I have about one month left of my sugar free year. So far, the experiment is a failure. I have not lost my cravings for sugar at all, even with avoiding dessert the last 5 months (including over thanksgiving and christmas--which was brutal). Some people do well with honey instead of sugar, but for me it seems to make no difference at all. I always craved sugar, even when I had not had it in months.
And so I will do one last attempt before the year is up. I will continue to cut out all sweet things (which I did for 5 months except for one week in there I had unrefined sweetened treats again), but now will no longer eat fruit. I know I get sugar cravings when I eat more fruit, so I'm interested to see what happens without it. I eat enough vegetables that I am not concerned with any loss of nutrients.
I may extend the year a few weeks so that I give fruit-free a good run.