Struggling to stop those sugar cravings? Here’s 5 simple steps that will help you beat sugar cravings once and for all.
Get out the habit of eating sugar
Sometimes we eat sugar out of habit. For me I used to always eat chocolate in the evening when settling down to relax in front of the TV. It was like a ritual. At about 7pm after I’d put my son to bed I would go to the shop around the corner and get a few bars of chocolate and some biscuits then head home to eat them in front of the TV with my fiancé.
I would do this every night without fail. So when I quit sugar it would be painfully obvious I would want to still do this because I had always done it. It just didn’t feel right not doing it because it had been something I did for so long. The thing with habits is you can’t really stop a habit without replacing it with something else. So to work around my old sugar habit I would walk down to the shop like usual and then get some nuts to eat then I would head home and eat those instead.
It didn’t take long before I had stopped eating sugary snacks at night in front of the TV. Eventually I just would go for a walk around 7 for 15mins around the block then come home and have a herbal tea. A much healthier habit than my old sugar one.
Simple put, all the times you usually eat sugary foods out of habit try and replace that with a more healthier alternative. Before long you’ll be used to your new habit and you’ll be feeling much happier and healthier because of it!
Make sure you are fully hydrated
Sometimes when you have a craving for something but are not sure what it’s more than likely you are actually dehydrated and needing water. Because of this feeling you might go for the sugar when all you really needed is a good old glass of water.
The hunger feeling is similar to the signal your body gives when it’s needing water so make sure you keep fully hydrated and you’ll not have those hunger pangs that sugar or food doesn’t satisfy.
If you don’t like plain water then try squeezing some fresh lime juice or lemon juice into a glass of water to give it that little something extra.
You could even try a herbal tea, I love cutting up ginger and putting it into a glass of hot water. It tastes great and helps keep you hydrated.
Boredom is a problem
Sometimes boredom is a killer. When you get bored you are naturally going to crave things that make you feel good like eating sweets and chocolate but the only thing is that’s normally followed by the feeling of guilt and remorse because we often over do it.
Best thing to do if you find yourself bored quite often with a lot of free time you should try and find things that you can do that will cure that boredom which should help eliminate the urge binge on sugar. Things like reading, watching good movies, exercising, learning something new or going out to see friends or family are great ways to relive that boredom which should also relieve those cravings!
Exercise regularly
When you exercise regularly you feel good become exercise helps produce and release serotonin which is the happiness hormone. Because of this you will be much less likely to crave sugar.
When we eat sugar we release something called Dopamine which is gives us that pleasure and reward feeling, the only thing is as time goes on we need to eat more and more to get that same high we once experienced. The problem with this is, sugar is not good for us so we are going to be damaging our bodies at the same time meaning we are going to feel bad because of this.
This is something we don’t want. Alternatively when we exercise we are going to be feeling great because of the serotonin we will be producing which makes us feel happy and at the same time we are going to be looking much better because of it which is a double whammy of happiness.
Before you know it you’ll be looking for the gym not the chocolate once you start getting that feel good hormone from exercise. This also ties perfectly into the creating a new habit principle when stopping an old habit.
So go ahead and ditch the chocolate for the running shoes next tome around!
Keep your blood sugar stable
Try and eat small and often that way you’ll keep your blood sugar stable and avoid massive spikes followed by the dreaded lows. When your blood sugar is low you’ll be much more likely to go for sugar in order to lift your blood sugar levels back up.
Try and eat complex carbs instead of simple carbs as they keep your blood sugar levels much more level over all. Complex carbs are things like Green vegetables, whole grains and foods made from them, such as oatmeal, pasta, and whole-grain breads. Things like beans, lentils, and peas are also complex carbs.
Avoids simple carbs like Soda, candy, artificial syrup, sugar, white rice, white bread, and white pasta, potatoes (which are technically a complex carb, but act more like simple carbs in the body), pastries and desserts.
Try to stick to eating small meals more often with complex carbs instead of simple carbs and you’ll keep your blood sugar stable meaning you shouldn’t get the need to snack on sugary snacks.
There you have it 5 simple things that should help you know how to beat sugar cravings. If you have anymore you think I should have mentioned then please comment them below 
The post How To Beat Sugar Cravings In 5 Simple Steps appeared first on How To Stop Eating Sugar.
