Today I swiped The No Sweets Diet habit in the Lift app for 15th time in a row. This is some significant achievement for me, who loves eating.  In another 13 days I would have contributed my bit to the “world’s largest crowd-sourced randomized diet trial ” a.k.a. The Quantified Diet Project.

Why do you have to diet?

Just like that. Just for fun. There is no compelling reason for my participation in this diet. I never dieted in my life earlier so I just want to test myself if I can be on diet for a stipulated time. So I picked what I believed is the simplest diet to stick to. And then, this contribution to the bigger goal thing.

How difficult is this diet?

I found this diet to be very easy to follow. In fact, I expected this diet to be the simplest and easiest to follow of all the 10 available options. After 15 days, it proved to be so. Because I just don’t have to eat sugary stuff. I can still eat nuts, savories, chips, meat etc. And trust me, zero sugar coffee is not really bad.

Though it was a bit difficult ( or even rude) to say no to all those chocolate cakes, cookies, treats and post-biryani cokes, I think it is not impossible. It is also very well worth it because at the end of every day I had that much less unnecessary sugar in my body.

I feel slightly bad about not yet being able to put my tongue on some of my faves like Giapo, Whittaker’s and Hide n Seek Fab in the new year. Nevertheless,  if Whittaker’s are selling since 1896, I don’t see any reason why they can’t continue to sell for another 13 days and beyond. I am sure, so will be the case with other stuff that I am missing temporarily.

What are the advantages of this diet?

Besides much touted advantages of eating sugar free, most importantly, I became more mindful about what I put in my body. Every time I eat something (sugary or sugar-free) , I pause and think a bit rather than mindlessly stuffing the food. This is an important positive change for me.

What next?

I am going to continue the streak for the next 13 days which will give me the satisfaction of finishing something that I started and contributing to the project that matters.

The idea of this whole exercise is not to eat sugar-free for the rest of my life. That is not practical and unsustainable for someone like me who has year’s worth of bad momentum.

It only means now I became more mindful about sugar and junk. Therefore I am less likely to eat them every time. Perhaps I will eat sugar selectively rather than hog any candy, cookie or cake that comes my way.