The Genesis

On a random February afternoon, I was scrolling YouTube in search of interesting science videos, and a thumbnail with the title “What happens when you quit sugar?” caught my attention.^[1]

“Interesting”, I thought and before I finished the video, I went from “I am bored” to “I think I know what I should do next.”

That’s how it started. Randomly. There were no thoughts leading into it or writing pros and cons, a long list of plans, figuring out what to eat, what not to, etc. Just a decision, then sticking with it.

I gave myself 24 hours to make sure I am not making any impulsive decisions. I only had thoughts like what will be the ground rules, can I do this, etc.

My initial plan was to quit any refined sugar or artificial sweeteners for 30 days. But the period was too little to notice any difference. I asked myself, “What would be a number that feels big but not impossible?”

The answer was 50.

Why was 50 big?

I should tell you a little about myself.

I have a sweet tooth. As big as an African Elephant’s. Plus an unhealthy relationship with sugary products. Think ice creams, milkshakes, French toast with Nutella, fruit juices, etc.

I can’t stop myself from buying a cup of ice cream every time I visit the supermarket.

Moderation was never my strong suit. I always bought two cones, not one. I always bought one-litre bottles, not the 250 ml ones. I never bought cups; it was always buckets.

More importantly, sugar fed my emotions more than my tummy. I had a long day of work, I need a reward - order ice cream. I had a shitty day, I need to feel better - order more ice cream. Sometimes, it almost went to a point of abuse (not too severely, don’t worry) where I fed myself more than I could handle.

Not only this, I finish a month’s worth of chocolates in 1-2 days and probably win if I compete in an ice cream eating competition.

My point is - it’s hard for me to say no sugar.^[2]

Why I did what I did?

I was Reddit-ing and people had different reasons to quit sugar. Some wanted to prevent diabetes or control their insulin levels. Others wanted to lose weight.

But I didn’t do it for any health reasons. My lifestyle mainly includes working at a desk 50-60 hours a week and playing sports 12-15 hours a week. I move frequently so I didn’t want to quit sugar for the “sugar crash” reasons either.

I quit sugar for 50 days for two reasons:

• Honour my commitment. It was a matter of willpower. “Here is something I can’t say no to, so let me pick this hard thing and constantly say no to it.” I usually post most of what I do online, but I never spoke about quitting sugar anywhere because I didn’t want to do it with accountability’s support. I tried to make it as hard as possible for myself. Only a few close friends and family members knew (<10).

• To check if I can reduce sugar tolerance. I don’t know how this works, but I thought a detox would decrease my sugar tolerance, so when I resume after 50 days, I won’t be eating as much. Or I’d be satisfied with less.
  
  But after 50 days, I do not intend to return to it. At least not how it used to be.

Of course, I had to set up ground rules:

• I’ll not have any products with refined/added sugar. Even if it’s a biscuit and has 5g of added sugar per serving.

• No jaggery, honey, or any artificial sweeteners.

• I can have whole fruits.

• I will document four metrics every day. My weight, how active I felt throughout the day, sugar cravings, and my observations.

The elephant in the room: How did I feel after quitting sugar?

I have to give you a disclaimer. This is not medical advice. I am not asking you to follow my experiments or promising any results. I am just a guy on the internet documenting his journey.

What positive changes did I notice?

Honestly, not many. But the impact was significant.

My energy levels increased insanely (as good as I could notice the difference.)

Before, I could only work one deep work session a day, now I can do three.

I can play a sport and still focus. I can drive, meet people, do chores, and still concentrate for long hours. Previously it was hard and exhausting.

I had this constant freshness I don’t know how to describe. Like how you feel after a really good nap. I used to have this feeling but for three hours maximum. Now it has increased to 6-7 hours a day, allowing me to do tasks that require high, prolonged focus.

I couldn’t write two essays a day. Now I do.

I couldn’t work on the day I played a cricket match. Now I can.

The need for sleep has reduced. Six hours a day feels enough. Earlier I used to sleep for 5-6 hours during the night. And a 60-90 minute nap in the afternoon.

Now my night sleep remains the same. But I only need a 30-60 minute nap at noon. Most days, if I am busy, I can skip afternoon naps and still work efficiently. This wasn’t possible for me for years.

Honestly I don’t feel I need afternoon naps now. Maybe when I overstretch in Cricket sessions and my muscles need recovery.

