Interviews
AN INTERVIEW WITH SARAH WILSON: FOUNDER OF I QUIT SUGAR
So let me tell you a bit about Sarah Wilson, the latest inspiring lady to be interviewed on The Nutritionist. Sarah is the author of the best-sellers I Quit Sugar and I Quit Sugar For Life. Sarah has also authored the best-selling series of cookbooks from IQuitSugar.com.
Her 8-Week Program has seen more than 600,000 people quit sugar worldwide. On top of this she is a is a New York Times best-selling author and blogger whose journalism career has spanned 20 years, across television, radio, magazines, newspapers and online.
She’s the former editor of Cosmopolitan magazine and was the host of the first series of MasterChef Australia, the highest rating show in Australian TV history. She appears regularly as a commentator on a range of programs including Channel 7′s Sunday Night, The Morning Show, Sunrise and Weekend Sunrise, Ten Network’s Good News Week and The Project, Nine’s 60 Minutes and A Current Affair.
So you can see why I am pretty excited to share this interview with you right? I hope you enjoy what this extremely talented and motivated lady has to say. Oh and if all that wasn’t enough we also have a recipe for her Flourless Berry Chocolate Cake from the “I Quit Sugar Chocolate Cookbook Volume II” which is just delicious. Told you it was a good one!
Can you describe how and when you decided to quit sugar?
I have an autoimmune disease and had been told for years I should quit sugar. The idea was far too scary to contemplate, as it is for most. (Tell someone to quit, say, peanuts and they just don’t shudder in the same way). I then decided to experiment with the idea and quit for two weeks.
I wrote about it for the newspaper column I was writing at the time. It felt so good, so right – I lost weight immediately and had much better energy – that I just kept going. And going. It’s been over three years now.
How has your life changed since you decided to quit sugar?
In so many ways! Quitting sugar started as an experiment, and continues to be an experiment that takes me by surprise every day. It’s the biggest delight of my life that so many people have responded to it.
As I say often, sometimes life finds you… It started as me writing a column, which turned into a few blog posts, then someone asked me to write an eBook, and then a publisher wanted to do a book, and then it went to the UK and the US and has been translated into seven languages.
Then people started saying ‘we want menu plans, we want experts to help us through it,’ and the only way I could do that was to employ more people, and now … here we are with I Quit Sugar employing fourteen staff. We’ve helped 600,000 people quit sugar in just a couple of years. It blows me away.
What was the hardest thing about quitting sugar?
The emotional addiction was the hardest. I used to reward and comfort myself with sugary food. I overcame this hurdle by substituting sweet treats with savory snacks.
Your book I Quit Sugar is a best seller. Congratulations, why did you decide to write this book?
Because I was getting so many requests from people for the “trick” to quitting!
Tell us a bit about the 8 week programmed you have devised- what can you expect from the programmed, what makes it unique?
I developed the 8-Week Program to be a practical week-by-week guide full of tips, meal plans, advice and inspiration to quit sugar… for good. When you register for the online Program you get 8 weeks of meal plans, shopping lists, recipes, movement plans, access to experts and the IQS Team, weekly emails and motivational videos. It is supportive and thorough and gentle.
Can you tell us some more about your current campaign to get better food/nutrition into school?
Statistics show us that 1 in 4 Australian children are either overweight or obese. Some canteens sell chocolate cake and ice cream for breakfast, and Tiny Teddies and chocolate milk drinks are regular snacks!
Canteen guidelines in Australia need to be updated to bring them into line with the Australian Dietary Guidelines, which recommend limiting the intake of food and drink with added sugars. We should be calling for clearer, sensible government guidelines that look at getting real food into school canteens.
Starting in NSW we need 10,000 signatures to take this to Parliament and make lasting, practical change. Unfortunately there’s no signing up online. We need to do this physically and literally take it to the streets. You can download and print out the petition at IQuitSugar.com.
Can you tell us a bit about your background?
I am the eldest of six. I grew up outside Canberra. We kept goats for milk and meat and did a lot of things with recycled materials. Dad was a public servant who commuted into town every day on a motorbike.
We’re all very anti -consumption. I worked from 11 in a nursery, I also ran my own business making dolls’ house furniture and painting library bags for toy shops. I started my adult professional life as a journalist, as a food writer 20 years ago for the big News Corporation weekend supplement.
I then moved into all kinds of journalism, editor of Cosmopolitan, political columnist, then I hosted “MasterChef Australia,” which became the most watched show in Australian history. About five years ago I got very sick with an autoimmune disease.
I had to pull back and stop working. I needed to get well. I decided to quit sugar. Autoimmune is all about inflammation, and sugar is all inflammation. I used my column to get information. Weeks and months passed and more people wanted to know how I did it. Everybody was asking me the same questions and I was doing all this research. I had to put it somewhere.
What’s a typical day in the life of Sarah Wilson?
I’m convinced that having some sort of structure to the start of your day is key to living a life that counts. Every successful wellness expert I’ve spoken to, from the Dalai Lama to Oprah’s life coach, all say to have a morning routine.
Every morning I incorporate exercise, meditation, breakfast and some grounding time. Then I head to work. Sometimes I’m in the IQS office, other days I’m in the studio working on tv gigs or my latest cookbook.
In the evening I meditate again, eat dinner, drink lots of chamomile tea (I’m a terrible sleeper), turn off all screens at least 30 minutes before I go to sleep and switch off my phone (to reduce EMFs). I shower, stretch, read… and if I’m lucky… sleep.
What do you typically eat in a day?
For breakfast, I make a green smoothie with heaps of vegetables, half a kiwifruit, some ginger and fresh turmeric.
I always supplement that with a handful of nuts or a big scoop of nut butter. For lunch, it’s what I call a mishmash meal: steamed vegetables, whatever’s in my fridge with some kind of protein and fat stirred through it.
Either a couple of eggs, a tin of tuna, a quarter of a chicken, some fetta cheese, homemade mayonnaise, olive or macadamia oil. For dinner, I’ll have slow-cooked pulled pork or beef cheeks.
I make a big quantity and freeze it into portions so I’ve always got a meal ready. I’ll have it with broccolini, zucchini, parsnip or sweet potato mash. And I definitely have a glass of red wine.
Do you have any favorite healthy recipes?
I love chocolate. I eat it every day! My favorite recipe at the moment is the Flourless Berry Chocolate Cake from the I Quit Sugar Chocolate Cookbook II. It’s extremely rich, so you only need a very small piece to satisfy your chocolate cravings. The recipe is below so you can try it for yourself!
Any favorite eating spots?
I love Fratelli Paradiso in Potts Point.
Do you have a particular exercise routine?
Every morning I start my day with moderate exercise. It’s the “every day” bit that counts. I have one outfit, that I keep in one spot. I go to it. I put it on. I get out the door moving.
I change it up throughout the week. Sometimes I stair run or surf, sometimes it’s yoga or swimming or weights. On the weekend I go for bush runs or hikes.
What motivates you in the morning?
I don’t look for motivation. I start my morning the same way every day (with exercise, meditation, food and grounding). These things keep me going every day.
Do you have any advice for young working women trying to lead a healthy lifestyle?
Embrace the weekend cook-up to prepare you for the week ahead and do a little bit of exercise every day. Oh, and be gentle and kind to yourself.
