My first week is in the books! It was a tough, tough week. Detoxing from sugar is hard and takes a lot of willpower and dedication. But I got through it. I powered through the cravings, the constant hunger, and the headaches and came out on top. Granted, I only did it for five days before my cheat day on Saturday but this upcoming week I’ll have to make it seven days before allowing myself to loosen my restrictions so it’ll be a real test of my dedication!
One of the biggest things I noticed this week was how much of a learning process this will be. Every week, I know I’ll discover something new to try or a lesson to be learned. I know I’ll have slip-ups and make mistakes. But I also know if I am trying my best, I will always succeed.
This week’s lesson: Eat more complex carbs!
I spent most of the week hungry and not ever feeling totally full. I don’t like this feeling. I am not doing this challenge to be unhealthy in any way, so I know I need to figure out ways to fill up without reaching for sugary alternatives. What is amazing to me is that when I was feeling full, it was never a true feeling of being totally fueled up. It was a sugar high that gave me a false sense of fullness. I’m not a nutritionist, so all that could be totally made up in my mind but it makes sense to me. All those snacks I was eating before were chock full of sugar, giving me a feeling of fullness and energy that were not true sources of fuel and energy. Interesting.
Another thing I did wrong was while I took out all of my sugary, overprocessed foods (such as oatmeal – and no, not the healthy kind. I don’t like the healthy kind. I like the sugary junk -, cookies, soda, snack bars, etc.), I didn’t really replace it with anything. Sure, I usually had an afternoon snack of carrots and hummus or pretzels, but my breakfast was no longer filling me up and my lunch wasn’t doing a great job either. So I took to the best place to get advice nowadays: Twitter. Through the advice of my lovely (much healthier than me) friends, I realized my problem was I wasn’t eating enough complex carbs. Carbs are what is going to fill me up. Fruit is a good alternative but it never fills me up for very long. I need something that will stick to my stomach and give me the true sources of fuel and energy I have been lacking for most of my life.
My plan for this upcoming week is to fill up my diet with more complex carbs, as well as fruits as I’ve been doing, to keep the hunger away. I would say that was my biggest issue this week and it will be interesting to see how that helps me. I also really need to find a good alternative for an after-dinner snack. I don’t always want one, but it’s always nice to have something around, just in case hunger hits after dinner. (Any suggestions? Aside from fruit!)
And now for the results from my first week! Super excited to share:
| Starting Weight/Inches (taken on 3/18/12) | Current Weight/Inches (taken on 3/24/12) | Total Loss | |
| Weight: | 154.4 lbs | 151.2 lbs | 3.2 lbs |
| Left Arm: | 13 in. | 13 in. | 0 in. |
| Right Arm: | 12 in. | 12 in. | 0 in. |
| Chest: | 37 in. | 37 in. | 0 in. |
| Waist: | 39 in. | 38 in. | 1 in. |
| Hips: | 36 in. | 35.5 in. | -.5 in. |
| Left Thigh: | 22.5 in. | 22 in. | -.5 in. |
| Right Thigh: | 23 in. | 22 in. | -1 in. |
A pretty darn good week, if you ask me! Now, I know my body went into shock mode this week, I spent the majority of the week hungry, and some of it is water weight but who cares? 3.2 pounds lost is 3.2 pounds lost! I am celebrating! And a total of 3 inches lost over my body? Sure, maybe my measurements were kooky last week but again, who cares? I am celebrating!
What kept me the most motivated was knowing I had to write my post on this for the upcoming week. I am not lying when I say I probably would have quit (or cheated!) had I not had this accountability. Blogging can be a magical thing! It was probably the biggest factor (that, and the support of everyone as I tweeted/Facebooked about all my struggles) in helping me stay motivated.
Next week, I’m hoping to say sayonara to the 150s because I don’t ever want to see that number again in regard to my weight. For a girl who’s five-two, that’s a scary big number. And I’d also like to shout out to my mom who lost FIVE POUNDS this week. I swear, this woman loses impressive amounts of weight just by cutting out sugar. She’s very close to her goal weight, which I know she’ll reach way before the wedding.
DUDE you did such a good job!! I’m so happy for you!! I had the same issue in my first week of vegetarianism- I felt HUNGRY and realized that I wasn’t filling up with the right foods. That’s when I had to research to find out what kind of proteins would fill me up and I started to eat intuitively based on that. I actually miss it, now that I’m thinking of it.
My snack suggestions for you:
– A handful of almonds with some laughing cow cheese (the low cal cheese is the best one, and dipped it it’s the perfect alternative to something too salty. Plus, almonds are SO filling!) I usually eat a handful of almonds with 2 cheese triangles and it keeps me going from after-lunch to dinner.
– Greek yogurt and honey/mixed berries or fruits/granola. This is SO filling. I lived on this in Greece and basically ever since. The consistency of greek yogurt is different from the usual, but I find it MUCH tastier, and the sugar count is WAY different from usual yogurt. It’s very filling when you put healthy things like granola or fruits in it!
