“7-Day No-Added-Sugar Meal Plan That’s Actually Doable” : Conclusions

This is a continuation of my My Experience with a “7-Day No-Added-Sugar Meal Plan That’s Actually Doable.” Today’s post shall focus on my overall conclusions from this experiment. (Want to catch up? Here’s the introduction, shopping and meal prep, and Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four, Day Five, Day Six, and Day Seven.)

I started this seven day experiment on 27 December 2019. I finished it on 3 January 2020. So much has happened in the world over the past five months. But like I mentioned last week, when you begin a journey, it is impossible to know what the end shall look like.

General Thoughts

This experiment took quite a bit of time, effort, and cost. It also required dedicated planning. It was not something I could do halfheartedly. I had decided that I was going to attempt it, and then had to put in the work to actually complete it. In today’s quest for quick and easy answers, this went against the trend.

I also noticed that for the first couple of days, I was slightly more fatigued. This wasn’t a cortisol related issue, but rather the elimination of a quick yet unsustainable energy source (sugar). I was drinking more water throughout the day, which is always a good thing for me.

Given the time commitment required, I was thankful I started it during holiday vacation. It would have been too difficult to manage everything while trying to balance all of my other responsibilities.

Leftover Food

The serving sizes for each meal were interesting. I definitely had enough food for several more meals at the end of the week.

Below is my inventory of what I had left:

• One Full Meal of Lemon Chicken
• Two Full Meals of Egg Fritatta
• One Full Meal of the Turkey
• One Full Meal of the Quinoa Egg Breakfast
• I probably could have used lemon, lime, jalapeno, but I just got lazy at the end
• I over bought on the carrots
• Not Pictured: The disgusting kale that went into the trash

Over all, I am thankful for experience. I learned a few new recipes that I have put into my general rotation and a few simple swaps that I continue to do. Sometimes, small changes can make a big impact such as swapping out sour cream for Greek yogurt. Also, towards the end of the week I noticed that some sugar just tasted too artificial and repulsive.

Concluding Thoughts

I would love to brag and state that the elimination of sugar was a lifestyle choice that I was able to maintain five months later, but that would be a lie. Since I believe in honesty and transparency, I must confess to y’all that I lost count of the amount of Oreos I consumed yesterday, and I still have chocolate ice cream sitting in my freezer.

But right now is not the time for me to attempt to be super productive and thriving in all areas. My exercising has been placed on hold. A super healthy eating lifestyle has relaxed into consuming three meals a day, every day with quite a bit of chips as snacks. My long list of “to-do” projects has been placed on paused, as working from home does not magically create extra hours in the day no matter what the internet tells you.

And y’all, that is okay.

This Clearly Alive life is not always the super flashy, social media worthy, picture perfect posts. Sometimes, a Clearly Alive life is just mundane survival.

May we all remain Clearly Alive.

This is part of a continuing series. Here are the other Parts: Introduction, Shopping / Meal Prep, Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four, Day Five, Day Six, Day Seven