I love the quote by philosopher, poet, and novelist George Santayana that says,‘Habit is stronger than reason’. Honestly, because it’s so true!   

If you read my posts, you know that I had a bad case of ‘sweet-tooth syndrome’.

My reliance on sugar and my inability to stop craving it hurt my health, and in big ways.

So when I see George saying ‘habit is stronger than reason’, he’s totally on point. I have the first hand experience to prove it.

I had a sugar habit, and my inner reasoning told me clearly that when I desperately and what seemed irrationally (hint: not so irrationally -- more induced and calculated by the food industry) craved it, this was something harmful and negative to me.

But that nagging craving would eventually becoming completely overwhelming, so I ignored the reasonable side of my brain and indulged my habit.

Sugar had total control of me.

Here’s the thing about habits.

Our habits can have the power to shape our lives (and our future) in positively powerful and amazing ways. But, those small but mighty steps that we repeat each day can also be our downfall.

When you think about sugar as a habit, most of us wouldn’t see the habit as a threat, right?

After all - it’s just good ‘old sugar!

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but how many people know the terrible truth about sugar? How many people know the truly shocking implications and effects that sugar has on your body (both biological and psychological)?

Perhaps you’re not sure either.

I didn’t.

Never, ever, ever, did I realise what I was doing to myself. Sugar was a comforter. Sugar was something to share with loved ones, to celebrate with, to dive into when you were feeling down or tired, or when you needed a quick pick-me-up. Oh, my sweet precious sugary weakness.

The Effects Of Sugar On Both Our Mind & Body

I LOVED cooking it, I LOVED Eating it.

The trouble was, what I didn’t realise was how deadly it was to us as women (especially from puberty) - specifically on our fragile hormonal balance.  

Hormones are the body’s chemical messengers;

get them out-of-whack and you’re looking at triggering many nasty health conditions, and, perhaps more shockingly, psychological issues and imbalances.

In other words, sugar messes with your mind.

To make it worse, one affects, feeds and aggravates the other.

So as the physical toll of sugar starts to manifest in the body - weight gain and difficulty losing weight, acne, fatigue, sleep disorders, irregular periods and so on - it then spikes and compounds the negative psychological effects sugar has on the neurons in our brains: depression, difficulty concentrating, irritability, moods swings, and so on.

In me, it triggered a pattern of destructive eating and self-sabotage. Before I knew it, I had gained over 30 pounds. I was devastated, and this put me into a terrible frame of mind.

I felt insecure, stuck, stressed, out-of-control and unhappy.

Things got worse. I developed many of the ailments that sugar triggers: acne, hormone imbalances, irregular periods, insomnia, complete body inflammation, etc. I was tired of being at war with my body.

The problem was, that it wasn’t obvious to me that sugar was the root of the problem. This is because we’re always being fed the line that, in fact, dietary fat is the problem and we should all adapt our diets to be low-fat.

That it’s down to burgers and pizza’s, and has nothing at all to do with sugar itself - just its usual counterparts.

The Food Industry’s Role In Your Sugar Addiction

This goes directly back to the food industry, who in their scrambling to cater for the fat-free weight-loss market added sugar in some shape or form into nearly EVERTHING we eat, to make up for the lack of flavour.

To make matters worse, it created scientifically manufactured ‘sugar’ (e.g. high-fructose corn syrup) which, as it turns out, is lethal to your body. This was all done so simply and calculatedly to boost its profit margins.

They’ve also strenuously tried to hide the negative consequences world-wide, in order to keep their huge profits rolling in - a compelling reason to keep as many of us as possible in the dark about sugar’s effects; and to keep us strongly addicted. 

It’s no surprise that the same food manufacturing companies started disguising sugar in their foods, making it harder to find out how much sugar you are consuming.

In other words, you have companies whose entire focus is to get you in the ‘habit’ of eating their product.

What’s even more disturbing, is that these companies have been employing scientists to make their products even more irresistible and addictive chemically - they are actually funding ways to make their product your habit. 

