12 things that happened when I gave up sugar, dairy, alcohol and gluten

I know what you’re thinking: Why would anyone give up bread, sugar or alcohol for three weeks?  

Look, I’m not the worst eater in the world, but after a few consecutive months of bad food choices, my husband Jeff and I wanted to make some diet changes. We decided to eat “clean” for three weeks leading up to a beach trip. There are a lot of different definitions of clean eating out there, but we aimed to eat whole foods minus the gluten and legumes (kind of like the Whole30 eating plan, but for 21 days since we were on a time crunch).

So, what exactly did we give up?

• Added sugars in things like flavored coffee creamers, soda, candy and desserts
• Alcohol
• Grains like breads, rye, barley, rice, pasta and non nut-based flours
• Legumes
• Processed items filled with carrageenan, MSG and sulfites 

Medically reviewed in July 2019.