21 Day Mission Done..or Maybe Not!

So guess what, 21 days have COME and GONE! Poof!! Just like that! Enter day 22 and I am looking beyond! 

With a total reset, sugar cravings have been diminished and if they pop up, its only because I either did not eat enough food or waited too long to eat, and I have regained complete control over how I feel and choose to react to foods, especially the ones I'd over indulge or misuse - yes believe it you can misuse food. What is important, even more so than the amazing meals I made over the past few days, are the lessons reiterated or learnt throughout this entire process.

1. My body responds negatively to the foods that aren't particularly good for it, and it only took a complete awareness of every single thing I put in my mouth, to realize this. Things like oranges I did not realize, triggered more than just a headache, they caused my sinuses to completely flare up.
2. Over the past 21 sugar less days, I have had the most deadpan and blissful sleep I've ever had. And even if I got less than the prescribed 8 hours, I still did not wake up as tired  and was able to go about my day as normal so long as I kept fully hydrated.
3. Talk about having chipper moods, and sustained high energy! Woody woodpecker or energizer bunny had nothing on me and I'm talking each and every day. And as a fitness instructor such a thing is like gold or better yet, winning the lotto!
4. It's not even summer yet and guess what, the abs have started to pop back up. I'm not talking abs of the washboard variety...yet, but their return has made me happy and will certainly be motivation to keep them there, if not make them 'pop'.
5. Somebody say acne flare up...gone? You betcha! Well, the acne is not gone gone but the pimple fest I had going on, which made my face spot like a dalmatian growing new spots, is no more. Following it up with cucumber laced water and a nightly cleansing routine, something I didn't take seriously till now, may also have something to do with that. Nonetheless, I am now fully aware that sugar, even those 'healthy treats' had a little too often may have been causing me some 'internal' grief. 
6. And what about weight loss? Well, that wasn't exactly my goal in the first place. But yes I did manage to shave off the 5-6lbs of water weight from all that holiday eating. And only through something like this do you realize just how much like a blocked drain one can feel from too many 'indulgences'. 

There are so many lessons which I could spend a lot of time writing about, but these were the ones that struck the loudest chord with me. And I even ask myself, with such benefits, more positive than negative, why would I want to give that up or not continue? My answer is, I'm not going to. I'm extending this for the entire month of January. Don't think it is sustainable? I sure do. We are all different and our bodies work on different clocks, so no one can determine what will work for you and its up to you to figure that out. You may get it right, or it may take a few tries but in the end, whatever you figure out and decide to change, make it a lifestyle way of eating. If set up correctly, you'll be amazed at how good it makes you feel inside and out. Now who wouldn't want that?!!

Now for the week, or rather the last few days that were part of the 21 day sugar detox.