66 days to cut down on sugar: ‘I find myself enjoying the sweetness of my lip balm’
Less than a year ago, I would have thought I was crazy if I had given up sugar, even for 66 days. But the truth is that I eat way too much of it and it can’t be good for me.
I’ve had cake for breakfast more than once and can easily eat a pack of cookies in a day. I have a soft spot for pastries, fueled by the many bakeries and cafes in my neighborhood. If I go to bed without eating anything sweet, I feel like something is missing.
But for me, there’s a serious reason to cut back on added sugar: I have a family history of type 2 diabetes, and a diet high in sugar increases my chances of developing the disease. I am at high risk.
The last time I had a blood test done, in early 2023, my sugar levels were on the high side of healthy. I was too scared to have it tested again.
So for 66 days I plan to avoid processed sugar. Rosemary Stanton, a public health nutritionist, advises me to avoid anything with ingredients that “my grandma wouldn’t recognize.” When I have sugar cravings, she recommends eating fruit – “full of natural goodness” – but avoiding fruit juice, as the fiber that helps me feel full has been removed. I will also avoid artificial sugars as much as possible, which Stanton believes will reinforce the preference for sweeter foods.
She also recommends giving up something gradually: “Anyone who diets is doomed to failure.” Instead, she says people should aim to eat the least amount of sugar that is sustainable for them.
“Less doesn’t mean nothing, although ‘less’ should be sincere and not used as an excuse when you encounter something sweet,” says Stanton.
She emphasizes that it is important to consider the health benefits of foods. For example, if someone can only eat oatmeal with a spoonful of sugar, they should, because “there is so much goodness in the rolled oats.”
“If you decide that sugar is an enemy that you need to eliminate from your diet, you may find that you crave it even more,” she says.
Week one
I trade chocolate and cookies for fruit and eat enough watermelon to feed a small family. I feel like the people in primary school math questions who buy 51 mangoes and 42 bananas.
I expected the worst and my expectations were exceeded. I quit interviews, barely string sentences together, and go to bed at nine so I’m not tempted to raid my pantry. I stare at nutrition labels at the grocery store for far too long before I give up and eat eggs, sandwiches, fruit, and salad. I unfollow all food-related social media accounts and channel my inner grumpy old man, getting irrationally irritated by trivial things like people walking too slowly. I think about how much happier I would be if I ate a cookie at least five times a day (just one… and no one would have to know!)
I find myself enjoying the sweetness of my lip balm.
Week two
While I complain about my challenge without sugar For anyone who wants to listen: my grandmother, who made it sugar-free five years ago, puts me in my place. It’s easy, she says idly. “If you are stressed, don’t be afraid. Stop telling yourself it’s hard.”
By the end of the week, many of the symptoms from the past week – brain fog and low energy – have disappeared. The cravings haven’t gone away (although I don’t think about sugar like an ex-boyfriend anymore). My friends passing by on the highway invite me for ice cream. I’m not going.
Then something strange happens. I eat an apple and think it tastes too sweet. Even stranger, I wake up for my morning spin class, which normally requires me to give myself a pep talk before I get out of bed, bursting with energy. Stanton told me that my taste buds would adjust quickly, but I didn’t expect this to happen in two weeks.
Week three
All good things must come to an end. I’m reminded of the one time in high school I woke up early to work out, only to come down with the flu the next week. In a similar way, my body is taking revenge for the two sugar-free weeks with strep throat, leaving me barely able to swallow (and thus eating sugar, so I guess it’s not all that bad).
Benefits = I don’t eat sugar. Cons = everything else.
Week four
I have to deliver a university essay this week that I’ve only just started. While this is by no means a new experience, I don’t have the mountains of sugar that got me through the last three years of college. I buy sugar-free energy drinks and ignore their long lists of artificial ingredients. To my dismay as an energy drink fan, they taste disgustingly sweet.
I’ll be sick again at the end of the week.
Week five
I travel almost four hours to celebrate my boyfriend’s birthday, only to avoid eating cake and drinking nothing but water. But I find myself not as upset as I thought I would be.
The middle of my challenge is bittersweet. I am past the intense sugar cravings. My mother tells me she thinks they made me depressed. I think she’s exaggerating, but I read what I wrote after the first week and realize she’s probably right.
But instead of feeling refreshed and like I’ve reached my maximum health, I feel flat and dull. On the other hand, I eat much less out of boredom and listen more to my body’s hunger signals.
Week six
For much of the challenge, I’ve been certain that Halloween will be the moment I succumb, but to my surprise, I don’t (although it’s hard). I’m not even tempted when my brother smiles and “accidentally” drops his candy on my lap. “The end is in sight!” I say to myself, before writing down a list of all the foods I will eat at the end of the 66 days.
I find it hard to plan what to eat, apart from salads and sandwiches, which get boring. I try vegetables that I normally don’t eat and different cheeses. I also discover – quite late in the 66 days – that chili oil, which I started eating with everything, has no sugar in it.
Week seven
Repeat.
Week eight
If I was told that my period would be less painful, I would have cut down on sugar a long time ago. Studies say there is evidence of a link between menstrual pain and sugar inconclusive at best and the link is instead ultra-processed foods. Quitting sugar also means quitting ultra-processed foods.
I often have next to no energy and painful cramps, but now my cramps are barely noticeable and I even have enough energy to go to the gym.
Week nine
While I can’t say that quitting sugar has changed my life, it has changed my taste buds. I no longer crave sugar and I don’t think I realized how dependent I was on it.
While I won’t be giving it up for good—my birthday and festivities are just around the corner—I will be eating less of it.
An unexpected benefit is better sleep. I’ve always been a light sleeper, but I find that I fall asleep faster and wake up less during the night. Another is a renewed sense of confidence. I started the challenge thinking I would give up halfway through. But when the alternative appears on the internet, nothing appears impossible.