How to stop eating sugar

There’s no doubt that sugar is really bad for our health in general.

But the white stuff is also really addictive, thanks to the havoc it plays with our body’s metabolism.

So how on earth are you supposed to stop eating sugar?

Here’s seven strategies you can use to reduce your sugar intake…

Stop Eating Sugar

How to stop eating sugar

Sugar is bad for our health, no doubt about it.

But that stuff is so darn addictive.

So how do you actually stop eating it?

Here’s seven strategies that you can use to reduce your sugar intake.

How are you supposed to give it up?

So I’ve done some posts in the past on the harm that sugar can do to your body and the effect it has on diseases, but sometimes knowing this isn’t quite enough.

Because of the effect that sugar has on your body’s metabolism, it can make it really hard to give this stuff up.

So here’s seven strategies that you can try to help you reduce your sugar intake.

Strategy #1 – Get it out of the house

Now I know this can be hard because you know:

• “I need to buy it just in case I have guests” or
• “My family needs to eat it” or you know
• “It’s just something that I buy as a matter of habit”

I know this. I’ve been there. But if it’s in the house you will eat it.

When those sugar cravings hit you know where that food is. You will go and find it.

So get rid of it as much of it as you can.

Look at how much of it you buy and really ask yourself “Do I need to have this in the house?”

If it’s not there, you can’t eat it.

Strategy #2 – Learn to read food labels

It’s amazing how many things have sugar in them these days.

So if you can learn to read labels both on the foods that you have at home and while you’re out shopping you’ll end up eating less sugar.

But you also need to learn the names, all the different names for sugar.

There are so many different ways that it’s described.

And if you can learn all of those, you can reduce the amount of sugar that you get through the foods that you’re buying and eating.

Strategy #3 – Have your alternatives ready

There will be times when you feel that urge to eat some sugar, so have a collection of things that you can eat or do at that point to distract yourself from the need to eat sugar.

Whether that is having a healthy snack as an alternative, drinking a big glass of water or going for a walk.

Having those plans of attack at the ready as soon as those cravings hit will ensure that you don’t then go and dig through the cupboards to find something sweet to eat.

Strategy #4 – Practise your standard responses

Practice your responses for common social situations in advance.

These can be some of the hardest times to refuse sugar.

Whether it’s at work, at parties, at restaurants.

These are the times you need to be prepared with your responses in advance so that you can deal with them effectively.

Commonly I’ll say something like:

“You know I don’t feel that great when I eat sugar so I’ve decided to have a break from it”

or

“Eating sugar makes me feel really horrible so I’m not eating at the moment”

Something like that that says “This is how I feel when it happens and that’s why I’m not going to eat any.”

And having that, people can’t argue with that because it’s how you feel.

That is something that they have to accept.

And having practised that it’s easier for me to say it without making them feel uncomfortable or without me feeling awkward and then just giving in and eating that delicious looking dessert that has sugar in that I know I don’t want to eat.

Strategy #5 – Take care of your body

Make sure that you are giving your body what it needs, whether that’s enough sleep, the right nutrients, exercise.

Learn to listen to your body, nurture it, take care of it.

Because when you’re taking care of your body’s other needs it’s less likely to be drawn to sugar and to feel those cravings and to need the sugar to feel good.

Strategy #6 – Deal with your emotions

Often when we are drawn to eating sugar, there’s an underlying emotion driving it.

I know this from personal experience. I’m a stress eater, so when I get stressed, I eat things that aren’t good for me.

So by understanding and observing the emotions that are driving your desire to eat those sugary sweet foods you can then be in a better position to deal with those emotions.

Whether that’s through taking a warm bath, going for a walk, talking to a friend, getting a massage, meditating or using something like EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) to release those emotions from you.

Strategy #7 – Create the right mindset

Shift the way you look at sugar

When you shift the way you look at sugar it will change how much you want to eat it.

So educate yourself about all the harm that sugar can do to your body and the effect it has on illnesses.

And when you go to eat it you’ll have that information at the forefront of your mind which will make you a lot less likely to want to eat those foods.

Find your big WHY

You could also think about your big WHY.

Find that big reason why you don’t want to eat sugar.

What is it that you want that you can’t have if you eat that sugary food.

And remind yourself of that daily.

Create a line in the sand

And create a line that you won’t cross.

It’s a really effective strategy to say “I’m never going to eat sugar.”

If you say “I might eat sugar now and then” or “A little bit’s okay” it can be a lot harder to resist, particularly because it’s so addictive.

I’ve draw a line in the sand for me that says the only sweetened foods that I eat are from whole fresh fruits. Everything else is a no-go.

There’s no “Oh maybe” or “Now and then”. It’s just a “Never”.

And when you create that clear line in the sand it’s much harder to cross.

Time to take action

So that’s seven strategies that you can use that eat less sugar.

Now it’s your turn to take action.

Task #1 – Get rid of sugary foods

So the first thing I want you to do is to throw or give away any sugary foods that you can from your house and don’t bring them back.

Task #2 – Educate yourself

The second thing is to educate yourself.

So check out the resources for this video and there’s a link to all the different names for sugar and a couple of books that I think you’ll find really helpful that explain the negative effects that sugar can have on your body.

Task #3 – Create your list of strategies

Task number three: Create your list of sugar craving strategies now.

Have that list ready so that when the cravings hit you have a bunch of different things that you can do that will be effective at distracting you from that need to eat sugar.

Task #4 – Find your WHY

Task number four is to find your big why.

Find that one important reason why you don’t want to eat sugar.

That thing that is so more important than any sugary treat that anyone could ever offer you.

Focus on that, write it on a sticky note and post it somewhere that you’ll see it often.

Learn more

To learn more check out my other post about sugar and health:

• Five things I learned about sugar the hard way

And remember, you can do this because you are amazing.

And I will see you in the next video.