After we wrote a series about the harms of sugar several years ago, I felt pretty confident about my eating habits. I had learned about hidden sugars (they show up even in salty chips, go figure). I had even learned how to avoid sugar by choosing healthy sugar alternatives.
This sugar series still holds up, offering several, easy-to-digest (ha) looks into artificial sweeteners, gut health, and more. But if I know all about the harm sugar causes, why do I still find myself eating it?
Just a Spoonful of Sugar Makes… Me Eat More Sugar
The thing is, sugar is addictive. And addictions aren’t rational. I may logically have a solid position on why I really and truly do not want to binge on the bowl of chocolates leftover from New Year’s Eve. But when I’m working, or stressing, or vegging — when my rational mind is busy or checked out — the addictive pull of sugar on the subconscious parts of my brain wins out.
This is my way of confessing that I ate the whole bowl of Hershey’s Kisses. This week! It started with just one. They are so small. So tiny.
What happened? I got cocky. I didn’t budge once on the fudge abundant at the inlaws’ house over the holidays. It only took one little piece — a piece from a large bowl less than a foot away from my work computer — to do me in.
But instead of lapsing into a shame spiral (haven’t I learned my lesson already!?), I’m going to return to the things I know support healthy eating habits.
How to Avoid Sugar: My Top 6 Tricks
After refreshing yourself on our sugar series, here’s a few tricks you can try that I’ve found really work to regulate my diet and avoid sugar.
#1 Block access.
You child-proof your house for a baby. You have to sugar-proof your environment for your equally grabby, messy sugar fiend of a brain.
Remove all sugary snacks from work spaces, travel ways, etc. Replace these or put within close reach easy-peel mandarins, fresh grapes, apples, pears, even nuts. I work from home most days, but I’m usually too busy to cook a meal. So making sure that healthy options are easily available.
#2 Shift your focus.
Don’t give yourself a list of things you CAN’T eat. Instead, write down, in a visible place (try those fridge post-its) what you want to make sure you DO eat before anything else. I aim at 3 fruits a day — a pear and an apple during the day, as well as an orange, maybe grapes.
#3 Prep for your weak points.
For me, once I get it out of my system, it’s easier to avoid sugar. But even then, my knee-jerk stress reaction is to chow on something chewy. If I have healthy crackers, chickpea snacks, fresh carrots, hummus, cheese, yogurt with no added sugar in easy reach and ready to go, any indulgence is at least not going to overload my system.
Some people can eat a little bit of sugar every day and be fine. That’s not me.
All About Sugar
Read and share this series about the effects of sugar with someone you love.
#4 Track it.
You don’t have to do anything fancy. Find an app or use paper to keep tabs on what you eat. Trust me, even if no one else sees it, you will. It totally works.
Why? Because we tend to underreport to ourselves about how much we eat. Try recording your intake not as a way to punish yourself, but just as a way to learn about your own eating habits. You may think you ‘eat a few chips’ in the afternoon, but you might see that you actually down whole bags while finishing a project.
#5 Start small and slow.
Don’t go all scorched-earth to avoid sugar. In my experience, that’s just a way to set up an internal battle worthy of a Gladiator installment.
Just find a couple things to start doing. Even replacing one unhealthy daily indulgence with a healthy one is a huge win and can make a big difference.
#6 Be gentle with yourself.
Our food sources overflow with sugar. The odds are against us. Getting out of the sugar cycle is hard. So if it’s not easy, and not easy to stick with it, give yourself some grace.
Whatever you do, it can’t be worse than eating a whole bowl of chocolate. All is not lost. There will always be more sugar to avoid.
Your Turn: How Do You Avoid Sugar?
Do you have favorite ways to avoid eating too much sugar? Tell us in the comments below!