About two weeks ago I decided that I wanted to quit sugar. I wasn’t really sure about how to go about it, or why it was so important, I just knew that it wasn’t doing me any good, and that I’d had enough.
It started after I’d vaguely overheard someone talking about David Gillespie’s book Sweet Poison and how it had changed their life (I purchased the second book the Sweet Poison Quit Plan thinking that would be a better choice for me). Normally I’m not one for over dramatics, but I thought I’d give it a read anyway.
At the time I’d been feeling rather, blah, and always looking for ways to become healthier, so it seemed like it could be a good experiment if nothing else.
Full of good intentions, I headed off to Woolies (supermarket for those non-Aussies).
Avoiding buying the obvious stuff like chocolate and cakes was one thing, but practically every other thing that my family loves, from sauce to rice crackers, all had sugar in it. It seems that manufacturers like to put sugar in EVERYTHING.
I was pretty much left with fruit, vegetables, milk and bread. As I peered in my shopping trolley I knew my family were going to cause a riot when I got home.
At first I wavered in my decision. What would I feed them and me, but it seems I was on to something.
My sugar bowl has changed. It now has stevia sweetener.
Is Sugar Really Evil?
Sugar as being addictive kept popping up at random places. You know when you start seeing a particular thing over and over, and it seems entirely random, but you get this weird feeling the universe is trying to tell you something? Yeah I know, strange, but the ‘sugar is bad’ message kept popping up for me.
And apart from it being sweet and tasting nice, I couldn’t find one redeeming feature (healthwise) about it. In fact the more I was reading about it, the worse it seemed since it’s linked to just about every killer disease there is (cancer, diabetes, stroke, heart-attack, dementia, the list goes on).
But its natural right? Well it might not be quite so natural as we think (have you ever read what they do to sugar cane to actually extract this stuff?)
But anyway, I’m not going to try to convince you that sugar is totally evil because that would mean I’m leaning far too much toward the conspiracy side, and I like to consider myself relatively normal (mostly anyway 
).
I just decided to give it up, and see if I could convince my family to join me too.
Mixed with milk, these are delicious!
The First Week
In the first week of giving up sugar I got the withdrawal headaches and also had a general feeling of wooziness (like I’d had a glass of wine).
But with the bad also came the good. I was feeling more relaxed as my moods had evened out. I felt lighter even though the numbers on the scales hadn’t budged. My head was clearer and no longer foggy, and I wasn’t getting stomach bloating as often as I used to.
But the best thing was my son’s behaviour (who can be stubborn and challenging at times – now I wonder where he gets that from?). Well his mood swings, behaviour, and concentration was better as well.
I also found I didn’t miss sugar at all and still don’t. But this IS still only day 10. ;)
A Typical Day
Breakfast: Vita-brits with full cream milk and one sachet of Natvia (Stevia sweetener)
Lunch: Toast or Sandwich with either Vegemite or Avocado.
Dinner: Meat with Salad (my son loves cucumber and my daughter loves grated cheese and carrot mixed together). My husband just likes meat
Snacks: Nuts (I like cashews), Fruit (limited to 2 per day because of their sugar counts), Plain crisps (flavoured ones had sugar!), cheese, eggs, bread and butter (I luurve Lurpak).
Drinks: Water, Mineral Water, Milk. I often mix plain mineral water with diet cordial to make sugar-free soft drinks.
Early Days, But I’ll Continue
The way I’m feeling (and that I’ve since lost 1 kg) means that I’ll be continuing to seek out sugar-free alternatives to my fav’s. It’s easy to stick to, and has made me and my family feel wonderful (even if they aren’t quite as sugar-free as I’d like them to be).
I’ve also since read David Gillespie’s latest book Big Fat Lies and realised I’m eating way too much polyunsaturated fats as well. I’ll eventually start to eliminate those too, but one step at a time.
One sweet-free step at a time.
Tracey 
You should also take a look at Wheat Belly, which will open your eyes about why wheat is evil as well.
Cool, I’ll check it out. t
Yes, Tim, I also read Wheat Belly by Dr William Davis & have been grain free for the last 4 months. It was a challenge giving up bread etc but my health has definitely improved with the elimination of fructose & grains/wheat etc. it is something I would recommend everyone research.
well done, i know the health benefits of sugar free. I have been sugar free for 13 months, have lost 24 kilos and feel great. I found the first couple of days the hardest with headaches and the first 2 weeks a little hard after that it was easy. My youngest child is also benefitting from our change in life style as sugars, colours and additives play a big part in his behaviour. Keep up the great work
Good on you Tracey. I’m doing the same – only my family isn’t really on board. I’ve got a teenager and a hubby that simply can’t give up chocolate. I’m feeling loads better and have lost 2kg in about 4 weeks all with no exercise and eating butter and full cream milk. Go figure. Keep up the good work.
