There's No Free Lunch

Everything, absolutely everything has a profit and a price.

Every decision, action, spoken and written word, video, blog, relationship - everything we do, we gain something and lose something else.

Living Sugar free has its price - a price that many say is not worth it. That quitting sugar means not partaking in social events like birthdays because you don't eat cake, or that it's unsustainable because it's too hard since you have to always prepare food, that you can't be spontaneous about when and where to eat.

All these are true. The question is what are the gains to living sugar free and also what are the alternatives to paying these prices?

What inspired me to write this blog was a converstion I had last week with one of my clients who we will call Sarah. At the end of the Passover holiday there is a Sephardic tradition called Mimuna. People get together and eat traditional pancakes with honey, special cookies and lots of sweet treats. Sarah told me that this year she decided not to go to the Mimuna, even though she knew this would disappoint her sister who was hosting one. She said that she preferred not to expose herself to so much stimulation of addictive foods and she really preferred to stay home. I too do not go to Mimuna parties and supported her decision.

Some of you may say - "See? Why couldn't she just go and enjoy and just have a little of the "Mufleta" pancakes and partake with everyone?" Sarah would tell you that she has tried this many times, deciding to eat just a little, and it never happens. She ends up overeating to the point where she feels terrible and scared that, again, she ate in a way that is making her fatty liver even worse.

Sarah has come to the understanding that when it comes to sugar and flour, moderation doesn't work for her. Giving up sugar and flour has helped her lose weight and repair her metabolic health in a way that she couldn't before. She understands that for her, the alternatives are occasionally giving up the social eating of foods that she has no ability to control, or being obsessed and scared about how and what she is eating 24/7, risking her health and being uncomfortably overweight.

I have been living Sugar Free for over 25 years. Yes, there is a price, but the huge gain for me is peace of mind. When my addictive foods are not an option they are not a problem. When they become an option for me, they become a big problem in my life. So, I happily pay the price because what I gained in return sanity around food, feeling physically and mentally healthy and sustained weight loss of 15kg for many years now.

So, if you are thinking of giving up sugar just ask yourself what the alternatives are? What will you gain? What will you need to give up? Are you willing to do that? Is it worth it?

What I can tell you from my experience and thousands of others who gave up sugar because moderation didn't work for them is that that yes, it is totally worth it.