Last Monday was the first week of How to Cut Out Sugar Without Losing Your Mind or Social Life. I spoke about getting rid of all your savoury products that have added sugar – like canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, soya milk and dressings. How did you go? Did you replace them with sugar free versions of these products? You should be able to find them in the health food section of your supermarket or in organic or health food stores. Have you decided on how much sugar you want to cut out and how long for?
Level Two
This week we are ramping it up a gear – no more lollies, chocolate, cakes, biscuits or anything that is sweetened with sugar. Natural sweeteners like honey and agave are okay at this stage but stevia is even better. Before you start freaking out and start saying “I can’t do this” take a moment to regroup. If it all seems too much and you don’t know how you are going to make it though the day, why don’t you start off one week at a time? Or if that’s too hard one day at a time. Aim to make it through the chosen time period sugar free, and see how you feel at the end of it…maybe you will be able to go on for longer?
I can’t eat lollies, chocolate or cake – my life is basically over!
Not the case. You can still eat sweets as long as they are not flavoured with sugar or artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners are just as bad or if not worse! My favourite brand of chocolate at the moment is …well, naturally it is vegan and sweetened with stevia. If I am craving something else sweet I make something like Pancakes with Chocolate Coconut Butter, Chocolate Energy Balls, Chocolate Brownies or Chocolate Spiders - I’m into chocolate in a big way if you can’t tell! The only difference is when I have “chocolate” it’s actually Cacao Powder with added Stevia to it to make it sweet. This way it tastes like chocolate but but doesnt have the dairy, sugar or perservatives and it’s full of lots of health benefits.
Change the way you think
I know for some of you this will be a massive lifestyle change, one which you may struggle with in the beginning. I know I did. I was fine not eating sugar at home but at work it was much more difficult. Everyone would always be offering me lollies and chocolates and not to mention birthday cakes! When I first gave up sugar it seemed like every second day it was someone’s birthday! At work I found it much harder to say no…so I didnt for the most part. Everyone else was having birthday cake so why couldn’t I?! I didnt care if it was full of sugar dairy or white flour, I worked hard I deserve it! What I had to do is change the way I thought about cake, lollies, chocolate – the ones that are filled with sugar anyway. I had to stop thinking of them as a treat or a reward…why do I want to reward myself with something that will make me feel sick and send me on a sugar high only to crash shortly after? I know isn’t good for me and it doesnt make me feel good afterwards so why keep doing it?
So I stopped.
I stopped saying yes to cake and it was suprisingly liberating. The more times I said no the easier it got. I no longer even want cake when they have it at work; i’m happy to sing happy birthday and then go back to my desk. If I want cake I’ll make my own and know that what I am eating isn’t causing damage and sending my blood sugar to the moon. You can do this too.
Want to read more?
Sarah Wilson’s “I Quit Sugar” has lots of tips and tricks on how to quit sugar. You can find it here.
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