By Mike, The SugarFreeMan
Founder of SugarDetox.com and the 30-Day Sugar Freedom Challenge
I’ve been good and I’ve been bad when it comes to New Year’s resolutions.
I could tell you about incredible things that have happened in my life simply by writing them down and setting realistic timeframes to accomplish them. Life-changing things. Career shifts. Relationship transformations. Major health improvements.
But I could also regale you with a much longer list of things I’ve “resolved” to do on January 1st and never moved an inch on. Things that seemed so important at midnight on New Year’s Eve and completely irrelevant by January 15th.
Here’s what I’ve learned after 35 years of being sugar-free and helping tens of thousands of people through their own journeys: resolutions are tricky because they aren’t really goals, are they? They’re more like solidified wishes. Sort of like maybes with better marketing.
And food and diet resolutions? Those are the trickiest of all.
This article was review by Dr. Camela McGrath, MD, FACOG. Find more about her here
Why Food Resolutions Fail More Than Any Other Kind
There’s a reason why “lose weight” and “eat healthier” top every New Year’s resolution list – and why most of those resolutions are abandoned by February.
It’s not because you lack willpower. It’s not because you’re weak or undisciplined or don’t want it badly enough.
It’s because sugar addiction involves a nuclear cocktail of complications that simple resolutions can’t address.
Think about what you’re actually dealing with when you try to quit sugar:
- Biochemical manipulation: Sugar literally alters your brain chemistry, affecting dopamine and serotonin levels
- Self-medication patterns: You’ve been using sugar to regulate emotions, manage stress, and cope with life for years or decades
- Physical dependency: Your body has adapted to running on constant sugar hits and reacts violently when you take them away
- Brain function disruption: Sugar affects cognitive function, decision-making, and impulse control
- Emotional entanglement: Sugar is tied to memories, celebrations, comfort, and identity
- Mental gymnastics: The elaborate justifications your mind creates to keep you ingesting the very thing you swore you’d quit
According to research from the CDC, added sugar consumption is linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic conditions. But knowing the health risks doesn’t make quitting easier, because this isn’t a logical problem. It’s a biological, psychological, and behavioral problem all rolled into one.
You can’t resolve your way out of that. You have to process your way through it.
What “In Process” Actually Looks Like
In our private support group, I see people at every stage of this journey. And here’s what I want you to know: most people are not perfect. In fact, hardly anyone is.
Some people quit sugar on day one and never look back. They’re the outliers, the unicorns. They exist, but they’re rare.
Most people are happily “in process.” And that word – “happily” – is critical.
Because here’s what I’ve noticed happens when people commit to the process rather than demanding perfection from themselves:
They Develop Solid Awareness
After a week, a month, or more off sugar, they start to get a feeling in their body and mind of what freedom actually feels like. They know where they want to be now. They have a reference point.
They know the difference between being controlled by sugar and being in control of their choices. They’ve experienced both states, and the contrast is stark.
This awareness is worth more than a hundred resolutions.
They Build Real Tools
Instead of relying on willpower (which is a finite resource that gets depleted), they develop actual strategies for handling cravings, managing emotions without food, navigating social situations, and responding to triggers.
These tools get stronger every time they’re used. Every time you successfully ride out a craving, you’re building capacity. Every time you choose a different response to stress, you’re expanding your toolkit.
They Accept the Reality of Non-Linear Progress
Let me tell you something here and now: no one does this thing perfectly. It’s three steps forward and four steps back sometimes. And then five steps forward. And then two back.
But each time you stumble and get back up, you get stronger. Each time you learn something new about your patterns. Each time, you become a little more aware of what triggers you and what supports you.
That’s not failure. That’s the process.
“You don’t have to get it right. You just have to get it going.”
Why It Took Me Two Years to Quit Sugar (And Why That’s Okay)
In my book, I talk about something most “sugar experts” don’t want to admit: it took me almost two years to fully quit sugar.
Two years.
Not two days. Not two weeks. Not even two months. Two full years of trying, slipping, learning, and trying again.
Now, it doesn’t have to take that long for you – this was almost 30 years ago when there was virtually zero information about sugar addiction, let alone any support systems or communities. I was figuring it out alone, in the dark, through trial and error.
