I Cut Out Sugar for 1 Week, Here’s What Happened
Hi, my name is Lilly and I’m a sugar addict.
Great, now that that’s out of the way, we can move on. I have a legit sweet tooth, and honestly, I do think I have a slight sugar addiction. I physically feel compelled at the end of dinner to have something sweet, and instead of just one scoop of ice cream, I always get two. I could eat buttercream icing by the spoonful, and I eat chocolate cake like Bruce Bogtrotter getting his second wind. I love sweets.
This past year I was really focused on dropping weight, not just for my wedding, but for my overall health. With the help of a great trainer, dedication, and calorie counting, I was able to drop 45lbs before my big day. I was a little too thin when I walked down the aisle, mainly due to stress, and I knew I would probably gain around 5 ish pounds back for my body to settle. I’ve been able to keep the weight off for about 6 months now, and my focus hasn’t been to lose more weight but to build muscle.
The key to losing weight and keeping it off is understanding that if you consistently take in more calories than you burn you will gain weight. Period. There is no magic pill, exercise, machine, or whatever. Consistently take in fewer calories than you burn, and you’ll lose weight. Consistently take in an equal amount, and you’ll stay the same. Consistently take in more than you burn, and you’ll gain weight. That’s just how it works.
The past couple of weeks I noticed I was just feeling so blah. I’ve been bloated, acne marked, and I was slowly getting up to a weight I wasn’t as comfortable with. I knew that I was killing myself with the sweets, so I made the call to go a full 7 days with no added sugar and only consume processed foods with 3g or less of natural sugar, not including fruit. I didn’t make a post about this on Insta, I didn’t tell my husband, and I didn’t write it down. I was terrified I would fail, so I didn’t want to do it in front of people.
Well, here’s what happened: I made it.
I went a full seven days, and I feel great. I’m much less bloated, my skin seems a little brighter, and the scale is back to where I want it, but the biggest win for me is just achieving the goal. I was so concerned I wouldn’t be able to do it that I would fail and binge eat the entire container of homemade chocolate fudge sauce I made the week before and then wallow in self-pity. I thought I would have legit withdrawal symptoms and feel like shit.
That didn’t happen.
Sure, the first couple of nights it was hard to avoid the dessert, but I realized I felt compelled to eat it because I had made a habit of it. By forcing myself to break that habit, my body responded. I still want dessert, and thanks to science, there were some treats like Quest peanut butter cups and Lily’s chocolate that I was able to enjoy. I was cognizant to avoid eating them after dinner though because I was trying to retrain my brain.
I also learned how much sugar was in the regular stuff I was consuming daily. I mean, it seriously adds up. When I stopped to actually look at labels, I was really surprised, and not necessarily in a good way.
Overall, I’m really proud of myself. My grandmother baked me a chocolate pie while I was home and I really wanted to eat it. I wanted to make her happy, I wanted to eat pie, and I wanted to eat one of the best pies that exists. I was just too close to my goal to give up. I absolutely will eat the sweets going forward, but I’ll do it with the knowledge that I’m in control of my cravings, and ultimately my health and my life. I can honestly say I felt controlled by my cravings for sugar before, and now I know that I can handle them.
Life is short, so yea, you should totally eat the pie, but I also didn’t let the guilt that some people were putting on me about it impact my decision. I was doing something for myself, and whether or not anyone else understood didn’t, and still doesn’t, matter to me.
This week, I’m going to challenge you to give up something that you might be addicted to. Maybe it’s sugar, maybe it’s social media, or maybe it’s nail biting. Whatever it is try and go a week without it in some capacity. Don’t tell anyone else, just do it.
Let me know how it goes in the comments!
Love,
Lilly
