Well, the results are in!

After the 21 Day Hormone Reset Diet, I lost 9.4 pounds, and 1.5” off of my waist and hips!!!

I also lowered my average fasting blood sugar results to a safe level (from a pre-diabetic level)!

I have quit caffeine for good, and continue to stay off of sugar and fruit, and have cut way back on dairy and alcohol/gluten.  I have to keep my net carbs (that’s total carbs in grams, minus fiber grams) low , in order to try to keep my blood sugar low to avoid Type 2 diabetes, which runs in my family.

During reintroduction (the phase of the diet after 21 days where you start adding things back, one at a time), my Hormone Reset Diet buddies and I chose to meet for drinks to celebrate, soooo of course our first introduction was to alcohol,  lol.

The impact of my two celebratory beers?

NOT.

SO.

GOOD.

Wow, I hadn’t realized how incredibly WELL I had been sleeping without alcohol and caffeine (and possibly other factors)!!  DURING the reset, I was sleeping like a BABY; no waking up, no night sweats/hot flashes, just pure cozy bliss.

My reintroduction of beer/wine led to night sweats, waking up at 2 & 3 AM, and just an overall REALLY crappy sleep, which takes days of not drinking to recover from! Not only did I notice the major impact to my sleep, and blood sugar (it went up!) but I also learned how bad it is for post-exercise as it prevents your liver from making glutathione, a powerful antioxidant, and HGH to help build and repair muscles.

So, although it’s not completely off the table, I’ve cut way back on that too.

My second reintroduction was to dairy.  The results of goat cheese: automatic sinus cloggage….not so great either.  The results of blue cheese dressing on my salad: way worse….and it’s TMI for sure.

For dairy, since I love it so much, I’m just trying to use moderation and limit to a couple of times a week.

I’m SO THANKFUL for AWESOME Paleo recipes like this AMAZING creamy avocado sauce, which, paired with Zoodles, will be my new substitution for Mac ‘N’ Cheese!!!!!

As I wrap up this VERY time consuming, but EXTREMELY rewarding diet, I will start trying more and more new Paleo friendly recipes to help keep dairy and carbs low, so I’m excited about that!!!  

All in all, I’d say that this diet was greatly successful, not only in helping me to lose weight, but in improving healthy habits, gaining MAJOR body awareness , including first-hand awareness of the impact of everything that I put in my mouth or on my skin (things tend to “stick” way better when you can really SEE/FEEL and correlate the difference!!!), and improving overall health.  

The experience also GREATLY expanded my knowledge on health and diet, as I feel I learned SO DANG MUCH!  Finally, the private group on Facebook was amazing and supportive, as well as Dr. Sara’s private blog and helpful supplemental information and Q & A calls.  I will likely join again in the Fall, for the Fall Group Hormone Reset which starts October 5th, with a preparatory start of September 22nd!