Losing weight is a complicated topic. Weight Loss may refer to the loss of total body mass in an effort to improve fitness, health, and/or appearance. Nutrition is very important in managing. Exercise is important in any weight loss program especially if you want to lose the weight permanently. These programs work by increasing the rate at which you burn off calories and if you burn more calories than you consume then your body will start converting fat into energy to make up for the shortfall. Atkins diet is an amazing weight loss program, where you will never go hungry again yet still lose extra pounds. This is not a gimmick, it has been around for decades now. Eat all of the meat, cheese, eggs, fats (like butter and oils) as you like.
Eliminate carbohydrates from your meals. The amazing thing is that you will feel better mentally and physically while doing this program. Use minimal amounts when preparing food. If you must use oil then use a little olive or canola oil. Drink fruit-flavored water instead of a 16 ounce soda. Avoid foods with pastry such as pies, sausage rolls, croissants, cakes, etc.
Avoid sausages, bacon, and processed meats such as salami, pepperoni, devon, etc. Swimming is great for you, and a lot of fun, too. The water resistance means you burn more calories, and you avoid the stress impact on joints from aerobics, dancing or walking. Skip the butter on your baked potato. Choose a diet moderate in sugars. A diet with lots of sugars has too many calories and too few nutrients for most people and can contribute to tooth decay.
Only snack on low fat, high fibre foods such as fruit and vegetables. Eat a variety of foods to get the energy, protein, vitamins, minerals, and fiber you need for good health. Choose a diet low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol to reduce your risk of heart attack and certain types of cancer and to help you maintain a healthy weight. Carbohydrates provide energy, help regulate how the body uses fat for energy, and spares protein. Vitamins have no calories and are needed only in small amounts.
They regulate body processes that promote growth and maintain health and life. There are fat soluble (vitamins A, D, E, and K) and water soluble (B-complex and vitamin C) vitamins. Choose a
diet moderate in salt and sodium to help reduce your risk of high blood pressure.
Quick Weight Loss Tips
1. Exercise Regularly.
2. Losing Weight is an Equation.
3. Eat Frequently, and Eat Slowly.
4. Carbohydrates can help you lose weight.
5. Eat More Fruits, Vegetables and Whole Grains
6. Be careful about sugar in coffee and soda pop.
7. Drink water. Drinking water ice cold burns about 62 calories
a day.
8. Sleeping is a favorite quick weight loss tip since it is one
of the most effortless.
Weight Loss Pills
It is widely known the Hoodia Gordonii weight loss pill is one of the most sought after diet pills in the market. With all the Hype by the hoodia pills producers in advertising, does the hoodia gordonii weight loss pill really work?
Due to the ever increasing number of people who are now suffering from being over weight around the world, the hoodia gordonii pill is proving to be one of the more popular ways to help lose weight as it is a natural supplement with no side effects and so can be used by most people of good health.
The people of South African especially the bushman have been using the hoodia plant for centuries to help ward off hunger when they are away on hunting trips. The plant is found in the Kalahari Desert and the tribesmen who take the Hoodia have found that it suppresses their hunger pangs for very long periods. The African tribesmen have never shown any ill effects from using the hoodia. Their is now more clinical research is going on to understand more about hoodia and it's effects on weight loss.
Many thousands of people from all walks of life have tried hoodia gordonii with astounding results. There have been numorous national television shows such as the Oprah Winfrey show. Who says i know it works in suppressing my appetite, but in order to maximize the effects, will still need to couple it with exercise and the right diet.
Please make sure when using the Hoodia Gordonii weight loss pill,always make sure you follow the recommended dosage given in the instructions. Taking more than the recommended dose does not mean hoodia weight loss pills will cause you to lose more weight this is dangerous and not recommended.
Loosing Weight Advice
What are weight loss pills? The pill or tablet that helps in weight loss especially if one is obese or over weight is called as weight loss pill. Is it really worthwhile to use weight loss pill? Is there any side effects or how safe the weight loss pills are? These are the questions that crop in one’s mind, the moment they hear about weight loss pill. It is so natural is it not?
Weight loss pills are there in the existence and are slowly gaining popularity as the manufacturers promise quick weight loss. For some people weight loss pills are really tempting as they may feel the diet, exercise and both are difficult to follow.
How effective are weight loss pills, you have probably heard of the weight loss pill from either your friends or through a press release or TV ad. But before you buy, you need to be aware that most of these products do not work. They not help you to reduce your weight or any other benefits to your body and can be dangerous and harmful at times.
In America they spend nearly fifty billion dollars a year on weight loss programs, weight loss pills, and other weight loss products. Of this almost six billion dollars are spent on the wrong weight loss pills and diet products.
Now let's look at the different types of weight loss pills. There are prescription weight loss pills and over the counter weight loss pills. Prescription weight loss pills are nothing but diet drugs. These pills have of course been approved by the FDA agency after they have studied the possible side effects and positive effects on the body..
