A little while back, I wrote a nice, long post on why I wanted to cut back on my sugar intake. And then my blog was hacked and it was all lost.
Not fun. But I guess it’s a good thing, since now I actually can say that I HAVE cut back on sugar, not just that I want to, and I can tell you more about what it’s been like.
My decision to cut back on my sugar intake has been years in the making. I’ve been thinking about it and then thinking about it some more, but I never actually did anything about it. I guess you could say my addiction is STRONG. And I know some people don’t like the word addiction when talking about food, but I really do think that for me, sugar is addictive.

Photo by Uwe Hermann
When I eat something high in refined sugar (anything from graham crackers to chocolate chips to cake to muffins..), I want to eat more of it and more of it. I’m one of those people who can have a big piece of cake and immediately want another big piece of cake, regardless of my fullness level. I literally feel a rush to the head. I have a really hard time explaining what it feels like, but it’s kind of like a rush of happiness to my brain. I’m not sure if other people feel the same way when they eat sugar, but I know for me, it’s hard to stop wanting to have more of that feeling — hence my use of the word “addiction”.
The problem with my addiction to sugar is that sugar isn’t good for me. Sugar has been linked to many diseases: cancer, obesity, heart disease, tooth decay, ulcers, adrenal fatigue, gallstones, diabetes, hypoglycemia, osteoporosis, and on and on.
For a list of 146 reasons to cut back on sugar go here.
I know with intuitive eating, no foods are supposed to be labeled good or bad, but I think that we all know that some foods are better for us nutritionally, and sugar definitely isn’t one of those foods. I think the most important thing to remember with intuitive eating is that you shouldn’t feel GUILT over eating a certain food, and I don’t do that now. Sure, I want to eat better, but I don’t really feel guilty if I eat something sweet or anything else really. However, I still want to cut back on it for health reasons and so that I don’t feel so “out of control” when it comes to eating sweets each day.
Instead of cutting out sugar completely, I’ve decided to implement more of a No S way of eating. But instead of cutting out all snacks and sweets during Non-S days (Monday-Friday – Saturday, Sunday, and special days don’t count) I’ve cut out sweets during the week. This means that I can have a sugar free dessert (not one laden with chemicals, but made without sugar or just with stevia) or fruit for dessert during the week. So far, it really hasn’t been too bad at all! And I’ve actually noticed that my cravings have gone down a TON.
Anyway, I wanted to keep you all updated, and I’ll be checking back in to let you know how it’s going. In the meantime, I’ll be enjoying some 2 ingredient fudge (made with unsweetened chocolate and coconut milk!), lots of nuts, and tons of fruit (with whipped cream!). Yum!