amount of artificial sweeteners and some don’t. I say yes to fruit and no to artificial sweeteners.
12. The sugar detox aligns with whole 30 if that’s something you’re interested in.
13. Grapes became dessert for me. They are SO SWEET now and so refreshing to me!
14. Just because it’s fruit doesn’t mean you can have it. Dried fruit is made with sugars so you need to read labels!

So how did I get some sugar/sweetness?

Date paste is what I used when a recipe called for sugar and I felt like it was needed. It’s super simple, you soak dates in water for 10 minutes, throw them in the food processor, and process until it’s a paste. I love it. I keep this in my refrigerator at all times now.

What did I do about condiments?

I made my own ketchup and stored it in a mason jar (it wasn’t pink like this picture makes it look like, I promise it’s red haha). I love this ketchup better than normal ketchup. I’ll never go back to buying ketchup again. It tastes so artificial and fake now!

I made my own BBQ sauce, too. 🙂

I also made my own mayonnaise and ranch dressing but I made it wrong so they didn’t taste good.

What did I eat?

These plantain chips became my best friend. Like I ate half of the container one night with salsa. Because guess what…some chips have sugar and these don’t!

I made turkey nachos. It’s ground turkey with taco seasoning on top of plantain chips with tomatoes, cheese, lettuce and some salsa. To die for.

Another thing that I ate was a lot of these when I needed some sort of sweetness…

I highly, highly, highly recommend Larabars. They are healthy and satisfying. Do you remember when I did the protein bar test last August? Well, it was then that I found my love for Quest Bars. I used to take them everywhere with me and snack on them for dessert, but now thinking back…they bloated me like crazy! And i’m thinking it was due to the erythritol and other artificial sweeteners. Now I don’t buy quest bars; I only get Larabars. Because they are made out of dates (the natural sugar) and can be used as dessert.

La Croix is the only other thing I drink besides black coffee and water. You can drink unsweetened teas, unsweetened almond milk, and coconut milk too.

I made some pulled pork and threw it on top of lettuce with cheese and DILL pickles (because those don’t have high fructose corn syrup) and some of my homemade BBQ sauce. Again, labels people!

I made almond butter cookies. They really weren’t that good but when you’re craving a cookie, but can’t have sugar, it will totally do.

I made my own blueberry chia seed jam.

This was good on my favorite pancakes…

with almond butter. I lived off of almond butter during this detox. You have to be sure to read the label..some have sugar and some don’t. This was a good brand that I found.

And with that almond butter, I also ate a lot of these almond butter banana waffles.

I am so thankful that sweet potatoes weren’t off limits (they are on some sugar detoxes) because I lived off of sweet potatoes too. Baked sweet potato fries, sautéed veggies, and a turkey burger with homemade ketchup. Notice the La Croix in the background 😉

More sweet potato fries and homemade chicken fingers. This has been my go-to meal lately!

And for dessert I would make a probiotic bowl. I diced up some fresh strawberries and banana (or whatever fruit you like) and poured some Green Valley Kefir to get probiotics in my body!

Doing this detox gave me a lot of reason to get creative in the kitchen, which just happens to be one of my favorite things!

You know, when you’re in the actual process it really doesn’t feel like you’re seeing any difference unless it’s super obvious one day, but now that i’ve introduced it back into my diet and haven’t been as strict on myself…i’ve definitely noticed how much it really did affect me. And because of that…I decided to do another detox starting yesterday. I want to get rid of all those toxins in my body from the processed foods and sugars i’ve allowed recently.

^^This is super helpful for label reading!

When I posted about bloating a while ago, I mentioned that I wanted to see if sugar had anything to do with it based off of what my cousin was telling me happened to her when she did Whole 30. Sooo, with that said, I would recommend doing this for anyone struggling with bloating and cannot figure out why…I absolutely noticed a difference this time around.

Let me know if you have any questions about the detox so I can answer! I want to help!

Ps. Follow me on Pinterest. I find lots of good things for the sugar detox (and well, all things healthy that I can). I’ll follow you back!! 🙂

Bloating

So here’s the thing. I am not a licensed nutritionist. (GASP!) Sidenote: I think I would really like that job. You know…considering all my health issues. I’ve recently done a lot of research on bloating. The causes, what it is, and why the heck it’s happening to me ALL THE TIME! Because y’all, it sucks. It’s miserable. It’s no fun.

