I quit sugar for 30 days

What I learned, where I failed, and what's next

May 02, 2024

A month ago, I wrote about when my gluttony made me sick from sugar.

Refresher: I ate an entire bag of chocolate almonds in one sitting and woke up the next day with a cold. You can read the full post here.

So, I committed to going sugar-free for April.

I ingeniously coined it the No Sugar Challenge and set off along with a few readers who opted to join me in a quest to eat no sugar in April.

Here’s how it went…

What does ‘No sugar’ mean?

My goal was to eliminate sources of added sugar and processed junk food in general.

This was the No-Go List I created at the start of the month: baked goods, candy, chocolate, chips, crackers, cake, pie, ice cream, honey, jam, dried fruit, BBQ sauce, or any other junk food or added sugar.

What did I eat?

Here’s a breakdown of the foods that made up most of my diet:

Carbs: Beans/legumes, quinoa, barley, some rice, some Rudolph’s bread.
Protein: Eggs/egg whites, chicken, fish, some red meat, protein powder.
Fat: Natural peanut butter, almonds, walnuts, olive oil.
Plants: Bananas, frozen blueberries, a variety of vegetables.
Drink: Coffee, water, herbal tea.

For the most part, this is what my diet looks like year-round. The No Sugar Challenge didn’t drastically change what I eat other than reducing the number of occurrences that I indulge from once or twice a week to zero.

(And yes, I know that fruit has sugar. As a metabolically healthy person, I’m not worried about moderate whole-fruit consumption. Your diet has to be reasonable and sustainable. And I like bananas.)

Where did I fail?

Was I perfect? Absolutely not.

I cut a few corners and ate a little bit of added sugar. But like I said, your diet needs to be sustainable over the long run. If my diet is unreasonably strict, there’s a good chance I’ll end up with my hand at the bottom of a bag of chocolate almonds again.

Here’s my fail list:

Bread. I ate high-fiber low-sugar-added bread some days (1-2 grams of added sugar per serving). Small fail. I’m okay with it.
Diabetic candy. I ate five pieces (60 calories per) of no-sugar-added diabetic candy… technically not cheating but it felt like I was.
Scones. My brother made scones one weekend that had raisins (dried fruit) and a tiny bit of sugar in the batter… I had just finished an 18 km (11.2 mi) run and couldn’t turn down hot scones out of the oven.
Pizza. I ate pizza once in the late afternoon of a long day helping my mom and stepdad move. I hadn’t eaten anything for hours and needed to keep working. Not a huge infringement on this challenge but I was trying to avoid junk food in general.

I had homemade air-popped popcorn on four nights as a treat which, as far as indulgences go, is a relatively healthy option.

Where did I win?

I didn’t eat a lot of these foods to start but it felt good to knock them down to zero:

Zero dried fruit.
Zero honey and jam.
Very little sauce (I had ketchup thrice).
Zero-packaged junk food (besides the diabetic candy). I even said no to chocolate almond (!!) samples in Costco! That means I had…
- Zero chips
- Zero candy
- Zero cereal
- Zero crackers
- Zero chocolate
- Zero ice cream
Zero cake. Late in April at a family gathering, I turned down my favourite cake and ice cream and opted for tea instead.

Turning down my favourite cake and ice cream and opting for tea instead.

Biggest Takeaways

I eat pretty healthy most of the time and didn’t have much added sugar in my diet to begin with.

Because I started in a good spot, I didn’t go from feeling like crap every day, as one would feel on the Standard American Diet (SAD), to reaching a new level of physical and mental vitality and lightness, as one would when they transition to eating anything other than the SAD.

The biggest benefit for me was less decision-making.

I do not do well with self-control. The hard rule of “I don’t eat these types of things”—with a very specific list laid out—removed the need for discipline and willpower because the decisions were already made for me. I was just following the playbook. If I didn’t have hard rules beforehand, I would have eaten the [insert junk food here] every time it was in front of me.

I turned down butter tarts—a proud Ontarian creation and one of my favourite sweets—my mom brought home that I would have normally wolfed down. I drank tea while others had cake and ice cream. I didn’t open the crackers in the cupboard when I was hankering for a snack. Not because of some superhuman level of discipline but because I made a game plan.

And once I have a plan, I’m someone who always follows through on it.

Before this challenge, I’d go through the mental gymnastics of should I have one, should I not, performing complex have I burned enough calories today? calculations in my head. Unsurprisingly, my calculations always produced the same result: Go ahead, have one.

But with the hard rule of “No sugar,” turning down treats was easy. No decision-making. No negotiation. No inner turmoil.

I realize that not everyone operates this way.

My girlfriend, for example, doesn’t like to restrict herself with such abrasive rules. But she is good at moderation. I am not. I am a glutton. Once I start eating hyper-palatable foods, I will keep eating them until nothing is left.

Know thyself and live accordingly.

Takes From Others

The highlight of this challenge for me is that I wasn’t in it alone.

A few readers opted to join me which makes me happier than I can explain. I started writing to help others make positive change so getting to see that happen was really cool. Thanks to everyone who joined.

Here’s what a few readers who participated in No Sugar April had to say…

R.L.: I didn’t totally adhere to the fast but the focus cut down on probably 80% of my usual indulgences. The result was saving the treats for special occasions and family events, which made having them feel extra celebratory. The challenge was a very helpful reset and I’m going to keep going. Thank you!

J.K.: I feel like soda is behind me now, and chips, too, so I’ll continue those habits. At the same time, I can focus on the next thing: sweets.
A friend of mine came to this realization: “Salad dressing and sauces are an easy way to turn great food into dessert. If you’re going to eat dessert, do it. Treat it like dessert. Don’t eat dessert 4 times a day.”

L.S.: My snack choices lately have largely been influenced by the challenge. I was already lessening my sugar intake before the challenge, but I didn't realize how hard it was to actually avoid it. I'm surprised by how many foods have sugar! It was hard to find a snack that had 0 added sugar.
That being said, I feel like my energy levels have been better lately, especially when paired with sunlight, sleep, and exercise. I also notice sluggishness in my body when I do eat sugar. So I'll continue avoiding sugar, but I'll allow myself some (hopefully controlled) cheat days, particularly when the food involves me and my family sharing time together (e.g. chatting over donuts).

What’s Next

My lifestyle was not hindered by this challenge. I didn’t feel restricted at all. It helped me move closer to the ideal I hold for myself.

My brain needs black-and-white rules to make healthy food decisions easily. When I operate in the grey space—the spur-of-the-moment decision—I always indulge more than I want to.

It’s worth noting here that sugar is NOT THE ONLY IMPORTANT VARIABLE IN OUR DIET. You can eat zero sugar and still find ways to be extremely unhealthy. You can eat zero sugar and still eat your way into disease.

It is, however, an important variable worth keeping two eyes on.

The No Sugar Lifestyle

I’m going to keep the momentum I created this month going by living the No Sugar Lifestyle. But it’s not exactly as it sounds.

This is the rulebook I’m following going forward:

NO to candy, chocolate, chips, crackers, cereal, ice cream, and anything else that falls under the packaged junk category.
YES to homemade treats on special occasions and family events.

The goal isn’t unreasonable restriction but rather sustainable progress.

Now when I encounter one of these foods in the wild, I can quickly and easily determine whether it’s a yes or a no.

No negotiation, decision-making, discipline, or willpower required.

Thanks for reading!

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