Refined sugar has been getting absolutely slammed lately! So many documentaries, health programs and even research around how bad sugar is for you have been released in the last few years and shone a light on the truth about refined sugar.
 
For me personally, I was turned off sugar after watching ‘That Sugar Film’ (I highly recommend watching it if you want to see the effects sugar has on your body that you may not even be aware of in your own body). I realized that even though I’m not a massive sweet tooth, I was still having so much sugar in other forms without even realizing it.
 
I would also get headaches. All the damn time.

For as long as I can remember I have had headaches almost daily and believe it or not, once I cut out refined sugar – like 100% cut it out – after about a week of withdrawals (unfortunately including headaches) I was clear of all signs of the annoying existence that is headaches! I can’t even describe how good it was not to wake up and instantly have a headache. Eat breakfast, headache. Go outside, headache. Breathe, headache. DRAINER!
 
So here I am, promoting and backing 100% that cutting out refined sugar – or at least severely reducing it – will do you, your health and the only body you get absolute wonders!

How are you going to do it? With these basic tips!

1. Work out where the sugar you consume comes from
   There are the obvious things like sugar, soft drink and chocolate, but dig deeper! Think pasta sauces, yogurts and basically anything from an aisle in the super market. You will be shocked at how much sugar is in things that are marketed as ‘healthy’. Once you’ve worked out where you are consuming the most amount of sugar you can start there
2. Read the back of every packet
   Ideally, avoiding all packaged food is the gold standard but this is not easy. My rule for packaged food is no more than 4 grams of sugar per 100 grams AND ‘sugar’ needs to be listed at least fifth in the list of ingredients. This is because the ingredients lists are written in order of abundance – so basically if you buy tomato sauce that’s ingredients are: sugar, water, thickener, tomatoes (26%) – sugar is the main ingredient!
3. Reduce, reduce, reduce!
   Let’s say that after step one you’ve realized fruit juice and sauces are your two biggest sugar hits, start by cutting one out at a time. Go a week without fruit juice, then the next week cut out the sauces and keep working your way through all the sugary items you consume
4. Keep track of how you’re feeling
   Okay I’m going to be honest, quitting sugar can be brutal. If you consume a lot of sugar, you will get headaches like never before. You will get sugar cravings that will almost drive you insane. Your energy levels will be all over the place because your body is so used to getting short, sharp burst of energy from sugar that it is no longer getting. BUT these bad withdrawal symptoms only last a week or two, then the magic happens.
   You will think clearly, sleep better – more importantly for me, and one of the biggest changes I noticed, I woke up easier – your headaches will be a thing of the past, you will have consistent energy, basically, you will be loving life.
   
5. When you get cravings, have something naturally sweet
   Think along the lines of a spoon of natural yogurt, dates, a piece of fruit, a glass of kombucha even a big drink of water can get rid of cravings (you probably don’t believe me but I swear it works)
6. Don’t be too hard on yourself
   So you’re four days in and you cannot see yourself getting through the day without a little sugar hit and you give in to a can of soft drink. BIG DEAL! Don’t beat yourself up and lose hope, as long as you get back on the quitting sugar train that’s the main thing. Maybe you will last five days next time, and then ten and before you know it you won’t even feel like sugar. In all honesty, when I have too much sugar now – for example a few pieces of dairy milk chocolate – I get a splitting headache, so for me, the sugar hit isn’t worth it.
   
   

A tool that I found really helpful is the app developed by Damon Gameau (the director/producer/star of That Sugar Film) which lets you scan items with a bar-code and it will tell you how many teaspoons of sugar are in a certain item. It’s actually scary how much is in things you buy daily! The app is called That Sugar App, it's free and is so handy to have when you’re first getting your head around what you should and shouldn’t have. I highly recommend downloading it!

I really hope these tips will help you! I promise it is so worth it once you start feeling 100% again, even if you think you’re feeling 100% now. Just try it!
 
As always I am more than happy to chat about this further or answer any questions you may have so please feel free to comment or contact me here. Good luck!
 
Georgia x

‘Going green’ is a term that has been thrown around for years. I liked to think of myself as quite ‘green’ – I mean, I separate my rubbish into recyclable and non-recyclable and I have a ton of Tupperware containers so I don’t waste plastic – but then my gorgeous friend Sarah put me to shame.

