Hello, I Am A Sugar Addict.

On November 3rd, 2005 I officially quit sugar for a year and began blogging about it. Since then I've avoided sweets and have grown this website into a place where people can join together, get their life back and Stop Being Sweet.

You see, I have never drank, smoked, or taken drugs. Sugar is was my drug of choice. On December 12, 2002, I quit processed sugar for about six weeks. It was the longest I had ever gone without sweets but it was long enough to notice a physical difference. That experience set me on a roller coaster of abstinence and indulgence over the next few years.

Eating my last cookie of 2003.

On a cross country road trip in 2003 I found myself dining in road-side convenience stores and eating junk food to the point of nausea. After purchasing and eating six boxes (yes, 6) of Girl Scout Cookies, I took this photo of myself at Yellowstone National Park. That same day I vowed not to eat sweets (candy, cookies, cakes, etc.) for an entire year until the next batch of Girl Scout cookies came out. You know what? It was that easy.

No sweets (Truth: I ate apple pie in 2003) graced my lips for a full year until the Girl Scout Cookies came out again in 2004 (at which time I took the train from Manhattan to Brooklyn to buy a few boxes from the distribution center when they became available).

Who knew ice cream burns?

I also went to the store, purchased a bunch of sweets and had a two-week "super sugar binge" that made me feeling so sick I quit sugar and burned my sweets. Being sugar-free felt so good it seemed okay to try eating just a little sugar. Bad move, I was right back where I started and had to quit sugar all over again. Then I ate sugar again. Then I quit again.

Tired of the roller coaster—and with that one healthy year in mind—I began a blog to keep myself honest. That blog grew into a website and I’ve even written a book about how to sustainably get off sweets for good.

People often ask, “Why should I quit sugar?”

My answer is always the same; do not quit sugar. Stop Being Sweet instead!

What It Means to Stop Being Sweet

To stop being sweet means that you learn how to manage your sugar intake. I only eat sugar for four days out of each year. After trying many things, that is what works for me. For you, it might be eating sugar one day a week, once a month, only on holidays, or perhaps only when you are out of town. What works for some people might not work for others. And there is more to getting off sugar than just figuring out some kind of limiting parameters.

To stop being sweet means that you put your health first, create your own personal sustainable sugar abstinence plan, and then stick to it. The first two parts are easy, it’s the sticking to it part people have trouble with. Remember, once an addict, always an addict. The secret is, you have to really want to become sugar free.

I got started in all of this by abstaining from sugar for two to three week stints—which was the longest I could hold out at the time. I rode that roller coaster for several years. It gets old. All of this is explained in the Stop Being Sweet ebook.

If you want, you can get off sweets. Get started now. If you want help, get the ebook. Feel free to ask questions. Thanks for reading.