As of February 8, I successfully accomplished a 31-day sugar fast, which is probably the first time in my life I’ve actually had any sort of self control when it comes to diet.

I learned a couple things about myself during this month. The first thing I learned was that I was actually addicted to sugar, and didn’t merely enjoy it. Around day 7, I went through several days of withdrawal pains which finally subsided. When I finally had sugar again (a grape, after over a month), my sweet receptors went into overdrive and I suddenly craved even more. I confess I went a little overboard during my ski trip, but even when I was “allowed” to eat it again I consumed much less than I would have before the fast.

I learned that I have a lot more control about what I choose to eat than I thought. At first, it was difficult to avoid sugar. It is, after all, in almost everything. But once I got used to my high-fat diet of cheese, meat and veggies, I found it easy to avoid. Now, post-fast, I’m noticing that it’s far easier to just make the choice to avoid it; in fact, I’m noticing as I stare at the one cookie on my plate, that it is a deliberate choice I made to eat sugar this time. I control it, and it doesn’t control me.

The final thing I learned is that, loathe as I am to admit it, sugar isn’t really that necessary or even desirable. This is hard for me to say, because I literally swear by my sweet tooth. Dessert is the best part of every meal. I grew up on candy. But at the same time, without it I got just as much done (arguably more). I had very little caffeine (as my usual caffeine intake comes with copious amounts of sugar) and yet I had more energy. And I’m pretty sure I ate less overall.

For those of you considering it, I highly recommend just trying to go off sugar for at least two weeks. It’s not that hard to accomplish, and once you do you may find that you don’t need it, or even want it, as much as you think.