Sugar Detox Outcome

On Monday of this week I started a challenge to break my candy habit.

When I first started thinking about seriously trying to break my candy habit last week, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to share on my blog. I figured I would fail miserably and then I’d have to write about how I failed for everyone to read. I didn’t really want to do that.

Then I thought: if I DO write about it, I will be accountable. Sure, I could lie to my readers and Michael and sneak a candy bar into the closet and eat it without telling anyone…but I’d know I cheated, and I’d feel too guilty. Being accountable helped quite a bit.  I wanted to succeed. I wanted to be able to write a post at the end of the week and say “I DID IT!”

And I DID!

I got through the work week with NO cheating. I did not go to the Candy Room to snack on anything other than chewing gum or some cashews. NO candy!

Some Things I Learned

I can do anything I set my mind to. I was already aware of this fact because losing 100 pounds by yourself is no easy feat. But it’s been 3 years since I lost the weight and it’s easy to “forget” how far you’ve come. This was a good reminder.

I eat candy more out of habit than desire. This was huge. Here I thought I was slipping back into old habits where sweets had a major pull over my life…I thought I was getting addicted to sugar again and I’d never be able to get out of that again. I was wrong. Eating the candy at work strictly because I was in the habit to do so was a good realization.

I didn’t miss the candy like I thought I would. I thought I’d go through withdrawals from no candy–headaches, irritability and insane cravings…Nope. None of that. I really didn’t have any physical symptoms of limiting my sugar. Maybe that was because I was still eating fruit? No idea.

I realized that diet soda makes me crave candy. For a long time I drank sparkling lemon water. It has no artificial sweeteners in it and it’s not very sweet–but I liked the carbonation. Well awhile ago I bought a case of diet Pepsi at Costco and was drinking one at lunch every day. It made me crave candy AND more soda! This week I’ve gone back to the sparkling water and I just FEEL BETTER.

Some Challenges I Had

Beside the obvious temptation of the Candy Room, I also had to deal with peer pressure at work. There was a very nice brunch thrown by the managers in honor of Administrative Professional’s Day and I had to refrain from eating most of it (just the fruit). Also, another coworker got some chocolate toffee treats as a gift and I had to refrain from that too. She said “Not even a little piece?” I couldn’t do it. A “little piece” would lead me to saying “Eff it!” and eating a ton of candy!

Another challenge was the habit of having dessert every night after dinner. Even though I was making good choices for dessert (low-calorie treats only) I was still in the habit of ALWAYS EATING DESSERT. Do I always need to eat dessert? No. Should it be a treat a few times a week? Sure. But not every day. As someone who was once developing diabetes, I have to be careful about my sugar intake.

I realized I also turn to sweets when stressed or anxious. I definitely use food as a band-aid for feelings. This week I had a few stressful things happen to cause me dread and anxiety and my first thought was “I want chocolate.” Did I give in? No. I stopped masking my feelings with food (which is always a struggle for me as I am a stress-eater).

Weight Loss?

I hopped on the scale this morning for what would be my normal monthly-weigh in date. I am going to weigh-in on Monday, May 1st for the diet experiment but curiosity got the better of me.

The scale read: 144 even. A week ago I weighed 146.8. I am skeptical that I lost almost 3 pounds in a week. I’m sure some of that was period weight/bloat. But part of me wants to believe that cutting out candy and dessert for a week can equal weight loss.

Now What?

Am I going to start eating candy again? Maybe. I’m going to keep trying to refrain from the Candy Room at work. My goal in doing this Sugar Detox was to break the mindless snacking at work. I want to maintain that. But I think eating dessert at home in moderation, a few times a week is fine. I will resume that at some point but I don’t know when.