Go sugar free for 30 days. I'm not kidding.
A break up from sugar, a 'it's not me, it's you' ending, a 'maybe we can still be friends at some point but we will probably ignore each other' break up.
Fructose, glucose, pretty much anything ending in 'ose', corn syrup, molasses is sugar. Manufacturers are actually breaking it down into these words to make it look a little less scary but it doesn't change what it is. Sugar has absolutely no beneficial qualities at all. It's basically just pure energy. It's toxic to our bodies and with no nutritional benefits it goes no where in our body except being stored as fat. It's found in so much food these days it's almost ridiculous. Simple white carbs like pasta and bread, junk food like chocolate, ice cream, lollies, muffins, cakes - It's all loaded with the stuff!
On average Australian's consume about 20 teaspoons of sugar per day. PER DAY!! This is the number one reason more than a million aussies have type 2 diabetes. This is actually shocking to me and frankly its disgusting.
I tried for a while cutting out sugar, I'd go well for a little while and then sometimes I would get a bad craving for a chocolate and thought I'd treat myself to fill the void and I'd be soon be devouring a block of chocolate and having ice cream that night and then dear god there is a morning tea at work the next day so I better have some of that cake! There was a time when I was stressed that for a few days straight I binged and ate a whole lot of bad foods, I literally became an insomniac for a few weeks from having the sugar! It got to a point where I needed to stop and so I decided to go as sugar free as I possibly could.
When I would tell people I was giving up sugar all together and finding alternatives for my sweet cravings they looked at me like I had just told them I had suddenly taken up smoking crack. I didn't do this as some spontaneous decision, I didn't just wake up one day and think 'hey you know what would be really cool...' It came down to wanting a healthy lifestyle and I was sick of busting my ass at the gym everyday for nothing because every bit of sugar I put in my mouth completely destroyed all that hard work.
Not going to lie, it's hard. And of course there are days where I cheat and have a chocolate or a couple of drinks (despite what my mother says I am not a saint, I'm a normal person who gives in very occasionally). I can guarantee every time I do it I feel sick and wish I didn't but generally my life is pretty sugar free.
You will have withdrawals - headaches, fatigue, cravings. They will all be there for the first few days or a week. Once you get over that it becomes a lot easier. You need to persist!
TIPS ON CUTTING OUT SUGAR
STAY HYDRATED - I find drinking water and copious amounts of green tea settles the cravings and withdrawals.
REDUCE THE SUGAR - Cut it down slowly by taking it out one bit at a time. Do you really need 2 chocolates a day why don't you just stick to one? Is that muffin really what you need after having a healthy salad for lunch? Start reducing the amount of sugar you have in your tea and coffee, take it from 2 sugars to one sugar to half a spoon and you will get used to it.
EAT FRUIT for the sugar hit. I love eating berries to satisfy my sweet tooth and they are good for me too!
FIND ALTERNATIVES - I am a massive lover of ice cream so one day I decided to make my own fruity dairy free ice cream.
Take a can of coconut milk or coconut cream. Blend with strawberries and banana. Pour into a container and freeze. You're done. How simple is that? And its so delicious.
So give it a shot. 30 days of being sugar free. See how you go!!
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