Forget about using only will-power to keep your sugar cravings in check - they were chemically altering the messages in your brain!

The profits from the sugary industry are so high that they spend millions on lobbyists and misinformation campaigns.

In fact, in 2016 a team of University of California researchers uncovered a phony Harvard conspiracy, paid for by the sugar industry to downplay evidence of the terrible health consequences of sugar, particularly in its role in the epidemic of heart disease, and instead re-focus it on naturally-occurring fats.

Crazy right?! Sounds like a movie plot - but yo, it’s real life.

And here’s the real breaking news that most of us have been kept in the dark on.

Refined sugar is one of the biggest threats to not only your hormones, energy levels, weight, and YOUR health GENERALLY - but evidence is mounting that sugar is the cause for most cancers.

Sugar And Its Links To Cancer

As tasty as it is, a recent study found that SUGAR FEEDS the GROWTH of CANCER cells.

Whoa.

One of the researchers from that study, Johan Thevelein, Ph.D., a molecular biologist from LU Leuven in Belgium, said, ‘Our research reveals how the hyperactive sugar consumption of cancerous cells leads to a vicious cycle of continued stimulation of cancer development and growth.’

And that, ‘This link between sugar and cancer has sweeping consequences.’

This is pretty scary to think about, especially due to the dependence sugar quickly creates for even more sugar, and that there are no real public warnings about this.

Sugar is definitely not that wonderful comforter to turn to when we feel stressed, share with our loved ones to celebrate, or pull-out each night to enjoy with our favorite show.

So does this mean that you’ll never be able to eat sugar again?

But Do I Have To Give-Up Sugar Completely?

My answer? No.

However, there’s much to consider, so bear with me for a second.

You WILL be able to eat it, but you’ll need to get back control so that you can choose to enjoy sugar on your own terms, and achieve a healthier, balanced and active lifestyle (#noguilt): one where you’re not just living for your health.

One where it’s all about your quality of life, not denying yourself everything.

Sound too good to be true?

Not at all, and I know because I’ve achieved it. I’m going to share my tips with you, so that you can enjoy the same success.

Before we get started, let’s get into a tad of more detailed background about sugar and what it does to you.

What Is Sugar?

For the purposes of this article, I’m talking about ‘refined’ sugars; meaning everything other than sugar found naturally in fruit.

 Sugar is a carbohydrate. Sugar in itself is not a food group.

 White refined sugar-is not a food. It is a pure chemical. It contains:

 o   no nutrients

o   no protein

o   no healthy fats

o   no enzymes

Nothing good for you, and nothing needed by your body.

But Do We Need Sugar?

Of course, your first thought about sugar (and what is peddled by the food manufacturers) is maybe that we need to eat it every day to properly function, and always have. But consider this:

Refined sugar was NOT consumed on a DAILY BASIS until the past 100 years.

1822: Americans consume 45 grams of sugar every five days, or the amount of sugar in a can of coke.

2012: Americans consume 756 grams of sugar every five days, or 130 POUNDS of sugar a year.

Since, this shift to sugar becoming a daily habit in the past 100 years, rates of:

o   Obesity,

o   Type 2 diabetes,

o   All types of cancer,

o   Heart disease,

o   Dementia,

o   Macular degeneration, and many other chronic illnesses… have SKYROCKETED. Period.

And from a nutritional standpoint, your body does not need refined sugar. If you never ate another morsel of candy, sugar or starch again, you would live quite comfortably and in far better health.

Let me just repeat that in case the enormity of it didn’t sink in.

The fact is, there is...

No. Dietary. Requirement. For. Sugar.

You need to eat protein. You need to eat carbohydrates. You need to eat fat. You do NOT need to eat any sugar at all.

The problem is that sugar is easily converted into stored fat, with its over-consumption leading to a phenomenon called insulin resistance. When you eat a high-sugar or starch-containing meal or treat, your body doesn’t receive the proper signals to feel full and before you know it, you overeat.

