There’s something I haven’t been telling you.
For the last 60 days, Bjork and I have taken on the challenge to live without refined sugar.
And it is TOTALLY a weird person thing to say and do, and I know you’re thinking the same thing right now, since you know me for my love of chocolate chip cookies and brownies and chocolate chip cookies and brownies together in one dessert. Which I still love. Like, hi. This is a monumentally bizarre situation.
A few months ago, a nice person named Jacqueline emailed me and asked if I had any interest in joining her course called Go Sugar Free. I said NO WAY NEVER EVER (in my mind). Then I said THIS COULD BE INTERESTING (to Bjork). Then I said SURE I’D LIKE TO CHECK IT OUT BECAUSE I’M INTERESTED IN SEEING HOW YOU RUN THE COURSE (to Jacqueline). I specifically told Jacqueline at that time: We are not really into this whole sugar free thing. That’s just not us. We won’t be participating, but I’ll just follow along in order to do some “market research.”
And so then the lessons started, delivered to my inbox every day in the form of a nice, concise, and extremely information-packed email. It was such a wealth of information that even after just three or four days I was crazy curious about this whole sugar free lifestyle. I would come home from work and just talk Bjork’s ear off through an entire Office episode about Jacqueline-this-and-sugar-that and isn’t this all so interesting?! One day, my curiosity reached a tipping point slash I became a new, open-minded person and I told Bjork I was going to participate with the course and commit to living sugar free for 60 days. He said: Okay, I’ll do it too.
Hold the phone. Crazy. Town. This was SO not something we would normally have any interest in and yet there we were, along with about 75 other people, committing to live sugar free for 60 days.
We started by creating our own version of what it meant to be sugar free. For us, this meant cutting out refined sugars (white sugar brown sugar fake sugar syrups etc etc etc) and sticking to all natural sweeteners in small amounts, like real maple syrup, raw honey, and fruits. It also meant cutting back as much as possible on refined grains and choosing whole grains whenever possible.
Okay, get ready for this shock of your (and my) life: I think the biggest surprise of the whole experience to me was how… easy it was. Most of the time. It’s not like we were doing the no-no finger shake at sugary foods – we were just embracing other foods that we might not ordinarily have chosen that were equally as delicious and made us feel even better. And when I say embrace, I mean loving up on them. There are some really amazing, whole, delicious foods out there that don’t need any added anything to be wonderful and satisfying.
But, I mean, don’t get the wrong idea. There were challenges.
Two weeks after we started, we went on vacation for 7 days with my family. Because apparently we like to test our goals with extremely difficult and tempting situations right off the bat. Smart. We shed a few silent tears at the table when my mom pulled a pan of warm brownies out of the oven and we pined (I mean, it was intense desire) for that cool, creamy, sugar cookie crust fruit pizza. And my family, being very supportive and loving but also being superexcited about desserts, all probably silently judged us and/or felt bad for us as we tried to muck our way through these new choices. That was probably our hardest week – it was still so fresh and we weren’t super comfortable with making the decision public and redefining ourselves in this totally out-of-the-box (for us) way.
But in the better moments, which was most of the other 53 days, we really enjoyed not only what we were eating but how we felt about ourselves. It’s been such a positive lifestyle change for us that we’re indefinitely choosing to live a “refined sugar selective” lifestyle. Meaning that the new norm is choosing other whole foods and snacks over refined sugar desserts on a day-to-day basis, but also recognizing that truly special, social times every now and again deserve a real dessert. Like, for example, having a piece of cake at my high school bestie’s wedding next month. It’s special and it’s social and it calls for the real thing.
Jacqueline describes the sugar free lifestyle as a true freedom from wanting or needing sugar all the time, and retraining your palate to taste the natural sweetness in things in ways you never did before. And this has definitely been true for me.
Along those lines, let’s get a top ten list going here. You guys, I love listicles. So much.
Top Ten Positive Things About Living Sugar Free
- A new appreciation for fruit. Fruit tastes amazing. Fruit IS amazing. Beautiful, colorful, and perfectly sweet. I ❤ fruit. Current faves are cherries and raspberries.
- More sensitive tastebuds. Things that used to taste plain to me now taste sweet. I can put 2 tiny teaspoons of real maple syrup on my oatmeal with a tiny bit of real cream and it’s sweet perfection. My old ways would involve dumping half the syrup bottle into the oatmeal bowl and topping it with extra sugar. Joking sort of.
- Discovering new whole AND packaged foods that we love for meals and snacks. Like Medjool dates, Pellegrino, poached egg and avocado toasts. And new brands of spaghetti sauce, Greek yogurt, and crackers with no added sugar.
