Yes, you read that correctly. Sugar.
Now, look to the right, next to my picture there and you'll see a little dot point that says 'baker of all things sweet'. This is where my two selves collide: the me who loves to bake and eat anything I like, and the me who likes to be healthy and fit.
It seems that everywhere I look lately, there's someone talking about quitting sugar. When I first read about it, I dismissed it as a crazy, extreme diet - and anyway, why would you wish a life without chocolate upon yourself?
When we don't understand something, we make uninformed judgements on people, which is when I like to do some research and try to gain some level of empathy. So, after some reading, I've decided to give this quitting sugar thing a go. My reasons?
I don't do diets, but I do look for ways to make life better. Food is a big part of how we feel in our lives - and I've been conscious of how much sugar I eat in the past. Years ago, I cut out softdrinks and excessive sweets (although the latter might have crept back into my life) and noticed a big difference in how I felt. It's like a long preparation for making this final cut.
I've done it before, although I didn't know it at the time. It was just before we went on our first big hike, and I knew I had to watch what I ate in preparation for only having a restricted amount of food with us. I stopped eating sweets, focused on eating smaller amounts very regularly and made sure I ate food that would give me lasting energy. And I've never felt as good as I did when I was doing that.
To find a sustainable, healthy way. I don't anticipate that never eating sugar again is the end result of this. I don't imagine a life of saying 'no, I can't have that' will make me feel great. But I do want to find a way to make my sugar intake minimal, and arm myself with the knowledge of how things I eat make me feel.
I'm addicted. I sensed it before, but now that I've read about it and nodded my head through much of the literature, I know it for sure. And it isn't good to be addicted to - well, anything really. The idea of being dependent on something doesn't sit well with me. I want to control what I eat, not let my emotions guide that.
I don't need a vice. This is one big worry I've had - I don't drink caffeine, don't drink much alcohol, don't smoke. Sugar, in the form of chocolate and cakes, is my vice. But I'm now convinced I don't need one - I'll look to get through things in other ways.
It might make me healthier. I'm curious to find out if sugar has any link to the physical issues in my life (PCOS, psoriasis, eczema). Anything with even the slightest chance of helping any of those things is well worth a shot.
It makes sense. Everything I've read about cutting out sugar is logical to me.
So far, it's been three days and it's been an interesting exercise. I've found that I eat more sugar than I ever thought I did - it's in things I hadn't even considered. I've also found that I've had very few bad side effects.
Tonight, I even baked desserts for dinner guests and didn't eat any myself - now that's a first!
[Image credit]
Tonight, I even baked desserts for dinner guests and didn't eat any myself - now that's a first!
[Image credit]
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Some further reading - if you're curious and want to know more about this...
Kym gave up sugar and shared her experience
Taryn gave up sugar and shared her experience
Sarah Wilson wrote an ebook about it - an 8-week plan with lots of tips
And I'm reading David Gillespie's book, Sweet Poison - check your local library or bookshop
24 comments:
Hi Megan,
This is really interesting and I too have seen it popping up all over the place. I definitely feel like I'm addicted and cut right back on sugar about 3 months ago. I've lost a lot of weight & felt lots better. I've let it creep back in a bit lately and can see the affects. I don't think I can cut it out completely, but this post is a really good reminder to me to reduce it significantly again. I know I feel better with less of it and I totally use it as a mood enhancer (which of course backfires cos I just crash again anyway!)
Good luck and look forward to hearing more about it.
Nice one Megan.
I downloaded Sarah's ebook today and am looking forward to the path ahead.
Thanks for sharing the links too - Kymmie was one of my inspirations for starting this journey [mainly to combat the effects of long term Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Adrenal Burnout] but I hadn't met Taryn before and she has heaps of great resources on her site.
Waving and smiling from afar,
xx Felicity
Good on you. I was never big on sugar. I don't eat sweets (maybe 70% dark choccy occasionally).
Right now I'm trying to kick my one cup of coffee each morning. It makes me crabby but it was one of my weird pregnancy cravings.
good luck! everything i've read on this by everyone [which seems to be EVERYONE at the minute] who's quitting sugar seems to report great results!
i've got both his books and are halfway through them and then i plan to start as well.
can't wait to read how you go with it :-)
I avoided this whole quitting sugar for a good while as I felt like there was a bit too much hype about it. But I've read a lot, and having just finished Sarah Wilson's ebook and I am tackling this sugar thing head on come Monday week. Although I really could start this week, I don't want the detox headaches leading up to the wedding (having been down this path before, I know the way it starts out for me). Good luck. Looking forward to sharing the journey with you. xx
That is fantastic. Good on you.
My naturopath would love you!
I was diligent about my diet (and eliminating nasties) for some time (particularly when trying to defy PCOS and conceive) and it felt pretty fabulous.
I'm gearing up to the reality that I need to do this again to achieve my goals.
Aaaagh!!
I will be watching with interest.
:-)
I had a giggle that I have two posts in a row in my reader on going sugar free ;)
But it's really not funny at all... I have all of the vices and I need to really start addressing that!
Good luck with it Megan, I'll be following your journey :)
Oh you are so brave. I too am addicted and don't know how successful I would be, but I'm so tempted to join you (and all the rest).
