Have you ever really looked at how much sugar you are consuming? If you are eating foods that are even somewhat processed, you are ingesting extra sugar.
Eating sugar is addictive, and makes it really easy to pack on the pounds. Often its the hardest for my clients and even myself to quit.
Why? Because one we give our body sugar, we want more. This includes cereal, crackers, chocolate, and candy. The bacteria in our gut actually begin to crave it, which sends our brains the message to “ I want something sweet!”. If you have candida overgrowth in your gut, these signals can even be stronger.
So how do we give up or just cut down on sugar? Here are a few steps that will help you on your journey. Cut out the sweets and watch your body fat and the weight drop!
Completely avoid any sweetened drinks - this includes iced tea, soda, smoothies from smoothie shops, any coffee drink besides just coffee, juices. Why on earth would you even want to drink your calories? If you must sweeten your coffee, do so with stevia or one teaspoon of turbinado or coconut palm sugar. Avoid white sugar. The only juice ok to drink is a green juice, with no sugar added, made from plants. It should taste like grass/plants when you drink it, not like pineapple juice!. Always check the label if you're buying this, I've been seen green juices with unnecessary added sugars.
Watch out for hidden sugars. As I was grocery shoppingI picked up a gluten free pancake mix. When I turned it over to look at the ingredients, sugar was the first one! Forget it! Also, when buying peanut or almond butter, check the ingredients to make sure sugar has not been added to it. Even some “healthy” versions of peanut butter contain cane sugar. Also, buy the almond butter that does not have hydrogenated oils in it. (I prefer almond butter because peanuts are not nuts, they are technically a legume aka bean)
Make your own smoothies. Many smoothie shops will use fruit that has been soaked in a sugary syrup- to make it taste sweet and make you believe you are eating something healthy. I’ve seen this mainly with strawberries and peaches. Skip the extra stop and make your own smoothie! Here is a recipe: 1 cup unsweetened almond or cashew milk, 1 scoop protein powder ( my current favorite is Garden of Life Raw Fit ), and 1/2 cup of blueberries or a frozen acai packet.
Switch from white processed bread to Ezekiel or sprouted grain bread. White bread and “whole wheat” bread is almost the same product. Yes, there may be a few more nutrients in the whole wheat version, but go head and read the back label and tell me how many ingredients you can actually pronounce. I would stay away and opt for the sprouted bread.
Skip the big dessert. This is the most obvious one. If you are out at dinner, just say no to dessert right away. If you are at home, have a small piece of chocolate and call it a night. Choose 70-80% dark cacao chocolate, not the milk chocolate people! You will be a lot less tempted to eat more of the chocolate. For my wine lovers- sorry, that has sugar too. White wine generally more than white. So, no, unfortunately that does count towards your sugar intake!
Last but not least- remember the “out of sight, out of mind” principle. If you bring it home, chances are you will eat it. So just don't buy it. It's as simple as that!