are you in a tunnel, sugar? cuz we're breaking up.

I Quit Sugar

Sugar. Yummy, addictive, delicious, thief of my happiness, sugar.

There was a time when I could not even conceive (that’s true, I was not able to conceive), but here I mean I could not conceive of giving up sugar. 

As far back as I can remember, I have NEVER been someone who was fine with one cookie. 

You know how some people have “just a taste”? 

Not me. Not with sugar. 

For me, opening the door to sugar was more like unlocking a closet that was so full that it all came out on to the floor upon opening. Picture it, soccer balls rolling and bouncing down the stairs, umbrellas, old mail, busting out into the hall, just because I opened the door…a crack.

me if I were a cartoon guy

It took 11 difficult years of “unexplained infertility” to point my head toward my own health and in so doing, I finally realized that I am way better off, just saying a long tearful goodbye to sugar. 

This was such a revelation for me, and to this day, remains the most impactful health choice ever, ever, ever.

I loved you so much…but you did me so wrong.  

Please don’t call me again.

At first, it was SO FLIPPIN HARD. I remember walking around the Taste of Chicago, mourning the things I would not be enjoying, like a little kid…because when you give it up, you realize that sugar is not only the child star of things like ice cream and bbq ribs, but out in the big world, it is in EVERYTHING.

Condiments, sauces, salad dressings, prepared foods, you name it…its there. Sometimes it is diguised as corn syrup, or dextrose, or some garbage like that, but its there.

How, then does one give it up, you ask? 

For me, at least at first, it took extremely deliberate meal planning. It was suggested to me that I write down what I was going to eat that day and stick to it.

I know this may sound overly managerial, and believe me, it definitely triggered my inner, “that’s ridiculous, nobody’s gonna tell me what to do”, but then I asked myself.

logged my food...helped a LOT

Do I want to be stubborn, or do I want to be happy?   Annnnnnd, while stubborn has its rewards, happy simply has to win.

So, I did it…I eliminated sugar from my diet...and for about two weeks, I was sad,

like chemically sad.

I think I was just getting it out of my system, but then something beautiful happened.

I started to sleep better, my skin cleared up, my clothes loosened, my cycles became easier, I felt infinitely less volatile, and life improved. 

Look for recipes to support this lifestyle in my sugar-free living section.

I’m telling you, it is a great way to live. Oh, and I had a baby…so that’s cool.