- Losing weight. This was not a big part of what motivated us to take the course, but has definitely been a side effect of living without sugar. I lost, like, two pounds, which… is fine. But Bjork lost 15 pounds and he looks ahhhmazing. To the max.
- Flatter bellies. I feel really spammy writing that, but I promise this is not secretly a google adsense segment where I talk about the one secret trick for losing belly fat. It’s just a natural side effect of eating less sugar and more whole foods. I lost 1 1/2 inches around my waist, and Bjork lost 4 (count em – 1-2-3-4) inches. Go get a tape measure and see what that looks like – it’s a HUGE change.
- No regret. I feel like every morning when I wake up and think about what I ate the day before, I feel clean and healthy and proud. I don’t feel that oh-no-I-ate-five-brownies-just-before-bed regret that I used to after a wildly good time at the dessert table.
- The upward spiral. We’ve felt really good about the decisions that we’re making regarding sugar, which leads us to want to make more healthy decisions. Yesterday Bjork went for an 8 mile run. By choice. Things are getting weirdly awesome around here. When you start feeding your body good things, you want the upward spiral to continue so you make good decisions to continue to progress.
- Simplified decision making. Do you want a piece of fudge? No thank you. Period. No decisions to be made. You just pass on it and find something else to enjoy.
- Being smarter. I feel like I have a better understanding of nutrition and sugar and food and maybe most importantly how to form and keep good habits that has and will continue to empower me to make smart choices.
- Feeling better, all around. This could be purely psychological or it could be a result of true physical change. I don’t even care. We both feel great.
So the whole point of this post is to come clean and just let you know that this is what we’ve been doing, and what we’ll be continuing to do for the foreseeable future: eating more whole foods, less refined sugar, and leaving just a tiny bit of room for high quality, real deal dessert on the most important occasions.
Even though I haven’t specifically told you about our new lifestyle shift here on the blog (other than the occasional vague mention), ALL of the recipes of the past two months have been fitted to our version of refined sugar free. You might not have even noticed, which makes me super happy. If you ask me, refined sugar free = eating really really well. Delicious yum more of the good food.
Last thing that’s really important to say: I pass no judgement on a lifestyle that includes refined sugar. None! You guys, please hear that. This is not about nutrition wars or making blanket statements about what’s best for all the people everywhere or making someone behave the same way I do. I have always been a dessert lover and I get a lot of joy from a big, frosting-loaded slice of moist, rich chocolate cake. For right now, for us, this refined sugar free experiment has proven to both Bjork and I that it’s a good fit for us.
Finally, if you are interested in checking out the course that we did that guided us to our 60 days of refined sugar free living, you are in luck!
You can visit Jacqueline’s website to learn more about Go Sugar Free. This is an affiliate link since we highly recommend Go Sugar Free and the way Jacqueline supports, teaches, and encourages throughout the duration of the course!
Thanks for being bestie readers, guys. I totally and completely and overwhelmingly appreciate the support, positivity, and open-mindedness that you bring to Pinch of Yum! XOXO
I know this post is ten years old but I just found it. I am starting to be bombarded with posts about going sugar free. I don’t know if it’s a sign or just an algorithm lol! I’ll take it as a sign. Of course my mind goes to all the ways I can complicate it and over think it….all or nothing.
But your post fixed all of that. I’ll take your description and make it my motto lol. “we’re indefinitely choosing to live a “refined sugar selective” lifestyle. Meaning that the new norm is choosing other whole foods and snacks over refined sugar desserts on a day-to-day basis, but also recognizing that truly special, social times every now and again deserve a real dessert.”
Thank you for stopping that mental war 😊
I am interesed in low sugar desserts
Great writing. Really enjoyable. Kind regards from someone From the Netherlands who has tried the same (sugarless) for about 3 weeks now😄👍. I love it.
Thanks for the great info there. Also there is a sweet life without sugar. Click here: https://bit.ly/34hQK1m
Congrats. I didn’t think I could do it. I am on day 64 of my 66 refined sugar detox. I have lost 4 to 5 pounds. Although I love my sweet pleasures, I want to maintain a sugar free life.
I decided to cut off sugar and have been trying to choose better foods whenever possible. I’ve been at it for three weeks already. One of the things I noticed the most was exactly what you wrote about being in control, and not being controlled by food. Before, I had certain times when I HAD to eat something sweet. Now, I feel like I’m in control, and I don’t have compulsive feeling about food anymore . Also, I love not having that awful feeling of regret after eating something fattening or unhealthy.. it’s so liberating! I hope I can keep it up indefinitely!
Thank you for sharing I am attempting to change and I am starting with the 80/20 rule first.
