June 2023. Paris and Vienna. Two cities brimming with delectable desserts that make self-control a challenge. For the two weeks I spent there, my meals consisted of pastries, cakes, and ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, all accompanied by lattes with two generous spoons of sugar.
Don’t get me wrong, I've followed a healthy lifestyle for a while and I'm well aware that sugar is not good for us. I have been mindful of my sugar intake, knowing its effects. Yet, wandering through places renowned for their sweet delicacies, I couldn’t resist. Two weeks later, I hardly recognized my skin. It was never flawless, but suddenly it turned worse than ever. I knew why: sugar. Reflecting on it, I’m grateful to my body for signalling just how bad sugar was for me. The reaction was my body’s way of saying, “Let’s avoid this, dear."
For the next three months, I became more conscious of my sugar consumption than ever before. Gradually, I transitioned from two spoons of sugar in my coffee to none, from almond croissants to plain ones, from chocolate to low-sugar protein bars, from cookies to low-sugar crackers. You get the idea. (Full list of substitutes I made is further below) The transition wasn’t easy. I craved sugar, but the vivid memory of my face kept me going. My skin noticeably improve but it still wasn’t perfect—I had regular breakouts—but I didn’t believe that completely cutting out sugar would help or that I could do it.
Until one day in October, I got determined to try. I committed to remove sugar entirely, and see the results. (By the way, it is the processed sugar, I'm referring to here, not the sugar naturally contained in fruits and honey) So, no sugar in my coffee, no more croissants, not even low-sugar protein bars, no desserts, no ice cream (I’m not even mentioning cold or bottled sugar drinks - I haven't had those in ages). My birthday cake was homemade by my dear friend who altered the recipe to include almost no sugar. My skin has improved a lot and I saw some other benefits too (see further below) so I no longer wanted to stop.
Six months later, I took the next step and cut out pasta and bread. I didn’t consume much of them before, but when I did, I opted for whole wheat. I noticed that after eating pasta and bread, my face appeared slightly swollen the next day—almost unnoticeable, but with my new clean diet, it became easy to identify any issues.
Now, it’s been eight months without sugar, and two months without pasta and bread. I’m not 100% strict; I’ll indulge in a small piece of pastry, a slice of pizza or a spoon of dessert 2-3 times a month. It feels great in my body, and honestly, I don’t even crave it anymore.
In retrospect, here’s how I stopped eating sugar and what helped me persevere (along with some benefits), especially during the transition:
1. Sleep, or sufficient sleep to be exact. Yes, you read that right. My sleep research, which I will write about someday, showed me the crucial role sleep plays in regulating diet. Lack of sleep disrupts our hormones, leading us to choose fatty, processed, and high-sugar foods. There’s also a kind of glitch in our brain when sleep-deprived that leads to poor food choices. In other words, if you want to improve your diet, make sure you get those much-needed eight hours daily.
2. Slow transition. Going cold turkey might work for some, but for me the slow transition helped me get through. Mainly, because our taste buds change over time. Switching from a two-spoon-of-sugar latte to a plain one seemed impossible at first. Coffee tasted unbearably bitter without sugar. But a 1.5-spoon-of-sugar latte was manageable. As my taste buds adapted, a one-spoon-of-sugar latte became acceptable. Now, I savor the actual taste of coffee and milk without sugar. Many foods seem tasteless or bitter without sugar, but let your taste buds adjust, and you’ll learn to appreciate the core flavors.
3. Replacing sugar with healthy alternatives. I learned that there are two important aspects when cutting out sugar: the craving for sweetness and the habit of snacking.
a. The craving for sweetness can be initially satisfied with low-sugar options, and then with sweet fruits and honey. Not dried fruits, though—they often contain added sugar. Mandarins, pineapples, and mangoes are my favorites. They have natural sugars that aren’t nearly as harmful as refined ones.
b. The sweet-snacking habit was easy to target through opting out for nuts. I used to have a dessert with each cup of coffee/tea. Now, I opt for nuts, cut fruit, and homemade granola with no sugar (just some honey). These substitutions also work when I need a snack. It's often the habit, not just the craving, that needs changing.