The Prescription weight loss pills are best suited for the group of people who are obese. The doctors can advise these obese people whose body mass index are over 35.
The over the counter weight loss pills industry is one of the fastest growing industry owing to the growing demand for these weight loss pills. These pills are in general considered as food supressent rather than weight loss drugs. Some of these types of weight loss pills have not been properly tested by the FDA and are sold without proper labeling advice and dosage details, the sale of these are growing day by day.
There are of course over the counter weight loss pills that have been passed by the FDA such as the weight loss pill here
It is always better to try the natural way of loosing weight instead of using weight loss pills as there is a general feeling that these weight loss pills are could be harmful to your body in a one way or the other.
Loose Weight the Ration Book Way
There are so many reasons for loosing weight we could write a list but im sure most of you know them
Now you know yours it's time to take action and make those changes in your weight loss campaign.Some
people believe that it will never be the same again without the weekly Mac Donalds or takeaway
pizza.
Losing weight with a eating regime isn't a life of misery,it's just a way of educating yourself on making
the right choice on your eating plan.As is often said in life everything in moderation.
When you have decided to start your campaign to lose weight then you will also need support,support is what we all
need when trying to lose weight and suceed.Some of you may be lucky and recieve support
from family and friends others may not.How many times in the past have so called friends
said go on just the one won't harm you but unfortunatly that one can turn into several
and your weight loss plan has gone out the window.
Ah well will start again tommorrow you think!we have all been there
The reason we can all fall off the weight loss plan is in this day and age we do so much
socialising.
So if your really wanting to lose weight you must be ready to make sacrifices on the
socialising front.
And NO THIS IS NOT FOR EVER!
You have to ask yourself how you became over weight in the first place,you will probably
relise it was to much socialising.
One great way of helping in your weight loss is to try having a ration book,so make yourself
a ration book for the week ahead,you can use the ration book for all the treats you are
allowed on your weight loss plan,after you have used all your rations thats it for the week.
Using this ration book system will show you if you have been cheating and having to many
treats and allow you to stop before it's to late and all the good work is lost.
Weight Watchers Dieting
When it comes to deciding to join a dieting club there are very few such clubsthat have achieved the recognised success of Weight Watchers. They have been around a very long time and show no signs of stopping. More importantly, their success stories speaks for itself for those who join and are committed to the program. So you might think what makes this program so successful when many others come and go?
Community
Believe it or not, one of the most important things about Weight Watchers secret to success, so to speak, is the sense of community that is forged between the men and women who are trying to lose weight. There is something humbling and exciting about standing in front of the scale week after week and sharing not only your personal successes and failures but also the failures and successes of others.
Far too often when people who are dieting do not have an adequate support system at home. The bonding that is done during the Weight Watchers meeting is a strong bond for the men and women who are trying to lose weight, but who share the same common goal for themselves—weight loss and better health. That is not a bond that should not be taken lightly particularly when they laugh and cry together. They are in their own way going through the trenches together and the success of this type of program for motivating and encouraging is nothing short of phenomenal.
Evolution
Weight Watchers has a pattern for success but they are forever evolving with the needs of the modern day living. While they will be the first to state that the most successful participants typically attend the meetings regulary, Weight Watchers also offers alternatives for those with busy schedules and even those that are simply too afraid to go to the meetings. For these people there is the anonymity of online forums, message boards, and support groups.
Weight Watchers hasn’t limited its evolutionary process to this alone, they’ve also in recent years added a points system that allows dieters participating in their program to more easily gauge how well they are doing by their dietary standards and requirements without needing to count every single calorie or weighing their food. We live in a world of busy people and it is often more hassle than many dieters find to be worth the effort to count every single calorie (particularly when dining out).
The Weight Watchers website is another example of their commitment to evolve and accommodate the diverse needs of the men and women participating in their program. If you haven’t checked it out in a while you really should take a look and see what amazing insights and information they have to offer.
With Christmas just around the corner, it's time to give your body a healthy, fresh start! before the excesses of christmas start, if you’re really wanting to lose weight , eating clean detoxifing foods is a great first step. Add these 10 foods to your weekly shop and your on your way:
1. Plenty of Liquids to help flush out your body while putting in the nutrients.
2. Fiber to keep your GI tract fit.
3. Foods that trigger your cleansing enzymes in the liver, your body’s built-in detoxing center.
The Top 10:
1. Leafy green vegetables. you can eat them raw, put them into a healthy home made soup, or add them to a smoothie. Their chlorophyll helps clear out toxins (heavy metals, pesticides) and are perfect liver protectors.
2. Lemons. You need to keep up the fluids intake to clean out the body, and fresh lemonade is ideal. It has vitamin C — considered be a perfect detox vitamin — this helps convert toxins in the body into a water-soluble form which can easily be flushed out of your body
3. Watercress. Grow your own and add to your salads and sandwiches. The peppery little green leaves have a diuretic effect that help to get things moving through your body. Cress is also high in minerals.
