One of the most liberally used ingredients in our daily diet is Sugar. What surprises me is the fact that very few people are aware of the unhealthy side effects a sugary diet causes.
There are many side effects associated with a High Sugar diet…
- Piling on unwanted weight
- Irreversible conditions such as diabetes in the long-term
- Mood swings after a sugar-rich meal
- Energy highs and energy crashes after consuming loads of sugar (the headache you get after a high sugar meal)
- Increased anxiety & Depression
- Severe emotional turbulence
In my opinion, conditions such as unwanted weight gain and diabetes can at least be somehow controlled through other methods.
But if you continue to indulge in a high sugar diet, the energy highs and crashes will affect your Emotional state and lead to further anxiety and depression.
A high sugar diet when consumed on a daily basis leads to emotional turbulence, increased levels of anxiety and depression.
During my coaching sessions, I always focus on eliminating sugar from my client’s diet as early as possible. We begin by slowly reducing the sugar quantity and eventually get to a point where the client doesn’t consume any sugar at all in his/her diet.
Sure – there may be a few days when they satiate themselves with a dessert or cake… but not every time. The results are rapid and tremendous when they shift from a high sugar diet to a diet void of sugar in a few weeks-time.
Some of the positive effects of eliminating sugar from the diet include…
- Increased focus and concentration at work
- More energy throughout the day
- More emotional control, no more subject to mood swings
- Behaviour is well-regulated and clients have more will power to do the things they have to do
- Weight loss
- And so on…
Just like my clients, you can also experience the benefits of following a low-sugar diet. You’ll have more energy throughout the day, focus at work with more concentration and be able to make tremendous changes in your life by simply reducing/eliminating sugar from your diet.
With that said, here are 7 sure fire tips to eliminate sugar from your diet so you can focus more and ultimately get things done…
Realize that sugar is unhealthy for your body:
It’s easier to eliminate your desire for sugar-rich foods when you are aware of the kind of damage sugar can do to your body. That’s the first step towards leading a life of NO sugar.
There are many articles online that educate you about the ill-effects of high sugar diet. Read them up and you’ll have a clear idea of how much damage sugar really causes you.
You are responsible for your actions:
One of the things I have noticed among many people is that they don’t take responsibility for their sugar cravings. They believe that there’s some “cosmic sugar influence” out there that forces them to indulge in those cravings.
There’s no such thing as that. What you put inside your mouth is of your own choice and nobody is force-feeding you.
Do not say that you are addicted to it. There’s really no power in this world that can affect your ability to make choices. You always have the power to choose. Remember that.
So the next time when someone passes that donut, candy bar or dessert, try saying and practicing NO. Fight the urge and replace those sugary foods with a healthier option.
Replace sugary foods with natural foods:
Not all of you want to be eating sour and bitter foods all day along. So it’s important to add some sweet foods into your diet as well.
Fruits are the best choice because they have fructose (natural sweetener) which doesn’t cause as much harm as sucrose (found in sugar).
Replace all of your soft drinks with natural healthy water, fruit juices or tender coconut. There’s always a better, healthier choice.
When you eat more and more of fresh, natural foods, and your body will be replenished with anti-oxidants which will help fight the free radicals in your system thereby boosting your immunity and providing you with higher energy levels.
Avoid Masked Sugar:
Refined Sugar is hidden in places such as sauces, ketchups, soups, processed foods, soft drinks, health bars and more. Become a label reader and monitor how much sugar you are feeding yourself.
Do not fall for products that market themselves as ‘low fat’. Almost all of these products are rich in sugar and various other unhealthy additives.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind:
If you want to knock sugar from your diet completely, the best way to do it is to remove sugar from your environment completely. Throw it away from your house and replace the sugary foods with healthier foods.
When you don’t have sugary foods in your home, you wouldn’t feel the need to indulge yourself. Rather, you’ll just stick with eating the healthier food and in no time at all, you will form a habit of eating only healthy foods.
Manage Your Stress:
Almost every one of us today is stressed out completely. There’s just absolutely no-one who isn’t stressed out to their max anymore. The key is to manage your stress by setting careful boundaries between work and your personal life
Unmanaged stress will lead to increase in cortisol levels, which in turn will tempt you to indulge in sugary foods.
If you look at your own life, you’ll notice that the times you usually consume a lot of sugar are when you are stressed to the hilt. And the best thing you can do in such cases is to manage and control your stress.
Exercise To Feel Happy:
Here’s the thing… when you subject yourself to moderately intense exercise or any form of exercise at all (if you don’t do any now), you’ll find that your body releases endorphins and other hormones which makes you feel good about yourself.
This endorphin rush can turn into a positive addiction and you’ll make a habit of exercising regularly. This in turn will make you less dependent on sugar over a period of time.
Eventually what matters is that if we move and eat the way our bodies were designed for, health and happiness naturally follows. So go out there and enjoy your life.
Always have control over your choices. Don’t worry if you have some cake once in awhile. Be able to smile, knowing that you are healthy and in absolute control
Yours Sincerely,
Satish Rao
PS: If you found this article helpful, I’d appreciate if you can spread the message with your friends and co-workers by clicking on any of the appropriate social sharing buttons.