Sugar Detox

As February comes to an end in just two long days, so does my Sugar Detox! Almost there! This is the second year in a row that I’ve given up added sugars for the month of February. (Yes, I admit it, I pick the shortest month of the year on purpose. Don’t judge.) And I must say, it was a lot easier for me this year. I am not saying it was easy. At all. There were plenty of evenings when I just wanted something sweet – just a tiiiiiny little bite of chocolate – for dessert. Or I wanted to eat the last couple nibbles of a yoghurt that Kathleen wouldn’t finish (or just lick the spoon. Ha!). But it was not as hard as last year. And I can think of a few reasons why:

– My husband joined me on the sugar detox this year, which made a huge impact! On the one hand, sugar detox became more strict 🙂 He figured: if we do it, let’s do it right. So, we checked everything for sugar before we ate it. And let me tell you, there is sugar in EVERYTHING. Even mustard or mayonnaise. Last year I was „only“ avoiding all obvious sugars like candy, cake, Nutella, jam etc., but I would still eat BBQ sauce and things like that. But, it was (or is) a good experience to eliminate all sugars for a while and it definitely made us more aware of what we are really eating on a regular basis. Overall, of course, having my husband on board for this was great, since neither one of us was snacking in the evening and we could just get rid or „hide“ most sweets to not be tempted to cheat.

– Also, I was sick for about a week, which made it really easy not to crave sugars since my appetite wasn’t great anyways.

– Not being quite as sleep-deprived as last year, when Kathleen was barely three months old, was also a big help. Because the less sleep I get, the more sugar I need. Or, think I need. I know there are other ways to regain energy, like coffee or fresh air or a nap. But chocolate is just a lot faster. And more tasty 🙂

I will definitely do a sugar detox again next year. And until then I’m just going to try to cut down my sugar intake in general and really enjoy those little sweet treats in between. I did lose a couple of pounds along the way, too, but if I actually manage to eat everything on my imaginary list, they might be back by March first!