The #1 fear most people have when it comes to sugar addiction is not being able to quit eating sugar. More accurately, they fear how terrible they will feel when they stop eating it – and then fear that will drive them back where they started.

The good news is it doesn’t have to be that way.

It took me quite a long time to get to where I am today with my sugar addiction – namely, off sugar and with no cravings. But let’s be fair – I had no one back then to give me specific instructions or helpful coaching. This was years ago, and people didn’t understand sugar addiction in those days.

Instead, as a pioneer in the field of sugar addiction, I was reading articles in science journals that sounded something like this: “Radio assays were performed on rat brain… “

Yes, the information was that exciting (how could I make that up?) – and also that remote from my personal struggles with sugar. For me, quitting sugar was about putting bits and pieces together and turning them into a formula to follow.

Now that sugar is recognized as addictive – and sugar addiction is recognized as both problematic and widespread – books and guidelines on quitting the stuff are everywhere. I’ve written both.

So how long DOES quitting sugar take?

To be completely honest, getting rid of cravings for good will take a while, but the quitting process itself takes much less time. The answer is it takes less than a week – if you do it right.