Four weeks ago, I quit sugar! Chocolate, lollies, fruit, juice, soft drink, tomato sauce – I’ve quit it all. Inspired by Sarah Wilson, author of I Quit Sugar, I decided to lay off the sugar for 8 weeks. Half way through the program now, I’m feeling pretty good and quite impressed I’ve come this far – and I’m determined to finish the last four weeks too! It’s been really interesting learning about everything sugar-related and actually being mindful of what I was shoving down my throat. Why I’m doing it? I was a) curious b) bored c) wanted to improve my energy levels and avoid the 3.30 slump and rush to 7/11 and finally, d) to see if my skin improved.

Week 1 and 2 were pretty easy, I aimed to slowly work myself off sugar. It was really just beginning to be conscious of what contained sugar and being aware of what I was putting in to my body. Week 3 marked the absolutely NO SUGAR part of the program. That surprisingly went fairly well too. But then, day one of week 4… BANG! I was feeling dizzy, sweaty and faint – the lack of sugar in my diet had finally hit me. I went straight to my filing cabinet at work and pulled out my saladas and vegemite – I’m not sure what you file at work but my cabinet consists of mostly food. The rest of week 4 improved, thankfully. I had my first visit to a health food shop which was super exciting! I found lots of organic and sugar-less alternatives including cacao nibs, raw cacao powder and coconut butter and oil. The cooking so far has been a bit bland but it’s slowly improving. According to Sarah Wilson, week 5 is when you really start to notice the lack of sugar so I should be in for a ride this week.

What I’ve noticed so far? My energy levels seem to be improving, less up and down than usual, especially in the afternoons at work. I also feel a lot less bloated. My concerns? As I’ve cut out fruit, I’m really conscious of eating well. I’m trying to eat as much vegetables as I can, it’s tough though! Another concern is that I’m replacing sugar with more (bad) fats. I’ll try to eat less of these in the coming weeks.

I’d like to take the opportunity to apologise to anyone who has witnessed my mood swings, particularly my brother and his girlfriend. They’ve seen some award winning tantrums!

Four weeks to go – wish me luck! I’ll report back with the rest of my findings soon.