This shouldn’t even count as a post…I don’t even have a recipe to share.

My cleanse has come to an end!

I have been avoiding the following foods for the past 2 months:
Sugar
Anything containing sugar
Agave nectar/honey/any sweetener
Fruit
Soy sauce
Peanuts
Peanut oil
Cashews
Oatmeal
Alcohol
Any flour of any type
Corn
Anything containing corn
Anything fried
And of course all animal products

And probably more stuff I just can’t remember.

I wasn’t 100% perfect on the cleanse but pretty close. There was a brownie incident and another incident involving “hush puppies” which I had never tried. Turns out, hush puppies are like doughnuts you can eat with dinner and they are INCREDIBLE.

So, the cleanse is over and I thought when it was done I would go hog-wild and start baking like crazy because I have been sweets-deprived. In fact, I had been stockpiling recipes I wanted to try.

But no. That actually doesn’t sound good now. I won’t say sweets don’t sound good to me, because sweets always sound good and chocolate will always be the best thing in the world. But I don’t crave sugar like I used to. I used to crave sugar after lunch and dinner and every night. I’m happy to say those cravings are gone.

This cleanse really pointed out a few things for me.
1. I abused corn tortilla chips (think transportation for hummus and guacamole)
2. I ate chocolate every day. Or some type of sweets every day. I didn’t even realize it until I couldn’t have sweets. I had no idea I was so addicted to sugar.
3. It helped me kick my habit of having to sweeten my coffee. I now use a little unsweetened almond milk and occasionally a few drops of liquid stevia.

So now that I’m done and I’ve kicked my sugar addiction, I don’t really want to get re-addicted because sugar isn’t exactly an essential nutrient.

And I feel great too! One issue I always struggle with is chronic neck pain. Oh it sucks so bad. But since I kicked sugar to the curb and eliminated all that inflammation, my neck feels great. Amazing. 100% like a normal neck. For that alone I should stay away from sweets.

So, this cleanse served as a great wake up call to me. I am now aware of how much sugar I was consuming, not just in the form of chocolate, but in my coffee, in my snacks, in my breakfast. Sugar is everywhere and I’m really aware of that now. Also, when I did fall off the wagon and eat sugar, I didn’t feel good. That’s probably the biggest incentive to not eat sweets, I just don’t feel as good.

As far as all the other foods I removed from my life, I will definitely be re-introducing peanuts, cashews and a little fruit. I will still stay away from flour and of course, fried food.

Now I am feeling inspired to broaden my cooking horizon and see if I can create protein rich, plant based recipes that are tasty and easy to prepare.

Stay tuned as I continue this journey, I promise good things will come from it!