A friend posted a link to a Sugar Detox a couple weeks ago, just in time for the New Year. I’m wary of New Year’s resolutions and goals that set one up to fail but I figure even I can pull off something like this since it is only 3 days. I decided to start last Tuesday (January 3rd) because it would be over before the weekend.
A couple of things here. Detox isn’t really the right word according to the medical community. Detoxification is a normal function of our bodies to get rid of unwanted substances, i.e. toxins. Cleanse would be a better word choice. Also, your body doesn’t know the difference between 71 and 72 hours, and the three days is because humans need some sort of measurable to know exactly when they can go back to eating donuts again. [If there’s any science behind it, I suspect 3 days is the minimum amount of time it takes the average person to rid themselves of the majority of the toxic element they are attempting to eject.]
Here is a list of what I can’t have: carbs, most fruit, sugar, baked goods, wheat bread or alcohol.
Here is a list of what I can have: Mostly sawdust and the tears of vegans.
Kidding, there are lots of things that I can eat that don’t contain sugar and don’t forget we also get a 15 g “sugar allowance” per day. The hardest part was not having an alcoholic beverage before bedtime.
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Day One wasn’t hard at all. I didn’t do any type of exercise to go along with it because I had just gone back to work from the holiday break and had some catching up to do.
Day Two I was a little hungry in the afternoon and had to resist the urge to get an unauthorized snack. I did swim a few laps at the gym during lunch.
In the evening I really wanted a treat or a drink (though that could have been because of the current Stressors going on in our lives). I noticed that I was at about the half way point so I told myself that I just need to get through the next 32-36 hours and its over. My wife Nightingale, who also unofficially participated, noticed she was more drained and we realized that we were running out of the energy that sugar normally provided us.
Day Three was essentially a cake walk because I was so close to the finish line, that it didn’t make any sense to cheat. I ran a few miles on the treadmill at lunch time.
So cutting out sugar for three days with a small amount of exercise may have helped me lose a pound or two but other than a little tired, I didn’t feel any different than usual. That’s probably because sugar isn’t a big part of my life as it is for some people. I definitely consume more than 15 grams a day, but not significantly more and I avoid sugar and substitutes whenever I can substitute a healthier choice and the few miles I do run a week help burn some of it off.
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