Year without sugar: the pre-game, rules, and results from quitting sugar for 31 days

In late 2015 I watched a YouTube video by spirituality coach/guru Gabrielle Bernstein: “How I quit sugar!” in which she declared that she was 1 year sugar free. My reaction? “You can just up and QUIT sugar?!” This had never occurred to me. I had assumed that I would always be addicted to it.

It sounded like an insanely hard challenge and I’d been looking for a new challenge for 2016 to step into my even better self (always!). Unless I’m pushing myself to be uncomfortable and do difficult things, I’m bored with my life and I slip into negative habits/mindsets. Ricky Bobby said in Talladega Nights “if you’re not first, you’re last!” The coaching equivalent being: “if you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward.” There’s no such thing as “balance,” only “balancing.” It’s a continuous dance…a couple of steps forward, maybe one or two back every now and again but ultimately stepping into new territory for personal growth. If I’m not moving forward toward a difficult new goal, I’m regressing backward.

How did I prepare for my challenge?

I decided to eat as much sugar as I could from Thanksgiving until the end of 2015 just to see what that felt like. Prior to that I ate a low but regular amount of sugar–a cookie or two if they were brought into the office, ice cream on the weekend, soy lattes from Starbucks (yes, sugar in those!). I didn’t drink sodas or eat super sweet meals like cereal. But on a particularly stressful day I might find myself buying a small bar of chocolate at Trader Joes…or a whole box of cookies (and eating the whole box in a 24 hour period).

Starting with pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving and then eating ALL THE HOLIDAY COOKIES in sight for a month, See’s Candy, hot cocoa, birthday cake, Peppermint JoeJoe’s, Chocolate Covered Peppermint JoeJoe’s…all the way until Jan 31.

What did I notice eating lot’s of sugar every day for a month?

My face got a ton of break-outs! It was red and puffy like I was going through a mild case of puberty all over again.
I had to have sugar as soon as I woke up! I could feel the urge to stuff cookies into my face as soon as I got out of bed. Nothing else sounded good–not eggs, not kale, not plain yogurt…I wanted cookies.
I would have to re-up on sugar throughout the day just to feel normal.
I had no energy, didn’t want to go running or work out (and I didn’t). Yoga was a struggle. I just felt mildly tired all the time, no matter how much sleep I got. Upon waking I’d want to stay in bed as long as possible.
I didn’t really put on any extra pounds but I probably would have past 1 month. But I just felt lethargic and not my best. I went hiking with a friend and I was like, “we need to pick an easy hike, I can’t do hills.”
Food stopped tasting like anything. I just wanted to stuff my face with carbs.

What was my life long relationship with sugar?

Through a process of creating a life sugar timeline, starting from birth and going until the present, I discovered a few things about my relationship with sugar:

Sugar was used to celebrate things: birthdays, Christmas, the usual…I remember once my parents buying a package of cookies when they signed the lease on a new house when I was really little. I have this memory of being in this vacant house except for cookies on the kitchen counter.
Sugar was love. If my parents were in a good mood they might let us pick out a sweeter than usual cereal at the store (my favorite was Reese’s cereal, yes, like the candy!), or poptarts…or make cookies from scratch at home. Children always want their parents’ attention and sugar seemed linked to good attention in my family. Same for grandparents too. I can remember making cinnamon roles with my great grandmother Gigi and that felt like love, or my grandma letting me pick a piece of candy (or 6) from the candy jar and that felt like love.
Sugar soothed. If I was having a stressful day of high-school, it was totally within my power to buy a cookie from the food cart at break. It was my first legal drug!
Sugar was social. My bff’s (from 2nd grade to high school) parents had a pantry with a cookie jar! (My family sadly did not have one.) If we went over to her house to practice Odyssey of the Mind or study the cookie jar would come down. This was how I connected with my peers–over a sweet treat.

What did I do to change the relationships with sugar that weren’t serving me?