But I want you to know this because I need you to understand: if you’ve been struggling with sugar for months or years, you’re not broken. You’re not uniquely flawed. You’re dealing with something genuinely difficult, and it takes time.
What I Learned From Other Things I’d Quit
Fortunately, I did have some tools from other habits I’d successfully changed. And the most important insight was this: each time I re-ingested sugar, I felt worse.
Sugar was no longer doing what it first did for me. The high was shorter. The crash was harder. The shame was deeper. The physical symptoms were more severe.
In a way, it had turned on me. Or maybe it just overstayed its welcome in my body?
Honestly, who knows? Who cares?
What really mattered was that I kept committing to the process, even when I wasn’t perfect at it.
The Turning Point: When Sugar Stops Working
There’s a phase that almost everyone goes through if they stick with the process long enough: sugar stops delivering what it used to promise.
The comfort becomes uncomfortable. The pleasure becomes guilt. The escape becomes a trap. The relief becomes a burden.
This is actually a sign of progress, even though it doesn’t feel like it at the time. It means your body and brain are starting to remember what normal feels like. They’re rejecting the very thing they were once dependent on.
But you can only reach this turning point if you stay in the process. If you keep showing up, even imperfectly. This is exactly why the 30-Day Sugar Detox Challenge focuses on process, not perfection. We expect stumbles. We plan for them. What we provide is the support, education, and accountability that helps you get back on track faster each time. You’re not alone in this. You’re part of a community that understands the messy reality of lasting change.
The Support Equation: Why You Can’t Do This Alone
We’ve all tried it alone. I tried it alone for two years. Most people in our program tried it alone multiple times before joining us.
And here’s what I can tell you definitively: it just doesn’t work that way.
Lasting change requires support. Not as a nice-to-have. Not as an optional extra. As a fundamental requirement.
The Process of Getting Educated
You need to understand what’s happening in your body and brain when you eat sugar and when you quit. Not just surface-level “sugar is bad” information, but deep understanding of:
- How sugar affects your neurotransmitters and hormones
- Why cravings feel so overwhelming (they’re not just “in your head”)
- What withdrawal actually involves and how long it typically lasts
- Which strategies work for different types of sugar struggles
- How to rebuild your relationship with food from the ground up
Research from the National Institutes of Health shows that sugar can produce addiction-like effects including bingeing, craving, tolerance, and withdrawal. Understanding this science removes shame and adds clarity.
Committing to Yourself AND Others
There’s power in private commitment. But there’s exponentially more power in public accountability.
When you tell other people – loving people who want the same thing in their lives – what you’re working toward, something shifts. You’re no longer just letting yourself down if you slip. You’re breaking a commitment to people who believe in you.
That might sound like pressure. And in a way, it is. But it’s the kind of pressure that keeps you showing up when you’d otherwise give up.
Why I Used to Hate the Word “Accountability”
I’ll be honest: I always hated that word.
Accountability.
It always seemed like the opposite of freedom to me. Like I HAD to do something, be somewhere, or complete something. Like someone was keeping tabs on me, judging me, watching for me to fail.
Had to. Must. Should. All the words that make me want to rebel and do exactly the opposite.
But what I found, over years of both struggling and succeeding, was the exact opposite of what I expected.
Once the thing was done, once the commitment was complete – or even just in process – there was this weird freedom that would come over me.
Like finishing your last exam of the school year. Like walking out of that classroom knowing you’re done, and the entire summer stretches ahead of you.
That cartwheels-in-the-schoolyard feeling.
Can you feel that right now? Really feel it?
That kind of freedom – where nothing is hanging over you, where you’re not carrying the weight of broken promises to yourself, where you can actually be present because you’re not constantly negotiating with sugar in your head.
The Paper Walls We Build Around Ourselves
Since we became adults numbed by food, sugar, TV, work, bills, relationships, and endless obligations, we’ve let those feelings of freedom be papered over.
But they’re still under there. That capacity for joy, for lightness, for being fully present – it didn’t disappear. It’s just been buried under layers of coping mechanisms and compromises.
Sugar is one of those paper walls. Maybe it’s your biggest one.
I always loved that moment at the beginning of football games when the team comes bursting through that giant paper banner. There’s something visceral about it – the way they explode through what looks solid but is actually just paper. Fragile. Temporary. An illusion of a barrier.
