— The story of how I removed refined sugar and caffeine from my daily life.

Goals

Remove caffeine from my daily life

Reduce the consumption of refined sugars from my diet

If you don’t want to read the full post, there is a summary at the bottom of this post.

Background story

At one point in my life, I was drinking up to 6 cups of coffee a day. Each cup with 2 spoons of white sugar. I knew this was bad but to me this all felt like it was a short term thing and that I will stop drinking coffee at some point.

I was 21 years old at that time (I’m 22 now) and just started my first full-time job. As a university student, getting up early proved to be difficult so caffeine was the answer.

I realised that this isn’t good for me so one day (I remember it was Friday), I just stopped drinking coffee. The week after that was the worst with a headache that felt like it was never going to go away. I almost gave up but after that week, I felt great.

As well as caffeine, I also cut down on processed sugar and tried to drink more water instead. I was also working out and I felt great. This only lasted for 1 month.

Fast forward 4 months later, I feel unhealthier than I was before. My caffeine intake went back to how it was before. On a busy day, I have maybe 3/4 coffees and/or hot chocolates and lattes.

…The night before [17/11/2015]

It’s 21:56 GMT and I have decided that I will try and cut out processed sugars and caffeine from my diet again.

I will write about my experience, starting from now and going up until new year’s eve. This will be a hell of a ride since the holiday seasons is when all the sugar comes out.

As I’m writing this, I currently weigh 55.7kb and I feel a little chubby. My skin started to show signs of unhealthiness and so does my body. My room is a little cold since I left my window open all day. I have some Hobnobs’ and Jammie Doggers on the bed side table and all I can think is that they would go great with a hot chocolate right now.

But I will not cave.

I’m going to give it my best shot. If I don’t try, I will not succeed. Trying will give me something even if it’s not achieving my initial goals.

Week 1

[Day 1, 17:30]

The first day, I went out without breakfast as I was late. Lunch I got the sandwich with the least sugar in it and some sushi too… around 15g of sugar in total.

Cutting down on the caffeine affected me more in the early mornings but having a cold shower gave me that kick I needed to wake up…

At about 5pm I started getting a wild headache and I cannot focus for more than a few minutes.

[Day 2, 12:30]

After reading some of the Tips on Quitting Processed Sugar, I started to replace some of the food and drinks with others that have less/none processed sugars in.

[Day 3, 21:30]

I ate a few things that may contain some processed sugars without knowing. Most of the time you don’t really think about this stuff you just eat when you’re hungry so I guess I’m bound to forget sometimes.

[Day 4, 20:15]

I stated to eat more fruit. I found that oranges, pears and red apples are a great substitute for sweet snacks.

I’ve been having my ‘5 a day’ for 4 days now. It’s not like I’m going out of my way to eat fruits actually, I just changed my snack options.

[Day 5, 21:39]

This is the last day of the week. The headache is less than usual. Actually started to feel better at times with no headaches at all. My fruit basket is full and my eating habits improved ever so slightly (I am still eating junk food a little as long as they don’t contain lots of sugar, which is pretty hard to find).

My morning routine has improved much since I’ve been having longer nights coding and late starts to the day. But I have realised that now, I no longer wake up with that nagging headache. Another thing I have observed was that I started to get tired more during the night.

Week 2

[Day 6, 13:38]

I had a long night last night and an early start this morning.. I was temped to grab a coffee to keep me away for this long day but managed to convince myself not to.

I kept myself hydrated all day long and the headache disappeared all together. However. I do feel tired.

[Day 7, 11:17]

I weighed myself this morning and I gained a few pounds. I’m currently at 56.2kg (~124lb) which isn’t too bad. I don’t know what caused this weight gain but even so, I’m still slim looking. I do feel healthier though apart from the fact I am still staying up pretty late.

[Day 8, 20:22]

A week ago I started cutting down my caffeine and sugar intake and I am so glad I did that. I wouldn’t say it has completely transformed me as of yet, (I am still getting the headaches), but I do feel a difference in myself.

When I woke up this morning, my face looked healthier. I’m not sure if that’s because I had a good night sleep (still have sleeping problems) or something to do with the quality of food I’ve been eating.

I decided to sign up to the gym today because a) I haven’t been in a long time, b) I miss it and c) I feel so unfit.

I joined one of the classes they had on after I finished work which was spinning and I honestly couldn’t last longer than 6/7 minutes. I had to do the walk of shame out of the gym. But at least, now I have a target to actually finish the session someday.

[Day 8, 22:12]

I would say one of the biggest challenges in all of this is finding something to snack on that doesn’t contain sugar.

I’ve also been reading the labels on my shopping to try and minimize my refined sugar intake but it’s just extending my shopping by so much.

[Day 9, 18:43]

I knew this would happen and that I would end up breaking my routine at some point. When it comes to social gathering I do not want to isolate myself so I’m giving myself a cheat day (I should say night).

[Day 10, 17:38]

Lots of water consumed today.

[Day 11, 18:40]

I found out that the sauce I had with sushi (Soy?) had a lot of sugar. This was after I finished it.

Currently the only problem I’m having is waiting up and staying awake without a coffee.

Week 3

[Day 12, 23:13]

My craving for caffeine and cake has come back.

I keep wanting to just give up on this and just “moderate” my caffeine and refined sugar intake and that as long as I don’t have too much, I should be fine. Let’s hope I don’t give up.

[Day 13, 21:39]

I’ve had a few assignments this week which meant staying up late and working for long as well as getting up early. The only thing I can think about is cake.

[Day 14, 22:40]

There was chocolate cake in the office. I love chocolate cake. BUT I LOVE MY HEALTH MORE!!

[Day 15, 17:18]

Finding it hard to cut the sauce from my food. Can’t really work out how much the sugar content is in it but I have cut down.

