Over the last couple of months, the Internet has been overflown by all the food challenges people are taking part in. Some may seem exceptionally dumb, and if you watch or read about any of them – they are even dumber than you thought. Why would anyone in their right mind force themselves to eat 10,000 calories in one sitting, or eat only at McDonald’s for a long period of time? And for what – just to get views and hoping to go viral?
However, not all of them are bad, some of them might be worth trying even if you don’t have a platform to share it later on. Just to see for yourself, have a bit of a healthy kickstart. One of those challenges is to stop eating sugar for a set period of time (in my case – for a week). During this time I kept a journal of my mood and any difficulties I faced. So if you’re interested to find out what happens if you stop eating sugar for a week – keep reading.
Before going into this challenge I had to do a lot of research in order to find out what I can and can’t consume. If you didn’t know before, sugar is basically in everything, meaning I had to stay away from carbs which hold a dear place in my heart, as well as most of the processed foods.
I made a grocery list to stock my fridge with fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as eggs and some meat. I am aware that technically fruit contains sugar, but I knew that I would go crazy without it because of my uncurable sweet tooth. Also, I figured fruit is healthy, so I limited myself to two servings and called it a day.
I spend most of my days locked in my room working on my laptop. Whenever I start getting a little hungry or just feel peckish I can quickly go to the kitchen, grab anything and be back in bed in no time. This means that changing my diet so drastically (I love sweet things) was quite a struggle. I constantly craved something and munching on carrot sticks never really helped with that. During the first few days my meals were irregular and I found myself constantly opening the fridge and hoping to find something forbidden yet so desired to appear for me to eat.
If I was doing this just for myself, without actually wanting to write about it later, I would have given up really quickly. Maybe if I moved around more and had more variety during the week, the beginning of this challenge might have been a lot easier. But I knew, I had to stick with it and I’m proud to say – I did.
After a few days of struggle, I decided to change my approach to this challenge. I have to admit I started having more energy, wanted to wake up earlier and actually leave my bad and not spend the whole day in it. If you know me – that’s progress.
I set certain times for my meals, included snacks in between and went out. If the weather was nice I went to the beach, if I had a lot to do, I made my way to the library and worked there. It was much easier to control what and when I’m eating, I started holding myself more accountable for what came into my mouth. The cravings got a little better as well, and if they appeared, some fruits and nuts were enough to calm them down.
During the weekend the high from being so healthy and productive started wearing off. I wanted to spend more time with my roommates and when we had meals together all I could think of was what they had on their plates. I never wanted potatoes this much in my life before.
An even bigger problem occurred when we wanted to go out to have a bite and some drinks. I had to double check everything and it annoyed me to have to constantly think about what is in the food I’m eating. I got fed up with checking each label in the stores, googling menus of the places we were going to, so I wouldn’t have to sit there for an hour deciding what I can get. I just wanted to stop thinking about food and constantly labelling it ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
Do I think it was worth it?
Yes.
It was a good challenge to try in order to see how both my mind and my body will react to not eating sugar. To see any major changes I would have to do this for a longer period of time, but even this week gave me a pretty good insight into what it is like. Physically I felt good and energized, I wasn’t bloated and my skin stayed pretty clear this whole time. But mentally I found myself thinking about food 24/7 and it just didn’t feel right.
Will I ever do this again?
No, definitely not.
A diet this restrictive will never cause any good in the long run. We should be able to enjoy food and indulge from time to time. There is nothing wrong with that. Being mindful about what we eat is a good thing, but food shouldn’t be the only thing on our minds.
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