Table of Contents

 

Introduction  ...........................................................................................................................  4  

Sugar  is  Destroying  You  from  the  Inside  Out  .....................................................................................  5  

The  Life-­‐Altering  Benefits  of  Cutting  Sugar  Out  of  Your  Diet  ...................................................  7  

Weight  Loss  ......................................................................................................................................  7  

Better  Complexion  ...........................................................................................................................  7  

Energy  to  Spare  ................................................................................................................................  7  

Improved  Immune  System  ...............................................................................................................  8  

Mental  Clarity  ..................................................................................................................................  8  

How  to  Begin  Getting  Sugar  Out  of  Your  Life  ...........................................................................  9  

The  Pros  and  Cons  of  Going  Cold  Turkey  ...........................................................................................  9  

Easing  Into  a  Sugar-­‐Free  Life  ...........................................................................................................  10  

A  Word  on  Sugar  Substitutes  ..........................................................................................................  12  

Once  You’ve  Eliminated  Sugar  ........................................................................................................  12  

What  to  Expect  When  You  Give  Up  Sugar  .............................................................................  13  

Mistakes  ........................................................................................................................................  14  

Ignoring  Your  Sweet  Tooth  .............................................................................................................  14  

Remember  Starchy  is  Sugary  Too  ...................................................................................................  15  

Expecting  Perfection  ......................................................................................................................  15  

Not  Having  a  Plan  ...........................................................................................................................  15  

Eating  Out  ......................................................................................................................................  15  

Food  in  a  Hurry  ...............................................................................................................................  16  

How  to  Stay  Motivated  .........................................................................................................  17  

Goals  and  Rewards  .........................................................................................................................  17  

Remind  Yourself  What  Sugar  Is  Doing  To  Your  Body  .......................................................................  17  

Visuals  Reminders  ..........................................................................................................................  17  

Buddy  System  ................................................................................................................................  18  

The  Three  Cheats  ...........................................................................................................................  18  

 

Introduction

The food you eat has a tremendous impact on your mental and physical well-being. It affects your sleep, your mood, your stress level and your energy. What you put into your body also impacts the food decisions you make later in the day.

For example, if you have a candy bar and a soda for breakfast (don’t gasp, some people actually eat this for breakfast), you’ll undoubtedly make a poor lunch decision as well, because your body is starving for nutrients.

Before diving into talking about eliminating sugar from your diet, it’s important to briefly discuss why sugar is so darned tasty. Why do you crave sugar?

You crave sugar because you’re human. The human body is designed to break the food you eat down into glucose. That’s the primary fuel source for your cells. So anything you eat from a steak to a chocolate chip cookie is broken down into glucose. However, as you might know, some foods break down more quickly.

These foods are what are often referred to as carbohydrates, but that’s not quite right. Fruits and veggies are carbs too, as are whole grains. There’s a huge difference in the way your body processes fruits and veggies and the way it processes a chocolate chip cookie.

Chocolate chip cookies, muffins, bagels, and other starchy carbohydrates break down quickly. Your body turns them into glucose and your body is essentially flooded with a rush of sugar. But it’s different when you eat a banana because the banana contains fiber too.

A banana breaks down more slowly and releases a steady stream of glucose into your body. Rather than flooding your system with glucose, you trickle it. There’s no blood sugar spike, and no resulting crash either. And if you add a little nut butter to that banana then even better.

Sugar is Destroying You from the Inside Out

Being naturally inclined to enjoy sweet things is different than eating them with every bite of food you put into your body, yet that’s exactly what many unsuspecting people are doing every day. And they wonder why they don’t feel good, are gaining weight, and feel generally miserable. Sugar is extremely destructive.

Sugar makes your organs fat. Sugar, specifically fructose, triggers your liver to store fat. It stores it not only in your cells and tissues but also around your liver and other primary and vital organs. It also makes your blood vessels unnaturally rigid and stiff. This rigidity causes high blood pressure, which in turn makes your heart work harder to pump life-giving blood throughout your body. It’s not uncommon for people with sugary diets to experience a stroke or heart attack because of the damage done to their circulatory system.

Sugar has been linked to depression, high cholesterol, and it even causes wrinkles and sagging skin. It is inextricably linked to type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and it accelerates the aging process both inside your body and out. If you quit sugar you not only feel and look like a new person, you also add years – perhaps decades – onto your life.

