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7 Day Plan to Put An End to Your Sugar Cravings

Have you been struggling with cutting down or eliminating sugar from your diet? Well, today, we have a unique dietitian-approved challenge that can help you accomplish your goal in only a week’s time! 

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Sharon McCutcheon/Unsplash | Experts recommend this 7-day routine to effectively cut back sugar from your diet

In 2020, Carol Prager, renowned food editor and author, teamed up with Samantha Cassetty, nationally recognized dietitian and nutritionist, to create a book named Sugar Shock. In it, the two introduced easy ways to cut back on sugar and improve one’s diet. They also devised a seven-day challenge that can break the hold sugar has on people. 

Here’s what the challenge looked like.

#Day 1 – Put an end to sugary snacks

Is your kitchen filled with cookies, candies, muffins, energy bars, or any other sugary stuff? If it is, then maybe you should consider revamping your pantry. According to the American Heart Association, a woman should eat at max 25 gms or six teaspoons of sugar per day, while a man should consume 36 gms or nine teaspoons of sugar daily. All the extra sugar that you have daily is of no use to our bodies, other than, of course, increasing their weight and inviting unwanted diseases.

#Day 2 – Be conscious of what you eat

Every time you have a sugar craving, try to control your impulse. Instead of consuming artificial sweeteners, go for natural ones. When we say natural sweeteners, we don’t mean agave or honey ‘cuz they do the same damage to your body that sugar does. What we mean is, add banana to your oatmeal rather than sprinkling brown sugar, or drinking your tea or coffee with a shake of cinnamon rather than a sugar syrup. 

#Day 3 – Say no to sugary drinks

If you’re obsessed with sodas and other sugary drinks, you must know that indirectly you’re giving your body the sugar it doesn’t need. You can either replace those carbonated high-caffeine drinks with unsweetened coffee or tea, or with a bar of dark chocolate.

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Cody Engel/Unsplash | Having too many sugary drinks can give you an unneeded sugar overdose

#Day 4 – Go through the labels before buying stuff

Often, after entering a grocery store, we add things to our cart even before going through the labels. This habit can lead to the addition of high-sugar foods to our diet. On the one hand, you might be throwing away sweets and candies, but on the other, you might be increasing your intake of chips, crackers, and pasta sauces. If you’re doing this, stop immediately and make a habit of going through the ingredient list at the back of products.

#Day 5 – Switch to whole-grains

Do you know consuming refined grains or products made with them can increase your carbs intake? If not, here’s an eye-opener: foods like bagels, pasta, white bread, and white flour are all made from refined grains and have more sugar content than products made with whole grains. They can derail you from your plan of eliminating sugar from your diet. So try and use more whole grains instead of refined grains while preparing your meals.

#Day 6 – Stay alert with drinking

We totally get that saying a complete ‘no’ to alcohol can be a bit difficult for some, but you must know that our body treats alcoholic drinks as ‘sugar content.’ Hence, if you’re planning on drinking, consume very little amounts of alcohol so that you don’t end up giving yourself a sugary treat.

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Jonas Kakaroto/Unsplash | If you’re cutting on all artificial sweeteners but are too fond of sweet, you can gorge on naturally sweet assorted fruits to your heart’s content

#Day 7 – Celebrate with fruit

If you follow this weekly plan with utmost sincerity, it won’t take long to see the difference. Remember that when you notice the change, you don’t consume too many sweets and risk your efforts. Instead, grab a fruit and celebrate your success.

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