A couple of weeks ago I decided to do a little experiment. I decided to try a 2 week no sugar cleanse. That’s two weeks without any added sugar. When I originally shared my intention with my goal-setting group, the original plan was to simply cut out sweets. I expanded it a bit.

To the best of my ability I also eliminated:

• any artificial sweeteners
• white bread and white rice
• honey (including the organic raw honey I have in my pantry)
• dried fruit

It actually wasn’t that hard.

I recently read Gretchen Rubin’s book Happier at Home (I’ll be writing a book review on this book in the next couple of weeks). In one section of the book she talks about abstaining:

“Maybe it’s an aspect of my all-or-nothing abstainer personality,” she wrote “but I’ve found that when I was trying to prod myself to do something, it came more easily when I did it every day. It was easier to post to my blog every day of the week than to post three days week. No debating whether you’re going to do something on a day or not. You just do it every day.”

There are many similarities between myself and Gretchen (more than I’m necessarily comfortable admitting to), and this is certainly one of them. I found it much easier to eat less sugar when I decided to eat no sugar. The thing about sugar is: it’s HIGHLY addictive. I reach into that bag for just one chocolate truffle, and suddenly I’m scrounging around the kitchen looking for more! Suddenly I’m starving!

So, what happened when I cut out the sugar?

The mild bloating I’d been experiencing immediately went down. As did some inflammation that I didn’t realize was there until it wasn’t. I felt fantastic. My skin immediately started to clear up. I also saved a lot of money, because (with the exception of two meals) I had to cook all of my meals at home.

I had quite a few temptations: chocolate carmel samples at the grocery store, granola bars at the coffee shops I go to, and the chocolate covered coffee beans that I’d bought for halloween that sat in my pantry still waiting to be eaten. I call them temptations… but I wasn’t really tempted. When you have solid no-nonsense rules for how you eat (and how you live) it’s a lot easier to stay on track than if you only have guidelines. I always fail when relying on guidelines. I thrive on rules.

That being said, I certainly wasn’t perfect for the full two weeks.

Here are the ways that I “failed”

• I had some Organic Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with some kamut bread. I was only a couple of spoonfuls in when I realized… ‘hey, this stuff is sweet!’ This had been one of my staples for awhile and I never noticed the sweetness to such a high degree before. I looked at the ingredients. Organic rice syrup. I poured the bowl into the sink frustrated.
• It wasn’t my original intention, but I also ended up cutting out alcohol for nearly the entire cleanse… until 2 days before the end. Out with friends I had two beers, which lead to fries. Not technically a cheat… but let’s be real. It was a cheat.

I also learned that when you cut out one thing, something else inevitability has to take its place.

My sugar “substitutes” were:

• Nuts. I love to snack. Without sugar, I turned to nuts. I ate an enormous amount of nuts during this sugar cleanse.
• Stevia. I added a Vega protein smoothie mix to my oatmeal most mornings. It had stevia in it. Not an artificial sweetener (and it wasn’t terribly prominent) so I’m not going to call it cheat.
• Coconut Milk. I soaked my oatmeal in full fat organic coconut milk overnight. This added another touch of sweetness that was pretty delicious first thing in the morning after a workout. 

What I learned

I learned that although processed sugar makes me feel terrible (no matter how much I try to convince myself otherwise), I really like to have a bit of sweetness in my day. I’m thinking of trying this no sugar cleanse again, but being slightly more lenient with the rules by allowing myself raw honey and dried fruit. There are also some delicious raw vegan dessert options that I’m also curious about trying.

Here are some fantastic products/recipe blogs that use either raw organic chocolate or all natural ingredients:

• Pana Chocolate
• Grounded Nutrition (a Vancouver-based company) Whitney, the founder of this company, holds frequent two-week whole food cleanses. They’re fantastic, and free!
• Brio Bar – (a Vancouver-based company). Even with names like Pina Colada, none of these bars have more than 8 ingredients. And every ingredient is recognizable. 
• Lara Bars (not their ALT bar)

Let me know if you decide to do a two week sugar cleanse, and tell me how it goes for you!