There’s a new challenge taking over Instagram, and it has nothing to do with posting a picture of yourself from ten years ago with side-swept bangs and super thin brows.
It’s a 10-day health challenge, and it comes by the way of Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez, who are both totally cutting out sugar and carbs for — yes — 10 full days. Their challenge hit headlines after they posted a video documenting their progress and challenging friends and fans to join them. Hoda Kotb was one of those nominated friends who quickly accepted the challenge, and took to the Today show to announce her participation.
This 10-day challenge is starting to get lonely, so we’re challenging YOU! Join us ?. 10 days, NO sugar, NO carbs, are you up for the challenge? ?
A post shared by Jennifer Lopez (@jlo) on
So what does the 10-Day No-Sugar, No-Carbs challenge really consist of? According to Today, who actually had Jennifer Lopez on the phone to chat about it, it’s an eating plan that basically cuts out different forms of sugar and carbs. This means starchy vegetables, candy, baked goods, certain fruits, grains, condiments with sugar, sweeteners (even artificial sweeteners), dairy, soda and alcohol.
No carbs + no sugar = lots of meat. ? Join me and Jennifer for our 10 day challenge. Let me know in the comments if you think you can do it. ??
A post shared by Alex Rodriguez (@arod) on
Confused why fruit made the list of foods to cut out? We were too, so we reached out to nutritionist Keri Glassman for some insight. “In this case, if they are cutting out fruit, it would be to further limit the intake of carbohydrate and natural sugars,” she says. “Other ‘no sugar’ diets sometimes include fruit, and simply eliminate sources of added sugar.”
Cutting these items out means you’d be loading up on leafy greens, non-starchy veggies, lean protein, and healthy fats.
“This sounds essentially like the keto diet, but rather than focusing on being high in fat, is focused on the elimination of carbs and sugar,” explains Glassman.
During this time period of seriously limiting sugar and carbs, Glassman says that your body might be forced to tap into other sources of energy, like fat stores. And when you’re training your body to tap into fat stores after following a diet high in carbs, she says this can sometimes cause feelings of fatigue and irritability.
RELATED: Everything You Need to Know About the Keto Diet
So what would you experience after ten days? Glassman notes that, at this point, you might be adapting to a lower sugar lifestyle and that fruit might just satisfy your sweet tooth more than it did before. “A taste of something more sweet like a dessert might seem much sweeter than it previously did, and foods with natural sweetness (carrots and cashews, for example) might now seem sweet enough to to satisfy any cravings for sweet,” she says.
As for how Lopez and Rodriguez feel, we still have to wait two more days to go before the big reveal.
But regardless of what J.Lo and A.Rod are doing, you should get any sort of challenge or eating plan cleared with your doctor before committing.
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