_______________________________________________________________________________ Don't Forget: As an Affiliate, I Earn from Qualifying Purchases. If you click on any Amazon, Chewy, Walmart, or other links on my site and make a purchase through those companies, I may receive a small percentage of that sale at no extra cost to you. This helps me pay for the upkeep and maintenance of my site. You'll also notice advertisements on my site, which help contribute to the costs of running the site. _______________________________________________________________________________
Hello everybody! I hope all is well with all of you!
Today is day 23 of my No Sugar Lifestyle and it’s still going amazingly well; I really couldn’t be happier! As of yesterday (May 9th), I lost a total of 20.2 pounds! I was stuck at a certain weight for the past week and then finally my body gave in and let go of some water and fats. I’m hoping it’ll continue for the next couple of days.
I wanted to write a post about giving up sugar and how it’s all or nothing when you do it. If and when you finally decide that you’re eliminating sugar from your diet, you need to give it up completely – all or nothing. You can’t allow yourself to have even the smallest trace amounts of it because it’ll trigger your brain and then all of a sudden the cravings hit you and soon enough, they’re going to be too strong and you’ll cave and then give up on the sugar free diet/lifestyle. It really has to be all or nothing.
When you’re shopping for food, make sure you’re reading all the labels on the package and ensure it doesn’t contain any sugar or sugar derivatives. If it contains any at all, do not buy it and try to find an alternative.
I’m pretty sure that most main kitchen staples now have sugar free varieties – you just have to look for them (Amazon has a great selection). You just need to understand that it’s probably not going to taste like the way you remember, because of it not having sugar; but that’s ok… if you don’t like it without sugar, then you don’t like it – the sugar is what was making it taste good and that’s the reason why you wanted it – if you don’t like the sugar free variety, then maybe you can do without that certain food and you can find healthier replacements.
After awhile of looking at labels and identifying the different types of sugars, you’ll be able to buy foods without having to look at them. You just have to make sure you know that the food does not have any added sugar and if it does, it doesn’t go into your body.
I don’t even believe in cheat days anymore. Back when I was doing different types of diets, I would always make excuses as to why I was allowed to have a cheat day every week or so and most of the time it was because I was always having the cravings and if I didn’t allow myself that one cheat day, I would fall off the wagon and give up on the whole diet; but eventually, I would fall off of it completely, anyway. With the sugar free lifestyle, I don’t need cheat days because I don’t have the urge to eat the bad stuff! I really don’t. It’s unbelievable!
If you add just the smallest amount of sugar back into your diet, you’re not going to be successful. It has to be all or nothing. Sugar is a drug and your brain will crave it more and more until you satisfy its cravings. So by you only eating a little bit, it’s still going to derail you. It’s not worth it.
You might not think it’s a big deal; but it actually is. You don’t offer a recovering alcoholic an alcoholic beverage. You don’t offer a recovering drug addict drugs. If you offer a recovering sugar addict sugar, that’ll be the end. You can’t just have ‘a little bit’ of sugar and expect to go on with your life… it’s not going to happen. Just tell it to buzz off and go on with your sugar-free life.
Going sugar free is a big lifestyle change and you have to be willing to make sacrifices and understand that sugar free really means sugar free and even having small amounts of the stuff, will screw everything up.
By you eliminating sugar 100% from your diet, it’ll make the sugar free transition that much easier. In fact, that’s my number one tip for the sugar free lifestyle change – you must give up all added sugar completely and not allow it into your body at all. Once you do that for a few days, things should start to get easier and easier as the days go on.
Going sugar free can be done. I promise you. I will be posting before and during photos of my lifestyle change and you’ll be able to see the difference in what it did for me and what it can do for you. I would have never thought in a million years that I would be eating sugar free and yet, here I am and I’m loving it and I want you to do it too!
If you’re thinking about going sugar free, check out my other posts or email me if you need advice or encouragement (dad@theinspiringdad.com) – just take that step and be determined and reach out if you need help. It’s worth it, I promise!
-TID
theinspiringdad.com