I finally quit smoking 19 years ago. While it took years and years of false starts, I did it, eventually, and now I hardly ever think of cigarettes anymore.And when it came time to quit sugar, I looked back to what i had learned from my quest to become a non-smoker.Sugar is just as addictive as nicotine. And nicotine is more addictive than heroin, I've been told. So if it's hard to give up either substance, there's a good reason for that.[]
Most people don't realize that alcohol is actually the quickest acting sugar on the brain. In short, a "buzz" is actually a sugar high. The first research on sugar addiction in 2001 was conducted at Princeton University, and scientists have come so far since then that research is now focusing on how to address the problem (not whether or not it exists).
Would you eat differently, and if so how? Would you act differently, and if so how? What else would change, and what would stay the same? What would you lose? What would you gain?Until you know what you want, know you can achieve it, and know what else will change (i.e. how your life may be different), you can't discover any obstacles that first must be considered. For instance, you may want to stop eating anything after 7 PM yet your husband doesn't come home from work until 8 and he wants you to join him for dinner. That's an obstacle.
Here's what I did instead. I experimented with "sugar-free" goodies. In moderate doses.It helped, believe me. Temptation was greatly reduced because sugar-free candy is harder to find than the regular kind, and the selection isn't quite as yummy either.Once I made the commitment to forego all sugar, it was easy. Eating sugar was not an option, yet I knew if I wanted a treat, I could get it later (or sometimes even bring it along). It's easy to say "no" when the answer is clear. It's much harder to negotiate portions, at least for me.
The holidays are over and with them the unrelenting onslaught of sugar-filled goodies. You know those treats aren't good for you but you probably couldn't resist them. How about a fresh start, though? Now may be the perfect time to start coming to grips with your sugar addiction. Because there will be more sugar even if it isn't quite a ubiquitous as it was during the prime of the holiday season.Why? Sugar can hurt you. If you have diabetes or even pre-diabetes, a season filled with sugary stuff can push you over the top and cause serious damage. If you're working at managing your weight, sugar addiction will definitely make your weight creep in the wrong direction. Unless, of course, you find a way off the roller coaster. If you haven't managed to do so before candied plums and company start making their entry, at least give it a shot now that the worst is over.
While it may seem like a lot of effort simply to decide what you really want, going through these steps at the beginning helps you find potential obstacles which previously stopped you from moving forward. For example, if you decide you want to join a gym and start exercising every day but you've forgotten you don't even own a car and just lost your job, that exercise plan might not work out right now. If you did join a gym, you'd end up not going and then you'd think you'd failed, yet it was the plan that failed, not you. You didn't think it through. A better plan in this instance may be doing exercises at home, or within walking distance (or simply walking for exercise). Later, when you do have transportation, you can rethink the plan and perhaps join a gym then. There are always options.It's better to look at what you want from every angle, then put together a plan you know can and will work. Then when you know what you want, you'll also know you can make it happen and begin by taking that first step toward making it a reality."Achieving a Well Formed Outcome" is one of the sessions in the Ending Emotional Eating 8-Week Workshop. You can also find more information on this popular and well known NLP process by searching for "NLP Well Formed Outcome" in your favorite search engine.
There's no reason you should have to put up with being so stressed that you feel the urge to self-medicate with sugar or cigarettes. Get the information you need to effectively get rid of excess stress right now. Just click on the link for Elisabeth Kuhn's FREE stress-busting strategies report and reclaim your inner calm, like countless others have done before you.It's a known fact that sugar contributes to obesity. High blood sugar, the result of eating large amounts of sugar, leads to the need for the body to store that extra sugar, and that storage occurs as fat, which most often leads to an increased risk for heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and some cancers.
Just make a real commitment to forego actual sugar and it becomes surprisingly easy not to fall off the wagon. You know you can still indulge, after all, just not then and there, unless you came prepared, which I actually recommend.Secondly, most of these sugar-free goodies don't quite trigger the physiological addiction the way sugar does. For me anyway, I was able to stop at a couple of candies when they were sugar-free, while sugar would have triggered the vicious cycle of eating more of it, and wanting it more often too.
Then one day I chanced to see physician on television, talking about the controversy over sugar's hypothesized effect on mood and behavior. I began my research and found a description of my own health picture. With a glimmer of hope, I copied all the names in which processed sugar (simple sugar) appears: Sucrose,Dextrose,Lactose,Fructose,Crystalline fructose,Corn syrup,High-fructose corn syrup,Turbinado,Raw sugar,Brown sugar,Molasses,Malt syrup,Maltol,Maltodextrin.Immediately I eliminated from my diet all processed foods that contained any of the list. The only "sugar" I consumed was moderate amounts of fresh fruits (complex sugars) and carbohydrate vegetables, but only in combination with protein, to mitigate any minor sugar reaction, and with lots of water. The first several days without my precious sugar I was screaming inside my skull. Something down deep inside like a caged rat gnawed at my soul, eating me alive from within. I would find myself physically doubled over, hugging myself, rocking back and forth in psychic agony. Then, on the fourth day of my self-torture as I awoke and habitually reached for my analgesics, I realized I did not have a headache. Wow! This was the first time in 20 years.
Having had my first heart attack at 48, in 1985, and eventually having more attacks and trips to the hospital to have a total of 6 stents* inserted in my heart, I began a pilgrimage to improve my health.A stent is a small metal mesh tube that acts as a scaffold to provide support inside your coronary artery. A balloon catheter, placed over a guide wire, is used to insert the stent into the narrowed coronary artery.Presently I am 74, thankful for the stents to give me better heart health and for the extensive research I've done to learn about the power of food to heal. I've come to believe that good nutrition can increase all areas of your life such as energy, awareness, inhibit and/or delay Alzheimer's, and make living longer a joy filled experience.It isn't just about looking good, it's about living longer and healthier. It's about having healthier children and especially about not having your children live less years than you. Think about it.