It’s also one of the most addictive things in the world. Experts say that it is eight times more addictive than cocaine. One thing is for certain, sugar isn’t good for you, and cutting it out of your life may be the best thing you can do for your health.

Knowing you should quit sugar and actually following through are two different things. If you have a sugar habit, quitting it can be a challenge. But

it’s not an impossible challenge, and with the right information you can eliminate sugar from your diet.

Over the next ten pages we’ll take a look at:

• Motivating reasons to quit sugar – the health impacts will surprise you • Two approaches to quit sugar – find the method that works best for

you • What to expect when you give up sugar • Tips to stay motivated

Let’s get started by taking a look at the life-altering benefits of cutting sugar out of your diet.

The Life-Altering Benefits of Cutting Sugar Out of Your Diet

Sometimes you don’t believe something until you experience it for yourself. That’s the case with giving up sugar. You won’t fully comprehend the benefits until you try it for yourself. It is life altering. It’s as if the clouds lift and you can finally see the world and yourself clearly. We’ve discussed the downsides of sugar and how it harms your health. Let’s focus on the positive and share the amazing benefits of living without it.

Weight Loss

If you go cold turkey, you may notice weight loss at the rate of almost a pound a day. This isn’t a guaranteed weight loss estimate, but you will lose weight. When your body has to turn to other sources of energy, it begins to burn fat. Your metabolism speeds up and suddenly you’re burning more calories than you’re taking in.

Better Complexion

Studies have been conducted on adolescents, and those who cut sugar out of their diets had a miraculous reduction in acne. Even adolescent boys with cystic acne found that their skin cleared up after eliminating sugar. Acne aside, adults also experience a change in their complexion. You’ll see a new vitality, texture, and color to your skin. Many women claim that they look and feel about twenty years younger when they quit sugar.

Energy to Spare

Not only will you sleep more restfully when you quit sugar, you’ll also have an abundance of energy. Most people go through a mid-day slump. It happens after lunch and before dinner, usually around one or two o’clock. They then turn to caffeine or a sugary snack to help get them through the day. When you quit sugar, this slump disappears. You’ll feel a balanced energy level all day long.

Improved Immune System

Sugar causes systemic or body-wide inflammation. Inflammation is the foundation for all disease. Your body is essentially trying to constantly repair damaged tissues, processes, and systems. All of this activity is stressful. Systems change, cells change, and diseases like diabetes and cancer form.

Not only that, but it taxes your immune system. You catch colds and viruses more easily because your body is exhausted from battling the effects of too much sugar. Cut out the sugar and your health improves. You don’t get sick as often, if at all, which also provides the side benefit of fewer visits to the doctor and the pharmacy.

Mental Clarity

The absence of sugar also seems to help provide mental and emotional clarity. You’re no longer troubled with a foggy mind or an inability to concentrate. You’ll feel more emotionally stable and in control over your moods.

Again, it’s difficult to understand these benefits until you experience them for yourself, so we’ll take a look at that next. Let’s talk about how to get sugar out of your life.

How to Begin Getting Sugar Out of Your Life

When it comes to getting sugar out of your diet there are two basic approaches. Are you the type of person who likes to dive into the pool, or wade into the water and acclimate? People that prefer to dive in are also the type that prefers to go cold turkey and to quit sugar right now, today.

Those who prefer to ease into the pool water may find that easing into a sugar elimination is right for them. There’s no “best” approach except to say that you want to think about how you’re most likely to be successful.

If the temptation of sugar will be too much and you won’t be satisfied with a little bit of sugar, then cold turkey is best. It’s also best if you have a significant sugar habit and eat sugar with every snack and meal.

If you do possess good self-control and want to avoid the pangs of withdrawal, which are more significant with the cold turkey approach, then easing into a sugar elimination is a good idea. Let’s start with the pros and cons about going cold turkey and talk about how to make it happen.

The Pros and Cons of Going Cold Turkey

Completely eliminating sugar from your diet, starting now, is entirely possible. One woman named Nicole had such a sugar habit that she decided she’d go an entire year without sugar. She allowed herself three cheats for the entire year. These cheats, not surprisingly, were used up within the first

two months. (The good news is that she did make it an entire year without sugar.)

