I Quit Sugar
As mentioned in my January Goals post I read the book ‘I Quit Sugar‘ and committed to the 8-week program to cut sugar out of my diet in an attempt to see how it would affect my energy levels and sugar cravings. Here is a review of the book and how the program is going for me so far (almost three weeks in!)
The Book
I found the book really interesting and really related to a lot of things Sarah Wilson addressed like how sugar addictions can make you especially moody, can play havoc on your energy levels and a simple way to gauge if you have a sugar addiction is by asking if you identify yourself as someone with a ‘sweet tooth’ (I SO DID this and would have INTENSE sugar cravings after lunch and dinner but especially intense in the evenings after dinner).
Here are a few snippets from the book:
How it’s going for me?
Honestly? I feel amazing. I have not lost a single pound but my energy levels are way more steady and I’ve also had a few comments about how I look like I lost weight, which I think is because I’m less bloated. I’m also finding it much, much, MUCH easier to get out of bed in the mornings. Something I’ve struggled with for years. I think this has a lot to do with not spiking my blood sugar the night before by eating a sweet treat. In the last two weeks I’ve consistently gotten up at 5:15 AM 8 out of 10 days!
And I’ve had almost no cravings. I actually sat across from my coworker the other day while she ate a red velvet cupcake with homemade icing and I barely even blinked. It’s true that the more sugar I eat, the more I want to eat and the less I eat the less I want it. I haven’t even missed fruit at all because I’ve been eating way more veggies. As someone who has dealt with binge eating in the past feeling satisfied after a meal is huge for me.
In three weeks we are off to Mexico and I will not be depriving myself of ANYTHING while we are there so I’m sure after five days of indulging again I will almost be back at square one. My plan is to do another two weeks with NO sugar at all (including fruit again) after Mexico and then two weeks where I slowly start adding fruit back in as a treat. From then on I will just see how it goes but I would really like to keep sugar to a minimum because I can tell I feel better when I eat less of it. I am planning on doing some experimenting with sugar-free baking too because I’ve actually found quite a few recipes out there during this little experiment and I’m also planning on purchasing Sarah Wilson’s cookbook.
A couple of slips:
In order to be completely transparent and offer full disclosure there have been a few incidents where I consumed sugar:
- I’ve ate sushi twice (sushi rice is made with sugar)
- I’ve ate takeout pizza (I can pretty much guarantee you that both the pizza dough and the pizza sauce contained sugar)
- I had a mint after dinner at Boston Pizza last weekend. It actually didn’t taste as uber sweet as I thought it would but was definitely solid sugar.
Other than those three slips over the last three weeks I think I’ve done really well keeping sugar out of my diet. I haven’t had any fruit juices or fruit and I certainly haven’t had any of the obvious culprits like candy or chocolate (minus the mint)!
To be continued:
This post ended up being longer than planned because I spent a lot of time talking about how I was feeling since quitting sugar and didn’t address as much from the book as I was hoping or talking more about what I’m eating now vs. how I ate before. So I will do a follow-up post next week about that as well as answering any questions people ask in the comments 
I know something like this wouldn’t be for everyone but it is working so well for me right now
Full disclosure: If you buy the book by clicking the link above I will receive a small amount of compensation. HOWEVER, I bought this book and started the program before knowing about the affiliate program and had full intentions of reviewing it anyways so that was just a nice perk I found out about after. Everything above is really my own thoughts and opinions on the program!
Very interesting stuff! I’m glad you are feeling so great when doing this! I am looking forward to hearing about some of the trades you have made
This is making me realize I probably eat way too much sugar…
I am glad this has been a positive experience for you! I think it’s good to challenge ourselves and do things like this. I have never removed sugar but as you know, I removed dairy a couple of years ago and really did not miss it much at all, which was surprising as I thought I’d crave cheese more, not less! And now I do eat dairy (in moderation) again but I don’t have cheese cravings like I used to!
I think you have done great! Your ‘cheating’ episodes were not bad at all. Especially sushi.
I could never give up sushi!
I’ve been thinking about removing sugar from my diet lately- you just hear so many great things about how it can improve your energy levels. Back before Christmas I tried eating strictly Paleo for a week and saw dramatic improvements, but I was still eating lots of fruit. I’d love to try a complete detox!
Oh wow! I didn’t know you cut out fruit, too. That’s some serious dedication! Is that part of the program, or did you just decide to cut it out?
I feel like I’ve gotten a handle on my soda addiction, so my sugar addiction is what I want to work on next, especially those little treats I have throughout the day! It’s gotten a bit out of hand.
I’m so impressed with your no sugar experiment! I don’t think I’d ever be able to give up fruit…
I always get nervous when I hear about books like this because I feel like it distorts a few things. So maybe I will write out my concerns and then you can let me know in your next post whether or not my concerns are unfounded (because I haven’t read this book so I could be talking out of my butt!).
