Sugar-Free January

I have never been a sweet-tooth sort of person – I’ve always much preferred salty treats such as chips and pretzels. I could easily go weeks without consuming a piece of candy or a cookie. That has changed in the last couple of years, as I have found myself rediscovering my sweet tooth to the point where I have been consuming an unhealthy amount of added sugars.

Sugar is addictive and added sugar is dangerous to your health.

Over the past year, I’ve gained more weight than I’m comfortable with, and although sugar consumption is not the main reason for it, it’s definitely a contributing factor. I cannot currently change the fact that I have a desk job and sit or stand in one spot for ten hours per day, nor can I do much to alter the effects that the antidepressants I’m on can increase a person’s weight. However, I can control the amount of added sugar I consume on a daily basis.

Sugar has a lot of detrimental effects on your health, such as:

• a greater risk of depression in adults
• weight gain
• a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer
• tooth cavities
• acne
• negative effects on your kidneys and pancreas

In modern American grocery stores, sugar can be very difficult to avoid. It’s in practically everything in one form or another, even foods you might not initially expect, such as salad dressing, marinara sauce, yogurt, granola, and cereal.

Due to all of the negative effects that sugar is having on my body, and in order to get back to my previous state of being where I do not crave sweet foods every day, I will be giving up added sugars for the entire month of January.

What does that mean? For starters, no baked goods or candies. I’m not expecting to miss candy that much – I don’t consume a ton of it at this moment. Usually, when I am craving sweets, it’s in the form of ice cream, muffins, or pound cake.

I will also be cutting out things like sugary sauces and any yogurt or breakfast foods that have high sugar content.

What foods am I not giving up? Fruit! Even though some fruit does have high sugar content, it also contains fiber and water and tons of nutrients. I will be allowing myself to consume all the fruit I want. Granted, since it’s winter, that fruit will probably be frozen, but it’s still going to be delicious!

If you want to join in this challenge with me, feel free to! I’ll be sharing weekly updates on how the challenge is going and if I notice any changes in my weight or skin. Let me know if you’re joining this challenge in the comments, or join the wider community with #sugarfreejanuary!