How do I eat less sugar?

• trying to eat less sugar made me want it more
• Eat Less Sugar Strategy… that’s delicious
• cautionary tale that would have saved me from wasting YEARS dieting

Before I started dieting, I didn’t really think about sugar.

Even on a Saturday, after:

vacuuming 3 rows of seats in our station wagon
shamWOW-ing the dashboard
turtle-waxing the wheels
soaping up the exterior faux wood-grain veneer
& hosing it down…

I’d walk my pocket money up a few blocks to the bank on Mary Street, while my brother’s descended upon the store next door for candy.

Sure, I would’ve loved some sour soothers or gummy bears from Beckers… but the idea of banking my hard work was so much sweeter.

Then I gained weight.

Went on a diet.

And wanted sugar All. The. Time.

How I tried to eat less sugar

I had no idea how to reach a healthy weight!

So I’d lace up my Nikey trainers and run between 10 and 20 kilometers each day.
Only eat fruit before noon.
Pack an iceberg lettuce salad for lunch.
And move food around my plate with a fork, to give the illusion I was eating dinner.

Trying to eat less sugar made me want it more

After I got healthy I learned that over-exercising and under-eating:

• slows down your metabolism
• primes your body to store energy (as fat)
• & makes you obsess over food and CRAVE sugary treats

Which explains why I was 30 pounds overweight and absolutely certain I was addicted to food.

Why does your (genius) body shift into SURVIVAL mode and bombard you with messages that PROMPT you to eat?

It wants to keep you alive.

What happened when I tried to eat less sugar

After days of hardly eating anything, I’d break my diet.

…It could be as little as one extra bite.

But that bite bugged me.

And I worried about it.

Also, each time I slipped, it shocked me.

My entire identity was based on ONE thing: I was determined.

Devastated, I’d gear into, what my client in Sydney calls: Last Supper Thinking.

You know, when you say to yourself:

In reality, overeating didn’t help me eat less sugar

For me, overeating was a self-destructive coping mechanism.

It got me building bad habits between diets which caused my overeating to escalate into bingeing and then purging.

(Similar to how I ended up drinking a case of diet pop each day during the same 10 year period my eating was disordered. Oh my!)

Clearly it was more important to me to prove I had the determination to stick to my diet… than actually lose weight.

But being overweight isn’t a character trait!

For years I thought the extra pounds I carried around was a placard announcing I was weak and lacked willpower.

Now I know I simply had:

terrible information
&
was using self-defeating strategies to lose weight

Eating less sugar is not about discipline

Eating less sugar (and all the other foods I blacklisted) is about building healthy habits.

So let’s get to it!

Here’s how to eat less sugar—or replace any habit with a HEALTHY alternative—in 3 steps.

Eat less sugar Step 1

Stop saying: “Tomorrow will be different.”

I had 10 years of tomorrow’s before I realized that weight loss is about getting used to making healthier choices more often.

AKA building habits!

So rather than sabotage the day after a “mistake” my goal became salvaging the day by making my next choice one I felt good about.

The first time I did it, this new approach felt weird.

Even WRONG!

…Like I was lazy for not punishing myself.

But after I woke up the next day and hadn’t binged or purged after a “mistake,” I felt… POWERFUL.

I knew I was carving out a lifestyle that wouldn’t be a secret and one I could feel good about.

#MakeTodayCount

Eat less sugar Step 2

Reflect on your previous week

When my eating was disordered, the moment I ate something I regretted, I’d continue eating and then throw my energy into writing out a new (and stricter) diet and promise myself I’d never eat sugar, or break my diet, again!

I’d even tell myself it’s good I made a mistake, because I’d write out my “new diet” with plans to eat even less. That way I’d lose weight faster… and not just catch up but surpass the weight I would have lost had I stuck to my old diet.

Of course that never worked.

I’d be off my new diet even faster, back to eating sugar and other forbidden foods and yup, planning a new diet.

But there’s so much wisdom in pressing pause and looking back to spot patterns.

Then you can work with the facts.

How many treats did you eat last week?

Take a moment to reflect.

*

*

Got a number?

Good!

Please note:
If you have no idea how many treats you had last week (maybe because you’ve been bingeing and purging?) you could choose a number like 7.

The equivalent to one sweet per day is a good starting point.

Last step:

Eat less sugar Step 3

Give yourself a treat allowance

After reflecting on how many treats you had last week, aim to eat equal or less this week.

If you had 7 in total, set a goal to eat 6 this week.

If you had 25 in total, aim to eat 24 this week.