[Day 16, [18:17]

I tracked my sleep last night and this is what I found out.

It took 19 mins 24 sec for me to fall asleep

I had 1 hour 32 mins of restful sleep

I had 4 hours 12 mins of light sleep

I woke up 10 times

my resting HR was 53

the duration of this was 7 hours and 40 mins

sleep efficiency of 78%

and I burned 524 calories

I’m not sure what this data really means but I will try and collect it for the remainder of this detox.

[Day 17, 21:34]

I guess it’s pretty early on to be tracking my sleep. I’ll compare it when I finish this 44 detox.

My shopping trips have gotten easier. I know which aisle to avoid now and which products not bother picking up. This did however narrow my options if I wanted something fast, which isn’t good sometimes.

[Day 18, 20:30]

Another day went by.

Week 4

[Day 19, 23:47]

I don’t believe I need coffee anymore but sometimes I miss the taste of it. Especially on a Monday morning when people around you are drinking it.

The sugar isn’t so much missed though. Roasted almonds are my new discovered snacks now.

[Day 20, 20:52]

The only thing missing from today’s shopping trip was a rest for some coffee and a carrot cake. I mean after you get over the fact that you don’t need sugar ad caffeine in your life, you do start to miss the moments you’ve had associated with it.

[Day 21, 23:30]

I had work today. No coffee but yet again, the Christmas cakes started to come in. I’m probably over exaggerating how hard it is. I mean I’m not even looking twice at the sugar or the coffee.

[Day 22, 14:08]

I tried some kiwifruit and it tasted amazing. I have always enjoyed them but for some reason this tasted really sweet.

[Day 23, 22:32]

I’ve been trying out new fruits lately (not really new just fruit I haven’t had in a while). Seedless grapes are amazing and great for snacking on.

[Day 24, 16:58]

I’m going out for a Christmas meal today and hopefully the selection of food doesn’t contains lots of refined sugar. I am not going to be awkward and ask for the sugar content but I think my judgement will serve me well.

[Day 25, 19:57]

I’m a really big fan of honey but I’m still not sure if it’s still just as bad for you as refined sugar or not. I’m pretty certain that even the honey that is market as “natural honey” still contains added sugar. I have been reading a fair bit about it and hoping to try out a couple of brands.

Week 5

[Day 26, 23:22]

It’s week 5. I still can’t believe I have managed to do this. Looking back at it now, I remember that I still had doubts of whether I will actually do this and whether I’d be able to see it through till the finish.

Part of the reason of why this post is still a draft and not publish just yet is a safe guard in case I fail. But seeing how far I’ve gone, I believe I can do it!

17 Days to go!

[Day 27, 19:34]

Another day went by.

[Day 28, 20:48]

We had secret Santa at work today! Lo and behold, I got a box of chocolate. Actually the box of chocolate was one of the three presents, the rest where not edible. I’m keeping it in case I ever fall back to my old ways or if I decide to have a cheat day after this 44 day detox.

[Day 29, 21:04]

One thing I didn’t mention was how I got my appetite back. Especially around breakfast time. I could never stomach anything in the morning, unless it was a cup a coffee, and now I’m stuffing my face with anything I can grab before heading out.

[Day 30, 22:19]

Today we break up for the Christmas holiday. I spent all last night doing course work so this morning I felt a little sleepy but without a headache.

[Day 31, 12:30]

It’s the weekend and I don’t have any university work to think about. A restful day for me.

[Day 32, 21:43]

Tomorrow I’m going to work and I know for sure there will be a lot of chocolates and sweet all of next week.

Week 6

[Day 33, 19:20]

It’s the sixth week and it’s Christmas! Well in a few days but I’m happy that I lasted this long. As I have guessed it, there was chocolates and sweet around the office and I felt the pressure of eating this!

[Day 34, 18:31]

Another day at work. More sweets. More Chocolates.

[Day 35, 23:12]

35 days and counting. I do miss just eating without a care and snacking on cake sometimes.

[Christmas Eve]

I went home today after work. We have a long weekend and I’m spending Christmas at my parent’s house. This is definitely going to be difficult.

[Christmas Day]

It’s Christmas!

[Day 38, 12:20]

Mum keeps telling me to have “just a little bit” from the cake she made. I felt bad.

[Day 39, 20:15]

I’m not a fan of salty popcorn and can no longer sweet popcorn or pop. So I got myself nacho's and water with me in the cinema.

Week 7

[day 40, 19:25]

After reading some of the above logs, I realised that most of what I wrote has nothing to do with this experience but I guess I kind of forced myself to write something even when I had nothing to write about.

What I do have to say is that I am happy that I managed to go through this and I feel that my life has changed ever so slightly and I have got myself ready for whatever challenges that I may face in 2016.

[day 41, 20:12]

This was just some of the chocolate we got around the office today and they keep tempting me more and more. The chocolate moose is what almost broke me today (top right).

[day 42 30:10]

Only a couple more days to go and I’ll be done! I realised that my intentions was for it to be the end of December but since I have said 44 days, this takes me to the 1st of January of 2016.

[New Year’s Eve]

It’s NYE! Day 43 which is also meant to be the final day. I must have messed up the numbers when I was counting how many days I’d be doing.

I guess tomorrow will be the final day.

[New Year 2016]

Happy New Year!

What a journey it has been. I feel so happy that I managed to do this. Honestly, I had doubts at the start and that is why I kept it quiet. A lot of people supported me along the way.

After doing this detox, I feel like I can do anything if I put my mind to it.

I’m looking forward to what 2016 can bring me.

TL;DR

I wanted to cut refined sugar and caffeine from my diet for 44 days.

I did it.

Further Read