Only 4 more days until the end of my macrobiotic eating experiment! It’s been an interesting journey. You can read more about the challenges on my Day 3 and Day 5 summaries, as well as what I learned about patience, flexibility, and living.

After nearly 30 days without sugar, gluten, yeast, meat, or dairy, here are my conclusion and takeaways (NOTE: These thoughts are my own and not representative of Miessence, Ely Organics, or any sponsor):

• It’s scary how even someone who eats as “clean”ly as I do can be so addicted to natural added sugars. I had flu-like withdrawal symptoms for 2-3 days! Frightening that my body was so dependent on sugar.
• Did this way of eating help my digestive and skin issues? No. I had exactly the same stomach bloating, churning, and nausea as always. My skin followed exactly the same breakout patterns it always has, actually getting worse in this last week. My digestive issues have also worsened.
• There was no “detox flare-up” of my skin in the first 10-14 days as I was initially warned. The only detox symptoms I had were the dizziness, disorientation, and lack of energy from the sugar withdrawal the first 2-3 days.
• I did not miss bread as much as I thought I would! I will be glad to be able to eat my homemade bread again, but skipping it for 4 weeks was doable.
• Will I keep up this way of eating? No, not exactly. I will continue reducing my sugar intake and avoiding most dairy. I have always been vegetarian. I will probably attempt to start substituting my whole wheat bread for sprouted grain.
• I crash at 3pm regardless of eating sugar or not. You know that myth that it’s the sugar from your midday meal that causes the 2-3pm crash in energy? Nope. I haven’t eaten sugar for 25 days now and I still get that crash every day. This was something I wasn’t expecting to disprove.
• I was able to notice that I do crave sweets when I am either a) stressed or, b) tired. Good to know. Several times I went to bed earlier than planned just to avoid being tempted by sweets.
• If you choose this eating plan, watch the coconut oil. Since coconut oil is the only oil I was allowed to have, and I was told to only cook things in cast iron or stainless steel pots (microwave use is discouraged), I had to use a significant amount of coconut oil just to warm things to eat. Reminder: coconut oil, regardless of its myriad health benefits, IS a saturated fat. Meaning that it increases cholesterol and negative affects your skin (breakouts). I noticed this too late and it did not help my skin situation.
• Recommend the Miessence probiotic organic superfoods, InLiven and Fast Tract. I will look into keeping up with these. They were super gentle on my stomach and contain some amazing antioxidants. I have struggled with finding probiotics that are gentle yet effective. Most of the store brands have made me sick. These are great!
• Would I do this again? I think I will try to make this type of cleanse a regular thing, only for a shorter period of time. A diet this restrictive makes social situations very difficult and sometimes awkward. I think 5-10 days time would be more ideal.

So far, those have been my takeaways! Do you have any questions for me about the eating plan? Have you ever eaten macrobiotic? What did YOU think?