This gargantuan photo is of a deep-fried fluffernutter sandwich with bananas that I ate the other night at the just-opened Black Market Liquor Bar in Studio City. When the waiter put it down on the table, I was a bit overwhelmed by its obnoxious size, but went ahead anyway and took a bite.

My eyes list up and church choir music began to ring in my head. (my roommate had a similar reaction, though, I’m sure it was of a Judaic nature.) I’ve had my share of deep-fried county fair fare, but this topped my list by far. Needless to say, I killed the sandwich.

Excited to share the new neighborhood haunt, we went back the next night with a friend of my roommate, in which the fluffernutter made a comeback. This time, however, I did not participate.

For the past two months, I’ve been cutting down on sugar. When I started my job last November, it was the first time I had worked in an office since 2005. And what comes with most office environs? Snacks. Lots of them. And usually sugary. This is not to say that I hadn’t eaten copious amounts of sweets from the kitchen when I worked at home, but the generosity of my co-workers put me over the tipping point. Enough that they uncovered my alter ego, the slyly-named Snack Behrens.

So I made a fast break and cut it out. The first thing I noticed was that my sleep improved dramatically. I would fall asleep more easily and wake up feel much more rested. I’ve also lost some weight with ease and I’m sure my blood tests results will be improved as well, which is not a bad thing.

This is not to say I don’t eat sugar–ahem, the above photo?–but I only do it on special occasions like food I’ve never experienced before–once again, the photo–co-workers who baked a pie (Michael Pollan’s Rule 17: Eat food cooked by humans, not corporations) and moments of camaraderie such as ice cream Thursdays at the office. I’ll also eat food with natural sugar, such as the blueberries I ate every morning last week with my breakfast.

Being so cavalier with sweets feels good at the moment, but the decision to eat less has been good in the long run. I think I’ll stick with it–except for the next time I encounter some deep-fried dessert that raises Snack’s eyebrows.