21-Day Sugar Detox…The Halfway Point

I’ve officially reached the halfway point of my 21-day sugar detox, and I’m feeling great given my situation (aka the sleep deprivation that comes with a newborn and exhaustion of mothering two rambunctious Rowdy boys). Honestly, I’ve felt pretty great since Day 1. Earlier this week, I told James I was a bit worried that this sugar detox hasn’t been harder. (I may eat my words when Valentine’s Day hits this weekend!) I think if I had to cut out dairy completely, it would be a game changer, mentally. (You’ll notice in the pictures at the bottom that I sprinkle cheese on my food at least once a day.)

At this point in my life, food is everything and nothing at the same time. I spend so much of my time in the kitchen prepping and cooking meals–and thankfully I love it. Now that I’m doing this detox, I’m spending even more time finding compliant recipes and trying to stay one step ahead to make sure I have dinners planned for the week, as well as snacks and leftovers for lunch available at all times. Just winging it on this detox would likely make for a very hangry Mama, and that’s not good for anyone.

As a busy mom to three little ones, this detox is refreshing my perspective that food is fuel. I think I’m beginning to see that a good part of my sugar intake was due more to convenience than true cravings. Those gluten-free waffles that I consumed all too often for breakfast are more convenient than the eggs and bacon I’ve cooked the past week, but we’re only talking 5 minutes more convenient. That ‘healthy granola’ bar with 12 grams of sugar was convenient, but it only takes about 2 minutes to slice up an apple and slather on some almond butter.

Since I eat fairly healthy meal-wise, the key for me so far has been prepping ready-to-eat snacks. Snacks were hands down my sugar pitfall, but now that I have some easy go-to options, I simply choose one (or two or three) and gobble it up in between feeding the baby or refereeing the boys.

Though most who take the 21 dsd challenge aren’t allowed starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes, it’s recommended that I consume 100+ grams each day as an energy modification for breastfeeding. The couple days that I failed to eat my starchy carbs, I noticed myself dragging and less energetic, so I’ve tried to make a point of eating a starchy carb at least once a day. So far, I have seen no change in my milk supply while on this challenge, despite Scarlett’s cold, cough and congestion (with accompanying fever) that she caught from the Rowdy boys.

Halfway in, I can say I feel more energetic than before I began and simply better overall. I think a big reason as to why I feel so good is my increased fat intake. I switched to drinking Bulletproof coffee a week or so before the challenge began (I’ve dabbled with it in the past) so that it’d be one less blow on Day 1. So besides the grassfed butter and coconut oil (and often coconut cream) I’m consuming in it, I’m cooking with olive oil, coconut oil and butter, as well as eating lots of avocados, coconut butter and some 21dsd-approved baked goods that use almond meal. Fat is where it’s at.

Even though I feel like I’m doing well overall, there are still areas I’d like to tweak a little. One area I’m working on improving is increasing my green veggies. I didn’t even realize some days were lacking until I looked back at the pictures of my food. I’m also attempting to eat dinner earlier. Because many of my dinners are cooked in the crockpot or prepped during naptime, I have the luxury of eating earlier than normal. James gets home from the gym a little after 8:30 p.m., but I’m finding that if I can squeeze in my meal by 7:30 p.m., I feel much better. Of course, this has only happened about half of the challenge and I’m usually scarfing it down while at least two kids are awake (since the bedtime routine for all three takes 1.5 hours from start to finish). But I can tell it’s helping just to get me through the bedtime routine alone 🙂 Half the time, I’m practically falling asleep reading bedtime stories to James Michael!

At the end of the challenge, I’ll do a roundup of my favorite 21dsd-approved recipes and give a better overall picture of how the detox has affected me. But for now, I’ll leave you with some daily snapshots of my food intake. And just assume that I had Bulletproof coffee every day though none is pictured!

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10