HOW TO REDUCE HABITS OF SUGAR CRAVINGS
We’ve all experienced sugar cravings at some point - whether it’s a mid-afternoon pick-me-up, after a stressful day at work, or when you need a little treat because you deserve it.
When sugar cravings hit, we tend to reach for highly refined, highly processed sugary foods – biscuits, chocolate, lollies, soft-drink, ice-cream, cakes, muffins, doughnuts - you name it, we’ve eaten it.
Does that sound familiar?
While these foods often make us feel better at the time, they don’t stop our cravings in the long run. In fact, they cause our blood sugar levels to spike and drop quickly, making us crave more sugar - which consequently ends up creating a sugar-craving cycle. Then a lot of the time we also get upset with ourselves for eating the sugary crap.
So what causes our sugar cravings in the first place and how can we control them?
When you don’t eat enough calories, your body starts looking for fast fuel as a way to catch up. Enter sugar cravings! Sugar gives you quick energy, even though it’s not necessarily quality energy.
You need to balance out your blood sugar levels by eating regular meals - including protein, green vegetables and good fats to maintain satiety and prevent blood sugar crashes.When you experience a craving and hunger at the same time, force yourself to have a healthy meal rather than anything bad you may be craving
Lack of water is often mistaken for sugar cravings and hunger pains. You should be consuming 2.5 to 3 ltrs a day .
From an emotional perspective, sugar is comfort food that provides a temporary escape from a stressful situation. From a physical perspective, the consumption of sugar increases our dopamine levels, the body’s happy neurotransmitter, giving us a temporary boost in pleasure.
Identify the cause of your stress - is it work, home life, financial worries? The more you can identify the source of your stress, the more you can identify the trigger of your sugar cravings.
Insufficient sleep can affect the hormones that control your appetite. When you're tired, your energy levels are lowered which will tempt you to go for sugary options.
A big reason why people flock to sugary food is because it’s right there in front of them If you remove these temptations, it will be a case of 'out of sight, out of mind’.
When something becomes a habit, especially when it comes to food, you have to ask yourself: Are you even aware you’re doing it? Do you know that every day at 3pm you’re picking up a packet of biscuits or chocolate? Do you really want to be doing it? Are you truly craving what you’re eating or is it just the ‘norm’ now? Make conscious efforts to change your habits!
How do we change our habits
One of the best ways is Meal Prep. This is a wonderful way to prepare yourself for any snack attacks and for staying on track generally. Prep your healthy meals and stay fulfilled. Prep some healthy snacks swell. Snacks, such as these protein balls, or rice crackers and hummus are great. For when you really want a treat then sugar free home made chocolate treats are the best solution.
Wer also recommend setting yourself a treat day for having these healthy treats.
Here’s a chocolate treat snack for your recipe files!
You can also flick back through the blog posts on this site for other sugar free treats!