4. Garlic. the mediteranean choice you can use it almost in anything — salads, garnishes, soups. the bulb’s are perfect for cardio benefits, it will also help with your liver enzymes that help filter out impuraties.
5. Green tea. Used for centuries by the chinese is one of the healthiest ways to increase your fluid intake into your body. An added bonus: It contains catechins, which help speed upyour liver activity. Another great reason for you to take.
6. Broccoli and sprouts. Always great for your body. They pack 20 to 50 times more cancer-fighting, enzyme-stimulating activity than any other vegetable.
7. Sesame seeds. They’re to be one of the best ways of protecting your liver cells from the damaging effects of alcohol and other chemicals. For a concentrated form, try tahini, there are many different forms try sesame seed paste that’s used alot in Middle Eastern cooking.
8. Cabbage. There are two main types of detoxifying enzymes in the liver; this veg is credited with helping activate both of them. add it to a tasty Coleslaw to go with your salads?
9. Psyllium. A plant that has plenty of soluble fiber, like oat's and bran, but alot more versatile. It cleans up toxins (cholesterol, too) and helps clear out your system. Add powdered psyllium into juice's or smoothies to help cleanse your colon, or have psyllium-fortified Bran flakes for your breakfast.
10. Fruits, . These are full of almost all the good things your body needs — vitamin C, fiber, nutritious fluids, and all kinds of antioxidants. .
Matebo Extreme Diet Pills
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In creating Metabo Extreme™, the whole concept was to provide you with an Ephedra-alternative, that works as a Fat Burner and increases Metabolism for rapid Fat Loss, while preserving lean muscle tissue and providing high energy!
Using Weight Loss Supplements
Being overweight can be a big problem for millions of people all over the world. It has been shown that around 70% of the American population is overweight, and this number is rising. Being overweight has been widely touted as the root cause for many health issues such as heart diseases, depression, and diabetes, and less common ones such as osteoarthritis and sleep apnea. Which can be alarming and make you wonder if there is a way out of this circle and be able to reduce those extra pounds from around your waist. One of the best ways you can do this is by a controlled diet and the help of dietary supplements to help replace the loss of nutrients during dieting.
Know lets take a look we’ll see about your needs for weight loss supplements, lets look at some popular dietary supplements and advice on selecting the right supplement for your needs!
One of the first things that comes to one’s mind for loosing weight is to do the opposite and do things that puts weight on– Which is to skip meals. This is one of the worst steps you can do because doing so deprives the body of it's essential nutrients and other compounds which adversely affects the entire body functions. Which is why it is better to use a balanced dietary program while using dietary supplements to backup the loss of the bodys minerals and vitamins. So when selecting dietary supplements or diet weight loss supplements, it is adviceable to use herbal nutritional diet vitamin supplements rather than pharmaceutical ones.
These are just some of the herbal dietary supplements available on the market today Arginine, DHEA, HMB, Fiber, 7-KETO, and Chitosan. It is also benificial to use weight loss herbs such as Spirulina, Green Tea, and Garcinia Cambogia as ‘supplements’ to these herbal dietary supplements will go to achieving better results.
Lastly - As there are no strict laws in US to check the quality of herbal weight loss supplements, it is up to you as the customer to check that the products your buying are indeed the original one's and not cheap imitations. Or it might not be weight loss alone that your going to effect, but your overall health as well. So always make sure that you are buying the right dietary supplement.
Acai Berry Benifits
Have you ever wondered how in the past our ancestors could survive for several years without been effected with any sort of health issues and how they were able to control their appetite and be so strong and health healthy?
Scientists think they have come up with the answer, it’s because are ancestors used certain ancient plant ingredients for food along with their normal foods, this allowed them to not only stay very active but also keep themselves healthy. A
Research shows that one of the factors in our health problems is due to people being obese. So after many years of study scientists have come up with a solution called Acai Berry. the berry is one of a kind that can only be found along the Amazon river and is used both for an energy booster and appetite suppresent.
Extreme Acai Berry can be found in abundence along the Amazon Basin, it is used by the locals a fruit , the berry makes up the major share in the market for its valuable fruit and nutritious values, As it is known that it has a good portion what is required in nutritional elements , the likes of proteins, fiber, phosphorous, calcium, vitamins and even the most common calories for enhancing strength and energy levels.
If you look at research and health graphs from the past 100- 200 years you will see a drastic change in our eating habits, al though we have improved ourselves in many other aspects of our life when comes to health we are still a long way off and lagging behind compared to our ancestors and the ideal solution for people to solve this problem is Extreme Acai Berry as it provide us with the best solution for having both energy and also appetite control and more importantly the benefits that we can find by using these pure acai berry are in their energy boosting qualitys,
Find The Best Weight Loss Supplement For You
If you are one of the ten's of thousands of people carrying the extra pounds, or your obese, then you know loosing weight is not an easy thing. You will have probably tried many different types of diet pills, a mirade of different diets and maybe even tried a personal trainer or nutritionist to help you in your quest to loose wieght. If you are reading this article, then you haven’t had a lot of success in finding that healthier life you crave.
