How to Cut Out Sugar and Processed Foods

One of the biggest reasons that people find so many benefits from a paleo/whole 30 is because they are eating real food.  If you want to up-level your health, learning how to cut out sugar and processed foods will be a GAME CHANGER. You don’t have to eat healthy food all the time, but learning how to minimize your sugar and processed foods is one of the best non-negotiable habits you can create.

I used to have awful sugar cravings. I would munch on chocolate daily. I couldn’t bake without eating the half the batter. I would be at a party and one cookie would set me off into eating 10 cookies! I felt like crap and I was tired of letting sugar have any control in my life so I cut out sugar for 90 days and it has given me so much freedom. 

I know so many people feel the same way and dread the holidays being surrounded by treats. So I share my story to tell you that IT IS possible to limit your urge to eat every cookie in sight.

Today I can eat one cookie and I don’t want another. I can have one bite of chocolate and stop there. I can sample a bite of dessert and not want more. I have NEVER been the person to eat just one bite. I am hungry girl and I eat A LOT.

How Did I Cut out My Sugar Intake ?

1. I Had to Know Why I Was Doing This – I know the damage sugar and processed foods does to my body. I know how it makes me feel. It makes me feel bloated, congested, and my skin breakouts. Sometimes I get super thirsty and other times I get a headache.
2. I Had to Feel the Benefits – I like to be in the right head-space. I have no desire to self-sabotage myself because I feel depressed, anxious, or want to feel numb. And also I know how much money I save by not buying these types of foods.
3. My why and benefits were just too good to ignore anymore. I just couldn’t knowingly choose the path of feeling like crap. Instead, I make a choice to eat dessert if I WANT it, and no other reason than that.

FYI – All foods are processed in some way, but in this case, I am specifically talking about packaged snack foods.  This includes both organic and non-organic.

Alright, let’s get educated on why and how you can cut out sugar today!

4 Benefits to Limiting Sugar and Packaged Snacks.

1. You save money.  – You want to know how a paleo lifestyle gets expensive?? Buying all the paleo snacks. And if you aren’t paleo, spending your money on chips, sugary cereal, cookies, isn’t cheap! You think they are so cheap, but it’s very easy to eat a lot and before you know it – two bags of chips are gone…. So yes you will save money.
2.  You won’t be hungry all the time. – My sugar addiction was bad last year. I was always eating and always craving something sweet.  It got annoying to be always eating.  Now I eat dinner and I don’t think about food the rest of the night. Before I snacked all night long….
3. Your digestion issues may clear up.   – For example, packaged foods like paleo nuts are very easy to overeat.  And they are taxing on the digestive system.  Its one thing to have a small handful, but to eat the entire bag over one day…that is a lot.  Its so easy to depend on these types of foods for fuel because it is EASY, but really you still end up with a messed-up gut for overeating snack foods!
4. Your skin will likely clear up.  – First, packaged foods are usually made with inflammatory oils. Not good food for the skin. Second, it’s easy to eat an entire package and that messes up our blood sugar. The food will turn right into glucose and mess up your blood sugar.  And imbalanced blood sugar is one of the main causes for breakouts. And like I mentioned above, digestion gets messed up which can cause breakouts too.  As you can see packaged foods, do no good for the skin. 

If those 4 reasons, aren’t enough reason to slowly ditch your intake of packaged foods.  I don’t know what is!!

But now you are like, okay, how do I start?  You might feel overwhelmed. You might feel like it’s impossible. Well I am here to tell you that it IS possible. It might be uncomfortable at first, but soon you will find it effortless to avoid the packaged snacks.

What Can you Eat?

