A LITTLE LESS SWEET
The way I did it.
I stopped adding sugar to my coffee.
I’ve started my day with a cup of coffee for as long as I can remember, and the delicious varieties of flavored creamers are some of my favorite things about that morning cup of joe. My current favorite is Italian Sweet Cream. I bought one of those small frothers to whip the cream before adding the hot coffee. It’s heavenly delicious. In the fall, I look forward to the seasonal Pumpkin Spice and Cinnamon Dolce flavors, and then for the holidays, it’s Peppermint Stick and White Chocolate Raspberry.
This experiment was difficult for me, and it’s one that I’ve been thinking about for a long time. Apparently, beverages high in sugar are worse for you than cakes and pies. It’s something about how quickly sugar enters your system without any solids to slow it down. You may have heard about the lawsuits against Starbucks, that mighty coffee giant.
The thing is, I wasn’t drinking a venti coffee macchiato with whipped cream and a caramel drizzle every morning. I was making my coffee at home and often measured the creamer to get the precise allotted serving size of two tablespoons per cup.
But even so, I had a feeling I could do better.
A couple of weeks ago, I spent the weekend with friends in a beautiful mountain house in North Carolina. The first morning, I woke up early, so I started the coffee. I set out the coffee cups and teaspoons, opened the fridge, and found plain half-and-half. No problem, I thought, and began to search the cabinets for sugar. I hunted high and low, using a stool to check the small cabinet above the microwave. Then I got down on my knees to check the very bottom drawers. Nothing there … there was no sugar in the house. The best that I could come up with was a small pot of honey.
So I had a problem. First, I really don’t like black coffee, and second, none of my friends seemed to be concerned about it. Since I didn’t want to be a complainer, I suffered through honey coffee the first morning and continued to suffer the second morning. By the third morning, I couldn’t take it and blurted out, “Does anyone else miss having sugar in their coffee?” The answer was crickets. And I know why.
One of our friends is a brilliant doctor. She knows everything about nutrition … and not just the whole foods plan that everyone is touting these days. She knows how foods affect your body at the molecular level. She can tell you exactly how the things you put in your mouth have an effect on your body. And the long and the short of it is—sugar is not good. Needless to say, none of us want her to catch us eating the wrong things!
So that was two weeks ago. I didn’t enjoy my coffee during that vacation, and when I got home I went back to my old habit—whipping the Italian Sweet Cream and adding the hot coffee. However, I was feeling guilty, so I planned this experiment.
Generally, I’m pretty good about doing things that I know are good for me—getting enough sleep, exercising, and not drinking too much. I’ve added lifting weights … blah blah blah. And there it is. I struggled with this week’s experiment because I have a bad attitude.
The way I did it. A little less sweet.
This is part of what I’m calling Expeditionvision—my quest to find what a meaningful life looks like. One experiment per week: Possible strategies for a happier life. Trying things on purpose and paying attention to what happens. I’m not offering advice or giving instructions. I’m just sharing the way I did it. If there’s something that you’ve been wanting to try—but haven’t—I’d love to hear about it. I’m open to reader suggestions for future experiments.
Field Notes: For Paid Subscribers
Paid subscribers, I’ve added a short field notes section below with what surprised me the most, what I didn’t expect, what I might do next time, and things I’m still working on.