Why I Decided to do a 14 Day Sugar Detox

So, if you're friends with me on facebook then you've probably seen a couple of my posts about going on a sugar free, carb free, gluten free, dairy free detox for 14 days.  I decided to blog about my journey, because it always helps me to process things when I write/type them.  Plus, maybe it will help someone else.   Disclaimer - I am not a health expert, just someone trying to learn how to live a healthy lifestyle in a busy world!  Please consult a health professional for your specific health situation.
First, a little background as to why and how I'm doing this.  I started following a mom's facebook page called https://www.facebook.com/HausOfGirlsFitFamily  probably about 9 months to a year ago, after one of my running friends told me about one of the challenges she was doing for a certain amount of miles in a certain month.  I enjoyed seeing her fitness tips and she was inspiring to me . . . a busy mom just like me with 3 children, staying fit and healthy.  Just recently, I began to see all of her posts about eating more clean and all the benefits it was providing her and her family.  I then began to check out her and her 3 other sisters' website that they have together called http://www.fourfitsisters.com  It turns out all 4 sisters are moms and are inspiring and have some great ideas!  They each are coaches for beachbody.com and run challenges in which you focus on a specific thing, whether it be a nutrional goal, a fitness goal, or both and if you sign up and join the challenge (most cost a fee), then you are placed in a secret facebook group where you receive the sisters' coaching and instruction and given information on how to go about making the healthy lifestyle change.  I decided to join the 14 day sugar detox challenge that Marta is having for a few reasons.   My reasons for doing this 14 day sugar detox:   1.  If I pay for it, I usually will stick to it.  This particular challenge cost me a small amount, but so far, it's more than worth it!   2.  I know that I have always loved sweets and bread - sugar and carbs - and I know I need to cut back on them.  They have always been my "comfort" food to go to when I am emotionally eating (which I sometimes do when worried or stressed, and not feeling so in control of myself).   3.  I always feel tired and run down.  For as long as I can remember, probably starting in late high school/early college, I am just ALWAYS tired.  Not just a little tired.  But exhausted tired.  Despite eating what I think is fairly healthy and proper portion control and exercising regularly, I still feel tired.  I wake up tired.  I stay tired all day.  I go to sleep tired.    4.  I have gained a lot more weight than I would like over the past year or two.  Two years ago, when my daughter was only 1, I went on "The Game" diet which was a challenge with friends that was based on a book called "The Game" I think where you basically played a game with others and kept points for doing certain things.  I never read the book, but just got all the requirements from the people running the challenge.  Sometimes we contributed $5-$10 to play, sometimes we contributed $20 to play.  Whoever won the challenge with the most points got the cash pool that everyone had contributed to in order to play.  The basis of this game was good in a way.  It taught portion control - there was so much of a carb, protein, & fat that you were to have each meal, and you were supposed to have 5 small meals a day, with a 100 calorie snack optional.  Also there were other requirements to better yourself, such as drinking 3 liters of water a day, and doing some sort of exercise daily for 20 minutes to get your points.  You also had to choose good habits to start and bad habits to break.  So, overall this game was good for me and my husband, who played too, and we both lost 10-15 lbs at the time.  He may have lost close to 20.  I think we both played about 3 times over the past year and a half, but the only time we really significantly saw change was the first time we played.  And slowly but surely the weight crept back on both of us.  So . . . long description to say, I know I can change my eating, but have to get back to it.  There are some things from the game diet that I still usually do, like drink almost 3 liters most days of water, and exercise most every day for at least 20 minutes.  But even throughout the game I was still feeling tired.  So, I am interested to see if cutting carbs, dairy, & gluten will help me to feel better overall and lose the weight I need to and want to lose.   5.  I had gestational diabetes with my 3rd pregnancy, and I'm supposed to be more at risk to develop diabetes because of it.  I actually have a physical coming up the beginning of July, and will have my blood/glucose levels tested, and quite frankly I was beginning to be concerned that I might test positive for being diabetic or pre-diabetic with all the sugar and carbs in my diet.  So, I am also making this change for my overall health and future health.   So, that is the background and reasons why and how I'm doing this sugar detox.  After the 14 days, I am hoping that I will have learned some new ways to eat, and that hopefully I will feel and be healthier.  I have been digesting all the information that my coach, Marta, is giving us in the group for the past week, and have made some small changes in my diet and already lost about 4 lbs this first week, just with making SOME of the changes.  I will talk about some of the changes I've made so far in my next post, even before officially starting the detox (we start this Wednesday, in 3 more days).  I also have already felt a little more energy, honestly even in the past few days.  I hope some of my readers will follow along with me on this journey!   (re-posted from another blog of mine . . . June 25 - July 8, 2014 I did this detox . . . be sure to check out my other posts to see how it went!)