Finally sugar free! - Why, Who, and how to!

The first time I heard about somebody going sugar free was about two years ago. My flatmate decided to cut out sugar from her diet for a month during December. Everybody laughed at her for trying this in the most sweet-laden month of the year. But she is tubborn, and although we had bets going on how long she was goin to last, she pulled it through - and went straight on! As far as I know, she is still not eating sugar up to this day.

Her initial motivation for this experiment was not to lose weight or get healthier, but to abstain from something that she would miss to get more aware and appreciative of all the luxuries in her life.

She ended up keeping her habit because she had realised significant changes in her body and mind during those firstt 30 days: She said she felt calmer, more self-centered, and physically more comfortable.

While I am no expert and I am not aware of any reliable studies that prove any of the negative effects that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar">refined sugar</a> many online articles point at, what I do have to share is my experience of easing off refined sugars and living sugarfree for 9 months.

So let me tell you my story and share my insights. After that, you might want to look at a little list that I put together to see if you should consider a sugar free experiment yourself.

I had prepared well for my experiment, thinking about when I was most likely to crave sweets. I made a list of places where I was used to eat or find sweet things, times I would usually eat them, and I brainstormed sweet, sugarfree substitutes for these occasions.

The preparation proved worth its time: I made it through my 30 day trial with almost no cravings - certainly much less than I would have expected.

How did I feel? Phantastic! I was surprised at what big effects my new diet had not only on my body and mind, but on my whole life.

Needless to say, I decided to stick to it.

By now, I have made it through my first sugarfree christmas and after nine months I am still amazed at how much better my life quality is without sugar.

Like many other girls in their mid-twenties, I had was well acquainted with depressive moods and hormonal inbalances that affected my life more than I would have wanted. Since I was a teenager, I had been suffering from seasonal depression in winter and I approached the quarterlife mark, changes in my body led to more and more intensive period pain and PMS. I was no stranger to migraine, either, and as a newly practising teacher I was never left out when there was a virus or anything of that kind about in our school.

In short: Both my mind and my body seemed instable and I felt like they turned on me in the worst moments.

I have never really been overwheight, but I'm no faery, either, and I knew that I had accumulated some very unhealthy eating habits over the years. I was an emotional and compulsive eater, I had very bad cravings literally all the time and I was known to be the girl who eats boy portions.

I had been working on establishing new eating patterns along with my endeavors to make my life more ecologically sustainable. After being occasional carnivores for years, my boyfriend and me quit eating meat for good.
I had been talking to other friends who wer undertaking variations of the sugarfree diet and saw and heard the results. After three weeks of no refined sugar, one of my friends who had been plagued by acne as long as I'd known her looked almost as if she'd had photoshopped her cheeks. Another friend got the diet recommended by her doctor.

Two weeks before my 26th birthday, after two winters without major incidents and without using a daylight lamp, I had one of the biggest breakdowns of my life.

Things had been building up to it and it wasn't an easy time for me, but I was completely flabberghasted and felt utterly betrayed by my body and mind, for jumping on my back that way. After almost two years of relative peace I would never have thought that I could fall so deep so suddenly again.

Luckily, I had a lot of support and recovered fast, but the feeling that i needed to change something to take another step to more stability stuck.

I started researching the internet and decided to give it a try. A couple of days before my 26th birthday I went completely sugar free for 30 days.

If you agree with one or more of the following statements, I would recommend you try going sugar free for a while.

• I am always tired without any obvious reason (my iron and vitaim levels are fine, I get enough sleep and sunshine...)
• I can not stop thinking about food
• I have troubles to realise when I am actually full and stop eating
• I feel moody and sensitive
• I have painful period cramps or strong PMS
• My body feels kind of bloated and heavy
• I have greasy, irritable skin

The thing about diets is that there is no ideal way to eat. It is different for every person. The only way to find out what works for you is to try different things. Since refined sugar is a product we eat way too much of in our lives, there really is a good chance that cutting down on sugar will do you good.

There are different ways of going on about changing your sugar intake. I have heard of as many models as I have talked with people, and I encourage you to think about what might work for you. Here are some ideas:

• Cut out all refined sugar. No sweets, now sugar in your coffee, no products with added sugar.
• Some people additionally cut out things like maple syrup and honey.
• Some people have sugar in their first morning coffee or tea, as part of the ritual.
• Other people merely define the amount of sweetened things that they eat. For example, a piece of cake on Sunday is ok, or one small sweet a day is ok. If you are good with moderation, this can be a wonderful option. However, since eating sweets causes your blood sugar levels to peak, you will most likely battle cravings throughout the rest of the day and going off completely will actually be easier.
• The most exptreme for I have heard of so far is to completely cut out all forms of sugar, that means that fruit are off the menu, too. I would only recommend this type of diet under supervision of a doctor or other trained person.

I chose the first version and I am very happy with it. It allows me to feed my sweet tooth with fruit, honey and other natural sweeteners. I have found that these products do not cause me cravings like refined sugar does. Again, it is all about what works for you.

Consider giving yourself a trial period of 30 days to test your new habit. A month is a pretty good time to see initial changes, but it is not too long - so you can keep your courage up and tell yourself that it is not forever. After 30 days, allow yourself to feel that you achieved your goal - because you have! Then think about if you want to continue the regime, or if it does not work for you.

Below are some links to resources I found useful or interesting. I hope they will help you get inspired and make your transition easier.

If you want to experiment with going sugar free, I'm hoping that it will help you just as much as I did me, and I also hope that you will make it a fun time!

If this article was helpful to you, if you want to correct something, share your opinion or some useful resources that you know of, please don't hesitate to comment and share!