Everyone around me knows that I have a huge sweet tooth. Cakes, cupcakes, brownies, cookies, and my all-time favorite…Reese’s Cups have been a staple of my weekly diet for years.

For years and years, I absolutely had to have something sweet nearly every day. Luckily, this never really showed up weight wise very much, but I knew that too much could be affecting how I feel daily and could lead to further problems down the line since my doctor already had to remind me that high blood pressure and diabetes runs in my family. 

With this in mind, I decided to challenge myself to a no sweets challenge for 1 month. I wanted to go super strict and go all out no sugar, but since I live in Korea, it’s confusing reading labels and knowing what’s inside the food products on the shelves (even with my average Korean level).

So just cutting out all the things I listed above was an appropriate challenge for myself. Maybe for you, it could be a different food for you to cut out.

Although my wife, friends, and family never believed I could do it, I actually completed the challenge and went a bit longer until my friend had a birthday party and made her famous red velvet cupcakes!

So here are some benefits I experienced during my challenge.

More Energy

It was pretty rough for the first week or so, but after I got over that hump, it was amazing how much more energy I had during the day and right after waking up. I am notoriously sluggish right after waking up, so this was surprising.

This in turn made me more productive throughout the day, and I had better workouts as well. My wife noticed more energy when I was at home as I would usually come home right after work for a quick nap to recharge.

Clearer Skin 

I never really had bad acne, but I always seemed to get these annoying pimples either on the temple of my head or near my eyebrows. For the whole month, I had much clearer skin than normal. I thought this was just a coincidence, but after some research, I realized that high sugar intake (especially chocolate) contributes greatly to acne.

Better Overall Mood

This kind of ties in to having more energy, but this was a great benefit as well. It seemed like I was calmer than usual and when a problem arose at work or with my business, I seemed to take them in stride rather than get super stressed out about them.

I also seemed more calm and happier in social situations. This made me feel great and my friends even noticed that I looked happier and smiled more.

Conclusion 

Now I’m not saying you will get magical super powers if you cut out sugar for a time but considering how much sugar we all consume on a daily basis, I do believe that people will experience some benefits to lowering their sugar intake. 

However, sugar may not be your vice. It could be salty foods, beer, or fast food. Everything in moderation…even moderation! So, live a little while also stopping yourself from overindulging too much. Your body will thank you for it.