Most people don't realize that alcohol is actually the quickest acting sugar on the brain. In short, a "buzz" is actually a sugar high. The first research on sugar addiction in 2001 was conducted at Princeton University, and scientists have come so far since then that research is now focusing on how to address the problem (not whether or not it exists).
Would you eat differently, and if so how? Would you act differently, and if so how? What else would change, and what would stay the same? What would you lose? What would you gain?Until you know what you want, know you can achieve it, and know what else will change (i.e. how your life may be different), you can't discover any obstacles that first must be considered. For instance, you may want to stop eating anything after 7 PM yet your husband doesn't come home from work until 8 and he wants you to join him for dinner. That's an obstacle.
Here's what I did instead. I experimented with "sugar-free" goodies. In moderate doses.It helped, believe me. Temptation was greatly reduced because sugar-free candy is harder to find than the regular kind, and the selection isn't quite as yummy either.Once I made the commitment to forego all sugar, it was easy. Eating sugar was not an option, yet I knew if I wanted a treat, I could get it later (or sometimes even bring it along). It's easy to say "no" when the answer is clear. It's much harder to negotiate portions, at least for me.
The holidays are over and with them the unrelenting onslaught of sugar-filled goodies. You know those treats aren't good for you but you probably couldn't resist them. How about a fresh start, though? Now may be the perfect time to start coming to grips with your sugar addiction. Because there will be more sugar even if it isn't quite a ubiquitous as it was during the prime of the holiday season.Why? Sugar can hurt you. If you have diabetes or even pre-diabetes, a season filled with sugary stuff can push you over the top and cause serious damage. If you're working at managing your weight, sugar addiction will definitely make your weight creep in the wrong direction. Unless, of course, you find a way off the roller coaster. If you haven't managed to do so before candied plums and company start making their entry, at least give it a shot now that the worst is over.
While it may seem like a lot of effort simply to decide what you really want, going through these steps at the beginning helps you find potential obstacles which previously stopped you from moving forward. For example, if you decide you want to join a gym and start exercising every day but you've forgotten you don't even own a car and just lost your job, that exercise plan might not work out right now. If you did join a gym, you'd end up not going and then you'd think you'd failed, yet it was the plan that failed, not you. You didn't think it through. A better plan in this instance may be doing exercises at home, or within walking distance (or simply walking for exercise). Later, when you do have transportation, you can rethink the plan and perhaps join a gym then. There are always options.It's better to look at what you want from every angle, then put together a plan you know can and will work. Then when you know what you want, you'll also know you can make it happen and begin by taking that first step toward making it a reality."Achieving a Well Formed Outcome" is one of the sessions in the Ending Emotional Eating 8-Week Workshop. You can also find more information on this popular and well known NLP process by searching for "NLP Well Formed Outcome" in your favorite search engine.
There's no reason you should have to put up with being so stressed that you feel the urge to self-medicate with sugar or cigarettes. Get the information you need to effectively get rid of excess stress right now. Just click on the link for Elisabeth Kuhn's FREE stress-busting strategies report and reclaim your inner calm, like countless others have done before you.It's a known fact that sugar contributes to obesity. High blood sugar, the result of eating large amounts of sugar, leads to the need for the body to store that extra sugar, and that storage occurs as fat, which most often leads to an increased risk for heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and some cancers.
Just make a real commitment to forego actual sugar and it becomes surprisingly easy not to fall off the wagon. You know you can still indulge, after all, just not then and there, unless you came prepared, which I actually recommend.Secondly, most of these sugar-free goodies don't quite trigger the physiological addiction the way sugar does. For me anyway, I was able to stop at a couple of candies when they were sugar-free, while sugar would have triggered the vicious cycle of eating more of it, and wanting it more often too.
Then one day I chanced to see physician on television, talking about the controversy over sugar's hypothesized effect on mood and behavior. I began my research and found a description of my own health picture. With a glimmer of hope, I copied all the names in which processed sugar (simple sugar) appears: Sucrose,Dextrose,Lactose,Fructose,Crystalline fructose,Corn syrup,High-fructose corn syrup,Turbinado,Raw sugar,Brown sugar,Molasses,Malt syrup,Maltol,Maltodextrin.Immediately I eliminated from my diet all processed foods that contained any of the list. The only "sugar" I consumed was moderate amounts of fresh fruits (complex sugars) and carbohydrate vegetables, but only in combination with protein, to mitigate any minor sugar reaction, and with lots of water. The first several days without my precious sugar I was screaming inside my skull. Something down deep inside like a caged rat gnawed at my soul, eating me alive from within. I would find myself physically doubled over, hugging myself, rocking back and forth in psychic agony. Then, on the fourth day of my self-torture as I awoke and habitually reached for my analgesics, I realized I did not have a headache. Wow! This was the first time in 20 years.
Having had my first heart attack at 48, in 1985, and eventually having more attacks and trips to the hospital to have a total of 6 stents* inserted in my heart, I began a pilgrimage to improve my health.A stent is a small metal mesh tube that acts as a scaffold to provide support inside your coronary artery. A balloon catheter, placed over a guide wire, is used to insert the stent into the narrowed coronary artery.Presently I am 74, thankful for the stents to give me better heart health and for the extensive research I've done to learn about the power of food to heal. I've come to believe that good nutrition can increase all areas of your life such as energy, awareness, inhibit and/or delay Alzheimer's, and make living longer a joy filled experience.It isn't just about looking good, it's about living longer and healthier. It's about having healthier children and especially about not having your children live less years than you. Think about it.
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