Top 7 Tips to Stop Sugar & Carb Binging
Who here has ever binged on sugar or simple carbs and felt lousy after? šš½āāļø
Yep, pretty much everyone.
Those cookies taste so good going down but afterwards weāre often left feeling tired, spacey, bloated, gassy, uncomfortable or just down-right discouragedā¦
Sugar is addictive! And this dietary ingredient is wreaking havoc on our bodies and health as a society.
Fortunately, there are some simple things you can do to curtail cravings and break the vicious sugar-binging cycle!
Read on for my TOP 7 TIPSā¦
1. Eat protein.
When we eat protein, it helps to slow the rate that sugar is dumped into the bloodstreamā¦
So adequate protein with your meals and snacks is important to keep your blood sugar steady and avoid the peaks and crashes that ultimately lead to sugar cravings.
Nuts, seeds (including quinoa!), beans and other legumes, eggs, and meat are all foods that are protein-rich.
2. Donāt over-fast.
If you go too long without eating, then your blood sugar will drop and you can start craving sweets and carbs. (When we let ourselves get really hungry we also tend to overeat.)
Sometimes we go too long without eating because weāve suppressed our appetites with caffeine or because weāre just so busy at work or running around or being stressed that we donāt feel hungry until itās too late!
Sometimes the fasting is intentional! Intermittent fasting is all the rage these days, and while it is true that fasting for chunks of time throughout the day and night is generally good for your digestion and brain, it is possible to overdo itā¦especially at the beginning! Learning to fast can be sort-of like working out a muscle. If your body has been used to getting a constant supply of fuel, you may need to practice and build up to a longer period of fasting.
So make sure to eat before you get ravenously hungry!
3. Careful with the coffee cycle.
So hereās how it goesā¦
You wake up and have coffee first thing in the morningā¦
This suppresses your appetite because itās a stimulantā¦
You forced down a small breakfast and get to workā¦
By the time lunch comes hunger has started to kick in and the coffee buzz has started to wear off...
You eat a big lunch aaaaandā¦
ā¦YOUR ENERGY CRASHES.š«
And guess what you want mid afternoon? SUGAR!
Sound familiar?
To break this cycle try eating before you have caffeine in the morning. (Or try cutting back your morning caffeine. šÆš¤)
4. Drink water.
When Iām thirsty I crave sugar.
I think that itās because the original sweets in our diet were fruit and fruit contains a lot of water!
(This is some thing I have observed and discovered on my own and I am patiently awaiting someone to pay me for my profound scientific discovery.š¤)
Point beingā¦when you find yourself craving sweets, try drinking a big glass of water and see if it helps!
If it doesnāt work, at least you got an extra 16 ounces of water in you! Win win!
5. Set yourself up for success at home.
if you donāt have sweets like cookies, pastries, muffins or candy in the house, you are much less likely to eat it.
Be realistic about how addictive sugar is, and create an environment of healthy choices in your home.
And if you are the main grocery shopper and you feel like you have to buy these things for your partner or childrenā¦YOU DONāT. Your family will adapt eventually.
We often think of sweets as a reward, or something that loved ones deserve and shouldnāt be deprived ofā¦
But that is an unhealthy way to think about something that is harmful to our health. You are doing your family a favorā¦even if they donāt immediately see it!
6. Bring your own snacks to work.
Boy oh boy, if I was a dictatorā¦(where is this going?)ā¦I would outlaw bringing sweets to the office!
Now, I know that we canāt fix our health problems by being fascists, and āIf I was a dictatorā is no way to start a conversation, but thatās how concerning this issue is for meā¦
I cannot tell you how many patients I have that try so hard to eat healthy, and then struggle at work because someone is always bringing in a box of donuts or a tray of cookies.š¤¦š½āāļø
Well, this is not yet Doctor-Rebecca-Land, so in the meantime, what can you do to avoid this common pitfall?
Bring your own healthy snacks to work so that you are prepared and can better resist the temptation. You could even bring healthy snacks to share with your coworkers and set a good example!
7. Power through 3 days.
Sugar cravings and addiction are no joke! And sometimes you are just so caught in the grips that all you can do is go cold turkey and let your body reset.
This is often challenging for a few days. But after three or four days of resisting the urge to have sweets and fighting the internal cookie monster, most people start to feel free of that burden and able to choose sweets instead of needing them.
Look at a calendar, talk to friends and family so they can keep you accountable, and set a goal. YOU CAN DO IT! šŖš¼
So what if you follow all these tips and still find yourself binging on sugar and simple carbs??
Well you may have some other imbalances in your body that are leading to these behaviorsā¦
Infections in your gut, blood sugar dysregulation, adrenal and thyroid issues, even mood disorders, can all cause sugar cravings!
Talk to your doctor about your cravings, or click below to see if youāre a good candidate for my own health consulting program.