As I promised, today is my No Sugar Challenge Recap! If you’re not familiar with what I did, go check out my first post for full details.

For a simple summary, this is what I avoided for a full seven days:

• Desserts, pastries, muffins – basically any baked good with added sugar.
• Packaged/processed foods with some form of “sugar” on the ingredient label
• Artificial Sugars

Basically, the only “sweet” foods I allowed myself were natural forms of sugar from cow’s milk and fruit. But that’s it! As I’ve mentioned before, this is typically easier said than done. My friend Julie and I attempted this challenge together, and we were both surprised and amazed just how much sugar we eat in a day.

For Example:

Chicken Salad Sandwich

When I’m home, my mom and I will typically split a chicken salad sandwich from The Cheddar Box, a local cafe in Louisville, to eat for lunch. The make the best chicken salad and have a TON of varieties. BUT it has sugar. Specifically, the mayonnaise has sugar. And as I’ve found, pretty much all condiments fail at the sugar test. And not to mention the bread. Although it is whole wheat bread, the sneaky food companies have added sugar in their recipe.

Flavored Yogurt

Julie ate these yogurts on a daily basis. While yogurt has always been regarded as a healthy snack option, these small 6 oz. flavor varieties have 26 grams of sugar per container. To put that into perspective, a 12 oz. can of coke has 39 grams of sugar. So the yogurt has MORE sugar, per ounce, than a can of coke! That’s a lot

Sun Chips

Yes…. these chips have sugar too! I was just as surprised as you might be, but you can see it on the label:

Tucked away, just before the “salt.” And you’ve heard of people in America eating too much salt. Well, what about the sugar?

I know I have just scratched the surface on the topic, but just look around your pantry. The amount of sugar added to your food is almost astonishing. Taking away the baked good category (which are obviously loaded with sugar), sugar and sugar derivatives are around every corner. No wonder I felt addicted to sugar, because it is in EVERYTHING. You can’t get away from it.

But the main reason I attempted this challenge was to know if I would actually feel better, health wise, without sugar in my diet.

The Results:

1. I definitely felt lighter and less bloated – too early to tell if I actually lost weight, but I would imagine it might happen if I continue this long term. But I did notice I felt a little learner in some of my tighter workout clothes. Less bloat can make a world of difference.
2. My skin looks smoother with less bumps. Background: I’ve always had good skin and I never had any serious issues with acne growing up. But I usually get small bumps on my face fairly frequently and those have essentially disappeared. I don’t know if I can attribute that 100% to my no-sugar or my new face wash, but I don’t think my face wash in a miracle worker. But diet can be!
3. I have noticed better digestion. Maybe a little TMI, but I have noticed better digestion in the last week, and my body just being in a better flow. No need for any Activa (it has sugar anyway..ha!)!

Anyway, I know seven days is not an incredibly long amount of time, but personally, I have noticed some positive changes from eliminating most of the sugar in my diet.

Now, I’m not going to completely eliminate all forms of added sugar in my diet forever. As you might be able to tell, I love desserts and some tasty ones are featured fairly often on my blog. But I believe I will continue to reduce the amount of sugar I eat in a day.

Examples:

• Eat more plain yogurt and flavor it myself with natural fruit!
• Eat a dessert treat one or twice a week instead of once or twice  a day.
• Tough it up and drink regular unflavored lattes, unlike my usual skinny vanilla lattes or skinny mochas.

Espresso with skim milk and no flavoring isn’t so bad!!

All in all, moderation is key in life, and now I’m just going to moderate my sugar intake. Not too much, but not too little. Don’t deprive yourself of the things you love.

And I love dessert!