Hi Everyone, happy Monday! If you follow me on snapchat (michaelabear1), you’ll know that I started to cut back on my sugar intake about 4 weeks ago in an effort to feel less sluggish and tired all of the time! I’ve been getting a lot of questions on snapchat asking me how it’s going and if I have any tips to share so I thought I would write a quick little post about my experience so far! Obviously, I’m not a qualified nutritionist in any way but these are just some things that I’ve found helpful and maybe you might too! Also, when I say sugar, I mean any kind of processed sugar, I still eat fruit…
Wean Yourself Off: I cut out sugar cold turkey when I started and let me tell you, that first week was honestly torturous! I felt exhausted and had the worst headaches, which really showed me how much I was depending on sugar to keep me perky throughout the day! If I was to do it over again, I would probably give myself a week to slowly start cutting down so that I wouldn’t get those withdrawal symptoms.
Choose Healthy Sugars: For me, having a fruit bowl every morning really helps curb those cravings that I used to get when I would get to work! That said, I still try to be mindful and eat fruit that has a low glycemic index (meaning they are slowly digested, absorbed and metabolized and therefore don’t cause fluctuations on your blood glucose levels so you don’t get that post sugar crash.) Berries and kiwis have a low GI and dried fruit, pineapples and bananas have a high GI!
Drink Water: I’ll be the first to admit, I am TERRIBLE for drinking water. Honestly I could go an entire day on just a little cup of water and forget to drink any more than that! But it’s been astonishing for me to see how drinking enough water can truly eliminate any peckishness and help fight those sugar cravings. I’ve even started setting reminders in my phone to refill my bottle so I don’t forget – yes, I realize that makes me sound like a complete loser but hydration is key lol!
Eat Small Meals, Frequently: Sometimes when you skip a meal, you crave sugar the most. So I try my best to have 3 solid meals a day and healthy snacks in between! I really love to have a bag of popcorn or greek yoghurt with some chopped fruit when I’m at work. I’ve also found it really helpful to prep all of my meals at the start of the week, that way when I get home from work and I might tend you grab a sugary snack, I can literally pop my dinner in the microwave to reheat and I’m good to go!
Sleep: Personally, I used to find myself using sugar as a crutch when that 4pm slump came around and I was starting to feel tired every day! I don’t drink tea or coffee, so instead I would try and pick myself up with a candy bar or some jellies! Since I cut back though, I’ve been making a bigger effort to get 8 hours sleep a night and it seems to be really helping with the tiredness.
Honestly, the first week was really hard and not fun, but it definitely gets easier and easier as time goes by! And in general I think I feel a little more energetic and less bloated since I started which is great! That said, I truly believe life is too short to restrict yourself 100% of the time so I have a fun cheat day every Sunday where I eat what I want and enjoy all of the deliciousness that NYC has to offer!
