I don’t think I ever told you, how much I love to eat sweets. I have love affair with sugar, my sweet tooth pretty much runs my life. After my very first detox I realized how unhealthy this love affair really was. I felt totally and utterly terrible while I detoxed off of sugar, then beyond amazing when it was gone and then of course I felt incredibly crappy when I introduced (never intentionally) it back into my diet.

For me consuming refined sugar is a bad thing, it does nothing good for my body even though I love love it. Without a doubt on top of all the regular gross feelings (and empty calories) one gets from eating too many sweets, for me it triggers my anxiety and turns me into an insomniac at night. For those two reasons alone, I try my best to avoid processed sugar as much as possible. But since I’m not as strong as I’d like to be, I almost always falter (that and sugar is in almost everything!) so I do little sugar detox’s every few months. I cut myself off refined sugar for 14-30 days and use that as a reset to be better at avoiding it. I’d love to say no more sugar and stick to it for life, but it’s just not my reality so cold turkey every few months to set me back on track is my way. I don’t know if this is the right way, but it works for me and hey maybe for you?

And since the new year is literally around the corner (don’t blink or it’ll be here) it would be a great time to try your hand at kicking sugar for a few days (see how much better it makes you feel). My tricks for avoiding sugar aren’t ground breaking, but I have been asked often “how the heck do you not eat sugar!?” (plus been called crazy for trying not to eat sugar) enough times that I thought sharing would/could be a helpful thing.

AVOID ALL SWEETS – For a short time avoid anything sweet, even the honeys, cane and coconut sugars and maple syrups of the world. It’s easiest to cut cravings when you have no sugary replacements (well other than fruit maybe) also you might tend to over eat the healthy sweeteners to compensate for not getting the bad ones you truly want. Once you feel better (maybe it’s not a full 21 days for you) and feel like you have kicked the sugar cravings, allow the natural sweeteners in again (as it’s not good to avoid all sweet things for too long) and then just stick with avoiding processed/refined sugar.

MORE TEA, PLEASE – Tea is super flavorful (especially when your taste buds are off the sweet stuff) and when you aren’t consuming sugar it’s a really good stand in for juice or some sort of liquid “treat”. Stock up on different flavors, you’ll become a tea machine (and by default a pee machine) in no time.

MAKE SURE YOU’RE FULL – Avoid (some) of the snacky cravings by making sure you’re full when you eat meals (not “I can’t sit up straight full” just not hungry). And if you still want to snack, jump for some healthy snacks (like raw veggies and hummus, or some fruit) before you shift to thinking that you need something sweet.

READ THE LABELS – On everything you buy or eat. Sugar is literally in everything, not just the sweet things. Have you ever seen how much sugar is in ketchup and boxed cereals?

EAT BREAKFAST – But guess what? Make sure it has no sugar in it. Breakfast to me really does feel like the most important meal of that day, totally sets my tone and my appetite for the entire day. A healthy breakfast usually makes for good (and mostly) healthy food choices all day.

CHUG WATER – Maybe add lemon or fruit to it and make it flavored? Sometimes I think I neeeed sugar/candy or that I’m hungry when in reality I’m just really thirsty. Plus staying hydrated is just uber important and a good distraction to your cravings (sometimes).

Maybe try kicking sugar for 3 days in the new year, see how you feel? PS. I’m not a doctor but from my personal experience this no sugar thing works really great for me. I would also check out I Quit Sugar for really great tips, recipes and just more info.