How to Stop Sugar Cravings

It takes both time and effort to change any bad habit that you may have. A sugar craving can be very difficult to break but if you are determined, you can do it. Most bad habits, if you remain focussed, can be kicked in about 30 days. As with any bad habit though, the first step is to acknowledge that you’ve got a problem. Just like drinking or smoking cigarettes, overdoing sugar, caffeine and other common ingredients in our diet is bad for out health and must be changed in order to better our health.

An increasing number of people are suffering from diseases which are preventable; diseases largely caused by their diet. Foods which are high in sugar, fat and cholesterol are making us sick and are even killing many of us! There is plenty of information available about the horrible consequences which an unhealthy diet has on our bodies – just read some of the many reports from the CDC or the AMA and learn for yourself. I’m not trying to spread fear here, but it may be good to be a little frightened of an unhealthy diet. A lot of heart disease is preventable through diet, as is diabetes and obesity for the most part.

To change any bad habit, you, and only you, first has to decide that a change is needed. It’s a decision only you can make, plain and simple. It’s not going to be easy; changing your sugar consumption habits can be as hard as quitting smoking, since sugar is semi-addictive in nature and like other addictions, can cause some serious damage to your body.

Sugar is actually a toxin! Bet you didn’t know that; that’s why eating too much sugar can be so hazardous to your health. What we’re speaking of here is mostly refined sugar, which is not a natural product. In fact, before anything goes in your body, you should ask yourself whether it is or is not natural. If not, think twice before ingesting it.

Practice is really the best way to train yourself to resist your sugar cravings. When you find yourself hankering for sugar, try waiting five minutes before giving in. Try to take your mind off of the craving by doing something else. More likely than not, you’ll be over the craving after the five minutes have passed. Five minutes at a time, you’ll eventually manage to beat your cravings.

Set small, achievable goals for yourself. If you think you can’t do without those four sugars in your coffee, try waiting an extra hour, even two before you have it. Try this every day and it will become easier as you go. Of course, you can have that cup of coffee sans sugar; if this will help you get past the cravings, go ahead.

With determination and the decision that this habit needs to be changed, you can do it. Remember - you control your cravings, they don’t control you.