If you’ve ever tried to give something up, you know it can be hard.
But sugar is something else. We know eating too much of the sweet stuff can lead to everything from obesity to diabetes, but it’s just so damn moreish.
Hell, you’d probably find it easier giving up oxygen for the day than stop having two lumps in your morning cup of tea.
But American author Barry Friedman decided to give up sugar for the day. Then when he’d done that he did a month and after that he carried on sugar free for the whole year.
Friedman, who wrote the best-selling book ‘I Love Me More Than Sugar’, went on Abel James’ Fat Burning Man Podcast to explain why and how he detoxed off sugar.
Podcast host James was chatting about what makes sugar feel so addictive (and scientists reckon it’s more addictive than cocaine).
“Part of it is physiological, but a lot of it is mental as well,” James says. “You realise that you dump something like sugar that you have this inclination, or this little thing that’s tugging at you saying ‘I want a little bit of that candy, or cookie or this is the time of day I normally have that sweet fix’.
“So what do you do or recommend to people in the middle of getting rid of this stuff, but are still getting those cravings?”
Friedman, who now helps thousands of other people quit the sugary crack, has a simple way of doing it.
He says:
“It’s a mindset. People say they just want a little bite of something, I wish it could be that way. But honestly processed sugar is not designed for completion or satisfaction.
This thing (the brain) gets made very happy when it has something like that (sugar). The dopamine is released, we get that rush and we start feeling really good. The it’s about more. Moderation is a real toughie.
“If someone wants to go off it. Or if you want to try and eat less, every time you think you’re going to reach for something sweet, you don’t need it.
“It’s maybe habitual, it’s maybe boredom, it’s maybe emotions or loneliness – or any of the myriad of reasons we reach for something sweet, do this: drink two glasses of water and take a five minute walk.
“If you come back and still want it, then just eat a quarter of what you would have had. That’s the simple formula.”
“It’s something to jump into the interrupt the pattern, and it totally works.”
Host Abel James added: “The water is a fantastic one – or sometimes tea – or anything like that can interrupt that pattern.
“Sometimes even just doing a couple of push ups or a walk outside, or anything that just gets the blood flowing, it nourishes your brain and refreshes wherever you’re at and all of a sudden you’re like ‘oh, I definitely didn’t want that.'”
Friedman went on to explain that we’re always seeking a ‘state change’ whether that’s cheering ourselves up with something sugary or giving ourselves a caffeinated kick up the arse after lunch in the office.
“We’re seeking that a lot in this world. It’s maybe some bad news you heard or something you’re dealing with, too many responsibilities, but it’s really easy to learn the habit. Since birth we’re bribed, rewarded and punished with sugar. It has a real part in our vocabulary.
“But after doing the pattern interrupter you never go back to the ‘oh where’s that doughnut again’.”