I am sleeping because it’s more of a habit than a need. In fact there were a bunch of days I got into bed and woke up within 10 minutes because either my sleep was fulfilled or I didn’t feel the need for it.

This allows me to work on one important thing a day, for a longer duration. As someone who works in a creative field, this is gold.

With respect to sports, people say your reflexes improve. Honestly I don’t have enough data points, but there were glimpses I reacted faster than I normally would. Can’t really credit it to quitting sugar yet.

Also - two common claims among people who quit sugar were better skin and weight loss. I didn’t experience either. In all fairness, I didn’t follow a skin care regimen, nor was I looking to lose weight.

Did I notice any downsides?

Sometimes I wish I could have a snack or something. Or a late-night dessert. There were times I was hungry and I couldn’t have a light snack as most snacks have sugar, so I had to order food that is more or less another meal - Haleem, Chicken roll, Sandwich, etc.

I overate a few days, specifically carbs, because I couldn’t snack. I didn’t do much about it then, but now I plan to add more protein, fats, and fibre.

Socialization was never a problem. I met people, had good food, and my friends understood when I said no.

Notes from my documentation

I documented my thoughts daily. I wanted to capture them while they were fresh.

Some highlights:

• Day 7: First day noticing some difference. I have been practicing hard with my cricket training and with this intensity, I should have had a two-hour nap in the afternoon. For some reason, I could not only resist sleep but also get some medium-level effort tasks done. Could be a Placebo.

• Day 10: Even when I overworked or had intense physical exercise, I am able to pull through the day. This doesn’t mean I am super active; only less sleepy.

• Day 11: There’s a slight notion I might be leaning towards spicy, flavourful foods to serve the “junk cravings” for an ice cream, milkshake, etc.

• Day 12: I noticed a pattern in the last 6 days. My energies are shifting alternately. One day I am super productive, next day I am doing nothing or don’t feel like doing anything. Alternate day pattern never happened to me.

• Day 19: I brought ice cream for my mom and grand mom today. Usually in situations like these, I end up buying two cups or a larger portion for myself. This time, I not only resisted the urge to not have sugar, but I didn’t feel even the slightest of temptation.

• Day 22: I am actually thinking, “What’s stopping me to make this a permanent thing?”

• Day 27: I had a weirdly anxious day and these are the days I miss sugar or dopamine drinks more. I couldn’t have coffee today. I badly wanted something hot and liquid. Sadly I couldn’t even have chai.

• Day 36: While I feel active, sometimes I feel dizzy when I overstretch in a match or practice. Rarely happened to me before but 5 times already during these 36 days.

• Day 47: I am increasingly getting surprised with the number of deep work sessions I can do while doing other tasks (helping at home, playing sports, etc.) This is so good that I wish to continue with “no sugar” for as long as I can.

• Day 48: Sometimes I wonder what’s the point of all this when I can’t have my favourite food. Sure I can have one, eat in moderation and be happy with it. Probably I’d do that in other days. But seriously, I should make moderation a habit. I always have had large sized and it’s a bad habit I’m finding hard to recover from.

I only copy-pasted a few important thoughts here, but I am also attaching screenshots of my everyday notes if you want to see how I felt daily in detail:

What about the natural sugars?

I had my fruits and stuff. Only added sugar I had was ORS, WHO formula. I had to drink it to not get dehydrated during cricket matches. Probably Sugarcane was out of the line, but this was after being dehydrated from the sport.

How do I feel about all this?

Honestly, it’s worth it. I got the feeling of accomplishment I set out for plus the increased energy levels as a bonus. Couldn’t have asked for a better result.

I am on day 56 as I write this. Could be well past 60 days by the time you read it.

I wish I could have done a more scientific experiment to see tangible results. Maybe some other time.

As far as my future holds, I don’t want to be this extreme. I want to enjoy life's little pleasures, but I am scared that I will return to my past self. I want to prepare myself before I get back to sugar, if I will. Having said that, there is also great self-assurance and confidence that I could pull myself off the trouble or even stay away from it.

The journey had been sweet. Even if the diet wasn’t.

Footnotes:

[1] What happens when you quit sugar?
[2] Do hard things

More links that I discovered in this journey:

a/ How sugar enslaved the world?
b/ What happens to your body when you quit sugar for 30 days?
c/ Sugar | How it’s made?