Practical Habits to Wean yourself off of Sugar & Junk food

If you’re like us, then you are a busy family trying to eat better, be healthier, and do it with kids and hectic schedules. So whether you’re trying to “go Paleo,” attempt Whole30, or do any other form of drastically reducing your sugar and processed food intake, it’s usually most realistic to create habits to wean yourself off of sugar instead of cold-turkey trying to quit.

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It is said that after 28 days doing something daily, you’ve created a habit. But the habits you already have can be so hard to break. In fact, sometimes they’re probably so much a part of who we are that they’ve become addiction on some level. So when our family decided we wanted to do Whole30, I knew it would be harder than just diving in cold turkey. Plus, I want to feel less miserable than most people do in the first week becayse, let’s face it, I have kids.

I can’t afford to feel like I have the sugar flu from withdrawls. 

In fact, for most people that have kids, gradual tapering off sugar is best. But even then, it’s easy to quit and lose sght of the end goal of breaking your sugar addiction no matter how big or small of a problem it may be in your life.

It’s long-term helth you’re after so let’s set some long-term goals in order to turn them into habits.

7 ways to work towards beating sugar cravings and addiction

Choose a date and stop bringing any unapproved foods into your house at that time.

The first step in creating the habt to wean yourself off of sugar is to stop buying foods with sugar in them. Especially if you’re doing Whole30, look at the list and see what’s approved and what’s not. only buy approved items from this day forward. It doesn’t mean you can’t eat unapproved foods (even if you go out to eat).

It means you’re eating less of them and getting more creative over time with the real food you have.

Buy your food through Amazon and on Amazon Pantry (Or another online grocery service like Peapod) to cut down on your impulse buys.

While you’re only buying approved foods, you can shop online to ensure you’re not tempted by everything around you at the store. In fact, I found even shopping at the farmers market for many years, I bought all sorts of things like cookies and pies that people baked. So online, searching for your specific products is a great way to cut down on the temptation to buy bad food.

Eat up the “unapproved” food you have in your pantry and freezer.

Actually make it a point to eat everything in your house that won’t fit the long-term plan of being healthy. If you’re like our family, then food is too expensive to just give away or throw out, so make the meals you love with what you have. And gradually, since you’re not bringing new bad food in, you will be eating better and better.

Start taking cayenne, lemon, and garlic in the mornings with warm water to curb sugar cravings.

Fill some capsules with cayenne and take one or two each morning with a warm glass of lemon water. I also take a garlic capsule or fresh crushed garlic. I don’t do spicy well, so that’s why I take it in capsule form. This helps curb my sugar cravings during the day, and studies have even shown that cayenne by itself can help destroy candida.

Replace sugary drinks with teas, fruit infused water, and plain water.

Personally, I don’t like the idea of eating a piece of fruit when I have a sugar craving, because it’s still sweet. I want to train my body to use what it’s given, not crave sugar. So you can keep a stash of nuts and seeds, avocados, and other healthy fat high-protein foods to teach your body to not want to run on sugar.

Start taking a whole foods vitamin regimen including Vitamin C, Vitamin B, and a once-a-day.

You want to eat whole foods, so take whole foods vitamins too! In fact, those long days where you’re crashing and owuld normally turn to sugar, eat some protein and take a Vitamin B complex vitamin to give you a boost. In general, vitamins are only absorbed about 10% or so. But every bit helps keep you functioning as best as possible.

Replace your sugar cravings with high-protein snacks.

I’ve already touched on this, but it’s that important. Don’t feed even naturally occuring sugar to your body when that’s the craving. Give yourself something hearty. Sugar is easy fuel to burn, but you want to train your body to run on proteins and fats in forming habits to wean yourself off of sugar.

Find more on Paleo and Whole30.