A month without sugar

Carolien went sugar-free in May

‘In May, I will eat sugar-free.’ Now, that’s not a sentence you would hear me say without batting an eye, and that’s why I’m gladly taking on this challenge to see how bad my sugar addiction really is. And if those last two pregnancy kilos disappear as well, that’s a nice bonus. So I’m starting on May 1st, together with my friend Evelyne, on our challenge, which still feels impossible. The first day starts off well: the night before, my Chanel bag with all its contents was stolen in Antwerp, and due to the late-night police visit, I only slept for three hours. This is, of course, the perfect excuse to feel sorry for myself and go all out at breakfast with croissants, jam, and sweet spreads, but suddenly a little voice inside me says that I don’t need all that sweet stuff to feel better. Bam, 1-0 for my perseverance.

The first week actually goes quite well; I eat more consciously and better distributed throughout the day, plus: those sweet cravings strangely don’t appear. However, I’m shocked by the number of products that have added sugar (cold cuts, peanut butter, almost all jars in the fridge, and even prawn crackers!). My new addiction is the smoothies from The Cold Pressed Juicery, which serve as a sweet treat after exercising, and at home, I suddenly enjoy a slice of bread with nut butter immensely. But while it goes fine when I’m alone or with Jon, it becomes so much harder to maintain in a group setting. Because that so-called ‘peer pressure’ (‘Oh come on, we’re all having some!’ or: ‘Hey, don’t be such a downer!’) is the biggest challenge of all. And so, I still let myself be persuaded in week two to have a lovely glass of champagne on the terrace, oops… Suddenly, I realize that I also exert peer pressure myself: it’s no wonder that friends fear for their wallets when they go shopping with me. When I persuade them to make expensive purchases too, my own purchases suddenly feel a lot more legitimate. But also that one piece of cake or glass of wine during lunch that I wouldn’t normally order if my companion isn’t joining in the fun. Note to self: from now on, I will not exert pressure on my companions and just order that piece of cake if I feel like it. But I still fully succumb to that peer pressure and nibble on a piece of Ton: Chocolonely (‘Oh, go ahead, you can handle it!’) after a dinner with friends last weekend. As if I just ingested poison, I secretly spit the piece out into my napkin and hit myself on the head for not being honest about my ‘sugar-free month.’ Interestingly, the final conclusion of this challenge is different from what I expected: if I set my mind to it, I can manage quite well without sugar for a while, as long as I live like a hermit. From now on, I will definitely pay more attention to my sugar intake and only ‘sin’ when I really feel like it!