6 Reasons to Take a Sugar Break and 1 Pitfall to Avoid
You might have your own reasons to take a break from eating sugar. Here are my top 6 based on my own experience. I lost a whole lot of weight after I quit sugar (100 lbs.) but even more important than the weight is the energy I gained.
I've kept the weight off for over 12 years now. I run a child development home full of active infants, toddlers and preschoolers so I really appreciate the energy and the new lease on life.
Here are just a few of the reasons that taking a break from sugar can change your life for the better!
Reason #1
Do it to reset your metabolism. When your body's using sugars and grains for most of it's fuel, it tends to slow way down in order to fend off possible starvation. Taking a break from sugar can help your body start to burn fat as your fuel instead. When this happens, your metabolism naturally increases and your body runs more like a well-oiled machine.
Reason #2
Do it to reset your taste buds. Sugar can be addictive. We're wired to seek out sweet things because more nutrients are found in the ripest and sweetest fruits. The problem is that when sugar is processed it becomes much sweeter than even the sweetest of fruits so we naturally seek it.
The bottom line is that sugar tricks our brains into feeling good for a short time with long term negative side-effects like diabetes, weight gain and heart disease. That sounds more like an extremely ineffective drug than a food to me!
Reason #3
Gain focus and energy. I wish I could tell you how good it feels to wake up easily at 60 years young and keep up with 3-6 toddlers 5 days a week, over 10 hours per day and then go out dancing to live music.
Or how it feels to be able to walk around every day alert and happy, with no feeling at all of fogginess or lethargy. I can't make you feel what I feel, all I can say is you'll never know how good you could feel unless you try it.
I didn't know I was walking around exhausted and hazy all of the time because of the large amount of sugars and grains I was ingesting on a daily basis. I had nothing to compare it to.
Reason #4
Improve your gut health. Eating too much sugar can really mess with your gut by decreasing the amount of good bacteria that exists there.This is what causes you to have those relentless sugar cravings. Sugar is also linked to inflammation in the gut as well as the entire body. New research is showing that poor gut health is strongly associated with depression.
Reason# 5
Eliminate cravings and excessive hunger. When you don't have blood sugar spikes to deal with, you just don't get that hungry. Of course I still feel hunger since I've quit sugar, but it's a different, more normal kind of hunger. The kind that starts kicking in about 3 or 4 hours after a meal and goes away after eating again.
Not the "Oh no! How could I be getting hungry already!" or "How am I ever going to wait for dinner?" kind. Or the kind where you wake up hungry and never feel satisfied all day long, even though you eat plenty. That's why quitting sugar makes it so much easier to lose weight.
Reason #6
Prove to yourself that you can do it! Say to yourself, "(Your first name), You can do this!" Research says that using this exact format actually works to convince our brains that we, in fact, can.
Here's the pitfall that makes so many people fail when they try to quit or cut back on sugar.
They make the mistake of eating more grains and other carbohydrates to fill the gap left by the sugar. Then they end up feeling just as bad as ever and decide that they need a little bit of sugar to feel good after all. Soon they're back at it full force and wondering why they're always so tired and hungry.
In my opinion, the only way to get over sugar is to give up all sugars, grains and starches for about three days. Clear your system and then start over. That's what I did!
I'm the first to admit, a complete carb reset isn't for everyone. But, just in case you're ready, I wrote the instructions down and all of my community members get the complete document for free when they join us. You can get your copy and free access to my secret no bake 5 minute healthy weight dessert recipe that I used to lose 100 lbs. with no surgery and I still use every singe day of my life, over 12 years later. I hope it works as well for you as it does for me!
Nanci J Bradley is a child and family educator, author, energy facilitator, family aerobics instructor and all-around fun-loving person. She believes in the power of sleep, lifelong learning, healthy eating, fun and more than anything else, PLAY! She studied early childhood education at Triton College and received her BS in education from Northern Illinois University in 1986. She received her MA in human development from Pacific Oaks College in 2011. She lives and teaches in Madison, WI.