I Gave Up Sugar Cold Turkey To Impress My Girlfriend’s Parents
I loved your story about the slow burn giving up sugar. My experience was diametrically opposite.
1969. Melbourne, Australia. Marion, my girlfriend, pointed over my shoulder from the pillion seat to direct me towards a long driveway, winding up alongside a large wooden house built over two suburban blocks, and painted — red!
We had just ridden 1000km (600 miles) down the highway from Sydney, where I met her when she came to study for her diploma of education.
As I gave a little burst of throttle to guide the machine into the carport the noise thundered back off the two sides with walls, and apparently rattled the teacups in the adjoining kitchen.
That brought a couple of half-annoyed faces to the window, which suddenly changed to shock as Marion gaily waved from the back of the bike. She hadn’t told them about me. That was too complicated over the phone so we thought we just take a ride down to see them.
Me being a Sydney boy by birth I figured that I only need bring a t-shirt, as a change of clothes. “Where are your things?”, her mother asked. I reached into my jacket and produced my change of t-shirt — to which she responded “Oh!”.
The bewilderment of her parents was handled deftly by mum with the offer of a “cup of tea”. I sat the kitchen table, wondering what it would have been like to grow up in this house. When the tea arrived, I searched about for the sugar. None to be seen.
“Umm, do you have sugar?”.
Sugar, for the tea? asked her mum. We don’t have sugar in this house. Well, we do, but only for cooking. If you really want it I’ll get it for you.
I’d never thought about whether I really wanted it or not. But amazingly it struck me as a really smart idea not to be pouring all those useless calories down my throat.
“But how do you drink it without sugar, it’s too bitter”. Even as I said that I realised that they were all drinking tea and coffee without sugar, so it’s obviously possible…
No, it’s OK, I’ll do what you do….
But. I couldn't do what they did for about three years. I had to water down everything so that I could drink it. Over the three years I gradually got back to full strength tea and coffee, and enjoyed the real taste.
I haven’t used added sugar since, except in cooking
I don’t mean that I don’t eat sugar. I avoid added sugar in foods as much as possible but I still love ice cream and dark chocolate. As for naturally occurring sugar in fruit and other foods — I eat the lot.
I’m glad I went cold-turkey, I couldn’t go through your thirty-year ordeal.
Thanks for the story.
Here’s a post I wrote about why I think it’s best for everyone to give up added sugar:
