As a journalist living with unmedicated ADHD, I’ve relied on sugar as a crutch for as long as I can remember. A square of 70% dark chocolate before writing could do what pep talks, productivity podcasts, and overly optimistic planners never could. But only now do I realize this coping mechanism wasn’t sustainable. I thought it was a way to focus, but really, it was a chemical bribe to get my brain to work.

In January, I stopped outsourcing my stability to a candy wrapper and quit sugar completely. I quickly found that without my afternoon chocolate, starting tasks became a real struggle. Sometimes, for a brain like mine, the gap between wanting to do something and actually doing it feels impossibly wide. You can want to start, plan to start, talk endlessly about starting, and then spend 40 minutes rearranging tabs and finding creative ways to avoid what you’ve been putting off. We often chalk this up to a lack of discipline or willpower, which makes sense from the outside, but feels completely different when you’re the one going through it.

Sugar felt like a way to reboot my system. Before an interview, after a mentally draining afternoon, or during that dangerous hour when focus starts to slip, sweetness offered the quickest path from stillness to action. But I knew it couldn’t last.

I went into this expecting a 90-day wellness reset, but instead, I found myself grieving a system that had been holding me together.

The first week of the experiment was strange. My body felt mildly annoyed, and I had dull headaches, a lingering irritability, and the sense that an expected guest never showed up. One afternoon, I stood in my kitchen opening and closing cabinets for 20 minutes, searching for productivity behind cereal boxes. Shruti Shah, a psychologist and founder of Holistic Mind Therapy, suggests this feeling is more about losing part of my routine than the chocolate itself. “You miss the predictable reward and the emotional role it played,” she says.

By the time I hit the 60-day mark, I had a clearer picture of my nervous system. As a psychology student who studied reward pathways for years, it was humbling to realize my motivation had been propped up by candy.

When I removed the crutch, I had to learn slower, less flashy ways to build momentum—like listening to music before writing a tough email, setting timers to make focusing feel like a game, and having a friend in the room while I worked to get through the boring parts of admin tasks.

“Instead of asking ‘How do I stop eating sugar?’ we need to ask, ‘What is sugar helping me regulate?’” Shah says.

The social side of things was the most eye-opening part of the 90 days. At birthdays and family gatherings, the pressure to “just have one bite” was relentless. In a culture where celebration is tied to slices of frosted cake, my refusal felt like a judgment of others’ enjoyment. “Life should be enjoyed,” people would say, not realizing they were asking me to tear down the fragile new structure of my focus for the sake of a social ritual.

But I’m determined to break free from that reward-loop trap. Now, more than 90 days in, my focus is steadier. I still struggle with ADHD and getting started on tasks. But these days, it’s movement and structure that carry me through, not sugar.

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Frequently Asked Questions
Heres a list of FAQs based on the topic I gave up sugar for 90 days Heres what it taught me about focus

BeginnerLevel Questions

1 What exactly did you give up for 90 days
I cut out all added sugarsthings like candy soda cookies and even sneaky sources like ketchup salad dressings and flavored yogurts I still ate natural sugars from whole fruits and vegetables

2 Why did you decide to quit sugar for 90 days
I wanted to see if my constant brain fog and afternoon energy crashes were linked to sugar Id heard it could mess with focus so I decided to test it on myself

3 Did you experience any withdrawal symptoms
Yes the first week was rough I had headaches felt irritable and craved sugar constantly It felt like a mild flu but it passed after about 57 days

4 How long did it take before you noticed a difference in your focus
Around day 10 the brain fog started lifting By week three my concentration felt sharper and more consistentno more 3 pm slumps

5 Did you eat fruit during the 90 days
Yes I ate whole fruits because the fiber helps slow down sugar absorption I avoided fruit juices and dried fruit which are concentrated sugar

IntermediateLevel Questions

6 How did giving up sugar specifically improve your focus
Without sugar spikes and crashes my blood sugar stayed stable This meant my brain had a steady fuel supply so I could concentrate for longer periods without feeling distracted or tired

7 Did you have more energy overall or just better focus
Both My energy became more even throughout the dayno more midmorning jitters or postlunch crashes That steady energy directly helped me stay on task

8 What did you eat instead of sugary snacks
I swapped sweets for nuts seeds plain Greek yogurt avocado and dark chocolate I also drank herbal tea when I felt a sugar craving

9 Did you ever slip up during the 90 days
Yes twice Once at a birthday party