Let’s face it, when you quit sugar the world looks at you a little differently and that’s OK. You know the rest of the world will catch up soon. But don’t you love it when you’re in a room with 900 likeminded people who’ve quit sugar or are thinking about giving it a go?

That’s why we were looking forward to hearing Sarah Wilson from “I Quit Sugar” speak at the Business Chicks luncheon in Melbourne. She’s been an inspiration for The Sugar Breakup team from the start.

We weren’t sure what she would talk about, but believe us when we say, she is so much broader than the quit sugar message. Here’s a sneak peek at a great talk:

The quit sugar message was strong. Your body doesn’t need fructose. The liver takes the fructose and stores it as fat. Too much sugar is being added to our food and drink. We should follow the new WHO guidelines and try to only eat 6 teaspoons of sugar a day (9 for men and 3 for children) . Even a ‘healthy diet’ can have up to 23 teaspoons a day (flavoured yoghurt, juice, dates anyone?).

We should eat protein and fat because our bodies are designed to process these foods, uses them for energy and they talk to our bodies, letting us know when we’ve had enough.

Start your day with a routine, no matter how unorganised you are. Sarah drinks water, exercises (lightly), meditates (in the sun if possible), takes her breakfast to work and eats it. Then she can start the work day. She sympathises how busy life can be, especially if you have a family; try and take a little timeout for yourself even if its 5 mins locked in the toilet with the kids banging on the door (Like her mum used to do).

Get back into the kitchen and cook. Make your own foods, use less sugar, eat more good fats, eat more greens. Cook like your grandma used to, use olive oil and butter. Join the JERF movement – just eat real food!

Be less wasteful of resources. Sarah admits to owning very little furniture and just bought a couch this year. What did she do before hand? Sat on the floor!

Listen to your inner voice. She believes that by giving up sugar your body becomes better attuned and you can listen to your gut when making decisions or in her terms the prickly sensation in your skin that goes up your neck like a scratchy woolly jumper.

Be authentic and be your brand. This message spoke to us deeply. We can’t explain how refreshing it was to hear and see someone speak and they are the real deal. We’ve never meet Sarah before and this is what struck us: she is genuine and real. Now if you think we sound like hard core fans, you’d be right. We loved everything about today.

So we reckon give it a go and follow Sarah’s advice. Gently ease yourself into our sugar free world. Take it one step at a time and treat it as an experiment. If it works for you and you see the changes then keep going.

And don’t forget to let us know how your journey is going. Sharing our stories with each-other is a way in which we all learn and grow. And a big thank you to Sarah Wilson for sharing her story and inspiring us even further today.