Lupus and Diet: Seeing the Results of a Sugar-Free Diet.

Four days. 

That's how long it takes for me to start seeing the benefits of a mostly dessert-free diet.  

The first symptom to go? Persistent redness on my cheeks and nose. It's a glorious thing to wake up one morning, walk into the bathroom, and not see red. Like, it's startling how fair my complexion can be, when I pass on dessert for a few days.  

The next thing I notice? I sleep through the night. I don't have many complaints about staying asleep. But when I'm high on a dessert-filled diet, I usually wake up around 4am, and toss and turn until my alarm goes off at 6a.  But when I wake up for the first time just moments before my alarm, I know my dessert-less days are paying off. 

Another benefit I see after a few more days? A reduction in inflammation. Ah, how beautiful to be able to visibly see those muscles I work so hard to tone and tighten. It's hard for them to shine through when dessert is part of the equation. But it's not only my muscles that benefit - my joints, too. Everything is less puffy. My rings and watch fit better. My jeans are looser, even though the scale (if I were to ever jump on one) hasn't changed. In some ways, I wish it weren't as simple a fix as cutting out dessert (because I LOVE dessert), but I know a simple fix to one's health is always better than a complicated one. 

The last thing that happens, about ten days into a dessert-free diet, is that my stomach bloat goes away. Like, completely. I still have a middle-aged, birthed two kids, moderate exerciser body, but the lower tummy bloat just vanishes. It's so cool. And after a good two to three weeks, if I have dessert one night - the impromptu ice cream with the kids, a couple of cookies from a small batch I've made - the symptoms don't come back. It's like my body's reached a new level of understanding: There's no threat. Don't freak. It's a one-off. 

Of course, other factors can affect any or all of the above: hormones, sun, heat, stress, dairy - among many other culprits. But I love the positive impact I can have on my body by abstaining from sweets. 

I want it noted, of course, that those first four days - before I see these results - can be harrowing. 

The first day is the hardest. I literally want nothing but sweets. I see them everywhere. And they all look scrumptious. Even dessert that doesn't normally appeal to me is enticing. 

The second day is better, but not yet easy. It's like I know there are sweets lurking in places,  and while I'm not craving them, I could still go for a cookie. In fact, on day two, I often find myself taking out a stick of butter to soften on the counter, convincing myself that a good deed is in order, that someone, somewhere is in need of a batch of cookies. But I hold myself off - usually by making a cup of tea - and return the softened butter to the fridge before the end of the day.

Day three is really the turning point. The longer I go without that taste of sugar, the less I want it. And then the benefits starting appearing on day four, and the motivation to keep up the dessert-less diet becomes apparent. 

If I remember correctly, that's about how long it used to be for me to recover from overdoing it with lupus. I'd be fine - feeling decent and letting the medicine and a healthy lifestyle work their magic. But then something would happen - a late night, a stressful day, an afternoon in the sun, or a skipped nap combined with a poor diet - and I'd find myself in a mini flare: swollen fingers, increased fatigue, hair loss, achy joints. It would usually take four to five days of very careful living before I could reverse the flare's trajectory. And then it would be another few days to a week before I was back to my baseline. My lupus friends and I used to joke that if we scheduled a weekend trip, a night out, or a packed day, we might as well book a flare (and its required downtime) into the following week's schedule. After a while, you get pretty good at knowing what's going to set you off.

Ideally, you get even better at avoiding those things in the first place. Especially when you can. 

Today, I know exactly what sets off red skin, 4am wake ups, and tummy bloat.  I choose to avoid the culprits because I want to. But mostly because I can. 

Who's with me?