Think you are addicted to sugar?

Posted on October 3, 2022October 10, 2022 by Tanya Mark

You might think you are addicted to sugar.

But over the many years that I’ve worked with clients, I’ve learned that cravings for sugar are caused by a multitude of factors including:

consistently eating unbalanced meals which creates unbalanced blood sugar levels (so your body is “smart” and boosts cravings for carbohydrates and sugars as the quickest way to boost your blood sugar.)
not eating regular meals throughout the day; skipping meals on purpose or because you’re busy; trying to save calories so you eat very little at breakfast and lunch so when you get home you feel ravenous and sugar sounds extra palatable.
dieting, restricting calories and carbs means you may not be getting the proper energy and nutrients. Plus, you will often crave the foods that aren’t on your plan.
white-knuckling it to completely avoid sugar because diet culture labels it as “bad.” So when it is available, you feel out of control around it. It’s “forbidden fruit.” You’re human and you want what you can’t have. Did you know that research shows a key difference between a dieter’s mind versus a non-dieters mind? A non-dieter will eat a cookie (or two) and move on. A dieter will obsess (physical and mental struggle) over whether to have the cookie or not and how many is too many. Ugh.
you don’t allow yourself to have anything sweet without guilt or shame. Don’t forget that humans are born with a sweet taste bud.
you lack sweetness in your life, so you crave sweet foods which only temporarily fulfills this need.

So what does the research say about sugar addiction?

Research from the European Journal of Nutrition states:

“We find little evidence to support sugar addiction in humans, and findings from the animal literature suggest that addiction-like behaviors, such as bingeing, occur only in the context of intermittent access to sugar. These behaviors likely arise from intermittent access to sweet tasting or highly palatable foods, not the neurochemical effects of sugar.” – “Sugar addiction: the state of the science.”

Think you are addicted to sugar? Think again. 📸 credit: Jennifer Rollin, Eating Disorder Therapist

If you think you are addicted to sugar, consider these key nutrition skills:

7 tips to beat sugar “addiction”

Learn to build balanced meals and snacks with quality protein, fat and carbohydrates. When you’re eating mostly carbs or sugary foods or drinks and you’re not eating enough quality protein or fats, you will experience blood sugar highs and lows (crashes). And when you crash, your body will crave carbs (sugars) to boost your blood sugar back into the normal range.
Eat these balanced meals regularly, spaced throughout the day to avoid getting overly hungry (hangry).
Ditch the diet culture BS and learn to listen and honor your individual hunger needs. They change every day depending on your activity level. Yes, you need to eat enough calories and quality carbohydrates. If you don’t, your biology will kick in, in the form of cravings, to get you to eat more.
Learn to distinguish between physical and emotional hunger. And if your hunger isn’t physical, pause and consider what you are really needing right now?
Read more: 3 Reasons why you can’t stop stress and emotional eating (and the solution)
When you choose to eat something sweet, eat real sugar, not artificial sugars. If a package says it’s sugar-free, be wary as this often means they’ve replaced sugar with a fake sugar.
When you eat the cookie(s) or ice cream or other sweet, slow down and savor it. When you feel guilty, you may tend to eat these foods quickly, “to get rid of the evidence.”
Feed your sweet taste bud. Yes, really. Are there sweet foods that you enjoy that are higher quality? I love fresh berries, apples and dark chocolate. Create a list of these foods and have them readily available.

So what did you learn about your relationship to food and your current nutrition skills? Where could you use support?

If you’ve always thought you are addicted to sugar, but now see that your cravings may be caused by a lack of critical nutrition skills, practice these seven tips.

And as always, if you could use support, reach out. I’d love to help.

♡ Tanya

3 Reasons why you can’t stop stress and emotional eating (and the solution)

Posted on August 23, 2022January 2, 2023 by tmAdmin

There are three reasons why you can’t stop stress and emotional eating. And according to a recent survey by Precision Nutrition, you’re not alone.

nutritional challenges – how can I stop emotional eating

3 Reasons why you can’t stop stress and emotional eating

Awareness is key. Notice when stress, emotional eating and cravings happen. There’s often a pattern that’s triggered by certain thoughts, feelings or situations.

#1 So first, notice, do intense cravings happen when you’re restricting certain foods or calories on a “diet” or restrictive meal plan?

That’s why I find it crazy that so many of us go to them as solutions to the challenges of cravings, overeating, stress/emotional eating. Yup, often they’re the CAUSE!

Yes, read that again.

So the solution is to stop dieting and going to restrictive meal plans to improve your health and well-being. That’s why I take a non-diet, no meal plans approach – focused on improving your eating behaviors and relationship to food and your body (and your entire self-care) to help you feel and be your best self.

