Sanfilippo - The 21-Day Sugar Detox: Bust Sugar & Carb Cravings Naturally

First published in 2013 by Victory Belt Publishing Inc. Copyright 2013 Diane Sanfilippo
All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher. ISBN-13: 9781628600186 (paperback)
9781628600186 (ebook) The information included in this book is for educational purposes only. It is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. The reader should always consult his or her healthcare provider to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation or if they have any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment plan. Reading the information in this book does not create a physician-patient relationship.

Victory Belt is a registered trademark of Victory Belt Publishing Inc. Book design: Joan Olkowski, Graphic D-signs, Inc.
Food photography: Diane Sanfilippo
Cover portrait: Kelli Beavers
Hair: Samantha Gaiser
Make-up: Hayley Mason
SP-ver-i TABLE OF CONTENTS
The 21-Day Sugar Detox
SECTION 1
PROGRAM BASICS fats & oils (guide)
SECTION 2
LEVELS & MEAL PLANS autoimmune modifications
SECTION 3
EASY RECIPES kitchen basics

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SECTION 1 program basics

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HOW I GOT HERE my sugar story I like to eat and the only thing Ive ever been addicted to in my life is sugar. Crispin Glover I grew up in a small New Jersey town, around the corner from a 24-hour convenience store. It sold everything from 64-ounce sodas to magazines, emergency car parts, lottery tickets, and candy lots of candy. The candy aisle became a bit of a home to me. If I earned $2 for completing some chores, you can bet that every penny of it was going to be spent on Snickers, Rolos, Three Musketeers, Blow Pops, Tootsie Rolls, and Jolly Ranchers.

You could say that I was The Candy Girl. If I had candy in my possession, I was going to eat itany time of the day or night. On November 1 Id wake up and have Halloween candy for breakfast. Sweets didnt stand a chance with me. My mom would try to hide them, but I knew all her hiding spots. This relationship with sugar and sweets didnt end with my youth.

Nope, it followed me well into adulthood, when I had free rein to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Birthday cake for breakfast? Yes, please! Leftover pie for an afternoon snack? You better believe it. It wasnt just sweets, eitherI loved sugar in any form. Im talking about refined carbs that turn to sugar in your body (which youll learn about later), like bagels, pretzels, sandwich bread, and pasta. I was a high school athlete, so I figured I needed to carb up, right? Well, when I got to college, I kept eating like an athlete but stopped training like oneand I packed on the pounds. Thirty-five of them, to be exact.

When I finally realized that I had to do something about what had happened to my body, I dove headfirst into the point-counting, fat-fearing world of dieting and label reading. I checked the numbers (calories, fat, and fiber) on everything I atebut I never read the ingredients. If it was a processed health food, I ate it: high-fiber cereal, soy cheese, low-fat granola bars, and non-fat anything. Id eat meals that left me feeling full for maybe two hours and then reach for snacks to prop up my energy level and keep me from zombie-level hunger. I was the friend in the group who got hangry (hungry + angry = hangry!) if we had to wait more than 20 minutes to be seated at a restaurant. I carried those popular low-fat granola bars in my purseas if they were helping.

They werent. I knew I was on a blood sugar roller-coaster, but I didnt know how to get off it! I thought I was supposed to eat every two hours. Eat small meals. Eat some carbs to get your blood sugar up. Thats what they say, isnt it? Now, theres a difference between getting hungry as you naturally should, and getting to that hangry place because youve overdone it on bad carbs and your blood sugar is trying to make sense of thingsjumping up only to come crashing back down. Fast-forward several years, and the weight had come off because I was undereating and over-exercising. Fast-forward several years, and the weight had come off because I was undereating and over-exercising.

I wont argue that there are lots of ways to lose weight, but my approach at that time wasnt a healthy one. I felt awful. My body wasnt getting the nourishment it needed from the low-calorie, low-fat, low-nutrition food I was eating! I was still on the blood sugar roller-coaster, chasing my energy around all day with food. Eventually I learned from my personal trainer that eating meals that were more balancedwith adequate protein and plenty of fat, as well as veggiescould help me feel better. I resisted at first, because I was convinced that eating fat would make me fat. Boy, was I wrong.

When I finally decided to stop being afraid of fat and give this new approach a shot, I ate a reasonably sized meal of chicken thighs and kale cooked in some coconut oil, and I wasnt hungry again for several hours. And when I got hungry, I just got hungry. I was finally able to eat a meal and feel satisfied.

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WHAT IS GLUTEN? The word gluten is often used as an umbrella term for the gliadin protein or a number of other constituents in grains to which people can react negatively. Gluten is found in grains and by-products of wheat, barley, rye, triticale, oats (typically from cross-contamination), and other grains, as well as in some other foods where these grains are used in processing.

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What a difference protein and fat can make! Once I cut out the sugar and refined foods, eliminated gluten, and followed that up by cutting other grains and legumes, my blood sugar stabilized.

It was like a miracle. I could go out with plans of being gone for over an hour and not have to jam a snack into my pursefood freedom!
After a year of gloriously even blood sugar levels, I had a slip-up. It was around four in the afternoon, and I was working at my local Starbucks, just a few blocks from my apartment. I had worked through lunch and was hungry really hungry. I knew way better than to go so long without eating, but I had done it anyway. And then, instead of taking myself home to eat, I stopped at the candy store.

The Candy Girl had been dormant for many years, but she hadnt quite been obliterated yet! I probably bought a quarter pound of gummy candies, licorice, and other assorted super-sugary goodies. And I ate the entire bag. At once. About an hour later, I was in my apartment just beginning to cook dinner when it hit me. The after-effects of my massive sugar intake led to the hardest blood sugar crash Id ever felt. I was right back to that full-blown hangry placeshaking, sweating, and feeling like I was going to pass out.

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