Relatively speaking, losing weight can be simple. By increasing your exercise and reducing your calorie intake is what you have to do. This approach to weight loss is the healthiest way to go, but as you know it is not as easy as it sounds. And as a result, there are almost as many products, such as diet pills and shakes, on the market for helping in weight loss as there probably are people trying to lose weight. Choosing which way you lose weight- either by dieting, using an appetite suppressant or weight loss supplements or going to the extremes of having weight loss surgery- is not an easy thing to do.
There are specially formulated meals and drinks, gastric band surgery are among the many medically supervised treatments that are available. These can be highly efficient ways to lose weight, but they come at a very high cost. Meals and shakes have to be bought every day, surgeries carry pricey private clinic bills and post-surgery medications are not that cheap, either. You will have a large amount of money to pay even if your health insurance covers part of these costs. Another negative is the amount of risk you take when utilizing these methods. The more extreme loss in weight, the more potential for bad impact to your health.
Although diets can help make loosing weight possible, it is also very hard to maintain the weight loss. Either after finishing your diet or a short time afterward, many people just put the weight back on. It has been known for people to gain more weight than they lost. This weight fluctuation can be dangerous to your health, both physically and mentally. .
Appetite suppressants can be useful to people who are prone to overeating, but are not a long term solution. Finding and stopping the root cause of overeating, however, is more helpful for these people. If you happen to be someone who cannot eat meals at regular times or eats one meal a day, appetite suppressants will worthless. Your problem is your not eating enough, which in turn causes your metabolism to slow down.
Finally, you will be able to lose those extra pounds with the use of weight loss supplements. This method of losing weight can be safer than all the other ways, is very effective and light on your purse strings. By either using them to compliment another form of weight loss or as your total solution, these products are good. The one's with organic ingredients will not cause you any nasty side effects, so the best weight loss supplement should be natural. Many have found that Hoodia is the best weight loss supplement available on the market.
Overall, losing weight is a matter of choice. You have to decide that you want to lose weight, decide to start acting upon their decision, decide which method of weight loss you want to undertake and stick with the plan.
When you want to lose weight fast, there are two basic ways to do it. You can either reduce your caloric intake, or you can exercise to burn more calories.
If you had to choose only one method, it would be better to go for option #2, exercising to burn more calories, simply because reducing your caloric intake down too far can backfire so you lose weight very slowly or not at all.
Exercise, on the other hand, fires up your fat burning furnace. It gets your metabolism going strong and helps you build lean muscle so you burn more calories even while at rest.
How much exercise is required to lose weight fast? Consider that 3,500 calories equals one pound. So if you want to lose one pound per week you would have to burn off 500 calories a day for 7 days. If you wanted to lose two pounds per week, you'd have to double the amount of calories burned - or combine your exercise routine with a low-calorie diet.
This is the better option rather than just relying on exercise alone. If you reduced your caloric intake by 500 calories a day (for example, dropping from 2,000 calories to 1,500 daily) AND burned off 500 calories a day with exercise, that should equal a two pound per week weight loss.
However you choose to do it, remember that losing weight fast with exercise carries a few risks. First, if you aren't already in good shape, you might overdo it and injure yourself. Secondly, even if you don't hurt yourself you may still overwhelm yourself and quit because it's too hard. Instead, start slow. If your doctor says it's okay for you to start an exercise routine, start with brisk walking or another low-impact form of exercise that's easy for beginners. You can always bump up the intensity later, once you've gained some strength and confidence.
Strategies for Beating a Sugar Addiction
Experts are still debating whether or not sugar is an addictive substance according to the official meaning of the word. The definition of addiction is: a compulsive need for and dependence upon a habit-forming substance, accompanied by clearly defined symptoms upon withdrawal. That certainly seems to place sugar firmly into the addictive substances category, since people who try to stop ingesting sugar definitely experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.
However, even if that point is still under debate, there is also a secondary definition of addiction, and that is: persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful.
Even the knowledge that consuming large quantities of sugar is detrimental to our bodies isn’t enough to stop some of us from doing it every day anyway. We feel like we NEED it, so we keep consuming it.
Does this describe your relationship with sugar? Do you feel like you can’t function well without sugar?
If so, you may have developed a dependence upon it, and it will take a little effort to overcome it. But it CAN be overcome – so don’t feel like you’re stuck on the sugar roller coaster forever.
How is Sugar Addictive?
Before we move onto the strategies for overcoming a sugar addiction, let’s take a look at the reason why it can be addictive.
