Reflections on Austere August

In August I gave up dairy, sugar, caffeine and alcohol as part of my Austere August self-challenge.

Dairy. Dairy was easy for me to give up. I don’t drink animal milk. I do enjoy cheese in moderation; however, there are plant-based alternatives that held me over in August. I also gave up eggs for the month. That wasn’t a problem because I don’t eat eggs very often, anyway.

Sugar. Sugar was tricky. Fact is, sugar is added to many food products. I ultimately fudged a little bit on this one and allowed for instances of 1 – 2 grams added sugar per serving, here and there.

Caffeine. 86-ing caffeine caused withdrawal symptoms for a couple of days–grogginess and fogginess. After that, lack of caffeine was not a problem.

Alcohol. Not consuming alcohol was easy. I enjoy beer, wine, and cocktails on occasion, but I was just fine without them in August.

I did not notice any positive health effects from my self-denial in August. I didn’t sleep any better or feel any better, for example. My weight stayed consistent. Benefits of Austere August included: 1) exercising self-control 2) learning about food products.

Moving forward, I plan to continue consuming dairy, sugar, caffeine, and alcohol in moderation, as I please, perhaps subject to deliberate pauses via self-challenges from time to time, just to be sure. Cheers!