Sugar free for 30+ days
All my life I have had a difficult relationship with sugar. My earliest memory related to sugar is 5 year old me finding my (very sweet) vitamin-c tablets and eating a huge amount of them. Luckily vitamin-c isn't a huge risk or I wouldn't be writing this today.
Other things I remember from my years between 5 and 12 are the large amounts of fruit juices and cola that I drank. I also ate large amounts of chocolate and other candy from the moment my mother came home from grocery shopping.
In my teen years I continued my bad sugar-binging habits and it continued into adult life. Although I limited my intake a bit at times, because of weight loss goals, I never fully quit. I did try, again and again.
Fast forward a few more decades: I am now 43 years old, a husband and father of two. Because I want to be around to enjoy much more time with them, I decided to make some changes. The sugar-addiction has to go.
Another important and new motivator for me was that research says that consuming sugar causes micro inflammations in your body. It causes dopamine spikes which also have an effect on motivation. I could definitely use more motivation for the important things in life too and a healthy relationship with dopamine is meant to help with that. Let the positive mental and cognitive results come into my life. All my previous attempts to quit or limit sugar were weight-loss inspired, now I had another reason to make it stick.
Sugar-free rules
Before we go any further: I am not doing a zero-sugar-diet. I still eat fruit and products that contain sugars naturally. Let's go over my sugar-free rules quickly:
- I won't drink anything with sugar in it. I only drink still water and tea (mostly ginger tea, without sugar of course);
- Fruits are ok but in moderation, no more than two pieces a day (on average);
- Bread is OK. It contains sugar but bread is an important food where I live. I do compare the bread in the grocery store and buy the one with the least sugar in it. More than 4g of sugar per 100 grams is a no go for me;
- No sauce or dressing with my meals at home. If there is a sauce or dressing on my lunch or dinner when I am at a restaurant, that is OK;
- At a restaurant or on a lunch outdoors I won't have dessert but I will pick from anything on the menu and I allow myself to eat fries or whatever comes with my ordered dish;
- No chocolate, cookies, cake, pie or any type of candy. (This is where I always struggle).
So June 16th 2025 is my first sugar-free day. Monday's are always the best day to start a new habit, right?
Day 1 of no sugar - easy and high motivation
I felt motivated and the day flew past. The first day without sugar is never a huge deal to me, usually the immense struggle starts around day 2 or 3 for me. Combined with the motivation that goes with day 1, this was an easy start for me.
Days 2 - 7 of no sugar - tired
The motivation from day 1 is still here. I decide to also go on longer dog walks and to keep adding in regular exercise. I do feel exhausted on day 3 and decide to at least reward myself with relaxing evenings without any expectations on getting various chores done. I also have headaches a couple of times this week. Whether I have a headache seems mostly related to how much water I drink and when I drink it. Not enough water on a day means headache. More is not necessarily better though! I need to drink my water throughout the entire day and not drink a liter after 6pm just to catch up for the day. I lost 2.2kg of weight this week which is a great bonus.
Week 2 of no sugar - party
Not much different in the first few days of the week. It has mostly been a smooth few days in terms of sugar free life. Then Saturday comes and I end up having a fried snack with mayonaise and ketchup. Then afterwards at home I eat some sweets as well, still not nearly as much as I used to do before. Rather than considering this the end to my 30 days sugar free I will carry on and try to keep going strong. I end the week at a weight loss of another 0.9kg.
Week 3 of no sugar - more energy and another party
This week I really notice that my energy levels are up. I changed my choice of exercise and I've started to go on longer walks with the dog. Instead of yoga I now do kettlebell exercises. There are so many kettlebell exercise videos on YouTube, it is a different workout every day. Another birthday party on the weekend and this time I successfully resist eating any sugary treats. At home afterwards I also feel no temptation this time which makes me feel very proud about my progress since last weekend.I lost another 2.2kg this past week which is absolutely insane how fast that is going.
Week 4 of no sugar - tired, sugar craving
Two days this week I feel more tired than on average even though my sleep is just fine. There is one day this week that I actually have a craving for sugar but I resist it by going outside for a long walk and by going to bed on time.
Down 5.9kg , so 0.6kg in the past week.
The final 2 days of the 30 days sugar free are pretty normal days. The 30 day mark is definitely a milestone to celebrate. Time to evaluate:
My results of 30 days sugar free
First and foremost: my energy levels are so much higher. I think the 'tired' days in the past two weeks are how I felt on average when I still consumed large amounts of sugar. The regular days now I definitely have a lot more energy and I am happier to do things that need to be done.
It is so much easier to find the motivation to exercise. I haven't enjoyed doing exercise for years and now it just makes me feel so good. I keep increasing the amount of exercise minutes.
My daily step count (and being outside more) is much higher now and that definitely helps with motivation to keep going.
Speaking of motivation, the mental aspects were my main reason for starting this 30 day challenge. Hoping for mental and cognitive benefits was definitely my main motivation during the first 2 weeks, it got me through the tough days. But the weight loss has been the main motivator during the last 2 weeks. As I mentioned my energy levels are definitely improved, that is worth ALOT.
Finally, I lost 6.2kg of weight which is a nice result. I could lose a few more kilograms to get to a healthy weight so I welcome any weight loss at this point.
It was always my hope and intention to actually go beyond 30 days sugar free and now that I got to the 30 day mark I can say that I plan to keep going on with this new lifestyle.
BONUS: Week 6-11 of sugar free
Today I start my week 12 of a sugar free lifestyle. I have been going very strong and had no real struggles at any time, even during the summer vacation in Italy I kept going. My total weight loss is now 15kg and that means I am back to a healthy weight.
My energy levels have improved even further. I can say that exercise feels fun to me again. I picked up running last week and I hope to make some good progress with that in the coming months.
Mentally and cognitively the extra energy helps but I haven't seen the magical results (yet) that I had hoped for.
Two other important things I noticed:
- There is so much JUNK in grocery stores. Reading the ingredients on products I buy, pretty much anything that comes in any type of packaging contains sugar, salt and other additives that I don't really want to consume. I compare similar products and pick the least evil one of the ones available.
- No sugar has made my evenings much more relaxing and enjoyable. I no longer go to the kitchen to find all kinds of snacks. If I go to the kitchen it is almost always to fill my glass of water. No more thinking on what to eat while on the couch. Just give me some water and I am good. What a big win!