Just now I mentioned the sugar roller coaster, and that is an apt description for the reaction sugar creates in your body. When you ingest sugar, your blood glucose level rises sharply for an hour or two, then starts dropping back down. The problem is that it usually drops back down further than it was before you ingested the sugar, so now you experience symptoms of low blood sugar – irritability, fatigue, cloudy thinking, jitters, weakness, dizziness, and so on. That’s the “sugar crash” that people often refer to.
In order to feel normal again, you need to get your blood sugar levels back up, and most people will reach for a sugary or starchy food or beverage to do so, which creates another blood glucose spike, then another “crash” later.
By the way, I just mentioned starchy foods – and those react in your body similarly to the way that refined sugar does; creating blood glucose spikes and crashes.
So – whether you are drinking soda, fruit juice, coffee with sugar, or eating cookies, white bread or pasta, they all react virtually the same in your body – sharply elevating and then dropping your blood sugar levels.
Side Effects of Excess Sugar Consumption
Eating foods that contain large amounts of sugar triggers clear symptoms and side effects that can be felt for hours afterward. Below are a few of the most common:
- Nervousness and excitability
Children especially are prone to “sugar highs” – that jittery, jumpy, restlessness that occurs immediately after consuming a sugary food or beverage. If the food or beverage also contains caffeine, the effect is usually doubled.
- Trouble concentrating
Sugar is a mood-altering substance that can affect your ability to think clearly, especially during the inevitable “crash”.
- Fatigue
If you frequently ingest large amounts of sugar and then experience low blood sugar “crashes” afterward, it can create a cycle of constant ups and downs that sap your energy. You never feel stable – always either high or low, which is draining.
- Constant cravings
Sugar acts like an addictive substance because of the chemical chain reaction it creates in the body. You ingest it, your blood glucose levels are elevated, your pancreas must release a flood of insulin to process the sugar, which lowers your blood glucose levels and makes you start craving more sugar!
- Frequent urination
Elevated blood glucose levels often trigger your kidneys to attempt flushing out the extra sugar from your system, and they do this through frequent urination. This effect is even stronger if you are drinking sugary beverages that also contain caffeine, which is a natural diuretic.
- Compromised immunity
Ingesting too much sugar actually affects the ability of your white blood cells to destroy harmful bacteria, which makes you more susceptible to illness and infection.
- Mood swings
With all the highs and lows as your blood sugar levels rise and fall, your moods go along for the ride. You feel happy, sad, depressed, tired, energetic, irritated . . . out of control emotionally.
Signs That You May Be Addicted to Sugar
Just from reading the first couple of pages of this guide, you may already know whether you have a sugar addiction or not. However, just in case you’re still uncertain, below are some clear signs that will help you know for sure.
- Daily cravings
Do you spend a large portion of your day thinking about and craving sugar? While you’re watching television, working, or doing other tasks, do you suddenly feel like you need to eat or drink something sweet? These cravings are signals that your body is feeling an absence of something it has come to depend on – yes, it’s a symptom of withdrawal!
Even beyond physical cravings, it’s possible to crave sugar for emotional reasons. Eating or drinking something sweet triggers a release of a chemical called serotonin in your brain. Serotonin makes you feel more relaxed, calm, and happy. Consequently, you may find that you crave sweets when you feel stressed or unhappy.
- Gravitational pull
At a social event, do you often feel irresistibly drawn toward the sweeter end of the buffet table where all of the sugary treats are? This is more than just “liking” sweets – most of us do like sweets. However, if you feel almost compelled to eat sweets and starches in place of healthier options, it’s usually a sign that you’ve got a chemical dependence.
- Anxiety without sugar
Do you ever feel panicky or anxious if you don’t have any sweets in the house? Think back to the last time you started a diet and purged your cupboards of all junk foods, including sweet treats. Did you spend a few agonizing days feeling on edge, like you were without your safety blanket?
Anxiety almost always accompanies withdrawal symptoms – you feel like you need this substance but you won’t allow yourself to have it, so you don’t quite know what to do with yourself. Not just anxiety either; you may feel edgy, irritable, frustrated, tense, moody, or downright angry. These are all symptoms of withdrawal from an addictive substance.
- Like clockwork
Do you strongly crave sugar at specific times of the day, like first thing in the morning, mid-afternoon, or in the evening? You may have created a strong dependence upon sugar to pull you through periods of low energy or stress, and your body is now used to having it at those specific times.
- Dessert cravings
Do you feel like a meal just isn’t complete unless it is followed by a sweet treat? You may argue that it’s just your habit to eat dessert after meals – but if you feel frustrated or tense if you try to skip dessert, it usually means more is going on than just force of habit.
