Tips for crushing that sugar craving.
Hey, you guys.
We all know about the negative effects of sugar.
Weight gain, increased blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
So there are a lot of problems with it.
So for many of us, sugar has become an overwhelming daily temptation that we all feel powerless
to resist.
I know I do.
So instead of occasionally indulging in special occasion desserts, many of us get straight
hooked on sweets, needing a daily, sometimes hourly something to satisfy that sugar addiction
that we have.
It's a tough one.
So as our hormone levels change the body attempts to raise levels of the feel good hormone serotonin,
and since sugar triggers serotonin release, this can cause you to crave sweets.
So the solution is to cut down on as much sugar as you possibly can.
Carbohydrates are actually going to stimulate the release of the 'feel good' brain chemical
serotonin.
Sugar is a carbohydrate, but carbohydrates also come in other forms, too.
Such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.
So there are other ways to get around it.
So the first thing we're going to talk about, our first crusher; make foods you crave difficult,
or impossible to get.
So that's a rule of thumb in our house.
Just don’t buy it.
So if you have a huge addiction to brownies, this guy should never enter your home.
Leave them in the store, that way you know you're not going to be cooking them up at
9 o'clock at night if you're having a bad day, or fighting with your boyfriend, or whatever
the issue is.
Just don’t even acknowledge that guy in the store, first thing.
Second thing: find other healthy alternatives.
If you tend to crave sweets in the afternoon, and you're already thinking "That little donut
in the coffee breakroom over there is looking pretty good", just pack something with you.
Bring an apple, yogurt, you can add fruit to it, which is really good.
That's going to get you over that sweet tooth in the afternoon.
Chocolate.
Of course, you want to go for that dark chocolate.
70% cacao is really good.
They sell these pretty much anywhere.
Maybe just a little bite of that.
Just something to get you over that initial trigger where you have to get something sweet.
So fruits are really good for that.
Add in a little protein, that's what the yogurt is for.
Next we're going to talk about identifying your craving triggers.
Emotional eating is definitely a phenomenon.
If you pay attention to when you find that these cravings get worse – maybe when you're
stressed, or when you're feeling depressed, or something happened in your life – try
to manage those situations because that's going to help you stop those cravings.
Fourth: eliminate timed sugars.
This was a big one for me.
Mine comes in the evening, after dinner for some reason.
So if you know that you're, every morning, having that pastry, or in the afternoon you're
like "Oh, I'm just going to have that cookie", and that might lead to a second cookie; that's
what you really want to think about.
You want to try and do other things to wean yourself off those timed sugars so you're
not having the side effects of withdrawal.
That's where it's good to come up with those healthy alternatives.
Really, sugar can be an addiction, and you can have some side effects when you're trying
to go cold turkey.
So that's where I'm saying other ways of eating a healthier sugar is a better way to go.
So the other thing, ditching the secret sugars.
People do not realize how many sugars are in everyday products.
So ketchups, crackers, spaghetti sauces, even salad dressings; it's really amazing.
The average American takes in anywhere from 22tsp of sugar in a day, when ideally we should
only be having 6.
So read the labels.
It's pretty crazy how they can sneak up on you.
Last, never go hungry.
Meal skipping is going to guarantee that you're going, number one, just overeat, eat something
bad, your sugar cravings are going to go through the ceiling because your blood sugar is dropping.
So you want to make sure you're eating healthy foods throughout the day.
Maybe for lunch you could make seem kind of a chili with asparagus; anything that's going
to be nutritious, healthy for your body.
Keep your blood sugar stabilized so you're not all over the place thinking "How am I
going to get my blood sugar up?
I'll go eat some piece of candy, or something."
All that's going to do is set you the same way, and then it's going to drop you on the
ground.
All right, you guys.
Hopefully these tips were helpful to you.
I know how tough it is.
I have a major sweet tooth.
I know it's really hard, but I've noticed in my own life, the more healthy meals that
I eat throughout the day, and I stay consistent with it; my body tends to not crave the sugar
anymore.
So you really can condition your body to not even really crave it anymore.
There are times where I'm like "Oh my God, I think I can actually pass up that piece
of cake today because I'm really not feeling it."
My body is just like "Ew!"
It just doesn't crave it anymore.
Okay, you guys.
Thanks for joining me.
Stay sugar free.
Try to.
I know it's tough.
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