It's taken me a long time to get to this point - much of it to do with my fear of what my life might look like without sugar in it. How would I possibly cope? But over the last year I have come to terms with my denial on sugar and have finally admitted that not only am I addicted to it - I have a serious problem. It's not just the fact that I could eat a whole family-sized chocolate bar in one sitting and not think twice about it. Or the fact that many times I have had to turn down friends' invites to do something fun and exciting because I've spent all my spare money on lollies at the corner store. Or even the fact that I have had not one, but MANY occasions to which I had enough willpower to throw away the remaining bits of a chocolate bar or bag of lollies only to dig them out of the rubbish bin hours and sometimes days later to finish eating them. It's more that I have realized that many people closest to me don't even have a clue of how deep my problem runs.
I suppose that I have had my love for being physically active to thank for that. I have always been able to hide my problem with sugar for the simple fact that I could push myself to burn off enough of it to make me look relatively slim and fit. But inside the problems have started to have a voice of their own.
The headaches. The sleepless nights. The emotional ups and downs. The binges and then the withdraws. The funny heart beats, energy slumps and intense cravings so bad I can't focus on anything until I get my next sugar fix. That and no matter how much I exercise, my skin never quite feels right. And there's always lumps and bumps in areas that shouldn't be given how active I am on a regular basis.
But every time I have thought on quitting sugar, it seemed like such a daunting task that I couldn't fathom how to do it and not feel like I was missing out on half a life in doing so. I've tried cutting back. I've tried even going a week without buying a bag of lollies. I've tried to overcompensate with exercise in order to tell myself that the activity will balance out the sugar addiction. But none of it has quite worked out.
Until I found Sarah Wilson's book on her journey to quit sugar. And then it clicked. Everything she said felt like it spoke to me directly - her journey - her struggles - her very logical approach to cutting sugar out of her life. For good. It all sounded too good to be true. But it isn't.
I am now halfway through my 4th week of quitting sugar and I honestly don't miss it. Sure, the first week or so was a bit of torture - I couldn't believe how many times during the day my brain told me that I "needed" to get some sugar. But as time went on, my body started to adjust and now I find I eat food simply because I am hungry. I don't get the afternoon slumps or the restless nights of sleep. My headaches have stopped and I am finding new ways to cook in order to get the sweetness without the sugar.
The part I didn't quite believe in all of this is that life still goes on even without sugar. That I am okay without it and, no - I don't feel as though I am missing out. This is definitely something that I needed to do for me, and does not in any way mean that everyone in the world needs to follow suit. I am not saying that sugar is 100% evil - but I do know that until recently, it was very nearly controlling a lot of my life - a life that I want to live to the full, but haven't been able to because of sugar's hold on me. But now I am finally free.
If you want more information on Sarah Wilson or how to quit sugar, visit www.iquitsugar.com.