Getting the Sugar Monkey Off Your Back
Reducing your consumption of sugar can be done in two ways, like most other addictions: all at once, or by gradually reducing your intake. Let’s explore both options:
“Cold Turkey” Withdrawal Symptoms
If you have never tried to remove refined sugar from your diet and suddenly decided to give it up all at once, you would probably be in for quite a rude awakening as you experienced intense withdrawal symptoms like these:
Going through a period of sugar withdrawal is definitely enough to convince you that sugar affects your body just like a drug! Symptoms of sugar withdrawal like these usually only last for a few days, but they are intense enough that many people feel unable to handle them.
Gradually Reducing Sugar Intake
Cutting down your sugar intake gradually may be less intense than quitting all at once, but this approach can also pose some problems:
- Inability to cut down
Some people find that they really struggle to cut down their sugar intake because the cravings are just too strong. They start out with the best of intentions to only eat a little bit of sugar once a day, or only eat one cookie instead of the entire package – but they have trouble controlling themselves and sticking to their intentions.
Another obstacle is force of habit. Even if you start each morning with a strong intention to avoid eating sugar, you may start eating or drinking something sugary before you even realize what you’re doing.
- Compulsive bingeing
It is also possible that your attempts to stop eating sugar may trigger an episode of binge eating, either before you start cutting back (“Since I can’t eat much sugar starting tomorrow, I’m going to eat all of the sweets in my cupboards today!”) or after you’ve started cutting back (“I can’t handle the withdrawal symptoms today because I’ve got a heavy workload, so I’ll just eat as much sugar as I can today and start fresh again tomorrow”).
The problem with binges like these is that you think you can kill the cravings by overloading them with sweets and you’ll get so sick of them that you won’t want them anymore – but it always backfires because eating sugar only makes you crave more sugar!
How to Cut Down Your Sugar Intake Sensibly
One of the best places to start is with sugary foods and beverages that you can really live without, but usually ingest habitually.
Examples:
Sugary Beverages
Instead of drinking sweetened iced tea or soda with your meals, start substituting water with a slice of lemon or lime. For the first few meals you may miss the sweet drinks, but it shouldn’t be unbearably difficult to stick to, and you’ll probably find that after a few days you don’t even feel like you need those sweet drinks anymore.
Added Sugar
Another good way to start cutting back painlessly is to stop adding sugar to foods and beverages. If you customarily add a few teaspoons of sugar to your morning cereal, try skipping it, or adding only half of what you usually do. Even better, slice up some fruit and add that to your cereal instead! It’s still sweet but much more healthful than refined cane sugar.
Do you also add sugar to your coffee or tea? If so, try cutting it out completely, or at least reducing the amount you add. You may be surprised to find that once you get used to it, you don’t even miss the extra sugar. Your taste buds adjust to a slightly reduced sweet taste, and you also avoid creating more cravings for sugar.
Sugary Foods
Reducing the quantity of sugary foods you eat may be most challenging, but there are simple, effective ways to do it.
Rather than trying to eliminate your consumption of all sweets, you could try reducing the quantity you eat. If you typically eat a large bowl of ice cream while watching television in the evening, try cutting down to a smaller bowl. Or buy ice cream that already comes in its own containers which usually contain about a one cup serving.
Rather than taking an entire bag of cookies with you to the sofa, grab a small dessert plate and place only two or three cookies on it. Eat them slowly and savor them so you feel like you really enjoyed a treat – this will help you to eat fewer cookies than if you are “mindlessly” gobbling them down.
Hidden Sugars
You may also want to start reducing your consumption of foods that contain “hidden” sugars – things like ketchup, jelly, jam, syrup, and most prepared foods; even those that don’t taste sweet can be loaded with sugar.
Remember the pitfalls of starchy foods also – white flour, white rice, potatoes, white bread, and white pasta all break down in your body and act very much like refined sugar by triggering a flood of insulin from your pancreas and setting you up for a “crash” and more cravings for sugar later.
Sugar Awareness
Also be aware that sugar has many names and faces that may seem harmless but actually trigger the same response in your body. Below are some common names for sugar and sugar relatives:
High fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, dextrose, glucose, maltose, cane sugar, evaporated cane juice, corn syrup, honey, brown sugar, maple syrup, sucrose, maltodextrin, carob syrup, barley malt, molasses, malt syrup, and others.
It’s very possible that you are ingesting much more sugar than you realize, even if you attempt to limit sweet foods and drinks! Avoiding these hidden sugars is as easy as educating yourself about the various names of sugar and keeping a close eye on food labels.
Is It Necessary to Completely Eliminate Sugar?
After reading about all of these horrible side effects caused by sugar, you may be wondering if you have to eradicate ALL forms of sugar from your diet and resign yourself to eating bland, non-sweet foods for the rest of your life.
Believe it or not, no, you don’t have to completely remove sugar from your diet to enjoy great health benefits. In fact, your body needs sugar and carbohydrates to function properly!
It’s WHERE you get your sugar that counts.
