Do you consider yourself to have a sweet tooth or a craving for sweet treats and sugary snacks? 

Perhaps having that sweet treat is your way to muster up some more energy for the day, or maybe it’s just a way for you to satisfy your cravings. 

While it’s so important to treat ourselves, our cravings could end up being our worst enemy when it comes to losing weight.

If you feel sluggish or tired after indulging in your favorite sweet treats, or if you’re finding that you’re carrying extra weight that you just can’t seem to lose, here are some ways to take control of your cravings so that they can no longer control you and your weight loss journey.

Identify where you’re getting your sugar.

The first and most important start to taking control of your sugar cravings is to target where you are getting your sugar so that you can start to reduce it. 

Reducing your sugar intake is key to burning more fat. The more sugar you’re consuming, the less likely you are to burn the fat that you want. 

As Americans, we love our sugar and because of that the food industry has been able to use that to their advantage to load up the sugar in almost everything that we eat. 

This can make it a lot more difficult for us to reduce our sugar intake since sugar can be hidden in a lot of the foods that we believe to be healthy for us. 

This includes foods that are labeled as low-fat, granola bars, peanut butter, cereals, yogurt, and so much more. 

Read the labels.

Given the fact that sugar is in nearly everything that we eat, one useful tip to help you identify how much sugar you’re consuming is by reading the labels. 

As a general rule of thumb, four grams of sugar equals around a teaspoon of sugar. The USDA recommends no more than 10 teaspoons of sugar a day, so as you’re reading the labels, keep that formula in the back of your mind to help you monitor your sugar intake.  

This can help you identify the areas that you’re getting excess sugar and where to cut back so that you can start to cut down and get the results that you’re working hard for.

Are you realizing that you’re getting the bulk of your sugar from soft drinks, the dressings that you use for your salads, maybe even your choice of condiments? As you start to implement this step, you’ll be amazed at how many things you tend to overlook that may contain more sugar than you think. But the moment you start to cut back on those sources, you’ll slowly start to see and feel the difference that this makes on your weight loss journey.

Remember, sugar cravings are natural!

It’s important to remember that sugar cravings are natural. Our taste buds were meant to enjoy the foods that have sugar in them including natural sources like sweet potatoes, berries and various fruits and vegetables.

It’s important to treat ourselves from time to time so that we aren’t restricting our body, causing us to want to consume more sugar than we already are. 

Although making these changes will be difficult in the beginning, as you start to identify those excess sources of sugar in your diet and start to eliminate them, the sugar cravings will start to lessen.

The cycle of your cravings can be broken and you will be able to make the progress that you want. All it takes are these small, but simple changes to help you reach your goals.

 

Looking for some more tips and tools on how to start reducing those cravings and the amount of sugar that you’re eating everyday? Be sure to tune in weekly to my podcast as I continue to share more advice that’s going to help you live your healthiest, most fulfilled life.