How to stop eating sugar forever

Last week I wrote about how I created the habit of taking the stairs.

Part of the making of this habit – the BIGGEST part – was taking the stairs, every day,  no matter what.

Because doing it every day is the only way it could become a forever-habit.

And that’s where most of us get thrown off course.

I see it happen all the time, and it happens to me too.

We don’t do the action DAILY.

And the biggest reason we don’t do it daily, is because we bite off more than we can chew.

We decide to do something that’s too complicated, or too time consuming, or that we really don’t like.

So how can you stick with your decided habit daily?

Make it Simple, Short, and Somewhat fun.

Let’s take cutting out sugar as an example.

It’s something a lot of us say we want to do, but very few actually do it.

Now, don’t get me wrong, cutting sugar an amazing thing to do… if you can pull it off.

But cutting out all sugar, all at once, can be hugely complicated.

To get it done, you’ll need to take the time to read all the labels of all the foods you buy.

And when you do this, you’ll realize that there’s sugar in almost everything.

Bread, crackers, juice, cereals, specialty teas and coffees, granola bars, protein bars,…

Then you’ll want to pull your hair out, not knowing what to eat.

And you’ll feel totally deprived when watching everyone eating all the things you’ve cut out.

And soon you may find yourself, curled up in a ball, crying about all the foods you miss.

Cutting out sugar all out once isn’t simple, short or at all fun.

In fact it can really suck.

Not a great scenario for a habit you want to keep.

Now what if you cut out sugar, but in smaller steps?

What if you started with just changing your dessert?

For example: Try a new fruit for dessert instead of your regular cookie, cake, pie, or Little Debbie.

This is a simple switch.

You won’t need to spend much time on this, all you’ll need to do is buy a fruit that you’re curious about and not buy that sugary treat.

And exploring new flavors and textures can be really fun.

Who knows, you may just discover you love mangosteens or chom choms!

Once you’ve made cutting out sugary desserts into a habit, you can build on it.

You can come up with another simple, short, and somewhat fun, idea.

Like drinking a smoothie for breakfast instead of your regular cereal or toast.

Or having a couple of squares of 78% dark chocolate with your afternoon tea instead of cookies.

Or trying out pure nut butters instead of your childhood favorite, Jiffy.

Or taking your tea and coffee without added sugar, or with half the sugar.

There are literally hundreds of ways of reducing the sugar you eat.

Be creative with it!

WARNING:  Focus on one simple, short, and somewhat fun step at a time… until it becomes a habit.

And before you know it, you’ll have built a solid foundation of successful habit upon successful habit.

Until one day, you’ll realize you’ve cut out sugar completely.

Just because you kept each step simple, short, and somewhat fun.

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So, what’s your big goal, and what’s the first step you can take to get you there?

For me, my big huge goal is becoming procrastination-free.

Yes, it’s a big one.

And my reason for this goal is so I can write more and contribute more time to my family, friends, and business.

So, as a first step, this week I started scheduling 10 minutes of time each day to write.

Ironically, what’s been happening is that I want to keep writing longer than 10 minutes.

It’s simple, it’s short, and it’s somewhat fun.

And I’m doing it!

Keep moving forward my friends,

Debbie

PS If you don’t already subscribe to this blog, here’s where you can sign up to receive it each week in your inbox.  Looking forward to welcoming you the community.

PPS Happy Thanksgiving! Take some time this weekend to be grateful for all you have, including the simple stuff like clean water and fresh air. 

And I want to just take this opportunity to thank you, for taking the time out of your busy life to read this blog, you’re awesome!