5 Ways I Cut Sugar Back In My Diet

One of the things I have struggled with in my life, is sugar consumption.  If I tried to cut back on sugar from my diet, it would come at me like a zillion monsters attacking me.  The more I tried, the more I failed.

Before a dear friend passed away from cancer, one of the last things she said to me was, "cut sugar out".  It hit me hard and I know that she was correct.

Sugar is great.  It tastes so good.  It is addictive.  It gives me a high.  I love it.  I love it.  I love it and I want more of it.

Unfortunately, too much sugar is not healthy for the body in what I've learned.  No, I'm not some doctor of nutrition or anything like that.  I'm really speaking about my own understanding and comprehension.

So, here I am trying to get off the stuff and the harder I tried, it came back at me like a boomerang effect.  The more I tried, the more I craved it and then it left me feeling horrible and weak and defeated.  I knew there had to be a way.

Here's what I did.  While this may not work for everyone, maybe something in what I'm writing about will help you.

1. Mind Body and Mindfulness 

   This was not about some thought philosophy or mantras or meditation.  Not that those things don't help because they do.  What I'm referring to here is something more than the standard mind body and mindfulness thinking we all preach that we do.  In this case, I went in and started working hard on my inner self and from a cellular body component, I learned to release and let go of things.  It was about using Unified Therapy to go in and face the fears and demons of my past so that I could reclaim my life.  These things are essential for true growth into awareness and consciousness.

2. Mindful Of What You Eat

   What I mean by mindful is to be consciously aware of what you eat.  It isn't about chastising yourself and saying "I screwed up".  It isn't about counting calories or how much you consume or finding something to beat yourself up on.  It is about observing and noticing how much sugar you eat.  Become aware of the sugar content and sources in the stuff you buy.  You'll be surprised at how much sugar is in things you would not think it was.  Just observe and be aware of it.

3. What can you cut back?

   Normally there is something you can cut back that starts to drop the sugar consumption.  Make it something that is small and you think you can do without.  See if you can go a day or a few days, then maybe a week and a few weeks.  Try it small, build up on the success and use that to help motivate you further.  For me, I stopped buying these big bags of candy and having them sit around at my house.  If they were in the house, I was going to eat them.  By not having them at my house, it made it much easier to just say no.

4. The First Thing You Eat

   I noticed and found this by an odd observation, that if the first thing I ate in the morning had no sugar, it helped me the rest of the day.  Without that sugar fix first thing, my taste buds and neural pathways had a fighting chance.  It is almost like my brain found a new pathway to what I ate, rather than getting the early morning addictive fix which set me up for the rest of the day.  The more I did this, even if I followed it by some sugar in cereal or something else, I was more empowered.  I found I ate less sugary stuff and had less of a desire for it if the first thing I hate was without sugar.  I've checked this out a few times on myself and I get the same result.
   
   

5. Splurge

   As much as you may want to cut sugar out completely, sometimes you just have to let yourself go and splurge.  If I said to myself that tomorrow there will be absolutely no more sugar, I'm sure I would be beating myself up very hard.  If I just work to cut it back but allow myself to splurge every ONCE in awhile, then I've got the control.  I'm empowered.  Now, I don't mean splurge every day, but begin to limit it.  

Find alternative sugar and sweet sources that are healthy and delicious.  By searching for these things and reading the ingredients on labels of the foodstuffs you buy, you'll be helping yourself help yourself.  Don't just replace sugar with something that is not healthy because there are far too many products that I don't believe are as good for you as they claim to be.

I think we all chastise ourselves far too much and the shame just fuels what we eat, including the sugar we take in.  Sugar is very addictive and I'm sorry if the sugar industry does not like that, but if you see how much is added to everything we eat, I think the evidence speaks for itself.  If the sugar industry really cared about health, they'd be trying to put themselves out of business.

A little sugar can be good, but right now we are addicted to sugar.  The obesity and diabetes rates have skyrocketed which I feel are a direct result of sugar.  If you can just cut the amount of sugar down in your diet, you done so much for yourself to make your mind and body healthier.

These are 5 ways I used to cut sugar back in my diet.  What have you tried that helps you?  Let's all learn together.  Leave a comment of what has worked personally for you.

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---