Nutrition school. The 1 year long program with Institute for Integrative Nutrition helped me learn a lot about my relationship with food! I became a Certified Health Coach by the end to help others but I feel like it helped ME the most!
The book Women, Food, and God by Geneen Roth–finally a book about the emotional connection to eating! Geneen Roth is so vulnerable it helped me see that there were emotional habits I could change and heal.
Coming up with a new way to celebrate: exercise, or even just a deep breath or sharing with a friend. Instead of “it’s Friday! I should celebrate by buying (and eating) some ice cream,” I had to change that habit to “it’s Friday! I should celebrate by working out or going to a yoga class.” I exchanged one unhealthy habit with a new health habit.
Giving myself plenty of non-sugar love. This includes daily meditation, affirmations, gratitude, deep connections with friends, exercise, creative expression, quiet mornings with a cup of coffee, time in nature, massages, baths. Some of my childhood trauma is desiring more physical nurturing. I had been replacing this desire with sugar, meaningless sex, codependent relationships, etc. I finally had to give myself the nurturing and self love that I’d always wanted in full (we’re the only ones that can give this to ourselves, no one is coming to save us).
Feeling negative emotions instead of hiding from them. Sugar can stuff away feelings. As children, we don’t have the maturity to fully manage in a healthy way all the emotions that come to us–and sometimes we are in situations that feel and are dangerous–we can’t yet take care of ourselves. We learn that some feelings hurt a lot–that they’re not safe or we’re not safe. So we learn ways to not feel. For me going into my head was a great way to not feel. I read ALL THE BOOKS when I was a kid. This is not a bad thing–I love it and still do! But it kept me in my head and out of my body, out of feeling weird scary emotions. I had to learn how to feel emotions and feel safe with them. So if something like loneliness comes up, I now turn toward it, saying to myself, “that’s interesting, I want to learn more about that. Let me look at that emotion. What does it feel like in my body? Where is it coming from? Do I feel safe? Yes, I’m safe. I can feel this feeling and stay present in my body.” This practice has been SO GOOD for feeling enough, safe, and worthy.

When did I start my challenge?

I started Jan 1st 2016! I started by taking a cold plunge in the Pacific Ocean with some friends to start the new year. This was to prove to myself that I could do difficult things and that I could be comfortable doing the uncomfortable.

I then drove from California through Arizona and New Mexico back home to Austin, TX. I normally would stay awake on a road trip with sugary snacks but I managed to do with with coffee, dried and fresh fruit, carrots, and baked/salted green pea snacks and other whole or slightly processed foods. This will continue to evolve healthier and healthier. This was the transition.

What are the rules?

No cane sugar is rule #1! Also no maple syrup, honey, agave, rice sugar, etc.
Stevia is okay, it’s not the same as sugar…but I know when I’m eating in an addictive way so no eating stevia in a binge/emotional way. So far, no issues here. I drink a protein shake, Vega All in One Chocolate, that uses stevia and that’s about it.
Fruit is okay for now, but will cut down on too many sweet things and carbs as I ramp up the challenge. First I just wanted to eliminate cane sugar and added sweeteners.

What are my results after 31 one days (January 2016)?

My skin cleared up and looks flawless/glowing. I’ve been getting crazy complements on it. Here’s a photo from a couple of days ago while grabbing lunch with my inspiring friend Luke (check out his show Luke Baker Live in which he interviews fashion icons from the 70s). Luke immediately commented that my skin looked clear and healthy (so naturally we had to take some selfies).
My head feels clear–I can think and focus all day long!
I get out of bed with my more energy. I hit snooze less.
I have energized workouts–running, yoga, weight lifting.
I feel free of the addictive cycle of: emotional trigger–>pacify with sugar (or anything). That cycle is vicious and makes us falsely believe that there’s anything better than the present moment. We can’t escape it–we can only be more present in it. Eating sugar as a way to escape a negative emotion only feels good for a moment then we are still left with ourselves. Breaking this addictive cycle feels strong and powerful: I’m in the driver’s seat of my life.
I haven’t lost any weight–I haven’t focused on calorie reduction or anything like that. If I want to do that I feel healthy about it–not unhealthy dieting. I will be experimenting with ways of eating a whole food plant based diet that is sustainable and keeps me at a body fat percentage that feels the most healthy and gives me the most energy.