Free Yourself from Sugar

Discussion: Do you have a problem with sugar?

Stalin vs Sugar

Stalin: responsible for 2 -6 million deaths

Sugar: a major factor in the health problems the world is facing.

Which will have killed more people by the end of this century: Stalin or sugar?

Sugar has no power over you.

This is a problematic addiction, because it is so socially acceptable. The words ‘everything in moderation’ (most often uttered by smug non-addicts) is so toxic. It says ‘you should be able to deal with it because that is more convenient for society. Sugar is a shortcut to showing love, a shortcut to celebrations, a shortcut to dealing with stress at work. Be a good girl/boy now and don’t upset my applecart.’

People who do a sugar detox are unaware that the metronome of deprivation/IFR is behind their zealous health kick. Before long they are back to sugar rampages. They are so messed up about it that the only action they think is effective is MASSIVE ACTION a la Tony Robbins. (As Angus Deaton once said “Just because it is easy to take the piss out of Anthony Robbins doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do it”)

In this world where very few people understand how powerful the presence of the cookie jar in your eyeline at work is for you, you need to be crafty and creative to stand up to this social pressure around sugar.

There IS a solution.

Bill Oxford

The Breakfast and Lunch Experiment

Try this for one or two days and see if it affects your sugar cravings.

Make sure your breakfast, mid-morning snack (if you have one) and lunch contain protein and healthy fat.

Examples of What You Could Eat

Protein rich foods are in green and foods rich in healthy fat are in brown. Those with both are in both colours

#1 Scrambled free range eggs and avocado

#2 Harriet's Smoothie (Recipe here)

#3 Stir fry with meat or tofu and/or edamame beans, nuts, avocado (Feel free to add a little cheese or other topping like alioli or croutons to give it a luxurious, pleasurable feel. Nothing wrong with packet mixes like peanut satay sauce). I like being lazy and buying a pre chopped stir fry mix of veggies from the supermarket!

#4 Nuts like cashews, pistachios, macadamia (avoid peanuts if possible but these are better than nothing) as a snack

#5 Leftovers from the previous night's dinner are a good idea - see if you can add any of the above ingredients

#5 Harriet's Sugar Free Chocolate Cake Recipe here

Why Protein and Healthy Fat???

See this page on macronutrient balance

Why Breakfast and Lunch?

See this page on sumo wrestlers

Three Actions That Will Help You Walk Away From Sugar

Wait, no...that's 4 actually

#1 Experiment: try protein and healthy fat at breakfast and lunch for 2 days and see if you notice your sugar cravings reduce.

#2 Include sugar replacements in your food for a week and see if it affects your cravings.

#3 Start rebelling against the sheep-like acceptance of sugar in your environment. Nobody would expect a recovering alcoholic to put up with a bottle of vodka sitting on the kitchen counter or at the end of their desk at work, so why should you have to accept sugar junk in these places? Opposite actions include: Move the cookie jar, and take a smoothie to the meeting. Soon people will just say “Oh yes, that’s Chris. She does that.” and shrug their shoulders. It will be yesterday’s news before you know it.

GAME: Double dare yourself to get even one square of sugar junk, place it in the bin and pour washing up liquid all over it.

What are you saying to yourself about yourself if you do this?

I had a client who got really into this game and kept sending me pictures. I encourage you to do the same, post them in the group chat and get a nice hit of oxytocin when others comment how awesome you are!

The Pauly Principle

There is so much talk in this area of needing to believe in yourself to end an addiction, or connecting to your big Why. The truth is that if you can get yourself to repeat a replacement action instead of reach for the junk, and then do that over and over, at some point you will start to do this automatically. This is what I call The Pauly Principle.

I have created a set of replacement actions called Cravings Busters, which you can find in my Freedom From Sugar course.