And if you had 3 and felt terrible about it. Try to have two and ENJOY them.

Rather than saying NO MORE SUGAR ever

And then eating tons. Try a healthy-happy medium approach.

Then slowly work down to the number of treats you feel good about.

Soon you’ll reach your goal.

(I’m doing a star jump for you and throwing glitter.)

My Treat Allowance

Giving yourself a Treat Allowance, is a work SMARTER, not harder approach to eating less sugar.

Another distinguishing factor?

It works!

I’ve been using it for years—ever since I recovered.

But I never put using a Treat Allowance into words, until I started talking to other people about it.

These days I’m happy with 1 to 2 treats a week. And I’d say up to 3 makes occasional treats part of a healthy routine.

When I asked Alex he said 4 treats a week was healthy.

Though he doesn’t eat (or desire) that many.

Like everything, it’s all about what you get into the habit of eating.

I never feel like I’m depriving myself.

During the last 21+ years I’ve been healthy, how I eat sugar has looked different

Though I’ve been roughly the same weight (based on my annual doctor’s appointment when I step on the scale).

I used to eat a few squares of dark chocolate every day.

But then we did a 30 day NO SUGAR CHALLENGE and after that I found ketchup, etc. super sugary!

So I started appreciating the natural sweet taste of carrots, peppers, apples, oranges and so on.

Also, I find food that’s naturally high in fat, like avocados, sour cream, a full-fat latte, peanut butter, etc. much more satisfying than anything sugary.

If I had to pick one lunch for the rest of my life… this would be it! Plus a latte (to make it ROUGHLY balanced).

And yes, that’s a whole banana.

(I was scared to eat a whole banana for years.)

Eating less sugar is all about figuring out what works for you

The key is to:

Start where you are
& cut back by one sweet a week
until you’re eating a more moderate amount of sugar.

Why you’re poo-pooing this Eat Less Sugar Strategy

And why you should NOT!!!

If having a Treat Allowance sounds blasé and boring.

Or it’s just far too Holly Hobby, daaarhling… because you’re used to the idea of dieting being difficult.

And you’re romanced by the idea of dramatic change. (I was for sure.)

Ask yourself:

“How long have I been trying to lose weight by summoning willpower?”

For me it was 10 years.

10 years I could’ve been doing WAY more exciting things…

…Like meeting a friend for coffee and eating an absolutely allowance-worthy treat from a super-cute, vegan-friendly coffee shop like Wanda’s Pie in the Sky.

Wanda’s is in the ❤️ of Toronto’s Bohemian Community called Kensington Market.

And it was like minus 20 when we took these photos. Sun can be deceiving!

Why this Eat Less Sugar Strategy Works

When I shifted gears and focused on gently improving my habits, things came together pretty quickly.

Sane and simple works!

The best part?

The journey was just as SWEET as the destination because there were thrilling milestones all the way.

And each is rewarding because if you’re patient enough to get over the hump of trying something new, you get that wonderful feeling of investing in a strategy that’s sustainable.

It just feels so good to have a plan
& experience it actually working.

Rather than being on and off and off and on diets… gaining more weight and bad habits and missing out on living.

Still not willing to try this Eat Less Sugar Strategy?

Don’t skip over this cautionary tale:

Where do you want to be in 150 days from TODAY?

Eat less Sugary Strategy in action

Ok, so here’s what it looks like.

Once you decide how many treats you plan to eat, you’re ready to start your week.

Then as you go through the next 7 days and find yourself in sugar situations you can decide how you want to spend your Treat Allowance.

Like when I was a Grade 1 teacher at Forest Hill Public School in Toronto, it felt like it was one of my student’s birthday every day! There was always something to celebrate and the cupcakes kept coming in.

And these weren’t ordinary cupcakes.

Can cupcakes be called bespoke? Because these were one-of-a-kind and simply divine.

But the Treat Allowance choice was easy when I asked myself:

“Do I want to have a cupcake on a Tuesday morning… or a piece of cheesecake when we have friends for dinner on Saturday Night?”

#DelayedGratification

This Eat less Sugar Strategy works everywhere

When you have a Treat Allowance, you’re less likely to want to spend it on the:

• stale cookie you find when cleaning out your kid’s lunch box
• store-bought tea biscuits (sell-by date 2031) passed around at your staff meeting
• coughed on sugared sausage samples served in corrugated cupcake paper at your members-only warehouse club
• foiled candy that comes with your cappuccino at your favorite coffee house (every morning!)
• soft-serve cone from the ice cream truck (paid for by the real estate company) parked outside the new condo building on your block

Know what I mean?