I like to focus on what you can eat because hearing everything you cannot eat sounds restricting. When in fact, there is SO much you can eat. It might just take a bit more planning. Here are the foods you want to focus on eating: vegetables (any), meat (any), fruit (any), rice, rice pasta, quinoa, gluten-free grains, buckwheat, millet,  gf oats, olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, tahini, almond butter, nut butters, fresh dairy, eggs, yogurt (plain – less than 10g of sugar), cheese, vinegars, broth, chickpeas, black beans, lentils, legumes (any), mustards, spices, dried fruit, etc.  Simple, basic foods should be the building blocks of all your meals.

4 Steps to Cutting your Processed Snack Addiction.

Clear out the Kitchen.
Get rid of the wheat crackers, Reese’s peanut butter cups, tortillas, chips, pop-tarts, grain bars, frozen foods, boxed foods, etc. If you cannot get rid them, put them in a place where you don’t have easy access. You want to make the temptations easy to avoid. Maybe lock them up?

Choose your own plan of attack.

a. Hide the foods and practice doing the best you can for the next 60 days.  Giving yourself grace if you need to whip up a frozen pizza or boxed mac and cheese at the last minute.  Life gets crazy!! The goal is to figure out and explore how to make this fit in your life.

b. Commit to a full 60-day cleanse of all packaged foods. I am all or nothing! If am going to do this, it better be 100%.  You may want to join a whole 30 group for the extra accountability.

Both are great paths.  Think about what YOU need.  Heck you can do both! I suggest up to 90 days to really solidify removing your cravings, but 60 days is great too!

 Think about when you most often turn to packaged foods.

Next, you want to be prepared mentally when times get tricky. In order to change a habit, you need to plan. If you create a plan, for different scenarios than you don’t have to stress over it in the moment. You will know exactly what to do!

What is your trigger? Then create a plan to be prepared for that trigger.
Is it on a busy night after work?
Is it on the weekends?
Is it during 3pm at work?

Can you prep some cooked meals to put in the freezer? Perfect for busy nights after work.
Can you think of 3 crock pot meals to cook on the weekend? Perfect for cozy lazy weekend days.
Can you create bigger meals for breakfast and lunch? That way you don’t need a snack to get through the rest of the day.  Can you have fruit on hand for a quick energy?
Can you have backup ingredients in the freezer? Frozen veggies + frozen meat = an easy to whip up meal.

Create a list of non-thinking real food meals and cook them over and over so they become so easy.

The recipes you cook are easy because you do it all the time. Think about when you started to first cook. It was tricky because you had never done it before. Same with new recipes, they take a bit more brain power because its the first time!! That is why you MUST create a reservoir of recipes that are easy to cook. When your life is crazy, that last thing you want to do is find a new recipe and learn how to cook it.

My personal easy non-thinking meals include:
Paleo Pot Roast in the Slow Cooker
Chili
Tacos
Baked Chicken
Roasted Veggies
Sausage and Veggies Hash
Oatmeal + Nut Butter

Grab the Whole 30 Fast and Easy for more Ideas!!
Also check out my pin board for easy recipes to keep your back pocket.  and my post where I share 11 simple paleo meals to make in a pinch!

The more you cook real food meals, the easier it gets. 

Eat More Food and Cook in Bulk. 

Since you cannot snack, you need to be prepared by having food on hand! You also want to make sure you build BIG enough meals. Its actually difficult to eat enough food when you ditched the processed snacks. So build a large plate with protein, fat and carbs and play with what is enough food for you. Never cook for just one meal, but instead cook up enough to eat for at least a few meals. Store ready cooked meals in the freezer to eat when coming back from a long weekend.

Don’t expect to be an expert and get from A to Z over night!! It has taken my over 5 years to get where I am at!!! It might feel scary, but its worth a try.

Is it worth it to spend 90 days out of your life when you can feel SO much better. Looking back, those 90 days flew by and was such a small part of my 2018. You deserve to give yourself 90 days.

You will never know how good you can feel and how much freedom you can have – unless you try.

xoxo
Chelsea Jolene

Ps- Post a comment below and let me know why you want to quit sugar for 90 days in 2019. <3