Six months ago I realised with not a small amount of fear and self loathing that I was completely and utterly addicted to sugar.

I was the person who always checked out the dessert menu at a restaurant before anything else. I made sure the boardroom was always stocked with sugary goodness and I was always thinking about my next delicious sugary treat.

Right now, times are tough. My stress levels are high and the level of uncertainty in the current climate of Covid-19 and lock-down are the sorts of things that in the past would have driven me into an epic cookie binge.

Things have changed for me in the six months since I quit sugar. In fact, thoughts of eating sugar barely enter my mind these days. The six month marker on my addiction tracker went by without me even noticing until I checked it randomly and realised I had just passed a huge milestone.

I’d like to tell you all that quitting sugar solved all my health problems and that I now have the figure of a very short runway model but it hasn’t been quite that simple. On the upside I no longer constantly anticipate my next sugar fix. I’ve also noticed a serious reduction in my physical hunger levels. Those benefits alone were worth it. Being free from needing sugar is an awesome thing.

I’m extra grateful at the moment because I know that if I hadn’t quit sugar then being in lock-down with nothing to do other than bake sugary treats would have a very bad outcome in the long term. Since I don’t eat them, I don’t bake them so there’s no temptation. It’s a win win.

Quitting sugar did not unfortunately cure all my bad habits. I still eat too much of the wrong things and I don’t get enough exercise to start shifting all my middle age spread. I am sure that all the hard work I am doing with the Year of Transformation will take care of this eventually. I have to say I am a little put out that quitting sugar was not the miracle cure for all my weight issues but at the very least I know that sugar won’t be a problem for me in the future.

Will I start eating sugar again? Who knows but probably not this year. These days, it just doesn’t appeal. Now I just have to work on my cheese addiction.

Published by the lean minimalist

Donna Sherriff is a New Zealand based improvement and operations management specialist. Seeing a need for simple, no fuss, improvement advice she started The Lean Minimalist blog in 2017. Donna writes articles offering advice and tips for rapid and sustainable business improvement based on over 15 years in Senior Management roles. Passionate about sharing the lessons of over 20 years on the high performance track Donna offers coaching services to professionals. She also writes about her own personal improvement journey, minimalism, and her life long struggle against the tyranny of cookies and sugar which she overcame in 2020. These days, Donna is pursuing a journey to earn her black belt in Taekwondo after a long hiatus of 16 years away from training. On the side she is an amateur but passionate musician and poet. View all posts by the lean minimalist