Furthermore, a high-sugar diet causes leptin resistance, which is directly connected to increased cravings and weight gain.

Add to this that sugar is addictive - even more addictive than nicotine or cocaine, and it’s a storm waiting to happen. We are not genetically designed to consume the amount of sugar that we are currently eating.

For that reason, our brains get that ‘happy feeling’ from sugar and it can override the ‘I’ve had enough’ mechanism.

You can now see that your current sugar addiction isn’t all your own doing, and you have the opportunity to beat it now you know the challenges you’re facing.

And remember, you’re not alone in this.

Most people are addicted to sugar, just like you, and just like I was, but something is preventing them from breaking their own addiction:

o   They don’t realize how much sugar they actually consume

o   They don’t believe that their sugar consumption is tied to an addiction

o   They’ve tried to quit eating sugar but found it too hard

I know this very personally because I lived it.

It’s Like, Really, Really Hard To Break Sugar Addiction And Cravings

I set about working on my diet, carefully weeding out the hidden sugars and committing to a super-healthy eating plan.

But here’s the thing. I would find myself able to keep to my plan for several days, sometimes even as long as two weeks, but then I would hit a bump and the craving would feel overwhelming.

You guessed it, I would end up having a sugar binge. I wondered what I was doing wrong.

Just cutting out sugar from my diet alone wasn’t enough.

How did other people live so harmoniously with sugar?

So, as a last ditch effort I started experimenting with different methods and techniques that would help with the interrelationship between my mind, my established habits and current attitudes, and sugar.

I realized that my mind and body had a lot to say!

I needed to shift my mindset from deeply engrained negative patterns and deal with the root cause, which would release addictive routines and create new behaviors that would last a lifetime.

But here’s the thing.

I searched and searched for an all-encompassing program that would clearly guide me, step-by-step, with these three elements: how to change every day destructive patterns and behaviors, how to tweak my diet, and the mind-body connection. But, I literally couldn’t find anything.

My god, it was all so vague, I felt like pulling my hair out!   

I felt crushed. I felt overwhelmed. I felt frustrated.

In that moment I had to remind myself that I had committed to myself, to the next chapter of my life; without having to live with these sugar cravings, and the ailments that I suffered because of them.

I knew that I had to keep my eye on my goal, and just out of nowhere, I randomly remembered a quote from David Campbell (founder of Saks Fifth Avenue):

‘Discipline is remembering what you want’.

I knuckled down, and went on a quest to change my life. It all started with tons of research. I started ploughing through masses of information containing different ideas, methods, and lifestyle practices, and I began testing them on myself (and to be honest, on my poor family too)!

Bingo! I stuck with it and was able to distill what actually, really, really worked into one effective and proven plan, and what I turned into my Break My Sugar Addiction.

That was four entire years ago, and I haven’t looked back!

You may or may not know that I’m a tiny bit obsessed with action steps, strategy, mindset and psychology of things (oh, don’t forget, I love it all with a pinch of inspiration!).

So the first thing you need to remember on your journey to get control back over your sugar addiction, is that it’s not just about what you do and don’t eat.

It’s about treating the problem as a whole.

(Which is why I created an entire 9-Step System that you can follow that takes you through the psychology, mindsets, and mental reboots, as well as the nutritional aspects for success, all with a 5-Step Plan on exactly what to do if you have a sugar urge coming on in Cut The Sugar Program™).

So what I’m going to focus on next is my ‘essential’ steps to help you crush that sugar craving once and for all.

Let’s get to it.

STEP ONE: LEARN YOUR TRIGGERS

The what, the why and the when, of what we actually eat is far more complex, and is the key to unlocking your future ‘happy with your body’ version of you; the version that’s free from your sugar addiction and emotional eating.

We eat to be sociable and share, to build bonds together, to show unity - it’s like a part of being in the same tribe.

We eat to reward ourselves when something good happens, we eat to console ourselves after a rough day. We eat out of boredom, we eat to distract from things we have to do, we even eat to create joy or intimacy.

