Want to stop craving sweets?  ME TOO!

You wake up-tired, you go to work-tired, you snooze through the afternoon-tired.  So in order to counteract your fatigue, you eat (and drink) sugar and live off those precious moments of spiked energy before you crash even lower into exhaustion than before.

Sound familiar? You’re hooked on sugar, and it’s a wicked cycle, folks.

The American Heart Association recommends you consume no more than 6 teaspoons of sugar a day. Pour that amount into a cup, and you can clearly see that’s an awful amount of sweet.   Unfortunately, you’ll consume that plus some in one, single can of Coke.  There are 4 teaspoons in a Milky Way bar, 6 in one glazed donut.  And your seemingly healthier options are chocked full too-a granola bar contains at least 3 depending on the type.  This is in addition to all the hidden sugars you’re consuming in regular food items; breads and sauces for example, are full of the white stuff.

Clearly, if you frequently resemble a zombie and feel worse, you need to take action and work at cutting that sugar demon out of your diet.  You can break the cycle, but it’s going to take some discipline.

Let’s look at what you can do to perk up without passing out:

• Stop emotional eating.  You know what I’m talking about.  You’re feeling down, anxious, lonely, angry…hey, any old negative emotion will do.  And all of sudden those comfort foods sound oh, so good.  Can we say chocolate anyone? Look, emotions are part of being human, but you can’t let them ride you into exhaustion and a 40” waistline.  Call a friend, get outside and take a walk (your feet can be used for much more than pushing a gas and brake pedal), or start a hobby.  I know if it’s me, I have to get away from the house and my temptress of a pantry (she calls to me in a Marilyn Monroe voice.)  Believe me, it works.  If I can re-configure my brain from binging to biking…anyone can.
• Replace your sugar. There are quite a few healthy alternates out there without the old aspartame worry.  Stevia is a naturally occurring sugar from the Stevia plant, and you only need a little to get the same sweet taste as its calorie-laden counterpart.  A form of Stevia I like to use is Truvia™.  Also, according to Good Housekeeping, a cinnamon stick in your coffee will give you a ‘sweet, flavorful taste without the sugar.’  Sounds a bit weird, but I’ll try anything once (and the fun things, twice.)
• Eat Fruit. Believe it or not, fruit really does satisfy your sugar cravings without the calories.  Berries are delicious (sprinkle them with Truvia), and if you blend them, they make an excellent replacement for syrup on your (hopefully wheat) pancakes.
• Baking cookies? Use unsweetened applesauce. This one really does work.  I use it in all my baked recipes instead of sugar and everything is just as delicious, and far healthier.
• Homemade is best. Stop treating the drive through as your best friend, walk right on by prepackaged foods, and start taking the time to make meals from scratch.  Yes, it does take longer, but I promise you, it tastes better, you’ll save money and if you watch your portions, you’ll lose some weight too.
• Start looking at labels. Remember I mentioned regular foods contain hidden sugars?  They do, and it’ll surprise you how much.  Don’t worry about looking like a nerd in the grocery store, check out those labels and hunt around for whole wheat, organic sauces and all-around healthier alternatives.  They are out there.

Bottom line…

A little sugar as an occasional treat is just fine.  But when you’re devouring it in a constant stream, you have a problem.  Visualize this…sit your can of soda on your desk, and then mentally pour 10.5 teaspoons of sugar next to it.  Yep, you’re about to eat…or rather, drink, that sugar.  If that doesn’t give you pause, I don’t know what will.