If I were to award a single food item with the title of ‘Fastest Way For Your Child or Yourself to Pack On The Pounds’, hands down the winner would be refined sugar.
We have been eating more and more sugar over the past 200 years, which has led to rising obesity numbers. Back in 1822 the average person ate only 6.3 lbs of sugar per year, compared to 130 lbs of sugar in 2012. That’s more than 20 times as much sugar in our modern diet! No wonder we are bigger than ever…
One of the reasons that your diet is filled with so much sugar is that some form of refined sugar is included in virtually every single processed food. This is yet another reason that it’s important to cut those processed and packaged convenience foods out of your diet.
Cutting sugar from your diet is easier said than done. Once it is a part of your daily diet, cravings strike, causing you to eat it even more frequently. But there is hope.
Here are 7 Ways To Curb Sugar Cravings – that’s probably part of your child’s weight gain problems:
1) Eat More Protein
A diet rich in protein keeps them full, satisfied and less likely to crave sweets. A great way to make sure that they are getting enough is to plan each meal and snack around a protein. Plan breakfast around eggs, lunch and dinner around baked chicken breast, and make snacks hard-boiled eggs or baked meatballs. Fresh deli sliced turkey or chicken is also a great snack option.
2) Avoid Artificial Sweeteners
One of the biggest fitness myths out there is the idea that calorie-free, artificially sweetened beverages don’t impact your fat loss results. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the truth is that the diet soda they are sipping is making it harder for them to lose weight. While the diet soda itself doesn’t contain calories, it has been proven to cause cravings for sugary foods. Put down the diet soda and instead pick up a refreshing bottle of spring water.
3) Steer Clear Of Saboteurs
The sad truth is that people in their life will try to sabotage their diet. KIDS DO NOT SHOP FOR THEMSELEVES! They will have to deal with that pushy person who insists they have a donut, the well-meaning family member who dishes up a bowl of ice cream, and the friend offers some home-baked cookies. The best avoidance strategy is to teach your child to sincerely thank the sugar-pusher for their gift, tell them they wish you could eat it, and then blame me – your trainer – as the bad guy who says that you need to cut back on sugar.
4) Try Dark Chocolate
For those moments when their sweet tooth is relentlessly and they are badgering you for something sweet, ditch the super-sugary candies and stick with a small square of very dark chocolate. Chocolate that is 70% or higher in cocoa content should be the only candy that you keep on hand. The benefit of the cocoa, in addition to the lowered sugar content, makes dark chocolate an occasionally justifiable treat.
5) Stick With Fruit
What’s sweet, colorful and comes in hundreds of flavors? Organic, seasonal, fresh fruit, of course! As you remove refined sugar from their life, feel free to add in some natural sugar by way of fresh, local fruit. It’s amazing how satisfyingly sweet fruit is – it’s truly nature’s candy.
6) Change Their Palate
As you begin to limit their intake of refined sugars, you’ll will soon find that their tolerance for sugar decreases. This means that something that didn’t taste sweet before – say a green apple – now has uncanny depths of sweetness. What’s happening is that their sweet receptors are becoming more finely tuned, now that you’re not overwhelming your palate with sickly-sweet refined sugar.
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