The main thing that worries me is that with the exception of meat and vegetables, everything raises blood glucose. Bread. Milk. Apples. Oreos. They’re all different types of food, but they all raise blood glucose. Oreos, obviously, are completely processed, have tons of table sugar and no nutritional value whatsoever. Bread, beans, milk and apples on the other hand are complex carbohydrates, don’t contain table sugar (instead it’s naturally-occuring starch, lactose and fructose), but they also contain lots of nutrients, vitamins, and fiber. So it worries me when someone says to cut out apples, but maybe not bread. Now, I don’t know this No-Sugar Diet, so maybe you were living off just meat and non-starchy vegetables.
My point is that I think it’s great when people cutting out table sugar in the form of processed sugars, like Oreos and even ice cream (which is more sugar than milk). But cutting out fruit seems excessive because it’s not a “bad” kind of sugar. Pizza dough for instance doesn’t really contain sugar, per se. It’s a complex carb from the flour and it will raise your BG. It’s basically a white bread. But again, as you pointed out, I don’t know what else you were eating, and so it just makes me wonder how this woman defines “sugar.” Is it anything that raises BG? Is it just stuff than ends in -ose? Flour doesn’t end in -ose but it definitely affects blood sugar.
Anyway, that’s what your resident diabetic has to say and so of course, I’m really interested in hearing your answers about how this was actually approached!
I will definitely address all this next week when I focus more on the book and what I’ve been eating instead of just a general overview. In a nutshell, yes the book recommends cutting out all sugar. The general rule in the book is staying within a range of 3-6 g of sugar per 100 g serving. And yes white bread, starchy things like white potatoes etc. is also recommended to be cut out.
Also, you can get all the same nutrients from vegetables as you can from fruit so if cutting it out makes me feel better (which it has) I don’t think it’s excessive!
I quit sugar a few years ago and was amazed when I started adding it back in to some things how sweet everything tasted. It’s amazing how quickly your tastebuds readjust. I’m trying to eat less sugar now – more moderation though rather than complete removal. Good on ya for giving it a go!
Definitely interesting. I’d love to hear more about what you were eating, ie what snacks look like without sugar. And more about the foods that were cut out.
It’s interesting because as the above comment from Allison says, lots of foods increase blood sugars; sugar (especially in the form of fruit) isn’t the sole “culprit” of this. At the same time, it seems that many people who cut out sugar (and foods that may have it as a minimal addition) feel loads better.
I think there is something to be said about cutting out the processed foods as well, since so many of the foods that contain sugar are very processed, and have other ingredients we are unaware of that may be affecting our moods/sleep patterns/hormones.
Really interesting, Amber! I’ve been thinking about eliminating a number of things from my diet, but am waiting until I meet with my doctor next month. I’m going to bookmark this post and come back should I decide eliminating sugar is an important step to take.
I was going to read this book and get on the program, but decided against it. I can’t give up sushi. I eat it on a weekly basis. Fish is a staple for me (and sushi is a main part ot if!).
I have noticed when I stay away from the candy that I do feel better and I don’t crave it. Glad this is working for you!
This is so interesting! I’ve managed to stay away from refined sugar so far this month, though I have still eaten fruits and sauces. Very impressed that you have staved off fruit too. I’m not sure I could do that but would be interesting to try.
Nice work on this experiement!!! I too find that the less sugar I have, the less I crave it. And it totally does affect my moods…I’m the type who gets angry when hungry, and I think my blood sugar sways a lot more the more carbs in general that I eat, so I end up being angry more! Argh! I’m still trying to keep my sugar intake to only weekends (generally), and that seems to be working out alright for me.
I’d say you did pretty darn good! I don’t eat a lot of sugar in terms of sweets, but I do eat it in things like pizza, etc..
I think it’s good to evaulate what we eat and how it is made and how it probably isn’t good for you, but diets or books or ways of life that cut out fruits or vegetables just don’t sit right with me.
I definitely consider myself a person with a sweet tooth. And while I know I should cut back, I can’t quite do it. I do have a hard time waking up in the morning though, and am now wondering if the amount of sugar I eat has something to do with it.
The only thing I have to say to this is: we had red velvet cupcakes in the office and nobody told me??!!!!!!
I have quit sugar all together before. And it’s a hard way to live. I’m not sure I ever want to go back to a world without tortillas and tomatoes.
This is really interesting – I did an eight week sugar detox last summer with Ben and my body responded really well to it – it was the first time since I’d been diagnosed with PCOS that I’d lost significant weight. I may check this book out to compare/contrast the differences and to get me back on the wagon!
That’s interesting that you are feeling so much better. I don’t consider myself as a sweet tooth person, but I am interested in finding out more about what things are off limits (besides the obvious culprits). I eat a lot of fruit but not really any processed sweets. But I might have trouble trying not to eat fruit. I am looking forward to post II.