Your relationship with sugar is like that. It feels solid, permanent, impossible to break through. But it’s paper. And you’re capable of bursting through it.
What’s Your Paper Wall?
Take a minute and really think about this. What’s the paper wall between you and sugar freedom?
Is it:
- The belief that you can’t do it because you’ve failed before?
- The fear that life won’t be enjoyable without sugar?
- The worry about what other people will think or say?
- The anxiety about dealing with emotions without food to numb them?
- The exhaustion of trying and failing so many times?
- The shame that makes you hide your struggle instead of asking for help?
- The story you tell yourself about being someone who “just loves sweets too much”?
These feel like concrete walls. Like facts about who you are and what’s possible for you.
But they’re paper. Every single one of them.
See yourself right now – really visualize this – running full speed toward that paper wall and bursting straight through it. The paper tears easily. It was never as solid as it looked. And on the other side is everything you’ve been wanting: energy, clarity, freedom, peace.
Making This Year Different From All the Other Years
So here we are again. Another year. Another opportunity. Another chance to finally do this thing.
Maybe you’ve been here before. Maybe many times. Maybe you’re exhausted just thinking about trying again.
I get it. I’ve been there.
But here’s what I want you to consider: what if this year you approached it differently?
Instead of a Resolution, Choose a Process
Don’t resolve to “quit sugar forever.” That’s too big, too absolute, too overwhelming.
Instead, commit to being in process. Commit to learning, growing, stumbling, and getting back up. Commit to 30 days of showing up, even imperfectly.
Commit to the journey, not just the destination.
Instead of Perfection, Choose Progress
Stop waiting until you can do it perfectly. Stop believing that one slip means total failure. Stop holding yourself to standards you’d never apply to anyone else you care about.
Progress means moving forward more than you move backward. That’s it. That’s the whole metric.
Instead of Isolation, Choose Support
This is the big one. The game-changer. The difference between people who succeed long-term and people who stay stuck in the cycle.
Stop trying to do this alone. Stop believing you should be able to handle it by yourself. Stop treating asking for help as a weakness instead of a strategy.
Every single person I know who has successfully quit sugar long-term had support. Every. Single. One.
“The people who succeed aren’t stronger than you. They aren’t more disciplined. They just stopped trying to do it alone.”
What Happens When You Bust Through
I want to paint you a picture of what’s waiting on the other side of that paper wall.
Not in some vague, motivational-poster way. But in practical, lived-experience terms based on what I’ve seen happen for thousands of people who made it through the process.
The Physical Changes
Your energy stabilizes. No more mid-afternoon crashes that require sugar or caffeine to survive. No more waking up exhausted even after eight hours of sleep.
Your body composition changes, even if you’re eating the same number of calories. Your inflammation decreases. Your skin clears up. Your digestion improves.
According to the American Heart Association, reducing added sugar intake significantly lowers risk factors for cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. You’re not just feeling better – you’re becoming measurably healthier.
The Mental Changes
The brain fog lifts. You can think clearly again. Make decisions without feeling paralyzed. Focus on tasks without constant distraction.
The obsessive thoughts about food quiet down. You stop spending mental energy calculating when you can have your next sugar hit, what you’re “allowed” to eat, whether you’ve been “good” or “bad.”
That mental space – the bandwidth that gets freed up when you’re not constantly negotiating with sugar – is life-changing. People use it for creativity, relationships, career advancement, personal growth. All the things that matter.
The Emotional Changes
Your moods stabilize. The wild swings between sugar highs and crashes flatten out into something that feels remarkably like peace.
You develop new ways to handle stress, boredom, sadness, and anxiety. Not perfect ways – there’s no such thing – but functional ways that don’t leave you feeling worse afterward.
The shame dissolves. You stop hiding wrappers, eating in secret, lying to yourself and others about your sugar consumption. You can finally be honest.
The Freedom
This is the big one. The thing people don’t believe is possible until they experience it.
You walk into a grocery store and you’re not white-knuckling it past the bakery section. You go to a party and you’re not obsessed with what’s on the dessert table. You have a hard day and your first thought isn’t “I need ice cream.”
Sugar loses its power over you. Not because you’re constantly resisting it – but because you genuinely don’t want it anymore. Your body remembers what normal feels like and wants to stay there.
