How on Earth am I Meant to Quit Sugar?!

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