The cheats were helpful because one of the downsides to quitting sugar is the inevitable withdrawal that comes along with it. We’ll talk more about withdrawal in the next section, however it’s important to know that you will likely feel miserable for a few days as your body adapts to less sugar and has to find new sources of energy.

The other potential downside, if you don’t give yourself cheats, is that if you have a slip-up, you’ll have to start your elimination diet over. It’s highly recommended that however you choose to start your sugar elimination diet, you get to a point where you don’t consume any sugar for at least 30 days.

Once you’ve eliminated sugar for thirty days, minimum, your taste buds and metabolism will have sufficiently changed so that sugar won’t rule your life. You can then have the occasional treat without throwing your body and your blood sugar out of balance.

This is one of the reasons that many people simply dive in and quit sugar. They want to get it over with and start on the path to better health. However, if you’re a “test the waters” type of person then you might prefer to ease into a sugar-free life. Let’s take a look at that next.

Easing Into a Sugar-Free Life

Regardless of whether you’re quitting sugar all together or easing into it, one of the first steps is to take a look at what you currently eat. What foods contain sugar? Start by writing down everything you eat during the day. As you do, look at the label and the ingredients.

For example, if you have french fries then there is sugar in ketchup and there may very well be added sugar to the fries themselves. (You’d be surprised what manufacturers and restaurants put in food.) Lunchmeat has added sugar and your breakfast cereal undoubtedly has added sugar too.

Here are a few foods that contain added sugar:

• Pasta sauce • Soup • Low fat milk • Yogurt

• Salad dressing • Anything that says “Fat free” • Smoothies and coffee drinks • Unflavored milk alternatives like rice milk, almond milk and soy. You

have to look for unsweetened options. • Sauces and condiments like BBQ sauce, mustard, and mayonnaise • Crackers • Canned or packaged fruit • Cereal, protein, and sports bars • Instant oatmeal • Fruit juice (it often has added sugar in addition to the natural fruit

sugars) • Teas and energy drinks • Prepackaged frozen meals • Bread

When reading labels, if you see any of the following then you know there’s sugar in the food.

• Agave nectar • Brown rice syrup • High-fructose corn syrup • Dextrose • Evaporated cane juice • Glucose • Lactose • Malt syrup • Molasses • Sucrose

Sugar is added to just about every processed food you can imagine. To avoid it takes discipline, awareness, and planning. Of course, avoiding it can also save your life and dramatically improve your health. Once you change your habits, keeping sugar out of your diet easily becomes a way of life.

Once you’ve discovered the hidden, and not so hidden, sources of sugar in your diet it’s time to start eliminating them. Tackle the biggies first. For example, if you indulge in a coffee drink each day, that’s an easy one to quit. If you eat a meal replacement bar for breakfast, it’s time for eggs or steel cut oats. Start making significant changes to your diet and spend a month gradually easing out your sugar sources and replacing them with whole foods.

A Word on Sugar Substitutes

The goal of an elimination diet is twofold. On the one hand you want to get rid of the sugar that is causing weight gain, inflammation, disease and fatigue. You also want to reset your taste buds so that sweetness isn’t necessary to enjoy food.

If you eat foods sweetened with sugar substitutes like stevia, agave, brown rice syrup, and artificial sweeteners like aspartame, then you’re not only still adding sugars to your body, you’re not able to cut the cord on your sweet tooth.

You’ll still have cravings. Sugar substitutes don’t help you achieve your goal of living a healthier lifestyle and losing weight. In fact, many studies have shown that artificial sweeteners, diet foods and beverages and sugar substitutes actually cause weight gain.

Once You’ve Eliminated Sugar

In the next section we’ll talk about what to expect when you eliminate sugar from your diet. Most elimination diets are a short term solution. They’re a way to reset your body so that you can live more healthfully.

Because sugar is so prevalent in food, and because food is to be enjoyed in moderation, consider eliminating sugar for 30, 60, or 90 days or, like Nicole, eliminate it for a year. Then you might consider taking part in the occasional treat. Rest assured that once you’ve changed your body, sugar won’t have the same call or appeal.

You might enjoy one small treat each week or once a month. You decide how you best want to manage your health and well-being. Once you’re aware of how excellent you’ll look and feel without sugar, the temptation is greatly reduced

What to Expect When You Give Up Sugar

There are many challenges to giving up something that is included in practically every packaged or prepared food you can buy. We’ve already talked about the amazing benefits of giving up sugar, including more energy, better sleep, improved health, weight loss, mental clarity, and a feeling of being healthy and vital – you’ll feel more alive and calm than you’ve ever felt.