Good job Tracey! I’ve tried a couple of times to eliminate sugar and haven’t been successful yet, but it will happen! Sarah Wilson’s website has some really good recipes if you’re interested
Well done, Tracey. I too have found it tricky at first with young kids but then they ended up surprising me with adapting to a no-sugar lifestyle easier than my husband and I did. I read all three of David Gillespie’s books and gave up all sugar completely, even artificial sweeteners but I noticed I was actually gaining weight. The more reading I did I discovered to my bitter disappointment that processed grains (bread, pasta, rice, crumpets, muffins, cereals) all cause the same insulin spikes that sugar does, and set of similar addiction responses ie: the more I ate, the more I wanted. So, goodbye delicious hot buttered toast! But in the 8 weeks since I have quit sugar and processed carbs I have lost 6 kgs and energy wise have never felt better! I have since started saying to myself that no carbs taste as good as feeling healthy, energised and thin feel! And now I don’t even miss them!
Thanks everyone! It’s going well so it’s a positive journey so far.
@Sarina – 13 months! That’s brilliant. You’re my new inspiration.
@Monica – I’ve been experimenting with sugar-free chocolate. So far the only one I like is a licorice flavored one from Woolworths (it’s expensive though).
@Melissa F – I love Sarah’s blog! – I subscribe so I can make sure to read it regularly – she’s great inspiration.
@Melissa – I’ve been thinking about the carbs a lot. I was worried I’d have nothing left to eat if I gave up processed grains, but it may be that I try and find alternatives for them too. I read somewhere that almond flour was a good alternative, so I may try to cut those out next month – December, erggh. I picked a good time to do this
For all you chocoholics try this very simple chocolate truffle recipe:
Homemade Chocolate Truffles
1 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup + 2 dessertspoons coconut oil
1/4 cup + 2 dessertspoons glucose syrup
Dextrose to taste – approx 2 tbs
1/2 cup coconut cream (or cream)
(60g cocoa butter if a firmer mixture desired)
Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a small mixing bowl with a fork, making sure to mix bottom and sides in well. Cover and place in the freezer for 15-20 minutes or until firm. Pour a little more cocoa, or shredded coconut or chopped nuts, into a shallow bowl (about 2 tablespoons) for the coating.
Scoop out a small spoonful of the hardened chocolate, gently roll it in your hands, and drop it in the bowl with coating. Once you have a couple you can gently swirl the bowl to cover the ball with the cocoa powder or preferred coating.
The original recipe was a little soft so I added a cople of extra spoons of coconut oil. I suggest you experiment with the recipe to suit your taste. Everyone I have given this to taste absolutely loves it. I have tried countless chocolate recipes & this is by far the best yet. I really recommend you try it – it is so simple to make.
Check out marksdailyapple.com. He is into primal way of eating which I have been following although he uses some honeyn& maple syrup which is a big no-no. However, if you sign up for the newsletters you get access to some free books including coconut recipe book which uses coconut flour. There are endless alternatives to eating wheat & grains – believe me it is do-able but does take a bit of forward planning for meals etc. I have savoury mince or bacon & eggs for breakfast or make my own grain free coconutty granola & homemade yoghurt. A least I know what I am eating now with no processed foods anywhere to be seen. I have a beautiful roast tomato sauce which I use whenever I need sauce for grain free pizzas or in stock for stews etc. I am so proud of what I have achieved. & my family have not noticed that they are no longer eating fructose/sugar & have adapted to no wheat as I use al ond flour or coconut flour to cook cakes etc. I would suggest everyone read “Wheat Belly” – like “Sweet Poison” it will open your eyes.
Great job. 10 days started of a new life. I’ve been off sugar 14 mths. The longer you go the more you will experiment with cooking and foods. I make amazing food with herbs and spices and no sugar. Your typical day food plan doesn’t seem to include vegetables. They are low sugar and very important to incorporate in your diet. I do different things with vegies including hiding them in the meat dishes for reluctant eaters. Good luck on your journey.
