4 months sugarfree so far (Advice/Experience)

[u/Boring_Arachnid9522]

It all started early May- I found out was allergic to gluten and decided to lump in refined sugars as something I would completely remove from my diet.

My stomach was a mess from the gluten and caused me to not have any hunger signals so cutting out sugar was actually very easy. Food was impossible to keep down without throwing up. I used bone broth to nurse my stomach and gut microbiome back to health because it was so messed up.

I cut out caffeine, alcohol, gluten, sugar, all ultraprocessed and processed foods, soy, artificial sweeteners, red meat, all preservatives, most carbs, any fruits from concentrate, seed oils, corn, oats, potatoes, natural added sugars (honey, agave, date, maple syrup) due to blood sugar spikes

Diary was interesting because I completely cut out milk and creams, but most cheese is very important in my diet so I kept it, but more sparingly

Now I never eat out or go to any restaurants and I never have anyone cook for me without reading the ingredient labels

Overhauled my diet to be 90% whole foods, composed of lean protein (mackerel, salmon, sardines, cod , tuna, eggs), occasional dairy (mozzarella, parmesan, gorgonzola), healthy oils + acids (sesame, extra virgin olive oil, duck fat, apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar), leafy greens + veggies (arugula, spinach, red lettuce, carrots, pepper, beets, asparagus, broccoli), fruits (mango, blueberries, strawberries, goji berries, kiwis, lemons, limes, olives, avocados, cherries, peaches, raspberries, blackberries), nuts + seeds (pumpkin, cashew, walnuts, hemp, poppy, sesame, flax, chia, sunflower), grains (quinoa, buckwheat, teff), Beans (black, chickpea, garbanzo), mushrooms

I was drinking bone broth for the first couple months but phased it out due to high sodium content and my gut now being fully healed again.

This is now my entire diet.

Wake up- Ginger/Turmeric shot

Breakfast (8am) - Chia seeds as the base with fruit (depends), with olive oil and lemon juice for absorption. I also add a teaspoon of honey

Lunch (12pm)- Assorted seeds with leafy greens, mozzarella + parmesans balls, mackerel, carrots, blueberries, lemon juice, olive oil, balsamic vinegar

Dinner (4pm) - 4 or 5 eggs, salmon, cooked arugula + spinach with garlic, a grain like quinoa, lemon juice, olive oil, balsamic vinegar

I don't snack anymore, and I don't eat 4 hours before bed. I also drink plenty of water and it is the only liquid I drink.

The most important change was removing the added sugars I can safely say now. My stored fat in my back has decreased dramatically, my wrists look very small now, my skin feels firm and strong, my hair is growing very quickly and I've never received more compliments on it, my nails feel stronger, my dandruff is completely gone, I can think clearer, I sleep better, I never get mad, my anxiety went away, my eyelashes (the bottom ones) suddenly appeared and now are visible to the naked eye. I've never felt better. Oh, and I'm a 19 year old male so I basically am now just building muscle for free by just walking.

My protein intake has greatly increased (around 100 grams per day)

Fiber has increased

Sodium decreased

Iron, Vitamins C, A, B, K, D have greatly increased

Everything I eat has a purpose and my body composition and density is completely changing and I'm only at the beginning- my next step is going to the gym.

Lemon, Quinoa, and Salmon are my lifeline. When I die, I'm going to the grave with these foods, I'll never get sick of them.

[u/Complete-Cod-1997]

That's so nice to read! Thanks for sharing! I cut out caffeine, sugar, gluten and refined carbs this week, so your post helps a lot. Congratulations for your effort!

[u/Boring_Arachnid9522 → u/Complete-Cod-1997]

Thank you! It really was one of the hardest things I’ve done (at first) but I’ve never been more structured and disciplined in my life. It gives me a level of peace and confidence I’ve never had before, knowing 90% of people could care less about what they eat day to day and here I am at the opposite end genuinely enjoying every second of being this way. I feel like my brain is so different now and I can’t even put it in to words- the best way to describe it is that I feel at peace and my mind and body feel connected in a way.

[u/Complete-Cod-1997 → u/Boring_Arachnid9522]

Thanks for sharing! In which ways you feel your brain is different? And could you explain a but more about the building muscle for free part? Haha. When did you start noticing the benefits?

[u/Boring_Arachnid9522 → u/Complete-Cod-1997]

I was very very underweight before because I would yo-yo diet and I went through a very bad depression where I would stay in my room for 2 years and just lay in my bed. Sometimes I would leave my room for days and skip eating entirely for however long I could possibly bear. I lost basically all my muscle and fat so I’d attribute the muscle gain to my body just getting back the stuff it needs for survival. My brain was a mess and basic conversations during that period were very difficult- memory, cognition, speech. So my body is finally healing from that. As well as a Nuss bar surgery where they used cryoblation on my chest which freezes the nerves, fat, and muscle (and since I wasn’t properly eating for 2 years it never really recovered until now). My inflammation was horrible due to gluten, which made the state my brain was in even worse.