That’s freedom. Real freedom. The cartwheels-in-the-schoolyard kind.
Your Move
So here’s the question: Is this the year you bust through the paper walls that have been holding you down, holding you back?
Is this the year you stop making resolutions and start committing to the process?
Is this the year you finally let yourself get the support you need instead of trying to be strong enough to do it alone?
Only you can answer that. I can’t want it for you badly enough to make it happen. Your family can’t. Your doctor can’t. This has to be your decision.
But if the answer is yes – if you’re ready to get it going instead of trying to get it perfect – we’re here.
We’ve walked this path before. We know where the obstacles are. We know which strategies work and which ones waste your time. We know how to help you get back up when you stumble. And we know how to celebrate with you when you burst through those paper walls. The 30-Day Sugar Detox Challenge isn’t about perfection. It’s about process. It’s about committing to 30 days of showing up, learning, growing, and getting the kind of support that actually makes lasting change possible. You don’t have to get it right. You just have to get it going. And we’ll be right there with you, every step of the way.
We’ll Be Here When You’re Ready
Take your time. Think about what you really want. Visualize yourself on the other side of that paper wall.
And when you’re ready – not when you’re perfect, not when you have it all figured out, but when you’re ready to get it going – come find us.
The process is waiting. The support is waiting. The freedom is waiting.
All you have to do is take the first step.
About the Author:
Mike Collins, known as “The SugarFreeMan,” has been sugar-free for over 35 years and is the founder of SugarDetox.com. He has helped tens of thousands of people break free from sugar addiction through his evidence-based approach combining nutritional science with practical behavior change strategies.
Medical Disclaimer:
This article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare provider before making significant dietary changes, especially if you have underlying health conditions.
FAQ
Q1: Why do New Year’s resolutions to quit sugar fail more than other resolutions?
A: Sugar resolutions fail more frequently because they involve a “nuclear cocktail” of complications: biochemical manipulation (altered brain chemistry), self-medication patterns (using sugar to regulate emotions), physical dependency (body adapted to constant sugar), brain function disruption (impaired decision-making), and emotional entanglement (sugar tied to identity and memories). Simple resolutions can’t address this complexity – you need a process-based approach with support.
Q2: What does “being in process” mean when quitting sugar?
A: Being “in process” means accepting non-linear progress – three steps forward, four steps back – while building awareness and tools rather than demanding perfection. It means developing solid awareness of what sugar freedom feels like, building real strategies for handling cravings, and accepting that stumbles are part of learning. Most successful people are happily “in process” rather than perfectly sugar-free from day one.
Q3: How long should I expect the process of quitting sugar to take?
A: The timeframe varies significantly by individual. Physical withdrawal typically peaks within 3-7 days, but complete behavioral and psychological transformation can take months. Mike Collins took nearly 2 years to fully quit sugar 30 years ago without support or information. With modern understanding and support systems, most people see major transformations within 30-90 days, though building lasting habits continues beyond that initial period.
Q4: Why can’t I just quit sugar on my own using willpower?
A: Willpower is a finite resource that gets depleted, making it unreliable for long-term change. Sugar addiction involves multiple interacting systems (biochemical, psychological, behavioral) that are extremely difficult to address alone. Research and experience consistently show that lasting change requires support – education about what’s happening in your body, accountability to others, real-time help during craving moments, and community with people who understand the struggle.
Q5: What if I’ve tried to quit sugar multiple times and failed – does that mean I can’t do it?
A: No. Repeated attempts don’t indicate inability – they indicate you’ve been trying without adequate support or understanding of the process. Each attempt builds awareness even if it doesn’t result in permanent change. The difference between success and continued struggle is usually not willpower or desire but rather having proper support, understanding it’s a process (not perfection), and committing for adequate time (60-90+ days).
Q6: What’s the difference between accountability and pressure when quitting sugar?
A: Accountability initially feels like pressure or obligation (“I have to”). However, once you experience completion or even just staying in process, accountability creates freedom – the freedom from constant negotiation with sugar, from broken promises to yourself, and from mental energy spent on food obsession. It’s similar to finishing your last exam of the school year – the structure that felt constraining actually creates the conditions for freedom.
