Positive Vibes All Round! ...Well, Mostly

I'm so happy with the awesome energy and inspiration this blog is responsible for. I love that it holds me responsible for my choices and actions, and I love that it is helping some of you too. Just this morning, my boss came to work with dairy-free lemon and almond muffins (she is lactose intolerant) in which she had replaced the sugar with honey so that I could have one. So so nice of her and SO GOOD! I'll try and get the recipe for you all. And not only was it awesome that I got to have one, but everyone else that enjoys those muffins will enjoy the benefits of less refined sugar that day.

Aside from the muffins, I know of a bread maker purchased to avoid unnecessary added sugars and preservatives. And aside from food altogether I know of a few people using their only-for-special-occasions items after the Moschino blog. I know that all of these ideas were probably seeds for awhile before this blog came anywhere near the picture, but it certainly had a helping hand in each of these cases and I'm so proud to be part of this.

In keeping honest, I do want to share the negative side effects of sugar detox. One of the worst has been mood swings. It doesn’t help that my sugar detox happened near the same time as the new hormone implant in my arm, but the couple of weeks before last I was two sides of a coin. Of course its usually Courts that bears the brunt of it, and I hate that it affects him. We both know in the long run it will be worth it, and thankfully it would appear the worst is over! 

I hadn't really experienced mood swings like that before. 90% of the time, I am SO much happier than I was before. I used to be easily annoyed, much more impatient, and constantly tired. I was quick to be grumpy either from tiredness, sugar comedowns, or hunger (aka rapidly dropping blood sugar in my case). Most of this is gone and Courtney and I are both reaping the benefits of a much more positive me. Every now and then though, one tiny thing will happen and an almighty snap rings out across town as insta-bitch comes out. The worst part is, I will say something snappily and instantly know that I was irrational and I didn’t mean it. But its already out there. Insta-bitch is definitely appearing less and less so it would appear to be just another short lived phase of sugar detox.

On the upside, I have a really positive success story to share with you as well. Courts Dad has been sugar free since about a month before me. He heard about the idea from a friend who had lost a dramatic amount of weight from simply cutting out sugar. The friend explained that your liver was never designed to process refined sugar, because it never existed before we created it. When you eat a lot of sugar, your liver is so busy trying to process this horrible unnatural substance that every time it sees fat it basically think 'oh hell, I'll deal with YOU later' and stores it in all the places you hate to see it most! When you stop eating sugar, your liver finally has a chance to catch up, and because its been working so hard, it doesn't take long. I had never heard it explained like this and it makes so much sense explained so simply!

Although this time I am sugar free purely for health and not weight loss, the first time I went sugar free I lost 6kg in 6 weeks, and I am happy and proud to report that Courtney's Dad has now lost 10kg since he went sugar free. The withdrawal and detox is worth it!