Sugar in October — It’s Getting Scary Out There

October signals the start of the sugar season that lasts until Valentine’s Day. Yikes! That’s a spooky reality.

If you allow it in now, you’ll be one of those sad people who gain weight over the holidays and have to work insanely hard all spring and summer to drop the extra pounds. (And sometimes they just won’t budge – eek!)

The good news is that dropping sugar in your diet and lifestyle is do-able and you can get healthier. The bad news is that many people try and fail at this effort. It’s not rocket science to change your norms, but it does require patience, persistence and time honing new habits.

Stay strong! We can help. Here’s how to do it.

Healthy Nest Practical Tips for Reducing Sugar

1. Baby Steps: Make Strategic Swaps
We make SO many food choices every day. STOP overthinking it. Make one change today. Add consistency and then add one more change.

FOOD TO SWAP	BUY THIS	EAT THIS INSTEAD
White pasta	Whole wheat/lentil pasta	Pasta w veggie (or meat) marinara, side salad
White rice	Brown rice/lentil blend	Buddha bowl w rice and veg and protein
Starbucks pumpkin bread	Eggs & veggies	Homemade egg muffin
Chips for snack	Apples & peanut/almond or other butter	Apple & nut butter
Pumpkin Spice Latte	Order differently	½ 1 pump pumpkin spice latte (WAY LESS SUGAR)

2. Eat at Home, if Possible
This is a no-brainer. Restaurants add butter, salt, sugar and other naughty extras to your oversized meal. In this country, our portions are skewed at restaurants. Eat at home. That way, it’s quieter and you can hear yourself and help your body digest. You can control the ingredients (and hidden sugars) from your meals, so you’re more whole and less processed and inflammatory.

3. Add More Pre-Meal Water
Just adding more water pre-meal can add some zoom to your metabolism and helps to fill you up. Sometimes it’s hard to gauge what is an appropriate amount for you for a meal–ESPECIALLY, if you are eating out and are given a portion versus serving yourself.

4. Stop the Crave
Sugar is the problem, but how do you STOP if you’re crave-y every damn day? Sugar isn’t going away in a day, but over time you can lose the taste for it. The key phrase here is OVER TIME. Every day and every week you can step away from your sugar habits.

Start with these small adjustments:

• Reduce the amount of sugar in your coffee
• Reduce the amount of fruit in your smoothie (3 cups is a lot)
• Skip the sandwich with chips for lunch (white and white-simple sugars for the lose)
• Ditch the white pasta or rice with dinner, sub in braised greens or a side salad
• Nix the after-dinner treat and swap in green or chamomile tea with honey

Take on one adjustment at a time and drop sugar intake while you ADD FAT–yes, add fat! Less fruit, more peanut butter in the smoothie. Less pasta, more olive oil at dinner. Fat gives us the satisfaction in our meal that helps to diminish the need for sugar.

Don’t be that guy that has insulin resistance or worse. You have control over sugar in your life, even if you feel like you don’t. We’ll team up with you to take control over sugar and find your best diet to meet your health goals.

Need help rewiring your body’s sugar habits? OurSugar Reset Planis the roadmap you’re looking for.

For more on feeling your best through smarter food choices, pleasecontact our holistic nutritionists. It’s a personal puzzle. We can assist in figuring out what’s best for your body. Book afree 20-minute consultationwith Healthy Nest Nutrition owner Robin Hutchinson to see if our programs are right for you.