I'm not about to give up sugar entirely because when I do I suffer bad headaches, but I can probably halve my consumption. Just not this week though, since this morning I baked a big batch of Snickerdoodles, which are sugar cookies containing a fair amount of sugar that are sprinkled with more cinnamon/sugar as they come out of the oven.
Good luck! One of my favorite bloggers, Jennifer Louden, is going through sugar detox. You might find inspiration in her story, too.
http://mamawolfe-living.blogspot.com
Good luck, but instead of depriving yourself (feeding your guests dessert, but not yourself) why not try making sugar free desserts? I know what you're thinking - dessert without sugar, must not taste good- but I assure you, there are recipes that are sugar free and taste AMAZING. If you don't have a pinterest account I suggest you make one (I'm obsessed) because I've found the most amazing, healthy recipes on there and they still taste great. I know about deprivation, when I found out I had celiac, I was so bummed and constantly had to pass on the yummy foods I was used to eating. That was 7 years ago, and now, armed with knowledge and a more gluten-free friendly society, I make amazing gluten-free desserts and my friends and family can't even tell the difference.
Sorry for such a long post :p
Very interesting. I, too, am addicted to sugar and have a really hard time not eating it when it's around. I didn't realise you also have PCOS. I have struggled with this since puberty, and the best thing I've done is change my eating habits (i.e. cutting out gluten and soy). I hope cutting out sugar helps your symptoms, too. :)
Congratulations Megan! We're a non-sugar eating family too, so can identify with a lot of the points you made about why you're quitting sugar. They're very similar to ours. :-)
Good luck with it. If you want any recipes or anything, just let me know. Luke and I are trying to put together a big list (to turn into an app) of sugar-free recipes (things like nutella, chocolate etc!
Hey Megan, when I first read that Christie from Childhood101 was doing this I admit it felt pretty extreme to me too. I've done a bit of reading today and I'm definitely interested in finding out more. I think my gut reaction is "deprivation" that someone I or the kids would be "missing out" but when I saw a bunch of food that you can eat and how yummy it all is (hello haloumi cheese!)I started to reconsider. So...where can I find out more? I guess what I'm really interested in is know what food would be on the banned list, and where the role of fruit would be in the diet?
Hi Megan, good luck with being Sugar Free. The first few days are definitely the hardest. Extreme hunger sets in as your body tries to seek out ways to find the sugar but it gets better. I am now into my second month and I feel great! I feel so freed from my addiction now. I was like you, addicted to baking sweet things. I would bake when I needed a good sweet fix. You can still bake, you just find different kinds of recipes. I am rocking the savoury flavours at the moment! I am not yet cured of my cravings though. Good luck (and thankyou for the link) xxx
Does 'quitting sugar' involve cutting ALL sugars, or just processed sugars?
I'm not sure I want to commit to 100% savoury foods forever.
I couldn't have written it better myself. I'm on day 7 and have had no side effects so far. This won't be forever as i love cake too much. But i want to be in charge of my sweet cravings rather that it being the other way around. Good luck.
Wow good on you! I have done a sugar free patch a few time and yeah it feels brilliant. I am really excited to hear how you go.
Great post!
xx
My mum gave up sugar and said if anything she found it a relief to not have to think about whether she will or won't have a dessert or not.
I don't think I could right now - even though I've quit smoking for over a year - I'm still using my sugar as a bit of a replacement and I'm pretty sure sugar is better than cigarettes.
Good luck!
The first time I quit sugar was when I was around 8 years old and couldnt make the kool-aid sweet enough. I somehow made the connection between the kool aid and feeling sleepy in the middle of summer playtime, so I just decided to quit Kool Aid." Of course in retrospect, it was my 1st sugar quit. I am interested to hear what happens to your ability to make critical decisions with low blood sugar, and how you will manage that feeling, since I understand our brains do require some sugar to function at full capacity. Great post, and I'm looking forward to following your "experiment."
Not something I could consider. I'm in too deep, help me! No seriously, I'll be really interested to know how you go. As you know I am doing 12WBT and the cutting back on junk and upping of exercise has made me feel so much more alert and healthy very quickly. Looking forward to hearing more about this.
Oh Megan, I'm so proud of you! And I have the very same conflict, because I don't diet, and I love baking too. But I realised I still can bake, just healthier things. MUCH less sugar. Because after reading this book, I don't really want my kids to be eating the stuff either!
Let us know how you go. Those sugar headaches are awful! xx
I think it has some very good merits and I am going to attempt a modified version.
I will be looking into it more for sure because it has spiked my interest in modelling and teaching my children to limit and self moderate a healthy food intake.
I cant do it right now because of our road-trip but you have inspired me to start considering it carefully.
My husband already hates that I take ages to shop reading food labels for preservatives, artificial flavours /palm oil and saturated fats /country of origin . etc
Looking forward to building my vegie garden.
Thanks for sharing.
From one addict to another, I feel your pain. I'm going on 19 days ( yikes!) I was amazed that everyone blamed Paula Deen's Type II diabetes on BUTTER. HEL-LO!!!! Sugar, people, sugar! Things that make sugar!! Love your writing. Laurel
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