Do you know how much sugar you consume each day?
Take the challenge of following this 7 day No Sugar Meal Plan as well as following the steps below!
When I started paying attention and reading labels, I was shocked to learn just how much sugar there was in many of my favorite foods and drinks.
The good news is that a little information can help you make better choices that can help you lose weight and get healthier in a way that feels easy and effortless.
Sugar is something we all love. But the sad truth is that it has no redeeming nutritional value – no vitamins, minerals, or fiber – just empty calories.
To live the happy, healthy, slim life I desire, I must pay attention to what I eat. And while I don’t count calories or grams of sugar, I have a pretty good idea of the approximate values for many of the foods I eat and drink regularly, as well as how much sugar I can tolerate a day.
Did you know that the USDA suggests that the amount of added sugar in a typical 2,000-calorie diet should be no more than ten teaspoons, and the American Heart Association suggests that women eat fewer than six teaspoons of added sugar a day? When you compare these numbers with the amounts of sugar in some foods you eat and drink, you will probably be shocked too! (Each teaspoon of sugar = 4 grams = 16 calories)
If we were living by these sugar recommendations, most of the country’s obesity-related issues would disappear along with tons of dropped pounds!
Steering clear of added sugar is a simple way to clean up your diet.
I believe in making little changes to your diet over time instead of taking on radical Biggest Loser-style makeovers. I know it’s not nearly as dramatic, but it’s realistic. Big changes are hard to make and/or stick with, which is one of the reasons most diets fail. Little changes, slow and steady over time, can provide impressive weight loss results and health benefits.
For example, in the past few months, I’ve been working on reducing added sugar, eating more fruits and vegetables, and getting eight glasses of water. (Nothing earth-shattering here.) But guess what? My clothes are suddenly loose, so I hopped on the scale the other day (not something I do very often) for a reality check. I’m down about 8 pounds since I last checked in. (Without any pain or suffering or feelings of deprivation!) How cool is that?
Are you ready to lose some weight and feel better without extreme measures? Here are some practical, easy steps to reduce sugar in your diet. If you turn a few of these changes into a new healthy habit, there’s a good chance that you’ll be swimming in your skirts and slacks in a few weeks too!
10 EASY WAYS TO CUT BACK ON YOUR SUGAR INTAKE
1. Limit yourself to 1 sweet treat of <200 calories daily. Dessert and sweet treats should be a small percentage (10%) or less of your daily calorie intake. If you are in the habit of eating dessert several times a day, this one change will make a big difference.
I first thought about it when conversing with a friend reflecting on his summer camp years. Back then, he was allotted one treat each day and spent most of the day trying to figure out what to select! I immediately thought, oh my gosh, what a difference from what I witness these days – kids reaching into the fridge for a soda or juice box to wash down their cookies and gummy bears! You don’t have to deprive yourself of all added sugar, but you do have to get real if you want to be healthy, happy, and slim.
2. Decrease the amount of sugar you use in baking. You can usually cut the amount of sugar by at least 25% in most recipes without noticing much of a difference. On a sugar website, I found the following suggestions:
For cookies and cakes: Use 1/2 cup sugar for each cup of flour in the recipe.
For muffins and quick bread: Use one tablespoon to 1/4 cup sugar for each cup of flour in the recipe.
For yeast bread (s): Use one teaspoon of sugar for each cup of flour in the recipe.
It might take a little while for your taste buds to adjust to these lower sugar levels, but over time your old sweets will end up tasting too sweet!
3. Switch ketchup for salsa wherever you can. Ketchup has about 4 grams of sugar in each teaspoon, whereas salsa usually has none.
4. Switch to plain yogurt instead of the fruit-flavored kind. I know plain yogurt can taste sour until you adjust to it. And plain yogurt, all on its own, has a fair amount of sugar (about 7 – 12 grams), which comes from lactose in the milk. But most fruit-flavored yogurts are sugar bombs with 12 – 25 added grams of sugar (3 – 6 teaspoons). So switch to plain yogurt and drizzle it with just a bit of honey or maple syrup to reduce your daily sugar intake.
5. Substitute sparking water with a squeeze of lemon for just one of your daily sodas. Okay, if you depend on soda, I’m not suggesting you give it up cold turkey. That would be cruel. But I am suggesting you work to slowly wean yourself off it (and I’m not suggesting switching to the diet stuff, either.) Just replacing one 12-ounce soda per day with sparkling water or club soda will save you ten teaspoons of sugar!
6. Trade peanut butter for your jam. Having one tablespoon of peanut butter on your toast in place of the same amount of jam will reduce your sugar by about 7 grams.
7. Skip the commercial granola bar. Have a few Triscuits with hummus instead. Most commercial granola bars have 11 – 16 grams of sugar (3 to 4 teaspoons).
8. Don’t add sugar to your food and beverages. Okay, this may go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, to cut down on added sugar, put away the sugar bowl. Learn to drink your coffee without sugar and stop sprinkling the stuff on your cereal. Have sliced bananas or berries on your cereal, and try a natural sweetener, like stevia, in your coffee.
9. Switch to a low-sugar cereal if you eat it for breakfast. Many kinds of cereal contain 8 – 15 grams of added sugar. (That’s equal to 2 -4 teaspoons per serving.) Switch to one that has 3 grams or less. Fiber One, Shredded Wheat, Oatmeal, Kashi go Lean, and Cheerios all would qualify.
10. Swap a fancy coffee beverage for something a little more restrained. Did you know that a 16-ounce Vanilla Frappuccino has 64 grams of added sugar (16 teaspoons) and a 16-ounce flavored latte 34 grams? Go for the plain iced latte and save 30 – 50 extra grams of sugar! Learn to enjoy the bitterness (it is one of our five tastes, after all), add a little stevia, or sweeten it yourself with just 1 – 2 teaspoons of sugar.
I told you it was easy to cut back on your sugar intake! By avoiding the added sugar from soda, baked goods, sweetened breakfast cereals, and fruit drinks, you can reduce more than 80% of the added sugar from the average person’s diet.
And if you think of this as a game, working to figure out where to reduce and/or eliminate the added sugar from your diet, it can be a healthy form of fun!
TAKE THE CHALLENGE AND DO THE 7 DAY NO SUGAR ADDED PROGRAM!!