Saturday Fitness Tip: What can I do when I crave sugar?

As you may know, I've started with "no sugar challenge" 2 weeks ago. Those 2 weeks were great, no major cravings, been eating clean and I added detoxifying foods to my diet every day.
You can read last Saturday Fitness Tip post here.

But what can you do when you crave something sweet sooooo badly?? I have some tips what to do when you crave sugar:

1. Drink loads of water, you can add lemon juice to it and water will fill you up. If I would eat something on stomach full of water I would probably feel sick and I don't want that.

2. If I eat something with artificial sweeteners in it, highly processed foods, I will feel sick and my stomach will hurt the next day or even the same day. My body is so used to healthy eating that it "pays me back" with sickness and I feel gross! I try to remember that feeling of sickness and eat something nutritional instead.

 

Source: Pinterest

3. Whenever I crave sweets, I know that I'm stressed or my mind is not calm. So I suggest you try to calm your mind with meditation. With that I don't mean 15, 20 or 30 minutes meditation, sometimes even 5 minutes can do magic. Stop whatever your doing, close your eyes and try not to think about anything or visualise yourself in a place where you feel the happiest - for me that is nature, especially forest, beach or looking at waterfall.
You can google to educate yourself more about meditation or how to release stress.

4. Eat fruit instead! Fruit contain natural fructose and give our body nutrients, energy and they are overall really good tasting. Artificial sweeteners don't give our body anything - just empty calories and are main cause of many diseases (cancer, diabetes etc.). Also, try to incorporate some protein with your fruit intake. I eat 8 almonds with my apple, one tsp of peanut butter (natural, without sugar and salt) with my banana ... Fruit is still sugar, protein source help you to stabilise your blood sugar whenever you eat piece of fruit. But if you don't have any protein source on the reach of your hand, eat just piece of fruit, never skip meals. Ever!

5. Eat dry fruits instead of candy. I always make sure I buy the ones without any added sugar, no preservatives or other nasty ingredients. Pure dried fruit. If you can't get it pure, than don't even buy it in the first place. I love dates, they are super sweet and I usually take 3-5 and I'm full, and they satisfy my craving.

6. This may sound silly but it helps - educate yourself about sugar and other foods. What is sugar causing to our bodies, how to stop craving it etc. I recommend book 'Suicide by sugar' written by Nancy Appleton. And I also randomly search through google to find some useful information. Yes, Google is my best amigo! ;)

 

Source: Pinterest

7. Make your own healthy recipes and substitute artificial sweeteners with natural sweeteners, such as coconut sugar (low glycemic index, I've read that is the best substitute for regular sugar, little bit more expensive, but food should be an investment anyways; I haven't tried it though), stevia or truvia, or you can also soak dates or raisins in water and use that sweet water to sweeten your desert.

8. Last but not least tip is ... eat before bed time. Yes, you've read that right. If you feel tired, grupy and without energy in the morning, main reason is probably that your blood sugar level is low and eating before bed can stabilise that and help you with your sugar cravings. Don't just indulge on anything, grab some sort of a vegetable and handful of nuts or a table spoon of natural nut butter. But keep in mind that everyone is different, to some this tip may works, to some it may not.


Another point is that, the longer you eat clean without any sugar involved, the less you'll crave it. First week might be the hardest, but then you'll feel like a whole new person. The best feeling ever is when you wake up energized! Yes, that is possible!!
If you are having problem with bloating, can't lose last 5 kgs, have skin break outs, allergies, you're ill all the time ... cutting down sugar can do magic.

I hope this post was helpful to some and please share your tips how do you "kill" your sugar cravings. :)

Have a healthy Saturday and be happy ;)