The path to this state of wellbeing is a bit rocky at first. You’ll experience withdrawal, so it makes sense to talk about what withdrawal feels like and how to manage it. When going through sugar withdrawal you might experience any of the following:

• Headaches • Insomnia • Moodiness and irritability • Hunger • Fatigue • Stomach distress including nausea

Some people have described sugar withdrawal as feeling as if you have the flu. The good news is that it generally subsides after a few days. If you are going cold turkey with your sugar elimination, you may want to consider starting on a Friday and planning to hang out at home and relax for the weekend.

There are ways to manage and reduce sugar withdrawal. They include:

• Drinking plenty of water. It helps flush toxins from your body. Add lemon or lime to enhance the flavor and help with the detox.

• Sleep. Sleep restores your body.

• Eat healthy sweets. Stock up on your favorite fruits and veggies and eat them when you have a sugar craving.

• Healthy fats. Nuts and avocados are good fats that can help you feel satisfied. Healthy fats are known to reduce sugar cravings.

• Exercise. Now may not be the time to start training for a marathon, however exercise can help get your mind off of your discomfort and cravings and it is good for your body and mind.

It’s important to point out that all of the above steps and ideas are also good ways to manage cravings. Next, let’s take a look at how to navigate the world when you’re sugar free. We’ll talk about mistakes, eating out, and finding food in a hurry.

Mistakes

The biggest mistake you can make when eliminating sugar is to not read labels. Sugar is in so many surprising foods. Mistakenly eating it can make you feel defeated. However, almost as common is the mistake of keeping sugary foods in your home.

Imagine trying to give up sugar but leaving cookies and chips in your pantry. It’s a surefire way to fail, because the cravings and the temptation will be high. Remove any and all sugary foods from your home, and that includes foods you don’t think you like.

If you live with someone who isn’t going on this sugar-free journey with you, consider asking them to keep all of the sugary foods in a closet or out of the home for a few days. Once you’ve past the withdrawal period, you’ll be in better shape to ignore temptations.

Ignoring Your Sweet Tooth

Instead of saying “no” to your sweet tooth and denying its existence, try incorporating naturally sweet foods into your diet. As your taste buds change you’ll be amazed just how incredibly sweet a berry or a carrot actually tastes.

Add fruit to your morning breakfast routine. You can even invest in some kitchen gadgets like a dehydrator and make your own dehydrated fruits and veggie chips. They can be a satisfying snack. You won’t miss the candy bar when you have dehydrated strawberries to snack on.

Remember Starchy is Sugary Too

Sugary snacks and foods aren’t just sweet. Items like potato chips and lunch meats, and breaded chicken are savory and they contain sugar. Read the labels and keep a list of sugars handy so you know you’re eating something that is safe and good for you.

Expecting Perfection

Giving up sugar is difficult and you may make a mistake. You might inadvertently have a dressing on your salad that has sugar. You might have a bad moment and eat a potato chip. Don’t give up on yourself or this process if you make a mistake. Promise to do better and start again.

Not Having a Plan

Finally, the last mistake to avoid is going into this elimination diet without a plan. How long are you going to eliminate sugar? Are you going cold turkey or slowly eliminating sugar from your diet.

If you’re going to eliminate it slowly, what foods will you start with first? What’s going next? And what will you replace those sugary foods with? How will you fuel your body and take exceptional care of yourself during this time period? Have a plan. This report offers several tips, ideas, and steps. Use them to craft a plan that works for you.

Eating Out

Let’s just be honest here and say that eating out poses some serious challenges. Ask your waiter if there’s sugar in the steak, they’ll probably say yes. Ask them if there’s sugar in the coleslaw and the answer will be yes. There’s sugar in practically everything at a restaurant. You need to plan ahead.

Eat well before you go so that you’re not starving and don’t cave into temptation. Also look to find the menu online before you go. Salads, fish, and steamed veggies are generally safe options. Fine dining restaurants may have less sugar in their menu items than fast casual or fast food restaurants.

Food in a Hurry

Another set of common mistakes or challenges are those times when you need food in a hurry. Undoubtedly anything you grab at a convenience store or at a fast food restaurant will have sugar. Planning ahead and preparing for emergencies is the best option.