For the most part, you will definitely want to eradicate refined, processed cane sugar from your diet, since it is the cause of most of the problems we’ve covered so far. Depending on whether you are very sensitive to refined sugar or not, you may be able to indulge in a treat occasionally – but that is not recommended at the beginning while you are trying to overcome a sugar addiction.
You will also want to greatly reduce or eliminate altogether other forms of sweeteners that are almost as harmful as cane sugar, like honey, molasses, and maple syrup. They may have more nutrients than white sugar, but they still create a glucose roller-coaster effect in your body.
What About Sugar Substitutes?
Unlike some popular diet plans, I am not going to recommend that you switch to sugar substitutes like aspartame, saccharine and sucralose. While they may satisfy your desire for a sweet taste, they can also cause serious side effects like numbness, pain, dizziness, joint pain, depression, depressed immune system function, blurred vision, and even damage to various organs and glands in the body with long term use.
There are natural alternatives that don’t seem to have these damaging side effects – but keep in mind that they haven’t been extensively tested either. Two such natural sweeteners that are getting a lot of attention are stevia and agave nectar.
Stevia rebaudiana is a plant related to the chrysanthemum family and has been used for hundreds of years by native people in regions where the plant grows, like Brazil and Paraguay. The leaves can be used to make a sweet tea; the leaves can be dried and ground for using as a sweetener – and you can also purchase it in extract, powder and tablet form.
Beyond its extremely sweet taste (reported to be as much as 300 times sweeter than cane sugar), stevia has no calories and does not alter blood sugar levels, making it safe for diabetics and people with hypoglycemia.
Even better, stevia is reported to have additional health benefits, such as helping to lower blood sugar levels, stabilize blood pressure, and may even aid heart strength and function, but few conclusive tests have been done on these claims.
Regardless, stevia has been found to be non-toxic, has been available as a dietary supplement in health food stores for years, and is now being sold as an alternative sweetener in mainstream stores. Two popular recent brands to emerge are Truvia and PureVia.
Agave nectar is another natural sweetener becoming more popular. It is a sticky, syrupy amber colored liquid that comes from the heart of blue agave plants native to Mexico – that’s the same plant that tequila is made from.
Once the plant has matured for at least seven years, the leaves are cut off and sap is extracted from the heart of the plant, called the “pina”. Once this sap has been filtered and heated at low temperatures, you get agave nectar – a sweet, light syrup similar to honey but with a slightly different flavor.
Unlike stevia, agave nectar DOES have calories - 60 per tablespoon. However, it does not produce a rise in blood glucose levels like sugar and honey do, so it is reported to be safe for diabetics and people with hypoglycemia.
Keep in mind that sugar substitutes, whether natural or artificial, can still make you crave sugar. Just the taste of sweet foods and beverages can trigger sugar cravings, so be sure to use alternative sweeteners sparingly if you decide to use them at all.
Eating the Low Glycemic Way
One of the best ways to beat a sugar addiction for good is to adopt a low-glycemic lifestyle and stick to it. “Low-glycemic” refers to the Glycemic Index; which measures the impact that certain foods have on your blood glucose levels.
Foods that break down quickly in your system and elevate your blood sugar levels sharply are considered “high-glycemic,” while foods that take longer to be digested and create only a minimal elevation in blood sugar are considered “low-glycemic”. These ratings have a numbered scale that is used to classify foods and beverages as low, medium, or high-glycemic.
Pure glucose is used as the control for rating other foods, and glucose has a rating of 100 on the scale, which makes it high-glycemic. Foods that fall between 0 and 55 on the scale are considered low-glycemic; between 56 and 69 are considered medium; and 70 and above are high-glycemic. Eating a low-glycemic diet means choosing more foods that are on the low-to-medium part of the scale, and fewer foods that are on the higher end of the scale.
For example, some great low-glycemic foods are:
- 100% stoneground whole wheat bread (not just “wheat” bread, which usually contains refined white flour)
- Oatmeal (not instant)
- Cherries
- Apples
- Strawberries
- Brown rice
- Whole wheat pasta
- Nuts, seeds
- Meat, poultry, fish, eggs
- Most vegetables
Basically, the only things that make a food high-glycemic are:
- High sugar or starch content
- Low fiber content
Even foods that you might expect to be high-glycemic, like baked beans with a sweetened sauce, or peanut M&M’s, are actually considered low-glycemic because of the fiber and/or protein they contain, which help lessen the impact on blood sugar.
Sticking to a low-glycemic lifestyle is pretty painless once you educate yourself about which foods to avoid, and you’ll still be able to enjoy a few sweet treats here and there if you choose wisely. Before putting anything into your mouth, consider the impact it will have on your body – not just how good it will taste.
Tips for Reducing Sugar Cravings
As you work on reducing your sugar intake, you are bound to experience at least a few moments of sheer frustration as you crave sugar badly and don’t know what to do about it (besides give in and eat some sugar). The tips below can help you reduce the intensity of sugar cravings:
Eat Frequently
If you go too long without eating, your blood sugar is going to drop and trigger cravings for sugary, starchy foods. Be sure to eat lean protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats every 2-3 hours (small portions) to keep your blood sugar as balanced as possible.