I was at her place one day when I noticed a list on her whiteboard about going green so I asked her what she was doing/changing. The answers she gave me sounded so innovative, yet so simple. I couldn’t believe the minor changes she had made in her life that would have such a positive impact on our planet. I asked her to tell me the five best/easiest/cost-effective things she had done and now, I am sharing them with you.

1. Beeswax wraps
   These funky looking wraps take the place of your standard cling-wraps and aren’t only amazing because they’re environmentally friendly, they will save you money because they’re re-usable! This eliminates waste AND will save you money in the long run, it's a win win!
   
   Beeswax wraps are cotton sheets which have been steeped in beeswax and usually another oil like jojoba oil and pine tree resin – this make the wraps naturally anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, self-adhesive and water resistant. How they work is also really cool – the wraps become malleable at room temperature, allowing you to use your hands to shape the wrap over the top of the container/bowl/jar/whatever you wish to cover and then once it goes into the fridge it hardens/sets.
   
   To re-use, simply wipe the wrap with some water and non-alcoholic soap, drip dry and you’re ready to wrap again. How genius! I use the wraps made by Beekeep which are hand-made with love right here in Australia. You can get them for yourself here.
   
   
2. Keep Cup
   As the clever name suggests, this product is a cup that you keep, which allows you to stop wasting disposable cups when you get your morning warm beverage of choice.
   
   When you think about it, if you were to buy just one coffee a day that’s 365 disposable cups that end up in landfill every year. Now, if you have 5 other friends who are also known for their daily caffeine hit, that number goes from 365 cups to 2190 cups per year. I’m sure you are already aware, there are a LOT more than 6 people on this planet, a large percentage of whom get a coffee almost daily so that is a HUGE amount of waste and unfortunately, most disposable cups cannot be recycled!
   
   Keep Cup’s don’t just save our planet, they save your wallet too! Some café’s will now give you a discount on your morning beverage if you have your own cup. Caffeine + saving our planet + saving money = a good time had by all.
   
   
3. Making your own cleaning products
   I have always wondered how people are so comfortable with spraying cleaning products all over their homes to ‘kill germs’ with no regard to how these chemicals may be impacting their own health. The packaging of these products also affect our planet since they get thrown out as soon as they’re empty and replaced with another bottle. So wasteful! My friend Sarah feels the same so she decided to make her own cleaning products and tells me it isn’t that hard!
   
   She uses a mixture of essential oils and safe house hold products like vinegar and bicarb soda to create human-friendly cleaning products. They smell amazing, are safer than using a cocktail of chemicals that are made from who-knows-what AND once again, they eliminate waste as you can re-make your own once you run out instead of throwing out empty bottles to go and buy more. Genius.
   
   
4. Composting
   Good ol’ fashioned composting strikes again. So beneficial for you, your garden and the planet.
   
   Sarah and her handy-man hubby have created a composting invention in their veggie patch that basically does the work for them – all with a few pieces of PVC pipe (and some worms of course)! If you don’t know, the basics of composting is that you throw your food scraps into the composter where there are worms which eat the food scraps and, um, poop out nutrient rich poop (no better way to say it really).
   
   This allows for food scraps to be put to good use instead of taking up space in our landfill. Composting is also amazing for the garden so if you’ve got a little veggie patch or flower garden, or your aim is to be fully sustainable, composting will do you wonders!
   
   
5. Re-usable face wipes
   Disposable face wipes are another thing – like your daily coffee – that you don’t really link to as being/causing waste, but if you use face wipes most days, then the waste caused by them adds up. Switching to re-usable face wipes reduces waste and are beneficial for your skin.
   

There you have it. Five super easy ways to help our planet, while also helping your wallet, health, skin, everything! Okay maybe not everything but close!
 
I know I will definitely be incorporating these simple tips into my daily life and will forever be pestering my friend Sarah about the new things she comes up with to go green. These ideas are such small changes to our lives, but imagine the effect it would have on our planet if we ALL made these changes!
 
Remember, it starts with you.
 
Georgia x