This article is intended to help people cut back on refined sugars in their diet. Examples of refined sugars: candy, soft drinks, cookies, pastries, etc.
Disclaimer: No single food makes you fat. Rather, it’s the quantity and frequency that makes you gain weight.
If you have regular sugar cravings, it may be one of the reasons why it’s hard to stick to a healthy diet.
1. Eat enough in order to reduce sugar cravings
The title of this paragraph may scare you, but it really does work!
The desire to eat something sweet is rarely related to hunger, but rather to a need to compensate. If you’ve had a long, hard day, it’s very tempting to sooth yourself with a sweet snack.
To avoid finding yourself in this situation where it’s particularly difficult to resist the call of sugar, the best advice I can give you is to eat healthy, balanced and filling meals.
To learn how to balance your diet, I recommend this article: “Re-learning how to eat without counting calories“.
For more information or verification, you can download the Nutricoach app to track your nutritional needs. It’s very simple. Just enter the amount of each food you eat to reach your daily calorie goals.
Additional tips:
- Protein (meat, eggs, fish, dairy, legumes, etc.) is particularly effective for reducing hunger.
- Choose unprocessed foods as much as possible.
2. Shop after you eat to avoid sugary foods
It’s a well-known fact that if we go shopping when we’re hungry, we buy whatever we want.
The trick is to do your shopping after you eat. You’ll find that there will be a lot less sweet stuff in your cart. And that’s great news for your cupboards. Whether we want to or not, if our cupboards are full of sweets, we always end up eating them!
Fruits are an excellent sugar alternative. Naturally sweet, rich in vitamins, minerals and natural elements, you can indulge with no worries! Try purchasing fruits you don’t normally eat for more variety.
Additional tip:
Clean out your cupboards.
3. Are you hungry or thirsty?
It is not unusual to confuse hunger with thirst. In fact, it happens quite often. A lack of energy is often related to dehydration in the body.
The next time you have a sugar craving, drink a glass of water. If you drank it quickly, you were dehydrated and mostly thirsty!
If the sugar craving is still there, you may be hungry. In this case, take the time to prepare a real snack, ideally with a source of protein, carbohydrate and fat.
For example: a bowl of cottage cheese, to which you can add one or more types of sliced fruit, a small handful of nuts, and there you have it!
Be careful not to banish sugar to the extreme
It’s all about balance. If you eat highly-processed, sugary foods once in a while, it’s okay!
It’s not going to ruin your diet. Remember: No single food will make you fat. It’s giving in repeatedly to sugar cravings that causes addiction and makes you gain weight.
If you can’t control yourself and it becomes a real issue, I advise you to do some personal work with a specialist who can support you.
