Tricks & Tips to wean yourself off of sugar?

Behxo

The past few months I relied strongly on processed foods from dealing with a lot of stress but mostly anything chocolate, ice cream, candy, etc. I am definitely what you'd call a sugar addict. Starting this week I'm trying to get myself off of those processed foods and wondering if any of you have any tips? As of right now I've just been eating a lot of fruit which really seems to help keep it at bay.

janejellyroll

Fruit has lots of sugar, so you've swapped sugar sources. That said, fruit typically has more fiber and vitamins than things like candy.

I would say figure out a way to deal with the stress that is causing the cravings -- people find typically find things like exercise, meditation, time with friends, or journalling helpful with stress.

lemurcat12

janejellyroll wrote: »

I would say figure out a way to deal with the stress that is causing the cravings -- people find typically find things like exercise, meditation, time with friends, or journalling helpful with stress.

This.

I'm a stress-eater too, and what I found helpful was breaking the habit of eating between meals (or between planned snacks, essentially eating to schedule to prevent myself from running to food at other times). For the first week that was tough and I wanted to eat when I was used to eating, so I brought raw vegetables and ate those. Fruit could certainly work too, although it has more calories. (My sister always has some berries or other fruit easily available so if she feels like snacking that's what she goes to, but I do better not snacking at all.)

The bigger issue was finding better ways of managing stress. At first journaling and really focusing on meal planning and setting goals and so on was a fun thing to do that actually helped reduce stress too. Also, when possible, going for a walk. Now, exercise is really my main go-to, but learning to sit with feelings (including stress) and not have to distract from it was really important too, and something I'd recommend.

Sometimes stress eating is also about finding a way to take a break and you do it more to have more breaks or put off what you know you should be doing. At least, it's always worked that way for me. If so, just find another way to give yourself a break, like "a quick walk/workout will clear my head."