And here’s the thing - we tend to reach for sugary foods, even when we’re choosing something ‘savory’. I mean, even ketchup is packed with sugar.

We do this because sugar triggers the dopamine receptors in your brain, giving you a ‘high’ just like cocaine and other addictive drugs.

So you need to find out what your eating triggers are… stress, anxiety, comfort, anger, depression, boredom, procrastination. Get to the bottom of what is leading you to make those food choices and you’ll be able to make changes that you will be able to live with for the long term.

Take Action:

o   What negative habits do you see, and do you see a pattern behind them?

o   What do you think is causing you to make the lifestyle decisions that are leaving you feeling overweight?

o   List out triggers that are leading you to eat unnecessarily and/or are leading you to make destructive food and drink choices.

STEP TWO: TRACK YOUR BEHAVIOUR AND HABITS FOR 7 DAYS

For seven days, track your food and mood!

To do this you need to journal your emotions and keep a food/workout diary (or use an online tracker).

Write down:

o   Everything you eat and drink, when and where;

o   What your feeling when your consuming them – real hunger or thirst, anxiousness, boredom, sadness, celebratory… ;

o   What’s caused these feelings – an argument, work stress, a deadline…;

Don’t try to change anything that you would normally do, even if you feel self-conscious that you’re eating your fourth chocolate bar of the day!

Take Action:

o   Create a food diary and track your food, beverages, physical activity and exercise (including walking, cleaning, washing the car etc.), as well as your mood for seven days straight.

STEP THREE: CREATE YOUR MASTER LIST OF SUGAR FREE ALTERNATIVES

With Step two completed, you have done a huge amount of the heavy lifting.

Now you can identify when, and where, you’re consuming sugar. Set aside several hours to run through your list, swapping out the sugar laden items with sugar free alternatives.

I want you to think of this as an adventure, step out of your box and be willing to experiment.

In this context don’t just think about what you can swap with boxed foods that you buy from the super-market, but think about what you can actually make.  Surrender to a new experience.

You don’t have to go crazy. Want ice-cream? Swap it out with a yummy, delicious, and oh so healthy creamy fruit power-popsicle.

The store bought versions are expensive and usually full of stuff that’s not good for you. Yikes!

I have a version that are ridiculously easy to make, sugar-free, low carb and easy on the wallet (oh, and they’re keto, Gluten-free, Gelatin-free, Vegan, Sugar-free). Grab the recipe: Fruity Power-Pops  #IHaveYourBack

Take Action:

o   Create a master list of sugar-free alternatives from your usual diet.

o   Make a commitment to make something delicious and healthy as a sugar laden replacement from scratch.

STEP FOUR: CHOOSE 1 DAY TO GO SUGAR FREE + CREATE A MENU FOR IT

Okay, step four. Next pick one day a week (more if you feel it’s manageable) that you will make your sugar-free day. It must be the same day from here on out so as to make it a habit.

Now create your sugar-free food and drink menu for that day, and print it off.

Be sure to include plenty of healthy fats in your sugar-free day menu (and in your food lifestyle generally) because healthy fats actually speed up your metabolism and help you lose weight. Oh, and they reduce your hunger pangs so you avoid binge eating and unhealthy food cravings.

Take Action:

o   Pick one day (or more, if you feel confident to do so) each week that will become your sugar-free day. Start with a day that has the fewest temptations for you to face first.

o   Create a sugar-free food and drinks menu, for EVERYTHING you will (or might) consume on that day. Focus on delicious, flavorful whole-food meals that will fill you and satisfy your taste buds. Let me be clear. There must be no sugar whatsoever, from the moment you wake-up, until the moment you go to sleep for the night. Be sure to add healthy fats. 

Your Goal

When you feel confident you’ve conquered one sugar day free (tip: and don’t feel bad if this doesn’t happen for a couple of weeks because remember, sugar is as addictive as cocaine, and the first day is always the hardest) then go for a second day; it doesn’t have to be the day after the first, you might want to choose Monday and Wednesday, for example.

