Cutting back your sugar consumption is the most important and powerful path to losing excess weight and improving your health.
If you seek optimum health and optimum weight you must gain control of your relationship to sugar.
And as it turns out, controlling sugar cravings is basic nuts and bolts stuff.
Once you make the decision to eat more healthfully, you can take simple, painless steps to develop new habits for a healthier lifestyle.
I don't usually write on the subject of health and fitness, but since it's the start of the new year, and I gained a few pounds myself over the holidays, it seemed like time to re-visit this article from a few years ago.
This article looks at the ways most of us are lulled into believing we can't live without sugar, and some ways to look at sugar that can help you make the decision to break the cycle and start new habits.
You think sugar is friendly, but it's more like an addiction.
The definition of food is that food is a substance that provides calories (energy) and nutrients.
Sugar provides calories, but no nutrients.
The proper way to eat food for optimal health is to eat the food you are hungry for and stop eating when you are satisfied.
With sugar that doesn't happen.
Your body sends you hunger signals, and "real" food sends you satiety (satisfaction) signals when you have had enough.
Sugar sends no such satiety signal.
There is only a craving.
Cravings have no relationship to your body's true needs.
Without a way to respond to your body's needs, there is no way to control your weight or your health.
And yet, sugary foods have become a large part of the American diet.
You are consuming sugar in its various forms without even realizing it.
Some people claim they "can't live without" their candy, cookies, desserts, and snacks, but this is a harmful myth you have bought into, and you can choose a new truth or belief without that much effort.
Sugar is not your friend.
It is not "comfort food" in the sense of being any way nurturing.
Sugar does not contribute to your overall well-being, and in fact is a fairly recent addition to the food supply.
Realize how much sugar you are eating.
Fifty years ago your parents ate about 25 pounds of sugar a year.
Today the average American eats 125 to 150 pounds of sugar per year.
The problem is, sugar hides in our food many different ways.
When you become aware of where sugar is found in your diet, you can make smarter, healthier decisions on what you eat.
For example, you avoid added sugars when you eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.
Prepared and processed foods are far more likely to contain added sugar, so eat the freshest foods you can find, not processed.
Obvious sources of sugar.
The most obvious place you're getting too much sugar is in soft drinks and other sugary beverages.
Colas, fast-food shakes, and even some so-called "healthy water" drinks all have sugar.
Fruit "drinks," fruit "beverages," and "-ades" and "cocktails" are all heavily laden with sugar and contain no more than 5-10% actual juice.
Even 100% juice drinks are not good for you - the fruit juice contains all the sugar, and without eating the whole fruit, you're missing the nutrients and fiber.
These you know about, and you can replace these obvious sources with less-sugary drinks like water, seltzer, and unsweetened tea.
You can "cut" fruit juices with seltzer to reduce your sugar, or add a dash of lemon or lime to water and seltzer to give it a boost in flavor without any added sugar.
(There's no doubt about it, water is the healthiest drink you can find, and it's absolutely free!) The second way you take in sugar is through your consumption of obviously sweet foods, such as ice cream, cakes, candies and pastries.
Try replacing these sugary foods each day with healthier choices, including vegetables, a piece of fruit, or whole wheat crackers with a small portion of low-fat cheese.
Or eat a piece of fruit before dessert, which will help you eat a smaller portion size of the sugary stuff.
Hidden sources of sugar.
The third and most nefarious source of sugars is the hidden sugars found in the food you eat every day without realizing how much sugar is there.
Sugar is hiding from you in the form of rice syrups, honey, maple syrup, molasses, corn sweeteners, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, and the "-ose" sugars: dextrose, sucrose, and maltose.
Ketchup is one-third sugar.
Hot dogs contain dextrose.
Canned beans are sometimes packaged with sugar.
"Fat-free" products are full of sugar and may have more sugar and calories than their "full-fat" versions.
Another place adults may be ingesting sugar without realizing it: alcoholic drinks.
Beer, wine, distilled spirits and mixers all contribute significant amounts of sugar, and should be drunk in moderation only, if you intend to remain healthy.
(For many reasons!) You need to learn to read food labels to root out the hidden sources of sugar.
When you read a label the ingredients are listed in order from most to least.
You should look for sugar in any of the forms listed above.
Then you can make an informed choice regarding what you eat.
Try never to consume more than 20 grams of sugar in any one meal.
Choosing a healthy lifestyle.
When you cut down or eliminate sugar you have to do it in the context of a healthy lifestyle.
You start eating nutritious foods and avoiding junk food and sugar and/or alcohol-containing beverages as much as possible.
You start an exercise regimen and you stick to it.
They're simple changes that need to be made for the long run.
Still, it is important that you never feel deprived regarding your food, or you will eventually fall back into your old habits.
Don't overdo it - start slow and work your way to what's ideal for you.
Managing your consumption of sugar solves almost all your weight problems, so isn't it time to take this seriously?