Going sugar free--the results!

So, I'm extremely slow to get back and report, but I suppose it's better late than never.  I'm happy to say I finished up both weeks of my sugar free experiment...and I'm glad it's over. 

I had to make an adjustment to my "rules" (guidelines?) for week two.  After discovering that there is almost no food out there that has absolutely no sugar in it, I realized I wasn't all that keen on starving to death.  So my new commitment was to not eat anything LOADED with sugar--nothing with added sugar, nothing that was MOSTLY sugar, and nothing with sugar listed in the first 5 ingredients (and by the way, that still eliminates a LOT of food).  This allowed me to use things like Worcestershire sauce and enchilada sauce so I could at least cook dinner.  I still avoided everything that would be considered a "sugar food" and that was still hard for me.

My hardest day of all during the entire two weeks was at the end of week one when I made a trip to Costco.  I thought I was hitting the store at one of those times when they weren't handing out samples, but I was wrong.  On this particular day they were serving up full size pieces of COSTCO CAKE...yeah, that's right, it's my one opportunity to have a piece of Costco cake without buying a whole cake and I wasn't allowed to have any.  Luckily Patrick was there to steer me away and wipe the tears that fell as I manoeuvred through the produce without actually passing the table directly and accidentally smelling it.  Then, just as I thought I'd entered a safe zone, there was a display of Creamies...any flavor you want...a whole bar to yourself...dang.  Why don't they hand out samples like that on days I can actually eat them?  I won't say I wasn't tempted.  I looked longingly at the Creamies at least a dozen times but I did not cave.

So now that the two week period is over (quite awhile ago), here are my pros and cons to the experience:

PROS

• I slept really good for two weeks.
• I lost six pounds in the first week.  I call this a "pro" because, heck...who doesn't want to drop six pounds in a week?  Unfortunately, I think the only reason I dropped this weight is because I literally could find almost NOTHING to eat.  I was eating egg whites for breakfast, deli turkey on my homemade whole wheat (sugar free) bread for lunch and sorta dry chicken and carrots for dinner...and some fruit here and there.  Most of the things I wanted to cook had ingredients in them with hidden sugar (or corn syrup)...so not only was I starving, I was also starving my family in a weird sort of way.

CONS

• I was starving and I was starving my family.
• I was ornery...I don't know if it was a side effect of having no sugar or a side effect of starvation, but to those around me it just didn't matter.  You know when you hear your husband say "everyone stay away from mom" there is a problem.
• I was MISERABLE.  I was denying myself everything--like that stupid piece of cake.  I ate a hamburger with no ketchup on it (and it was nasty, I might add) and I couldn't cook anything (I LIKE to cook so this was awful).
• Once I was able to start eating again the weight I lost came back.  
• I had a headache almost every single day.
• The cravings NEVER STOPPED.  I thought it would get easier as time passed but it didn't.  It didn't get any harder either, but that's because it was already hard.

So...Now that it's all said and done, this is how I feel about the whole thing:  LAME.  It didn't work, I don't feel any different, I still want sweets and I did nothing more than make myself grouchy and miserable for two weeks.  Not only that, but by denying myself everything with sugar in it, I eliminated a lot of things that I love to eat that are actually good for me--like yogurt and the baked oatmeals I make for myself almost every morning (they are extremely nutritious and have just a small amount of artificial sweetener in them).

I know there are people out there that SWEAR by this type of thing--it will make you feel "clean" and "healthy" blah blah blah... and I'm sure they would disagree with me that this was a waste of time, but I stand by my opinion.  "Magical" things like cleanses are for other people, but not for me.

Since giving up this silly endeavour, I have gone back to what was working for me in the past--a book called "Magic Foods for Better Blood Sugar".  That is a system that works for me.  There is nothing magical about it at all, just common sense--eat protein with every meal, watch your portions, choose whole grains instead of refined grains...stuff like that.  Moderation is the key.  If I want a cookie, I can have one (ONE being the operative word here).  I actually feel really good and my family isn't afraid of me anymore.  That's always a plus.