– A slice of whole wheat toast with peanut butter (organic PB has less sugar, although takes getting used to) and a sliced banana on top. Literally the perfect snack, especially after dinner, this is my GO TO.
Good luck for week two! My post today talks about starting over in April but you once said something that stuck with me which was “why wait to start fresh when you can just start now?” so today is Monday and I am starting now to eat healthier again. Last week wasn’t great for me, but these posts of yours remind me how much better I feel when I’m eating right and how gross I feel with so much sugar in my diet.
We got this!
Thanks SO much for the snack suggestions! I’ve stayed away from yogurt because of the sugar content (even Greek yogurt has 19-20g a container. Plain, obviously, has less but still over the amount I’m allowing myself.) But the other two are perfect for what I need!
I have struggled for the longest time to eat foods that are FILLING. And knowing WHAT foods will fill me up. For so long, I was filling up on sugar and fatty foods and the biggest lesson I’m learning through all this is how to fuel my body properly. It’s something I think I could see myself continuing on doing to lose the rest of my weight, and slowly adding things back in as I get there. Just some thoughts! We’ll see. 🙂
I’m glad you are listening to your body and figuring out how to give it what it needs. I’m seriously considering giving up sugar completely for a while. How could it be bad for me in the long run? And I love the idea of tracking my measurements (beyond just weight) as I do it.
On a completely unrelated note, I forgot to update your URL in my feed and just thought you hadn’t posted for forever, but it’s fixed now! Phew.
I wholly recommend giving up sugar! It isn’t easy but I’m finding it less and less a struggle with every day that goes on. Sure, I have my soda and chocolate cravings but for some reason, I’m not giving in to them at all! (This is so unlike me, you have no idea!) And you don’t have to do it as drastically as I did it… you can definitely wean yourself more slowly. It’s been an eye-opening experience, that’s for sure.
Woo! Good job, seriously. You’re doing much better with this than I am… today’s my first day of completely cutting out sugary snacks. It’s very sad, haha. Keep it up!
It is SO hard, girl. Somehow, I haven’t cheated yet which is crazy for me! Having a cheat day thrown into the week helps immensely (although it was extremely hard to get back to it the next day!). I hope this week is going better for you!
Woohoo! That is great that you are making this change. It would be a difficult thing to do. Big congrats to your momma as well!
Thanks, Mandy! It’s been extremely difficult but every day it gets a little easier. I’m just hoping I can keep this up for 6.5 more weeks! Eep. 🙂
Stephany, you rock! My friend was a diabetic and stopped eating sugar and carbs. She lost a lot of weight by graduation, so I know you got this in the bag. Your mom is awesomesauce, too. Here’s to leaving the 150s.
Thanks, Natasha! I am a self-professed carboholic so I will never leave my beautiful carbs behind, ha. 🙂 But cutting out sugar is doing wonders for me so I think if I made it past last week, I can make it past the next 7 weeks.
Thanks so much for your support!
You go girl! I am not sure if I could cut out sugar completely, but I am trying to eliminate all substitutes and limit the (real) sugar intake. I guess, it’s just about finding stuff that really fuels you.
That’s basically what I am doing! I’m trying to keep all sugar intake at 5g or below. It’s hard, but completely doable. Because let’s face it: if I can do it, yo-yo dieter extraordinaire, anyone can! But even the steps you are taking are big in the scheme of things. It’s all about finding something that works for you. 🙂
That’s awesome! You are doing well! I usually eat “the healthy” oatmeal for breakfast with fruit, nuts and almond milk. You could add a little splenda for sweetness, or maybe not. I am not sure what your restrictions are. The reason I am not sure is because your posts were not showing up in my reader! I see that you went over to self hosted WP, but I must have missed something somewhere because I never switched over.
Anyway, I will be going back to read your posts that I missed!! Oops.
That’s awesome!!! I don’t think I could make it a week with no sugar so I’m proud of you! Keep it up!
It’s very, very hard but also very doable! Each day that goes by, it gets a little easier. It’s definitely a mindset to get used to, though.
This is so awesome, Stephany! I know it must have been super challenging, but you did awesome! You’re inspiring me to want to get serious about a no-sugar challenge!
You totally should! It’s hard and the cravings suck, but there is such a feeling of accomplishment to it all! I’m learning so much about what it means to fuel properly for your body through all this.
Nice work! I am sure this is so challenging, but you will get the hang of it. I haven’t given up sugar, but I gave up gluten 3 years ago when i found out about my gluten intolerance and it definitely turned my world upside down as most of my go-to meals/snacks were off limits. You will learn so much through this process, though! Keep up the good work!
Yes, that’s exactly it! “Getting the hang of it”. It’s hard but each day, it gets a little easier. I’m finding there are a lot of healthy snacks that are very low in sugar (1-2g) and it’s made me become so much more aware of nutritional facts/ingredients. I’ve always been aware but now I’m even MORE so. It’s a learning process.
Congrats and way to go =) I knew you could do it! Hope this week is going better for you! xo