I Quit Sugar!

At least once a week someone asks me how in the world I  quit sugar. I can’t tell you how many people talk to me about quitting sugar in any given week. They have read Sugar Blues. They know it is an addiction. They can tell me all the reasons they should quit. But the actual quitting? That is a whole other thing! Most people try (and fail)  many times before they actually do it.

I know I did! I decided to quit eating sugar 30+ years ago. It was one of those obvious sort of decisions. I was in terrible and chronic pain and finally at the point I was willing to do ANYTHING to feel better. So when this very old chiropractor told me that my pain would be considerably less if I quit sugar, I did it. At least for a few days. . . then for a week and then a couple of weeks. You get the idea.

It was incredibly difficult. I craved ice cream, chocolate and cookies. I would get so miserable that it seem that sugar was the only thing that could help. And so, of course, I would indulge. The price was a terrible combination of physical pain and emotionally kicking myself around the block!  At the time I didn’t really understand enough about addiction (and sugar is addicting) to know what or how to do anything but just flat-out quit. Like right now and “forever”. If I failed felt guilty and depressed. Eventually I held out long enough to find out that if I didn’t eat any sugar for a while, I didn’t miss it. Big revelation!

I wish I had had the information provided by Sarah Wilson and her I Quit Sugar: a simple 8-week programThe book covers several things:

  • A sharp 8-week program that walks you through each crucial stage, week by week
  • A tidy, easy-to-relay-to-mates-at-the-pub explanation of how + why sugar is making us fat + sick
  • A sugar replacement plan: tested + nutritionally sound
  • “Sweet” sugar-free recipes
  • New treat ideas
  • A detox + a suggested supplements list
  • A downloadable shopping list of new ingredients to replace sugar in your life

Sarah Wilson is an Australian journalist and TV host who, like me, quit sugar because of an auto-immune disease. Fortunately, she wrote down her experiences and created this easy to follow program. This is a book I highly recommend to anyone who is serious about quitting sugar. You can buy it with one simple click: here.

And just in case you are wondering, I still “fall off the wagon” about once a year. The good news is that I long ago quit beating myself up. If I indulge, the next day, I just pick myself up and jump right back on the wagon. Even after all this time, when I eat sugar, I do pay a big physical price in the sore joints which helps make quitting a whole lot easier.

About Genene Cote

Genene Coté -- Nutrition Advocate, Counselor and Coach who is also a Whole Food Plant Based Eater (vegetarian/vegan), cook and gardener.
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