I want to share with you a story on why I quit sugar and make you think on why should you. We are going to talk about the financial effects of sugary foods on you.
First I want to say that I am not a doctor. If you are looking for health advice please consult your GP.
In this article I am going to talk about the financial and psychological effects that sugar can have on you.
Let’s Start With Me
So I have been consuming sugar in all forms for years and years. A couple of years back I was drinking fizzy drinks almost exclusively. I was going through atleast 3l of Coke every day without even paying attention to that fact.
It was something normal to me. Instead of water I was simply drinking soft drinks. I was an addict without even realising it. After all it is just a fizzy drink right you cannot be atticted to something so common?
Well I was wrong. After so many years of drinking mostly that I was not used to drink water for example. I simply could not have a meal without soda. It was the same with desserts- a meal without something sweet in the end just wasn’t fullfiling for me. I would eat a chocolate or an ice cream or whatever sweet after any meal.
I also used to eat a ton of candy simply when I was bored and I am sure a lot of people have done this too. I would just lay on the couch on my day off and eat sweets, drink soda and watch movies all day. I didn’t even think it is something strange. Well in fact it isn’t and it is very deeply involved in the western lifestyle. I am sure that everyone of you reading this has done that atleast a dozen times in their lifes.
When Did I Realise I Have to Stop?
Well a couple of years ago I started thinking about my finances a bit more serious and decided to see where are my money going. After a rough calculation I found out that a lot of them are going for things that are not benefiting me in any way. I mean that bottle of soda or that ice cream was not helping me in any way shape or form. In fact it was dragging me down both financially and mentally.
The financial part was quite easy for me to comprehend. I made a simple calculation- every day I was consuming sugar products worth atleast £10. The simple calcutalion shows that I was spending £300 every single month for things that I didn’t really need. So when I thought about it was a clear and pretty straightforward decision to stop consuming them.
I simply started drinking water instead of soda and started consuming nothing instead of sweets. That saved me a ton of money over the long run. In fact I am going to reach financial freedom a couple years earlier just because of that. And I am going to have an overall happier life, but more on that in a minute.
How Did I Manage to Quit?
Well my approach was a bit straight to the point- I cut them out completely and just stopped consuming these products altogether. It may seem a bit weird, but that is the easiest way to deal with an addiction. Yes it requires a bit of character, but this is the quickest way you can take something that you don’t want out of your life.
I will explain why. First let me tell you that I see sugar as an addiction and I treat it no different than addictions to drugs or alcohol for example. I have dealt with all three for a certain time in my life.
In order to cut it out you need to stop thinking about it and pretend it doesn’t exist. Just imagine that all the sweets and sodas in the world have disapeared. The good part is that it only takes a couple of days to a week in order for your brain to start getting used to life with no sugar.
If you have very big cravings you can simply eat a green apple. That helps not only because it replaces your dessert but also because after the apple the chocolate doesn’t taste nice.
This is a good test to your character. If you manage to go through it you are going to come out a stronger person after that. That discipline is going to help you in other areas of life later on. I know because I see the benefits long after I have dealt with it.
Mental Benefits
One of the useful qualities of sugar is that it provides you with a quick rush of energy because of the substantial amount of calories it contains. But the problem is that as quick the rush comes as quick it goes away. That is generally not healthy for your body and it makes your system more stressed. That results in a loss of concentration, loss of focus and a low quality sleep.
Whenever I feel down and need some boost in energy I eat youghurt and honey or nuts etc. It is healthier and it is cheaper aswell.
Also now I am spending my free time with more fullfiling things instead of just sitting on the couch, watching Netflix and eating junk food.
Financial Benefits
First what made me think about the effect sweets had on my finances? Well it was quite an often event to go shopping just to go back home and see that half the stuff I had bought have little to no nutritional value whatsoever. I am talking about stuff like candy, sodas, biscuits etc. I like to call them empty calories because that’s what they are.
You don’t eat them to provide the nutrients that your body needs, but for I don’t even know why quite frankly. They contain nothing substantial, but I kept eating them for years and years without really thinking much about it. After all anyone is doing it, the supermarkets are full of them and you can see them everywhere.
But only because everyone is doing something doesn’t mean that it is something you should do.
By cutting all of those things from my shopping list I cut my spending in half. The crazy thing is that I didn’t have to replace all those empty calories with anything because they were providing no value to my menu anyways. Now instead of soda I simply drink water and instead of sweets I eat well… nothing.
I used to have those ocasional nights where I would order £15-20 worth of gelato and just eat it watching my favourite TV series. Now I still do the same every now and again, but instead of ordering that gelato I just order, well… nothing instead. That are £20 saved and I have lost absolutely nothing except for maybe a little weight.
Long-Term Perspective
Now let’s make a little calculation on what quitting sugar means in the long term and how it can impact you and your financial independence.
I used to spend £300 on average every month on sweets. Let’s say I saved that money and put them in an S&P 500 ETF fund. The historical return is about 9%, but we are going to use 8% for a more conservative calculation.
After going through the calculations the value of those £300 a month is going to be worth over £100,000 in 15 years.
The interesting part is that I can reach my financial freedom target of £300,000 in 25 years of cutting sugars alone. I hope you understand how much of a long-term impact can there be from one single action.
I don’t know about you, but I would rather have £300,000 than drink soda.
Keep in Mind
Now I want to make something clear. I have been a chef for the last 3 years and I respect food a lot. I want to say that I love a good high- quality dessert every now and again. I am not someone who just hates sugar altogether. I just don’t like all the processed sugar stuff in the supermarkets and the culture of snacking things for no reason.
Intaking some amount of sugar every day is a part of a balanced diet, but we can take that sugar from much better sources than chocolates and fizzy drinks.
Final Thoughts
I hope you realise now how much of an impact can be made from all those sugar products. Cutting them out can bring you great results in the long- run both financially and mentally. And that is not even taking into account all the health problems associated with too much sugar intake. I think all that consumption is a big problem in western culture and it needs to be adressed. So we can start from ourselves.
Every time before you buy empty calories from the supermarket ask yourself why do you really need that and what is the point of buying it. If you have a valid reason go ahead, but more often than not you will just struggle to find an answer.
That is all from me today, hope you had a good read and you are going to think twice before buying a candy bar next time you go shopping.