If you know me at all, you know that I am one of the most conservative people when it comes to my appearance. Okay, not like “everything has to be covered at all times”, more like swimsuits even make me uncomfortable. I’ve always been that way. I wore a 1 piece suit as long as I could. I’m more comfortable in a sweater and jeans than a tank and shorts. So posting these pictures is kind of uncomfortable for me…but i’m taking one for the team here because I want those of you who are unfamiliar to understand. Luckily, I had already taken these pictures for my doctor and had them on my computer.

Sometimes bloating happens to just my lower stomach…

…and sometimes it’s my entire stomach.

 The thing with bloating though is that it’s a lot about the way it makes you feel. Sometimes i’m bloated and I will show my mom and she says “you look normal”, which could be what you’re thinking with my first picture. Others of you might be thinking…well what did you eat before this? The answer: Fish. And fish should not bloat me. So I know it wasn’t because of the food i’m eating.

What is bloating?

Well, simply put, it’s swelling in your abdomen. Bloating occurs when there is excess gas production in your system, which disturbs the muscles in your digestive tract causing them to expand. Sometimes it looks as though you are pregnant. Sometimes bloating is painful. Sometimes bloating is uncomfortable (actually, it always is). And it’s honestly one of the most frustrating things i’ve had to deal with.

What are some causes of bloating?

1. Medications. Sometimes there’s an imbalance of microorganisms in your bowel tract/stomach area and it’s caused by medications. This is especially true for medications that have lactulose or sorbitol in them.
2. Swallowing air. Chewing gum is a cause of bloating. A lot of time when we chew gum, we swallow air and that excess air in our gut causes it to expand. Same goes for drinking out of straws as well. This leads to…
3. Eating too quickly. Guilty. Either i’m in a hurry so I want to eat and be done. Or i’m eating on the go (like eating as I should already be at work), or i’m starving and want to eat EVERYTHING in sight. So I eat fast, which also causes me to swallow air.
4. Foods we are eating.
   1. Foods high in sodium causes us to retain the salt, which forces our stomach to swell. They say to limit hot dogs, bacon, soy sauce, chips, etc. You know what foods contain lots of salt.
   2. Cruciferous foods high in fiber. These foods also cause us to be gassy too. Don’t eliminate them because fiber is good for your bowels, but possibly limit: broccoli, kale, arugula, collard greens, cabbage, garlic and onion. Those leafy greens 😦
   3. Not enough protein! If you’re eating too much fat, but not enough protein there’s not a healthy balance of nutrition in your diet. Be conscientious!
5. We’re dehydrated. I said it just the other day…but WATER IS SO IMPORTANT!!! We need lots of it. Honestly, i’ve found that the more water I drink, the better my bowels work…I know TMI, but look you’ve got to know! Plus, the more water you drink the faster you are able to flush out those toxins in your body.
6. Constipation. I mean, if you’re not emptying out what’s in there…it’s going to fill up if you know what i’m saying.
7. Food Allergies/Sensitivities. Lactose, fructose, eggs, and gluten are all known to cause bloating and swelling in the stomach.

What can I do to beat the bloat?

If I had the answer, i’d make a blog post broadcasting it, but I don’t. Here’s what “they say” though…

