One of the first questions I get, after telling someone I don't eat sugar is, "how did you quit?". I will be the first to tell you, it wasn't easy.
I had been a smoker for several years and when it was time to quit, in my early thirties, I decided to quit cold turkey. Wow, that was more of an experience than I bargained for. However, through the constant cravings, the sickness that followed, while my body "cleaned" its self of the toxicity, and the physical pain my body felt, somehow I survived. Not only did I survive, within just a couple weeks, I felt great! I was sleeping better, food was tasting better, I could breathe better. Everything was better!
When I decided to quit sugar, in 2009, due to very high levels of inflammation in my body, I didn't know anyone personally who had ever tried to stop eating sugar. I did know a few diabetics, but they still ate sugar. So, this was all new territory for me. There wasn't anything on the internet that helped me with a plan or showed me how to do it. I wasn't sure that quitting cold turkey was going to work. But I thought, if I can do it with cigarettes, I can do it with sugar.
So, I took a couple of months and really educated myself about sugar, types of sugar, effects of sugar, and how are bodies processes sugar. I watched every documentary I could, I read every article, scientific study and just filled myself to the brim with knowledge about sugar. To be quite honest, sugar is pretty terrifying and the realization of that was the first big push to quit.
Once you educate yourself about the dangers of sugar, you will see it (sugar) just as you see cigarettes or any other illegal drug on the streets today. So, the question is, how do you kick the habit?
Arm yourself with sugar substitutes. Not of the man-made kind, but of natures kind. When you are first removing sugar from your diet (the first 6 months at least) you will want to stay away from, bananas, grapes, all tropical fruits, honey, agave, maple syrup and/or other "natural" sugars that are considered high glycemic. What this means is that when the sugars in these natural substances go into your body, your body doesn't see it or respond to it much different than it would white table sugar. Your body will respond the same way and process it much the same way. So, stay away from these "natural" sugars!
When you start to have a sugar craving, I would like you to reach for an apple (with peel), orange, pear (with peel), grapefruit, peaches or berries of your choice. Get creative but don't eat anything other than these fruits, for your sweet cravings. Eat them as often as you like. If you need to have something in your hand all day long munching on it to help you get through the day, do that! I assure you. No matter how much of these fruits you eat, as soon as you remove the added sugars (high fructose corn syrup, table sugars, etc.), you will start to lose weight and you will start to feel better. However, the key here, to get you through the trenches of quitting it to make sure you have plenty of healthy fruits on hand. If you want to eat an eat a piece of fruit each hour to get you through, do that. Just reach for fruit EVERY TIME you have a sugar craving, I can't express this enough.
Please be sure to keep your other meals during the day balanced with plenty of vegetables, and lean grass-fed meats. While you try to kick the sugar habit, you will also want to avoid breads, potatoes, and rice.
The cravings do stop. For me it took about two weeks. This time will be different for everyone. Once you are no longer craving sugar, you will start to notice that things taste better. Healthy foods you never liked before will suddenly become a craving and you will sleep better as well. Also, know that this is a process that takes self love, patience, and forgiveness if you happen to "cheat". Often people try to quit smoking several times before they actually quit. Sugar may not be any different.
Once you have quit the sugar habit and have gone 21 consecutive days without sugar (besides the safe fruits and berries), you will be over the hard part. The next VITAL key to making your, "no sugar lifestyle" continue is to really educate yourself about sugar and it's effects on your body. Grasping a full understanding of how it creates inflammation that inevitably leads to disease is crucial. You need to realize it is a poison. Once you know this, you will look at it much more like a drug than a food and most people don't prefer to consume drugs all day every day.
Another key is to realized that you don't have to go your whole life without ever eating your favorite treats again. You can still celebrate birthday's with cake and ice cream. You can still have your favorite candy bar on occasion. You just have to realize that sugar can be used for special occasions. Just like alcohol is reserved for special occasions. The key is to remove it from your everyday consumption.
Find recipes that will give you a sweet fix without the added sugar! There are so many recipes that can be found just by google-ing "sugar free desert". Keep in mind that often these recipes will remove white table sugar and replace it with honey or some other form of sugar. This is not what you want. You want recipes that don't have sugar added or use fresh fruit juices, fruit, or berries to make the treat sweet.
There are so many health and wellness benefits of kicking the sugar habit. You CAN do it! I'd love to help you navigate your way through the process! Ask me anything, anytime. I'm happy to help!
Tina
(Picture Reference:www.currentcure.com)