You’re striving to work up to 5 days (or more if you’re so blown away by the results and you feel you just don’t need on a regular basis anymore.)

Once you get started, your changes become a way of life, you form good habits, and you no longer need motivation— it simply becomes a lifestyle. Once it’s routine, it’s easier to keep following the healthy track.

Take comfort in that it gets easier!

And remember, for a happy medium you can still indulge in some sweet treats with friends and family - say, on the weekend.

Your New Sugar Lifestyle:

1. to conquer 1 sugar free day first & to transform it into a habit, and,

2. over time strive for 5 sugar free days out of every 7.

I am living proof that you can not only crush that sugar addiction, restore vibrant health and balance in your body, but also that you can still pick a movie (or binge on a Netflix show!) and watch it while indulging in ice-cream and brownies (#WorryFree by the way)!

Oh, and wake up every Saturday morning and fire-up the pans for my super-fluffy pancakes! #InspiritedGoalGetters  

What You Must Know To Succeed

Sugar is everywhere!

Cheap sugar has been added to nearly everything. Yep, it’s there in all sorts of foods that don't need it, and where you don’t expect it. I recently bought a bag of pistachio nuts, brought them home, and when eating them was hit by an overdose of a sugary flavor - what the heck?!

I checked the very tiny label, and yep there it was, sugar!

Be particularly observant when it comes to choosing salad dressings, breads, yogurt, even mustard!

To help with this, I have a complete list of other names sugar on packaging called the ‘101 on Sugar Under Another Name’ in my Cut the Sugar Program that you can check out here.

DIAL BACK ON PROCESSED FOODS AND BEVERAGES. PERIOD.

Wherever possible, even on days when you’re not eliminating all sugary things, dial back on the processed packaged foods and drinks. The food industry is pumping them with poisonous, cheap, yucky stuff - do yourself a favour, stop working against your health and start weaning yourself off of it!

If you’re not sure where to start, kick-off your offensive against ditching your soda addiction.

Oh, and don’t be fooled by the ‘diet’ option, as I talk about below, they are even worse for you. #BreakFree

A study by the University of Texas Health Science Center which tracked 1,550 people between the ages of 25 to 64 for eight years revealed a common theme:

the more soda participants consumed daily, the greater the likelihood that they became overweight or obese.

DON’T TOUCH ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS -THAT MEANS EVER!

Avoid sweeteners at all costs (think: Splenda, aspartame, Nutrasweet, etc.).

Okay, so we all know that any refined sugar isn’t healthy for you, but the problem with artificial sweeteners is that they are actually far worse for you because of the way they react with and metabolize in your body.

In a study published in 2010 by Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine:

‘[F]indings suggest that the calorie contained in natural sweeteners may trigger a response to keep the overall energy consumption constant ... Increasing evidence suggests that artificial sweeteners do not activate the food reward pathways in the same fashion as natural sweeteners … [A]rtificial sweeteners, precisely because they are sweet, encourage sugar craving and sugar dependence.’

I swear by Stevia as my sugar substitute because it has zero calories, supports healthy blood sugar levels and promotes weight loss.

Yep! You read that correctly it - promotes weight-loss!

Great news right?! Quick heads up. It is super sweet, so you only need to use a tiny bit.

This includes on days when you are consuming sugar, like if you’re going to your favorite coffee shop to nab one of your special drinks (ah, roll on in Fall with your super-duper festive drinks- #PumpkinSpice dream’in!)

LEARN TO LOVE HEALTHY FATS!

As I’ve mentioned in this post, the sugar industry intentionally went out to vilify fats to take the heat off the damage caused by their money-making sugar products.

In fact, healthy fats are fantastic for you (olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, 70% or more dark chocolate), and your best, and I mean your best, friend in your journey to combat your sugar addiction.

Eating good fats helps keep blood sugar levels under control, which helps keep you fuller longer - this helps you not feel as hungry as often, avoid cravings, and stave off energy crashes.

