7 days. 168 hours. 10,080 minutes.

That’s how long I went without bread and sugar last week.

After feeling like I was eating too many sweets and way too much bread, I decided to go on a 7-day bread and sugar detox last week to regain some control and will power around my food choices and to see if it affected the way I felt. With the exception of naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables and plain milk, I avoided all foods that had sugar (of any kind) in its ingredient list. I limited my fruit intake to only 2 servings per day. I also avoided all bread – sliced, rolls, sandwiches, etc. Grains such as brown rice, quinoa, oats and corn were allowed.

Drum roll please ….

I did it! I avoided many of my favorite things for 7 days and felt really good about it.

Here are the 4 key things I noticed as a result of the bread and sugar detox:

• I ate more calories from fat than I normally would or theoretically should and less from carbs. During the week, I ate more avocados, nut butters, corn chips and meat than I typically consume on weeks when bread and sugar are allowed. Conversely, I ate no bread and fewer grains on most days. I tracked all my food in the My Fitness Pal app and was able to see that my carb intake (which should be about 57 percent or so for active athletes) was way down and my fat intake was way up (37 percent).

• I got fuller faster. I am a gal who can eat. A lot. But last week, I found myself not being able to finish most of my dinners. I got full more quickly than usual and felt really full for a long time after eating. In some cases, I felt uncomfortably full even when I didn’t eat that much.
• I slept better, went to bed earlier and fell asleep faster. I’m a night owl. There is no denying it. Mr. rUnladylike and I are notorious for staying up later than we should watching movies and some of our favorite shows. It also tends to take me forever to fall asleep, even when I’m exhausted. However, last week I was tired before 10 a.m. most nights and found myself going to sleep earlier and falling asleep faster than usual. I slept like a rock, almost never waking up during the night.
• It really wasn’t that hard. I thought it was going to be a challenge and that I would be craving all kinds of delicious sugar and bread-laden things. But it wasn’t and I didn’t. There was one night during the week that I wished I could have frozen yogurt with candy toppings, but other than that I didn’t miss it. Since I was allowed to have 2 servings of fruit per day, I would typically save one of those servings for after dinner and eat a cup of frozen cherries to satisfy my sweet tooth. For snacks, I would eat an apple with plain almond butter or my avocado spread with rice cakes or chia corn chips. You find new ways to adapt and new things to enjoy.

I wish I could say I stuck to my rules after the bread and sugar detox was over, but alas, I’ve already had bread and sugar multiple times this week. I got food poisoning the day after the detox (thank you salad bar from the grocery store) and drank a bottle of ginger ale on Monday. I also have had pizza, chocolate chip cookies and a slice of key lime pie. Having rules or committing to a “challenge” helps me make better decisions, but that isn’t always realistic. Moving forward, I may try to do a “no bread and sugar week” one week each month and continue to be mindful of my daily choices.

Did you try the sugar detox? If so, how did it go? If not, have you experienced any of these outcomes when eliminating sugar and bread from your diet?