Eating unplanned sweets unintentionally adds up

Sugary treats are everywhere.

Even our pharmacies are full of them!

But when you choose a treat and look forward to it, that decadent dessert just tastes so much better!

One of my clients orders truffles from France and enjoys one a night. (Her idea.)

Beautiful!
If you deprive yourself of something, you're going to crave it more.— Megan Markle
It’s far less sweet food than she was eating before, a fraction of what she was previously spending and she enjoys this hand-crafted chocolate much more.

Being “all” or “nothing” keeps you “on” and “off” diets.

Moderation is the key to unlocking your H 🙂 PPY weight.

And don’t eat a half-assed treat.

Pick something you LOVE.

Eat Less Sugar Strategy leads to real change

If you start this Eat Less Sugar Strategy on Valentine’s Day…

(Which is the sweetest gift you can give to yourself.)

…or whatever day you’re reading this post, what number of sweets will you be down to by April 1st?

(Or 7 weeks from today.)

Even better?

You’ll find this Eat Less Sugar Strategy (aka: healthy mindset) seeps into other parts of your life. From gradually adding more fruit and vegetables to your meals to cutting back on exercise (if you’re doing more than the healthy 3 twenty-five minute workouts per week).

Change is always internal first.
Then you see the external results.

Get started on this Eat Less Sugar Strategy!

You don’t need to have a beautiful past to have a beautiful future.

Everybody can eat less sugar!

All this talk of treats made me pop into Timmie’s dog shop to get Rocky in on the action.

This rainbow heart was HUGE.

(And despite the dog ingredients… I kinda wanted to eat it! I mean, it really does look good.)

And perfect for Valentine’s Day.

When Rocky took a bite and cracked it in half, I saved the rest for another day while he was occupied with the crumbs.

Even dogs can benefit from the Eat Less Sugar Strategy

Dogs are actually more interested in the quantity of treats they get, than the size of each treat.

So I usually break his cookies into a few pieces.

You can eat less sugar and enjoy it more

And the heart-shaped cookie (below) I used as a prop for this post?

That adorable frog?

Or the ladybug!?

(Alex calls them Ladybirds, as does all of Britain.)

I’m looking forward to eating one of these cookies on Valentine’s Day.

Eat Less Sugar on Valentine’s Day

Another way to cut back on sugar is to think of all the other decadent things you can do to celebrate Valentine’s Day… or any day of the year.

Here’s some ideas:

Get lost in a book
Block off 2 hours to be left alone to read that book you ordered but haven’t cracked open (I have tons of those). Buying a book isn’t the same as reading it!

Soak up some time for yourself
Turn off your phone, play some classical music and have a bubble bath; my niece is all about the classical music—last year it was rap!

I gave Alex this record player a few Valentine’s Days ago and we found this record on a dog walk.

Try a gourmet recipe
Find a sugar-free recipe that’s full of whole foods and a little bit special.

Often my clients say they enjoy something like a smoked salmon bagel better than a sugary dessert.

And I gotta agree.

Plant some art
How about painting some pebbles with hopeful messages to leave around your hood? This is fun especially with kids. Old nail-polish you have kicking around is a fantastic substitute for paint.

Post a Thinking of you box
Put a care package together and send it to someone who needs some sunshine.

A friend of mine just surprised me with this gift. Snail mail is the best!

Make Today Count

How many treats did you have in the 7 days leading up to today?

Write that number on a post-it note and pop it in your purse.

And have fun choosing how you’ll spend your treats this week.

Look forward to them, make them special and enjoy without guilt.

Then slowly decrease the number of sweets you have over the next few weeks until you hit a healthy number.

Get off the “all” or “nothing” roller coaster and build a lifestyle you love.

Build healthy eating and exercise habits. A healthy weight will follow.

Next Steps

Simply by giving yourself permission to eat treats makes you desire them less often. It’s human nature to want what you can’t have! Empower yourself by acknowledging that willpower doesn’t work. Unlocking your H 🙂 PPY weight is all about building healthy habits. And that includes enjoying occasional treats.

Where you do find yourself suddenly faced with sweet food you weren’t expecting?

What’s your favorite way to spend Valentine’s Day that doesn’t involve sugar?

Let me know in the comments below.

And I hope you’ll try the Eat Less Sugar Strategy.

You’ll find yourself eating fewer treats and enjoying them much more.

Be kind to yourself!

Happy Valentine’s Day.