I would like to recommend two excellent books on diet and health. The Diet Delusion by Gary Taubes and Diabetes Solution by Dr Richard K Bernstein. I have been eating a low carb, moderate fat, moderate protein diet for a few years. I am now goal weight. I am not at all interested in sweet food. My breakfast today was a small piece of rump steak, fat on, two eggs (all organic) a couple of little tomatoes from our garden, fried in a little home rendered dripping. So delicious and satisfying. Don’t fear saturated fat. Avoid polyunsaturated vegetable oils. When chickens hatch they don’t have a heart attack on day one from all that cholesterol and fat. The next time a doctor recommends a blood test, I am going to ask him to untick the cholesterol box. Warm wishes to everyone.
I would love to be healthy etc etc. No sugar sounds good and achievable but !!! Does that include Drambuie and beer??? At the moment I don’t drink the Drams because of $$, beers maybe 4 stubies a week unless I’m on a bender and then it might be 8 at a time. Not knowing the reality about foods, I sometimes wonder about the harm of sugars, fats etc etc and consider the shape of the human tooth/teeth. What are we meant to eat??? B.F.I.I.K. How can we be happy in body and mind. B.F………. Smiles to you all. Jeff
Jeff, Beer is fine! It contains relatively little sugar.
Cut out the fruit juice, soft drinks, cakes, biscuits and processed foods and you’ll be most of the way there.
I have to ask a question because your post actually inspired me to give this a shot for 30 days and see how I feel.
I was at the grocery store and just about everything had sugar on the label. Maybe I’m looking at this the wrong way. Am I looking for sugar content on the label or in the ingredients? Because everything I looked at like milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc all had sugar on there (usually 5g a serving). I realize orange juice, has it’s own natural sugar. But is that the sugar you’re trying to avoid?
The sugar that we should be avoiding is fructose, that’s the one linked to all the health problems, so unfortunately that means orange juice is out (fruit juice is concentrated fructose). Eating the orange is better because the fibre counteracts any problems the sugar causes. And one piece of fruit has minimal fructose compared to a glass of juice (which is usually the juice of 4 or 5 oranges).
Sugar itself is half fructose half glucose. Our bodies need glucose for energy and it’s easily handled by the body. No need to avoid pure glucose. It’s the fructose half that’s the problem.
The sugar in milk and dairy products is lactose. Lactose (unless you are intolerant) is easily digested by the body and doesn’t cause any issues. So that ‘sugar’ is perfectly fine too.
What I’ve been doing is reading the ingredients for sugar and then checking to see what the grams per 100g is. I’m happy with anything under 5g although under 3g is better. If it has no sugar (or rather no fructose) then I’m sold.
Hope that helps!
Good luck – it gets easier.
Tracey
Thanks for the reply. I’m going to pick up the book you mentioned in the post to get a better idea. Though what you’ve written will give me a good start.
Hey Nice Blog. But I really think you are slightly mis-informed but please everyone is entitled to an opinion.
Natural sugars found in Cane and fruit etc are far healthier than any man made sweeteners like you are advocating. Most sweeteners contain a degree of aspartame which research has found to be a cancer inducing agent. The histories of unsuccessful lawsuits against the large manufacturers in the USA are there for all to see as it is far too commercially viable for all concerned.
Personally I have two daughters and I would never give them a diet drink or sugar free drink as I feel it would be more harmful to them than a natural product like sugar.
Fructose (in sugar) is far from healthy! It’s linked to nearly every major chronic disease we have.
I agree that Aspartame is bad – I’d never touch the stuff. It’s pretty easy to avoid though. I use Stevia or pure glucose if I’m going to sweeten something – although the longer I go the less I crave sweetness.
I’m advocating a healthy natural diet. Nothing more, nothing less.
Apologies for the generalisation in my last comment. As I have realized Stevia is a natural sweetener but it is not common or used widely so just wanted to say that most sweeteners don’t fall into this category. Major drinks companies are having trouble getting it to work with there leading brands so I would think that this product won’t replace the more common brand sweeteners any time soon.
I don’t use a lot of sweeteners. I do use stevia occasionally which is easily available in Australia at most supermarkets. The diet cordials we have also have stevia. I’ve never really drank soft drink so that’s not an issue for me.
The white sugar you see in supermarkets is a far cry from the actually cane sugar plant. Research what they do to it, including the bleaching process etc. I bet you don’t look at it quite the same way
Hi, great article! I am also trying to go sugar free and want to influence my son/daughter-in-law with their 2 daughters as they tend to have a lot of sugary things around (wanted to call them foods but thought better of that). Something also to watch out for is the “natural” labeling on packaged foods as you think it’s all good but it could be loaded with GMO products. Something I am just reading about now.