operation sweet-tooth, pt. 2

The Process #

After reading The 21 Day Sugar Detox I realized this wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. I thought that if I stockpiled nuts and cocoa nibs, I would be able to coast to sugar freedom. While the book includes a long list of yes and no foods, a full 21-day menu, and even shopping lists for heading straight to the grocery store - I realized there was going to be a lot of new foods and a whole lot of food preparation. This is when I started to quietly nudge my wife towards participating. This wasn’t going to be an easy task, considering she was just over 8 months pregnant. Luckily, she agreed to at least participate through the first week - perhaps this could be a success after all.

We were going to follow the book as closely as possible - so the next week was spent clearing out mounds of clutter-food, and eating our way through the remaining sugar in our life. I was blown away by the amount of food in our house with excess sugar. There were very few things remaining in our fridge, freezer, or pantry. The reality was setting in even more.

We (and by we, I mean my wife) scheduled meals for the first week and compiled a grocery list to refill our fridge and pantry. We set out to gather ingredients - many of which we’d never even heard of - from our local grocery store, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods. I was already seeing things a bit differently. Much more than 80% of the grocery stores were off limits. My gung-ho attitude was already starting to fade - luckily my wife had decided to help.

First trip to the grocery store – $300 - 70% produce; 10% dairy; 10% meat; 10% random spices, herbs, oils, and other ingredients I’d never heard of.

I spent the first week thinking this would be very easy. All of the foods seemed new and fairly exciting, and the flavors were so much different than I had been used to. I was eating all kinds of vegetables, homemade sauces and dressings, and all the meat and cheese I could handle. Work was busy, so that made things easier as well.

The first weekend hit, and I was back to reality. Food had become such a big part of our night out, and so we would have to find something else to occupy our time. We had birthday parties and other events to go to in the first couple of weeks, so we brought blocks of cheese and bags of carrots to supplement the meals. I ended each night chomping on nuts and carrots, and counting down the minutes until I could go to bed.

I won’t include all of the details of my experience, but I will say that the three weeks were filled with highs and lows. The highs came when I took the time to prepare nutrient dense meals, exercise, and when I drank lots of fluids. The lows came when I got stuck in a rut with omelets, meat, and cheese. Those were the days when I couldn’t wait for bedtime.