August was a month to ditch all our added sweeteners (splenda, sweet n’ low, sugar, equal, ALL OF IT)

 “I have been off equal for a month and my stomach problems are less and my sugar craving has decreased!!” -Dawnie

This was an attempt to see if we would notice a difference either physically on the outside (smaller tummy?) or even on the inside (less cravings? anxiety? etc.) I have a bunch of  YOUR quotes throughout with some amazing testimonials!

“a while back, during a routine doctors’ visit, I was told that my liver was inflamed (I found out it was because of all the Splenda I was consuming.  That is the only toxic thing I was putting in my system).  I went for a follow up a week ago, and everything came back normal!
Thank you again so much for putting this challenge up.  It made it easier to stop.” -Anonymous

I have to say, the first 3 days were definitely the hardest for me, in fact, so much so that I caved on Day 4 and Day 6 with my four splenda latte… then I finally told myself “don’t be a bitch” and had to recommit on Day 7. After I had my interview with Bo Shin and my interview with Michelle LeSueur about what happens to the body, it definitely made me want to start over and get serious!
I actually got a new phone this month so I lost my “before” picture and I’m honestly not sure if there would be much of a difference, visibly, HOWEVER, I have noticed a few major changes:

#1. Cravings— wow! they were awful at first…. and now.. hardly there! In fact, I actually hadn’t really noticed until I started realizing it was the end of the month and there was a LARGE bag of peanut butter M&M’s lying on the counter and I hadn’t so much as THOUGHT about eating any! (this is NOT like me!)

#2. Self-Awareness— This challenge made me VERY aware of how often I would mindlessly eat (like dum-dums at the bank) candies or drink diet soda or how often I actually was buying lattes.

#3. Label Awareness— For the most part, I thought I was pretty good at picking out natural things, but then, I was shocked at the sweeteners added in my yogurts, my salad dressings, my sauces… bummer! I definitely became much more aware of the little things here and there that added up.

 “I did and lost a couple pounds but more importantly my chronic stomach pains went from daily to only a few days out of the month! My skin is clear and my cravings for. Sweets has declined exponentially!”– Jessica

CONCLUSION:
I would LOVE to do this challenge again, because, in all honesty, there were some days I had yogurt with added sugar and I ate some chinese food with teriyaki sauce, etc.

Halfway through the month, I found the 21-day-Sugar-Detox and I think I’d like to try it again and do ZERO sugar/sweetener. I feel much more “free” (if that makes sense?) without cravings. I find my thoughts revolve less around food and its nice. The beginning is definitely the hardest, but it only confirms my thoughts, that if its THAT hard to give up, it can’t be good for you!

“I DID IT!. but I am sooo happy that I did! I would have to say that I did not use sweeteners as a norm before, so my challenge was no products with any type of “sugar/sweetener” in them. Only fruits were allowed. It brought a HUGE awareness to how almost every “healthy” product that I had been purchasing, from peanut butter, rice cakes, and rice had sugar in them! I did not loose any major weight, maybe a couple pounds, but I do feel a sense of knowledge has been gained and will forever be conscious of my sugar intake! I will be forever healthier as a result of this challenge. Thank you Sweaty Betties!!!”-Christine