For example, you might keep nuts and other snack foods with you at all times so that if you’re forced to miss a meal, or find that you’re hungry, you have a safe option.

Additionally, consider preparing food items in advance. Steel cut oats for example, can be soaked overnight, heated up in the morning in your microwave and enjoyed with nuts and milk. Eggs can be baked in muffin tins and stored in the refrigerator.

The egg muffins, which can be cooked with sugar free bacon, sausage, or veggies, heat up quickly in the microwave and provide a fast and healthy breakfast or snack. Meal planning and advanced preparation help take some of burden off of a sugar elimination diet.

With a bit of planning and preparation, you can achieve your goal of cutting your dependency on sugar. You can take control over your health and wellbeing and eliminate sugar from your life.

As discussed, giving up sugar and living without it won’t be without challenges. Until the rest of the world catches up to the damage that sugar causes the human body, manufacturers will continue to add it to foods and people will continue to be addicted.

Until then, you’re going to want to stay focused and motivated on protecting and safeguarding your health. We’ll wrap this up by looking at five powerful methods to stay motivated.

How to Stay Motivated

Staying motivated to a strict no sugar or low sugar diet takes some fortitude. You can do it if you’re properly motivated. We’re each motivated by different things. The following ideas may help you identify a motivation tactic that is right for you.

Goals and Rewards

Consider setting some sort of goal for your sugar elimination and predetermining a reward that you’ll give yourself when you achieve your goal.

For example, you might decide to give up all sugar for a month. Upon completion of your goal you might buy a new outfit. Chances are you’ll have lost weight, so some new clothes may be required anyway. Or you might take a short vacation or treat yourself to a spa day.

Remind Yourself What Sugar Is Doing To Your Body

If rewards aren’t motivating, you might be motivated to learn more about what sugar does to a person’s body. Start researching sugar studies. Subscribe to periodicals dedicated to good health and healthy eating. Print out articles that are particularly motivating. By keeping yourself clear on the dangers of sugar, you might easily avoid any temptations.

Visuals Reminders

If you’re a visual person then you might stay motivated by creating a vision board. A vision board is a representation of your goals and ideals. You can create a vision board by cutting out inspirational pictures and quotations and adding them to a cork board with pins or by gluing them to a poster board.

Your vision board can be whatever you want it to be. However, the images on your board do need to be motivating and relate specifically to the reasons you’re eliminating sugar.

For example, if you’re cutting out sugar to lose weight then you might add to the board an image of yourself at a healthier weight. If you want to have a healthy heart and feel more energetic you might add an image of energy and vitality to your board.

Hang your board somewhere you can see it often. You might hang it in your bathroom so you see it in the morning and at night before you go to bed.

Buddy System

Some people are motivated by their peers and the company of others. Find a friend or partner to go through the sugar elimination with you. Make an agreement that when either one of you is dealing with temptation, you can call the other one for support.

You might even help each other with meal planning and preparation. The support of friends and family can help you get through the most significant challenges as you work together to improve your health.

The Three Cheats

The concept of completely eliminating something from your life may seem like too much. Like Nicole, whom we talked about early on, you may feel like a complete elimination is impossible. Consider building into your elimination the concept of cheats.

If, for example, you’re giving up sugar for a year, then three to five cheats may help you get through the process. Some people adhere to the “eat perfectly six days a week and make one day your cheat day” advice given by so many health experts.

As you begin to improve your health the cheats will feel less satisfying, and you’ll likely find yourself skipping them altogether. However, the promise of the ability to have a cheat will help you get through the week or month.

The food you eat has the potential to support you or destroy you. It sounds dramatic to say, but it’s the truth. Sugar has been compared to nicotine and cigarettes in its unique ability to slowly destroy the human body. The effects of sugar may not be visible yet, however if you continue to eat foods with added sugar, rest assured you’ll eventually experience a very negative outcome.

Your body is adaptable, and its powers of regeneration are amazing. In most cases, if the damage isn’t too significant you can reverse it by simply

changing your diet. Nutritionists and doctors agree that the very best thing you can do for yourself and your health is to eliminate sugar.

Track your intake, set goals, and start eliminating sugar from your life today. There’s no time to waste, your health is too important to wait.