How can I stop emotional eating

# 2 Second, do you find yourself stress or emotional eating when you are exhausted?

Maybe you’re not sleeping well (or your list of reasons) so you find yourself in a pattern of drinking tons of coffee and/or reaching for sweets to get through another day – to give you more energy.

Nope you don’t have a problem with sweets. You’re exhausted. Let’s figure out how to get you sleeping better or whatever is causing your fatigue.

# 3 Third, consider your why?

Why do you crave crunchy potato chips every Sunday night (or every evening)? Are you feeling stressed and anxious about heading back to another day in a toxic work environment?

Again, it’s common for us to try and solve cravings or overeating by dieting or restricting that specific food — when it’s not a food problem. The challenge is coming from feeling stressed or ___(lonely, angry, sad etc.) about work or __ (whatever the cause is for you).

The solution is to recognize your triggers and then find alternate solutions – to break this unwanted pattern.

Want to gain insights into your unwanted eating habits and find deep health solutions to change them? The list of stress, emotional eating, and cravings triggers is endless and unique to you.

Complete my free self-care assessment and let’s get you scheduled for a 30-minute chat to get started.

To your happiness and health, ♡ Tanya

Sugar Isn’t Evil

Posted on August 10, 2022October 1, 2022 by tmAdmin

Sugar and Its Effects

So many of my clients ask me “How can I eat less sugar?”

It seems like sugar-bashing is all the rage lately. Sugar-less diets and detoxes are everywhere, but I want to tell you something: Sugar isn’t evil. And trying to quit it 100% by using willpower can be super stressful and actually…isn’t necessary.

Phew! Right?

Having said that, let’s look deeper at sugar and its effects on our bodies.

Consuming excessive sugar, natural or not, is not good for your health. Yet we have a taste bud for sweet so we were designed for sweet things. What happens, though, is that you may find yourself eating far too much sugar. So what it boils down to is: how much matters.

The American Heart Association recommends 32 g or less for men, and 24 g or less for women of added sugars. If you look at coconut water (something that depending on the brand can be quite healthy), you’ll see that one can contain 24 g of added sugar! If you were to drink that entire can, you’d have reached your daily allotment of sugar already. Sugar can be sneaky so it is best that you’re informed.

Instead of white-knuckling it to quit sugar, these are my favorite tips to answer your question “How can I eat less sugar” AND have a better relationship with sweet.

Five tips to reduce sugar intake

Read food labels. How much added sugar does this product contain per a serving and how many servings are you consuming? Be aware.
Build Campfire Meals to balance your blood sugar levels and help prevent physical sugar cravings.
Avoid artificial sugars. Artificial sweeteners can actually cause you to crave even more sugar and cause a cascade of negative metabolic effects in your body.
Look Deeper. What’s going on when you crave certain foods?
Is there an emotional need you’re trying to fill? Notice if you crave sugar when you need more “sweetness” in your life. Next time you find yourself in the midst of a sugar craving, pause for a moment and bring more awareness to this craving. What are you feeling? What was going on in your day before this craving hit? TO DO: Practice the “pause strategy” to help you gain insight and begin to break the emotional need for sugar. My ultimate goal with clients is to find new ways to fulfill this emotion besides food, drink, excess shopping or whatever you tend to lean on. We all need a variety of coping mechanisms in our toolbox.
Feeling badly about eating sugar and 100% restricting it is not the answer for 99% of us. In fact, it could be causing your cravings. Nothing intensifies a craving like restriction. When we practice the above tools, and re-learn how to Eat Intuitively, by listening to the physical sensations coming from our body instead of outside diet culture rules, we can have a healthy and happy relationship with food and our bodies.

The “How can I eat less sugar” main takeaways

In general, be aware of the recommended levels of sugar for adults. Eat balanced meals and snacks in which something sweet can absolutely be included!
It’s completely OK and natural to enjoy dessert. Remember that sometimes restriction can make us want it more. And stressing about sugar can be worse for our health than anything on our plates.
We were designed with a sweet taste bud and we’re meant to have sweetness in our lives. Ask yourself: Are you getting enough sweetness out of life that has nothing to do with food?
You’re human (and life is too dang short) to avoid sweets completely. Relax, slow down, savor your ice cream cone, your birthday cake! All foods can fit in a healthy diet. Healthy eating isn’t “perfect” eating. It’s about what you eat for the most part, over time.

The key is to be mindful of the amount and quality of of sugars you’re generally consuming and how food choices or emotions may be driving your cravings.

Have a question about sugar, need help getting to the root cause of your sugar cravings? Reach out!
Tanya