4. Eating proper meals and avoiding hunger. Just earlier this week, I found myself grabbing a pizza because I was too hungry. While the plan was to get home and make chicken with vegetables, the smell of a nearby pizzeria was too tempting. I had a third of a slice before a bird swooped in and stole it as I left my dinner unattended on an outdoor table while grabbing a napkin. Thank you, universe, for the sign—I should’ve waited to get home and eat my healthy meal. The lesson here is to proactively satisfy your hunger to maintain the willpower to choose healthy foods. When we’re starving, we opt for whatever is available, usually unhealthy options.
5. Enjoying the desserts with my eyes and nose rather than with my mouth. I can't tell if it would work for everyone but it worked for me (and you won't lose much if you try this too). Just enjoying a beautiful display at a pastry shop while sniffing the aroma feels satisfying to me now. After all, we enjoy those desserts not just with the mouth receptors but with other senses as well.
Have you ever thought that looking at those beautiful cakes and enjoying the smell can last much longer than feeling the taste in your mouth?
6. Regular workouts. I think overall care for my body helps me keep going. Doing all the good things for my health makes me feel like this is just my lifestyle, and I want it to stay the same across different areas - from food to activity. Also, workouts improve our moods and pump oxygen into our brains, allowing us to make better food choices.
7. Visible benefits keep me motivated. There is nothing more satisfying than looking in the mirror and seeing the difference, or feeling the results in the body when going about your day. And that being said...
... Here are all the benefits I enjoy after cutting out sugar:
a. Skin improvements. I used to have regular breakouts, which worsened under certain conditions. Now, without sugar, my baseline is clear skin. I still experience breakouts when stressed or sleep-deprived, but my baseline is much improved.
b. Reduced swelling. My skin looks tighter, especially on my face. It feels leaner, and I enjoy this new look.
c. Feeling lighter. My body weight hasn’t changed much, as I didn’t have much to lose. I replaced sugar with larger meal portions and healthy snacks. But overall, my body feels lighter. While other healthy habits I've worked on may contribute to this as well, removing sugar plays a significant role.
d. Appreciating natural flavors. It’s satisfying to enjoy food's natural taste without processed sugar. Natural flavors are much tastier than we tend to think; we just need to give our taste buds some time to adjust.
e. Flatter stomach. I never really had extra weight, but a couple years ago I developed a bit of a hormonal belly (bulkiness well below the belly button). Exercise didn’t completely eliminate it, and I thought it was an inevitable part of aging. Surprisingly, removing sugar solved it and I got my flat stomach back. I still get some bulkiness sometimes when stressed (that's how hormones work 😐), but my baseline is now a flat stomach. Seeing this in the mirror kept me going when I was close to giving up on my then new habit.
Finally, here is the list of substitutes I made step-by-step:
Chocolate bars > protein bars > low-sugar protein bars > no-added-sugar simple-ingredient fruit and nut bars.
Cookies > crackers (those still have added sugar, believe it or not) > nuts.
Regular granola > low-sugar granola > homemade honey-sweetened granola.
Regular yogurt > low-sugar yogurt > unsweetened plain yogurt with fresh berries and homemade granola.
3 Scoops of ice cream in a sugar cone > 2 scoops of ice cream in a cup > one scoop of sugar-free ice cream (rare find) > matcha latte with no sugar or unsweetened green tea.
Cakes > fruit cakes > small portion cakes > one spoon of cake once or twice month.
Sweet alcohol cocktails > prosecco > half a glass of prosecco every couple of months.
Reading labels on all food that comes in a can/box/bottle and choosing the options with no added sugar.
There is also something else that helped me take my healthy eating to the next level very recently. It was a week-long silent meditation retreat I enjoyed about three months ago (I’ll write about this experience soon). In the tranquility of nature, I developed an extreme love for my body and learned to cherish this beautiful gift from Mother Earth - a healthy body. This newfound respect for my body and nature has made healthy eating even easier.
If you're on the path to cutting out sugar, you’ve got this! It’s a beautiful and rewarding journey. Keep going!
Feel free to message me on Instagram or in the comments if you need support along your sugar-free journey. Good luck! 😉
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