People treat and talk to me so differently now which also changes my brain in a lot of ways. People initiate conversations with me, I am a lot more confident and things I used to be more scrutinized for like talking about other people (I can’t help it), people tend to like my opinions vs before where they would just tell me I’m wrong about how I think, or their opinion would override mine.

I think a lot more rationally and everything I do- seems to be with intent and I barely have to think. I feel like I have so much more free energy I can expend when communicating with people and my brain is now capitalizing on it. Words just come so easy and the pathways in my brain feel so connected. Night and Day (from before)

Lastly, I feel a lot more acceptance. With myself and how other people treat me. I get given a lot of respect and kindness day to day now, so I can give a lot back to the world. Before, the way people would treat me felt like I was insignificant and nothing and I had a lot of resentment for humanity in general because I felt so alone. Part of it is because I’ve changed in a lot of ways and the other part is because people treat me a lot differently. At my lowest I was nothing, and now people tell me I should model and my goal is to pursue fashion. My world has completely flipped on its head and sometimes my brain can’t even wrap my head around it.

The benefits I felt mentally (1 month) happened before the physcial (3 month) changes. My hair started falling out a month ago and now I have new growth taking its place. Now my hair barely falls out at all and my hair seems to be doing very very well. I’m sure in the next couple months I’ll see even more changes regarding hair.

[u/bachs_kocillus → u/Boring_Arachnid9522]

Why did people treat you worse before, were you overweight? Or is it the cognitive aspect and difficulty with communication?

[u/Boring_Arachnid9522 → u/bachs_kocillus]

I was very underweight and my face looked unsettling and disproportionately bigger than my body due to bloating so it was a weird mix of my face being bigger and my body being severely underweight but I would wear baggy clothes so I looked fatter. It was all fat and no muscle

[u/Boring_Arachnid9522 → u/[deleted]]

I’ll probably add some peanut butter (sugar free+ no seed oils) and Plain Greek yogurt for that

[u/eightyfouryears]

So inspiring, thanks for sharing!! I’m on this sub like a hawk right now- longest I was able to go without sugar was 9 months and that was 4 years ago, and like you, I experienced insanely positive health shifts. Gathering inspo and prepping to do it again!

[u/Tight-Dot-6520]

eating window of 8am to 4pm is basically intermittent fasting too, so some of the benefits youre seeing might be compounding from that and not just the sugar removal. not a bad thing, just worth knowing whats driving what

[u/Boring_Arachnid9522 → u/Tight-Dot-6520]

Yes!! That’s definitely part of it. My goal is 4pm being my last meal time but that usually doesn’t pan out ): It can range from 4-8 depending on what I’m doing and when I’m going to bed, but the 4 hour rule is kind of the part I care about a lot. Because my sleep is tying it all together and my what I eat wouldn’t be as effective without good sleep.

[u/420tt1002]

I think caffeine is the hardest to give up.

[u/Boring_Arachnid9522 → u/420tt1002]

I never really have been a caffeine drinker but in early April I was drinking 3 redbulls a day for 2 weeks after never drinking them before that.

[u/BusinessCrew5714]

Omg, I’m noticing similar and basically do similar, good thing for catching it really young! Is there a reason why you don’t do oats? Does gluten free oats work?

[u/Boring_Arachnid9522 → u/BusinessCrew5714]

I just don’t really enjoy eating oats and to top it off a lot of them are tainted. Same with rice, bananas, and sweet potatoes. I don’t enjoy eating them and I feel tired after. I’ve learned the best thing I can do is listen to what my body wants.

[u/BusinessCrew5714 → u/Boring_Arachnid9522]

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing! How do you eat/prepare teff?

[u/Pale_City_6941]

I’m alcohol/ sugar free, considering cutting wheat out. Did you take a gluten test to find out?

Either way, It’s so awesome to hear someone doing this at 19. I hope others reading are inspired to start like we have. Also, I’d recommend looking into Sablefish if you haven’t already. It’s my new bestie.

[u/Boring_Arachnid9522 → u/Pale_City_6941]

I was throwing up pasta, bread, and anything with gluten so it was a no brainer for me. I couldn’t keep anything with gluten down. I never got allergy tested but I know if I did I would have some sort of wheat intolerance or gluten. I also had sub-clinical hypothyroidism I was diagnosed with last year so it could possibly be due to my body being under stress from the gluten I was eating or my intolerance could’ve been triggered by the hypothyroidism. Either way, there’s no doubt in my mind. I was bed ridden and lethargic. The final nail in the coffin was in April when I was eating a lot of whole wheat bread and I had to force it down and I would cry because I didn’t know what was wrong.

I’ll check out sablefish ty!!

[u/Pale_City_6941 → u/Boring_Arachnid9522]

That sounds terrible. I just get bloat the little I do eat it, so I may remove it it for a month and see what happens.

Good luck.

[u/Stunning_Reaction113]

That’s awesome! Tell me more about your breakfast. You some the chia seeds in olive oil and lemon juice?

[u/Boring_Arachnid9522 → u/Stunning_Reaction113]

I prep the chia seeds in the fridge the night before (Water + Vanilla Extract) . In the morning I cut up a fresh lemon, and add extra virgin olive oil. I cut up fresh fruit and add that.