I,’m totally agree with you guys. Sometimes also no sugar ad juice brands doing good which is more heathier and also helps in loosing weight! I jus had one amazing natural juice brand ..House of Chi which is jus amazing….you can also check this ..https://www.houseofchi.com/brands/chivita-100-natural-juice
macoloni with spices and some greens looks yummy
sugar free foods reduces weight
I enjoyed this blog post. It is inspiring and informative.
https://blog.mindvalley.com/how-to-stop-eating-sugar/
Your recipes still contain flour. Spaghetti has flour, it IS flour and your beautiful picture of eggs sits atop toast! Check out Bright Line Eating and read Dr Susan Peirce Thompson’s book. You’re halfway there.
Beautiful Blog!
What types of sugar did you all cut out? Does coconut sugar count as refined sugar?
Going to try this with my hubby 🙂
Sugar is sugar.
Even though I haven’t specifically told you about our new lifestyle shift here on the blog (other than the occasional vague mention), ALL of the recipes of the past two months have been fitted to our version of refined sugar free. You might not have even noticed, which makes me super happy. If you ask me, refined sugar free = eating really really well. Delicious yum more of the good food.
So many posts about go sugar free and I just wanted to say I liked yours overall. It was delightful and to the point! Tank you.
Watch That Sugar Film documentary it’s super. I’m going sugar free baby! Thanks for the inspiration.
How are you doing with this after 2.5 years?
I just found this post when I did a search for sugar free living. I have recently decided to greatly reduce the sugar in my life, for health reasons. It’s really important to me, but as you probably know, there is a huge mental/emotional element to making that change. Probably more for some than for others, but still, it’s tough. I tried once before and it was almost more emotionally difficult than physically and I don’t consider myself a super unhealthy person to start with…but I love my coffee SWEET and that is where I get the very most sugar daily. Anyway, I just wanted to say, I love your blog (I’m so excited I found it), and I especially appreciate this post. I feel encouraged that I can do this, especially if I take it step-by-step reducing in certain areas a bit at a time. I also love the idea that you can still enjoy something special from time to time socially, because that is a really enjoyable thing and I think it would be super hard and I’d really miss that. From reading your post I feel a bit less scared. Thank you! XO
This was inspiring! I’m working on a version of all my baked goods that don’t have refined sugars in them and when I get that nailed down I am so excited to go sugar free! Thanks for inspiration and information!
Awesome to read more people embracing this! I did it to see if it would help my fibromyalgia and it sure did! Well done and thanks for some awesome recipes I’ll be trying 🙂
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You have literally convinced me completely with this one post. I have heard so much about going ‘sugar free’ and I’m always eye rolling (internally…. mostly). But reading this, and hearing you being normal and level-headed and honest…. DAMN. SIGN ME UP! I’m so excited. My partner and I have been eating organic foods this past year and have cut out meat (not being preachy, we just feel guilty about the environment and it seemed an easy way to do something about it), and the change to fresh foods has made us feel SO ALIVE. So when I read the above, I get it. And I’m down for more of that feeling. And especially as we’re vegetarian…. having a greater appreciation for the natural sweetness of foods would be AHmazing. BYE REFINED SUGAR.
I love your blog, P.S. YAY FOR FOOD.
Glad to hear it, Astrid! We’d love to hear how it goes for you!
I have recently been trying the sugar free lifestyle, it is my last hope to deal with my BED (newly named eating disorder that describes me to a T). I have been doing it for some weeks now and find that I don’t have the cravings I had on a low calorie diet. Here is a recipe for peanut butter cookies that are sugar free, I originally made them for my dogs but they would be great for children or someone trying to be sugar free.
5 cups plain oatmeal whizzed to flour
2 cups sugar free peanut butter
1.5 cups filtered water
If you want to make cut out cookies, roll between waxed paper and freeze. I usually use a small scoop and then flatten them on parchment. Bake these at 350 F for at least 10 minutes, longer if you want them crisper. YUM
About 6 years ago I decided to do a Standard Process detox program, the elimination of processed food and sugar for the diet was a part of the program. During the 3’week detox I felt in love with the fresh fruits and vegetables, whole unprocessed and unrefined food, sugar free diet, simple meal combinations…when I completed the detox, I have decided to stick to the healthy diet described above and 6 years later I am still loving it. I have been experiencing all the positive effects listed by Lindsay. I derive all my sugar from honey (which I use for my salad dressing and apple cider vinegar / lemon detox water) and from fruits and some vegetables, honestly only when I stopped eating sugar and processed food I discovered a true flavor and taste of the food. The processing and refining of the food kills it all, not only the taste but also strips it from all the health benefits. I am happy to see more and more people doing it. Do not be afraid to do it, it’s not a death sentence just the opposite it’s a door to a better health.