No more sugar?

The challenge of avoiding sugar is finished. Here are the last days and some final thoughts.

#Day 13: too soon to celebrate

Yesterday was very exciting as I felt better for the first time. However today I woke up tired again and even if it is only the middle of the week. During the morning I quickly ate a peach before going to class. For lunch I took a panino and discovered that the bakery actually had all the nutritional information printed and packed into a folder available to the public. It was not very obvious but it was good to know and the information was indexed in a detailed way. For dinner I chose to cook some vegetables and mushrooms that I bought in a little store close to my house.

#Day 14: inside and outside

Today I perceived that I have become more able to identify if I was hungry or only craving for sugar during those days. In this case I was hungry and my friend gave some pumpkin seeds again. Not feeling the urgency to eat sugar anymore certainly is changing my perspective about having self-control.

During my final sketch I looked at my room and realised that there was less plastic waste in my trash bin than before starting the challenge. Because I usually eat while studying and working, my desk had dishes on, but this time they were no toasts with jam or nutella, neither cups of coffee with sugar. Instead, they were from salads, fruits and cooked vegetables with rice that I ate before.

“I need sugar” thoughts

The moments I was craving more were usually in the morning and afternoon:

• When I remembered I could not eat sugar
• When I saw somebody eating something sweet close to me
• After meals
• Moments that I was feeling anxious
• Usually in the afternoon and at night

During the first week it was the worst because my feelings towards these thoughts was more like a punishment. However it became normal with time and I felt more tolerant and understanding with the side effects.

The original menu versus the challenge menu:

During those days I tried as much as possible not only reducing the sugar income but also not tasting anything sweet. Because of that I did not consume dietetic options for example, only fruits when there were moments that my mood was really down. Some of the main foods were:

Before the challenge: Mainly pasta, brioches, panino al cioccolato, sorted cookies, choco snacks from vending machine, coffee, pastries, M&Ms, panini, pizza, tunna, banana, toast with butter and jam, tomato sauce.

During the challenge: Quinoa, milk, apple, pesto, rice, parmesan cheese, zucchini, yellow pepper bells, carrots, leafs, couscous, brocolli, peach, pumpkin seeds, toasts, mushrooms.

Despite consuming too much sugar, by looking at the “standard” menu I realised that I already do not eat much meat. So maybe in the future I might try following vegetarian diet to see how it goes.

Finally!

On the last day of the challenge I was still missing sugar. For sure could not see the time I can taste chocolate again but I am glad to say that I don’t fell the urgency anymore. During a group discussion with my colleagues that had two weeks of Vegan diet instead, we shared similar experiences and some interesting highlights are:

There was a common sense about our social cycle being influenced by the challenge. The people around helped us to commit and were curious to start conversations about the impact of our eating habits on a macro scale.

During those two weeks I bought only twice at the vending machines: one for a little pack of peanuts and other for a very bitter coffee without sugar. Consequently I surely can say that I had less plastic packaging waste in my backpack and also saved money. In general I would spent around 2euros per day only for snacks while I had one entire bag of pumpkin seeds that lasted two weeks for only 1,50 euros.

Because I cooked more and paid more attention to the nutritional values of food, I started to become more interested about the origins of the ingredients. That let me observe how easy it is to be detached from the chain of processes and logistics of food industry. Going to a supermarket and buying food that you can eat right away gives to you a quick solution to your first problem of feeling hungry and we don’t remember to think about the process of food since growing until arriving into our homes, neither give needed attention to the production of waste.

It’s also worth mentioning from the point of view of public health that sugar, likely meat, is being over consumed and the predictions of risk of diabetes and heart diseases are about to increase in the future if nothing changes. Also, even though sugar cane is not the only source for sugar, it is estimated that its production by itself already have a great impact on CO2 emissions.

Although reducing sugar was an interesting experience that affected primarily myself, this challenge gave me the opportunity to understand more about how society urgently needs to rethink consumption behaviours. Certainly a great start is to become more aware about the complexity of food with the future of the planet and human health.

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Thank you for your time!