What now? Day 22 of the 21 Day Sugar Detox

My non-sweet treat in celebration of completing the detox
Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts

I have officially completed the 21 Day Sugar Detox.  For me, this was a successful endeavor.  I've learned a lot (see yesterday's post) and I am happy with the results.  I did not use the detox as a way to lose weight (I did lose a pound, which for me is pretty good) but as a way to get away from snacking on sugar and carbs instead of healthy foods.

The 21 Day Sugar Detox book tells you what to expect on Day 22, "You may experience apprehension about adding foods that were on the No list for the last three weeks back to your regular diet."  Yep, that's definitely me!  I don't want to revert back to my bad habits, but I don't want to deprive myself of the occasional treat either.  I am worried that having one treat will cause me to lose control and I will go on a sugar and carb binge.  

The advice to handle Day 22 is, "Your best bet is to take it easy! Go slowly, and add back foods little by little.  A bender on a bunch of sugary foods will almost always leave you feeling very sick!"

With that in mind, I'm trying to come up a plan to keep me on track, but allow for the occasional treats.  Here are few of my ideas.

• Going to keep sweeteners out of my tea.  I love tea, I drink black or green tea in the morning and various decaf teas in the afternoon and evening (a lot more during the winter).  I have always had some type of sweetener in my tea, but I was surprised at how quickly I adapted to drinking it without sweetener.  I have also learned what tea I really enjoy and which ones are bland without the added sugar.  I will keep the flavorful teas and ditch the rest.  If I can't drink it without sweetener, then I just won't drink it.
• I am giving up my gum habit.  This will be the toughest one to follow through with.  I use gum to keep me from overeating, but I've learned that gum isn't that great for you.  Chewing gum is a great distraction for your mind, but confuses the heck out of the rest your body.  When you chew food, your body is prepping for the calories that will come when you swallow, but with gum, those calories never come.  This can cause digestive and other issues.  Not worth it.... but a hard, hard habit for me to break!
• Stick to the 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook evening snack suggestions.  I have really enjoyed the granola, kale chips, homemade jerky, and deviled eggs with pesto.  Since we were following the Cookbook meal plan, I will also be incorporating some of the snacks from the the original Detox book.  The snacks are healthy, tasty, and free of sweeteners.
• Hubby and I will occasionally make Paleo treats and desserts, to have once or twice a week.  I don't want to have a lot of these on hand because it would be easy for me to go overboard.  Although these are healthy alternatives to the processed, sugar and carb laden versions, I don't need to have treat everyday.
• I will not deprive myself at special occasions.  I will enjoy birthday cake at parties, the decant dessert on my anniversary, the local cuisine when we travel, and some of the wonderful treats that friends make only at the holidays.  
• Most importantly, I will revisit the 21 Day Detox if I feel myself getting out control again.

I was pretty lucky when I started the detox because my meals were already (for the most part) glutton, dairy and sugar free, so really the only thing I had to detox from was my bad snack choices.  Which is probably why I was able to get through the last 21 days fairly painlessly.  I had my moments, but with the support of my Hubby and friends, I made it through.

So what now?  Now I continue on as I have for the past 10 years.  I keep working on maintaining my weight, keep learning what does and does not work for me, and I keep my mind open to new ideas regarding diet and weight loss.  

I'm sure there will be plenty more challenges, struggles, and setbacks for me to blog about, but hopefully there will be more triumphs and accomplishments as well!