1. Probiotics. Probiotics help to balance the good and bad bacteria in your system. I’ve always heard that we should be taking probiotics to keep our organs healthy. Don’t be surprised when you see this on my fitness goals next month!
2. Eat these foods…Probiotic yogurts (as listed above), bananas, rice, herbal teas, papaya, cucumber, watermelon, celery, grapefruit, pineapple. Especially your foods with lots of water….it’ll help dehydration too. Eat them!
3. Eat regular, small meals. The more often you eat (in smaller amounts) helps the body continue running. And while you’re at it, chew your food longer to reduce swallowing air and eating more. Practicing portion control is huge with this.
4. Exercise. It’s in every article about any topic ever written on this planet. It is SO SO important. I could write an entire post on this topic, but I will say is that exercise stimulates your entire body. It gets your organs going and your digestive track will “rev up” when you exercise. Just move. Wherever you are. Also, the stronger your stomach muscles are, the easier it is for your digestive system to work. Yoga is a great source of stress relief and meditation if you’re wanting something new.
5. Essential Oils. I have been dying to try essential oils for FOREVER now, but it was the only thing on my Christmas list that I didn’t get…sad day. Ginger oil, peppermint oil, and fennel oil are suppose to aid digestive issues. Someone sign me up.
6. Fiber. If constipation is potentially your issue, I would definitely recommend increasing your fiber intake. However, DO NOT go overboard as it will cause diarrhea and ain’t nobody got time for that.
7. Experiment with foods.
   – Watch your cruciferous foods like I mentioned. And of course beans, lentils, and high fat and sodium foods. This is tough for me. I LOVE these foods!! 😦
   – Sugar alcohols are not absorbed in the digestive system which causes bacteria to break it down in your large intestine, which gives off heat and then leaves you gassy, bloated, and uncomfortable. Here’s a list to watch out for. I look for these on all my food labels, and now that i’m in the middle of my sugar detox…I stay away from them completely!

• Aspartame
• Sorbitol
• Xylitol
• Erythritol
• Isomalt
• Lactitol
• Hydrogenated starch hydrolysates
• Maltitol
• Mannitol

8. Incorporate more of these foods. Lemon water – I sip on this first thing in the morning. lemon is a natural diuretic and mixed with warm water is like a more gentle laxative), Celery – it has a high water content and therefore detoxes your system…it’s why you see it in all these juice cleanses!, Asparagus – keep it consistent in your diet for the high fiber and natural diuretic benefits. Bananas and Avocados – these are high in potassium, which do the opposite for your body as sodium. We like that! And there’s more…

What have I done?

1. I began keeping a food journal and them noting how I feel after every meal. I do this 1) to see if there’s any correlation and 2) if you end up going to a doctor’s office to discuss this issue…they’re going to tell you to do this. Better to be prepared! I found this article about fruits that bloat (who knew) and it really rang true for me last night.
2. I’m eliminating sugar alcohols while i’m in the middle of my sugar detox. I will for sure post about it when i’m done to let y’all know how it works out for me. So far, i’m liking it.
3. I started probiotics.
   1. • I’m currently drinking Kefir. It’s a lactose free probiotic drink. I try to drink a little glass every day and if not every day, then every other day. Sometimes I’ll pour it in a bowl and put banana and granola on top. Kefir is basically like yogurt. Get probiotic yogurt if you don’t already. Lactose free friends – try Green Valley Organics. I just bought it to try.
      • Another probiotic that I love is Kombucha. Click here to read 7 reasons you should drink it every day.
4. I attempted drinking apple cider vinegar. In my world, when you’re needing an answer, everything on the internet is true!!! So I read about alllllllll the benefits of apple cider vinegar and decided to give it a go. I’m still not sure about this one.
5. I’ve begun researching Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I don’t know if I ever mentioned, but my gastroenterologist actually diagnosed me with IBS and through all of my bloating research I found a cause: IBS. Sigh. Back to the drawing boards I go.

Look, it’s basically everything I wrote in this post 😉

Because there is no cure for bloating…we just have to use trial and error in this area and hope that something works. Honestly, I haven’t quite figured out bloating and how to get rid of it for myself. I’ve been trying different things for months now and still don’t understand it, hence all the research i’ve been doing. I thought with posting this information if you have the same problems you might have some answers. If you do…tell us in the comments!!

What makes you bloated?

How do you keep from bloating?

Have you had this experience before??

Please share!! PLEAAASSEEE!!! 🙂

Information from:
http://www.everydayhealth.com/hs/gas-and-bloating/get-active-to-beat-bloating/
http://draxe.com/essential-oil-uses-benefits/
http://helloglow.co/10-best-anti-bloat-foods/?crlt.pid=camp.htv4OtzVes0g
http://stylecaster.com/beauty/foods-that-prevent-bloating/
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/effective-de-bloating-tricks