To get acquainted with the type of fats that you should be eating, check out this thorough guide on the 11 Best Healthy Fats for Your Body.

Ditch High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

Let me just start with this: AVOID high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) aka corn sugar COMPLETELY, like your life depends on it.

Put it this way, high fructose corn syrup is so bad for you, that not even the most ‘conservative’ of nutritional experts disagree about its appalling effects.

It’s scary that the ‘foods’ available to us are so commonly laced with HFCS. And it’s even worse that they’re often promoted as being suitable for a healthy lifestyle or weight loss!

Here’s the problem.

Your body processes high fructose corn syrup differently than it does ordinary sugar. The burden falls on your liver, which is not capable of keeping up with how quickly corn syrup breaks down. As a result, blood sugar spikes quicker. It's stored as fat, so you can become obese and develop other health problems, such as diabetes, much faster.

Just to underscore the point, when researchers tested brand-name sodas, they found that the high-fructose corn syrup content was 65 percent…

… so, a single can of soda, per day, can add as much as 15 pounds to your weight over the course of a single year… not to mention increase your risk of diabetes by 85 percent. Scary right?!

In a recent study conducted by Princeton University, two groups of rats were fed the exact same number of calories. One group was fed HFCS, while the other was fed regular table sugar.  The rats fed HFCS gained significantly more weight.

To Sum Up

Results will come quickly, but I want you think of this as a marathon, not a sprint.

I want you to truly commit, not simply dip your toe in the water. You have to dive in. Own your success. Immerse yourself in the principles of health transformation.

I want you to commit to positivity over negativity.

We all have slip-ups, but research shows that focusing on your wins and what you’re doing right creates long-term transformation, so if you ‘mess-up’ don’t be put off, and don’t accept defeat. You CAN do this. 😊

Make sure to reach out and share your experiences with me.

When do you have your worst sugar cravings? How do you usually deal with them? Do you have a healthy sugary swap-out?

I’d love to know, and maybe even talk about it with you!

Stay sweet my friends,

P.S. Need Some Extra Support + Help? (For Free)

If you feel you’re in need of some extra TLC (think: after the holiday breakouts, bloating, and dehydration - maybe even some holiday weight gain… ahh!) and you want to settle into a healthy routine and detox your body of any unhealthy foods and habits then I have just the thing for you. #IHaveYourBack

I have created a fun 5-day challenge just for you, and the best part? It’s FREE!

It’s called the 5-Day Food Cleanse Challenge (#5DFCC), and it will have you feeling your best. #LetsDoItTogether

In it I share and break-down my daily simple step-by-step plan to follow made up of delicious, cleansing and satisfying recipes (no going hungry!), habits, tweaks and hacks to add to your day-to-day routines that WILL result in big changes have you feeling energized and restored, as well as looking and feeling great.

THE GOAL? To have you feeling energized, restored, as well as to reboot your mind, taste buds, and overall lifestyle so that you’ll naturally be craving healthier choices every day in your life, leaving you feeling great for long term results.

The best part?!🤩

Taking on too much is a recipe for overwhelm, under-performance and stress. None of which will lead to the happiness and fulfillment you deserve, so this challenge is made up of 100% doable bite-sized actions and steps.

This is not a juice fast or liquid cleanse!

This is a 5-day food festival of yummy deliciousness, covering everything from breakfast, lunch dinner, to slump beaters snacks, and nighttime treats! 😋

In other words: NO DEPRIVATION!

🤓 What We Will Learn + Cover Together: 🤓

Alongside my cleansing food plan, crafted to fill your body with the most nourishing, delicious foods to reset your cravings, kick start your weight loss and be naturally energized, we’ll be working together on positive mindsets and daily routines to reboot your mind.

Here’s An Outline Of What You Can Look Forward To:

You can join now to gain access to all the tools, food plans, and specific steps to get you kicking-off this year feeling fantastic.

I gotta say -- something tells me that 2019 is going to be your best year yet.

👋 Bye bye for now, and here’s to a sugar-free you!

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