What Will Work For You?

Could you start by replacing one processed meal a week with a homemade alternative? Or snack on walnuts or add them to salads. This is important to improve your Omega 3 to Omega 6 ratio. It could be as simple as boiled new potatoes, salad and baked salmon. If you eat a lot of meat and dairy, you may find reducing it and including more Omega 3 fats makes it easier to lose weight. Could you replace a cheese sandwich with a hummus sandwich with a handful of walnuts? If you eat a lot of butter, could you sometimes have virgin coconut oil instead? You can spread it on bread or on oat or rice cakes. What will work for you? Have half an avocado or nuts or seeds for a snack. To reduce your fat intake, bake rather than fry. If you stir fry, use a little olive oil or add some water to the olive oil and steam fry. The best source of Omega 3 is oily fish. You need Omega 6 fats, but having too high a level can increase your appetite, make you burn less fat and increase weight gain. If you eat a lot of processed foods, you are likely to have a high Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio, which in turn makes you more likely to be overweight with fat around your belly. Monounsaturated fats in olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds improve insulin sensitivity and help balance your blood sugar levels.

Out Of Control

Saturated fats in meat and dairy are best limited. Trans fats, in some processed foods and margarines, should be avoided. They increase weight gain, particularly around your belly. If you have them, you know how hard they are to resist! These cravings have been likened to those for addictive drugs. No wonder you end up eating sugar. Or maybe the cravings aren’t that intense, but it’s still hard not to reach for the sugary treats, especially when you are tired, stressed, emotional or premenstrual. Even if you don’t crave sweet foods, are you aware of how much sugar you are consuming? It’s a shocking fact that the average person consumes around four hundred to eight hundred calories per day from added sugars. Statistically, 75 percent of packaged foods and drinks in the United States contain added sugars or artificial sweeteners. Your body is designed to like sweet foods. But by contrast, when you consume added sugars, they have no health benefits and many drawbacks. Cutting back on added sugar can be really hard. As you bring your body into balance, however, the cravings will reduce.

Tell It Like It Is

But what if you are not there yet? I would love to give you a quick solution that works instantly for everyone! Unfortunately, there is no such solution. She had a history of dieting but struggled to follow a diet or healthy eating plan for any length of time. This left her feeling bad about herself. Her mum had always made healthy food when she was growing up. Even now, Sarah alone in her family was overweight. Much of what Sarah ate was healthy. However the moment that she felt she’d fallen off track, she would tell herself how useless she was. She could go days and sometimes weeks without sugar. But when the sugar cravings kicked in and she ate it she would feel guilty and bad about herself, a feeling that was hard to shake. This was when her eating would spiral out of control. Like Emma, Sarah was making changes that were helping to bring her body into balance. For her, including protein with each meal and snack was the change that had the biggest impact.

The World Disappears

Not only did it help stabilise her eating, but she found it helpful to focus on adding something in rather than what she couldn’t eat. She was also trying to be more loving towards herself. A breakthrough moment came when, after having a large bowl of ice cream and craving another, she managed to stop and paint her nails, pampering herself rather than spiraling into eating the rest of the tub. Still, one day she overdid the sugar. But instead of beating herself up about it, she acknowledged it had been a difficult day. She gave herself permission to eat the sugary food and ate it slowly, fully focused on it. This helped her to eat less of it. So she acknowledged that not having chocolate wouldn’t work. Instead, she chopped up some nuts and melted dark chocolate onto them. By having the darkest chocolate she could find, she reduced the amount of sugar she was having. And the nuts provided some protein, which can help with sugar cravings. She was able to eat her homemade chocolate nut bars in moderation over the next few days. The sugar, then feel worthless and defeated. But now, even though she still had some cravings, she felt empowered. It’s not just about the calories. Artificial sweeteners contain very few calories but are still linked to weight gain. Because of the effects that sugar has on your body, allowing for sugary ‘treats’ in your calorie intake is still going to make it harder to lose weight. Unless you prepare all your food from scratch, you may be consuming a lot more sugar than you realise. However, they are converted to fructose in your body. Is it best to cut back on sugar gradually or in one go? Many people want to cut back on sugar. Do you feel deprived if you cut something out completely? Does it trigger overeating or binging on the very food you are trying to avoid? By cutting back slowly, you can help your taste buds adjust. If you struggle to cut out sugar or sweeteners, reduce the amount you consume each week. This can help lessen your sugar cravings. If you can stick to this, great. If you cut it out, then give up and overeat sugar, it is counterproductive. This pattern of restricting, then binging on sugar is when it may become addictive.