Spice Things Up
Certain spices have been reported to help reduce sugar cravings: cinnamon and dandelion root are two that are well-known.
Cinnamon can be added to tea or sprinkled on oatmeal, vegetables or whole grain toast; and dandelion root comes in tea form and is said to not only reduce sugar cravings but help purify the liver and aid in fat burning. * Be sure to consult your doctor before taking anything in supplement form, especially if you have been diagnosed with a health condition or if you take medication for any condition.
Drink Plenty of Water
Keeping your body well-hydrated can help reduce cravings and minimize uncomfortable symptoms of sugar withdrawal, like fatigue, low-energy, headaches, and poor concentration. In addition, since your kidneys help in flushing excess sugar from the body, drinking plenty of water can help them do their job better.
Emotional Well-Being
Feeling stressed, depressed, angry, or bored can trigger cravings for sugary foods, so do what you can to prepare ahead of time and avoid emotional upheavals. Meditate, relax, take naps, stay busy with activities you enjoy – all of these things can help you avoid reaching for sugary foods to make you feel better.
Avoid Sugar
This is just common sense, but keep in mind that if you give in and consume some sugar, be prepared for a flood of cravings later on! To avoid this, just don’t give in to sugar cravings in the first place. It’s the best way to avoid battling cravings later. The longer you can resist the cravings, the better off you will be because the less your body is going to crave sugar.
For the first few days it might be a little rough to function without sugar, but after that you should find that your desire for sugar fades more and more – and eventually you’ll have little desire for it at all and you will be free from the addiction unless you slip back into eating sugar regularly again, which will quickly reactivate the blood glucose roller coaster. (Don’t do it!)
Life Without Sugar – How Sweet It Is!
When you successfully reduce your sugar intake so that your blood sugar levels remain balanced and healthy, you will notice a few things right away:
- Better energy
No more afternoon slump; no more feeling like someone stole your energy and vitality away. Keeping your blood sugar levels controlled means feeling much more vibrant and energetic – the same feeling you were probably seeking by ingesting all that sugar!
- Better concentration
You should also notice that you are able to concentrate much better without all that sugar polluting your brain – and you may also experience fewer headaches than you used to.
- Weight loss
Many people have reported that JUST cutting refined sugar out of their diets resulted in significant weight loss over the following few months, even if they continued to eat the same amount of calories, or even more! Some of them didn’t even change their exercise habits at all – just stopped eating refined sugar and the pounds started melting off.
- No desire to eat sugar
One of the most impressive results that people notice after kicking a sugar addiction is that they suddenly don’t WANT to eat sugar anymore. They can look at a yummy, gooey dish of something sweet and shrug their shoulders and say, “no thanks”. It just doesn’t trigger the same rush that it did when their blood sugar levels were forever fluctuating up and down. In fact, some people report that after kicking a sugar addiction, sweet foods and beverages taste TOO sweet; cloyingly sweet; nauseatingly sweet.
If you are still in the grip of a sugar addiction this may sound completely foreign to you (how can anything be TOO sweet?). When you reach that point, you know that you are truly free!
How Often to Exercise - Cardio and Weight Training
When it comes to weight loss you may have wondered how often to exercise. Do you have to work out every single day, or should you allow a day or two of rest in between? And does it differ when you're doing cardio workouts or weight training workouts?
Most experts say that weight training should not be done every day because resistance exercises that stress your muscles actually create small tears in the muscle fibers, and the muscles then need 24-48 hours to heal and repair themselves.
On the other hand, it's generally safe to do cardio workouts every day - especially if they don't stress your muscles too much. Brisk walking, low-impact aerobics, using an elliptical machine or moderate paced bicycle riding shouldn't strain your muscles too much and they can help you burn more calories and aid in weight loss.
Depending on your personal fitness goals, how often to exercise will vary but a good general routine would be to do a 30 to 60 minute cardio workout like those described above 4 to 5 times a week, and then include 2 to 3 moderate to high intensity resistance training sessions also.
You may also want to give yourself at least one full day off from any kind of official exercise routines because having a day off from working out like you usually do is a great way to not only allow some well-deserved rest for your body, but also to help you relax mentally and emotionally.
Even though working out is mostly a physical activity, your mind and emotions are involved too, and pushing yourself too hard can actually have some adverse effects in the form of feeling stressed, frustrated, overwhelmed or "burned out".
On your day off, you can still engage in physical activities, but try to keep them "unofficial" - activities like window shopping, playing with the kids in the backyard or taking a relaxing stroll on the beach are great ways to relax, recharge and restore your physical and mental energy.
Only you can determine how often to exercise for your own well-being, but for most people the general guidelines we've shared today should be more than adequate for overall health and fitness.
