Goodbye to the Sweet Stuff

I’ve just quit sugar. 

Taken the plunge, signed up for an eight week program. There’s meal plans, shopping lists, support forums – the whole nine yards. I’m incredibly excited to make this change in my life (until the crash comes).

I’m not overweight, I cook a lot of my own verge dense meals, I exercise. From the outside at least, I’m arson ably healthy. So why am I doing this?

Because sugar doesn’t serve me. 

Even without science backing me up, my own body tells me the sweet stuff does me no good. I reach for sugary things when I’m tired for energy then end up feeling more sluggish than before. I’ll polish off the entire packet of anything sweet without really noticing it or savouring it. And inevitably end up feeling sick. I know I shouldn’t binge, but like all addictions there’s a big gap between knowing and doing. So I’ve got a little help with the doing by signing up for the I Quit Sugar 8 Week Program. Eight weeks to detox and completely reset my tastebuds. 

Why quit completely, why not just cut back?

Two reasons. As previously mentioned, sugar is an addiction and I need to go cold turkey to break the cycle. Secondly my personality type is an abstained. I find it much more liberating to remove something completely. To me, trying to moderate and working out what is moderate and what isn’t is far more stressful. So bye bye sugar. 

I’m hoping quitting sugar will provide me with healthy habits that I can sustain. I’ve had periods of healthy eating in the past, only to be undone to by it being overly restrictive (you try being a chocoholic that quits dairy). Quitting sugar sounds limiting but the reality is you can eat anything that’s made from real food. Which is quite a lot really. 

Being healthy for me is all about vitality. Having the energy to live my life at full throttle. This will be my main measure of success. If my energy levels go through the roof, as others on the program have testified, then this is one change I plan on sticking with. I’m bringing all of my curiosity and all of my playfulness to the next week eight weeks. 

To find out how I’m getting on, check back in, same time, same place, next week. Until then, tell me, have you ever made a drastic change for your wellbeing? How did it go? See you in the comments.