Sugar Cleanse is over!

I just want to follow up on the sugar cleanse we did this week.

The cleanse went okay. Tues and Wed I struggled a bit because I just didn't feel I was getting enough calories. Mid-way through the day Wednesday I had to run out and get a piece of fruit and a V8 cause I was in bad shape. My blood sugar felt like it had taken a nose dive into my toes. I checked with the woman who was supporting us through the cleanse, and she agreed that I shouldn't let myself get hungry because the point was to keep my blood sugar stable. So for the next 2 days I added some more veggies and sometimes an extra fruit, and that got me through.

I did not crave sugary things the whole thing - which is what the cleanse promises to do. A day later, I still haven't. Going into the cleanse, my one physical sugar "craving" was after lunch most days. I would finish eating and just feel like something was missing and that I wanted to run down and grab a chocolate or a pop (or both.) I've fought this by keeping one of my pieces of fruit until then, and that has done the trick - or I just ignore it and it goes away. But, I can say that I didn't really crave much on this cleanse.

I was headachey all week. But, I have to be honest that I've had some pretty consistent headaches since I went back to work since we lost the baby. At first I thought I was coming down with something. Then I thought maybe stopping eating sugar and dropping my caffeine intake. Now I think possibly my unsettled hormones and any underlying stress I'm carrying around. I had an acupuncture session on Wednesday, and that made the headache go away immediately - at least until I woke up the next morning.

I had a pretty miserable week this week. I was angry about 60% of the time - pretty furious in fact! And some people have indicated that this could in part be due to the cleanse. Either a) cause I was going without surgar or b) because releasing the toxins in my body released some emotional toxins as well. I will write more later about the anger, but I think maybe it was just part of the grieving process I'm going through - not sure if the clease just made that worse or not.

All in all, I would do it again. Although I hope that by maintaining a low GI diet, getting enough exercise and losing a few pounds that I won't have to. I am going to start building a cook book for myself of healthy recipes we like so that when I come home in a rush after work (as I always do) that I'm better equipped to make something that's fast and edible - and also good for us.

I know the big question is "how much weight did you lose" I think I did. However, my weight has been quite jumpy lately. Possibly also due to the erratic hormones? The week before I started the cleanse, my weight ranged from the weight I am now to up to 8 pounds higher. For 2 days it seemed like I was actually 2 pounds higher than I was when I was pregnant! Now it seems to have settled at the bottom of that range. Hopefully doing this will give my body the tools to process sugar well enough - and help me from eating much of it! - so that I can continue to lose weight in the upcoming weeks and months. And, I was able to get into my "skinny jeans" again, so I'm happy.

Best of health!
M.