From saying no to sugar to not wanting it, and what has 100 to do with it
When will I stop wanting sugar? Or is it savoury for you?
Never?
If you like or have liked sugar, wanting to eat it is unlikely to magically vanish.
Sugar creates a biological reaction in your brain. Your brain will want more and is incredibly creative getting you to give it to it.
“You deserve it”
“You’ve been so good”
“One piece will not matter”
“Nobody will know” (like the only person that matters in all of this, you, will not notice 😊).
I am proposing something entirely different
Plan for always wanting sugar. Plan for telling yourself why you have chosen not to eat sugar in that occasion. Remember your whys.
If you expect it, it will not surprise you.
If it doesn’t surprise you, you will be prepared and have a strategy to have your own back on the decisions you have made.
To be honest, the cravings will change, evolve, and become less intense. Everyone is different as to when this happens.
Plan for it not to happen and let yourself be surprised when it happens.
Let yourself have the desire for sugar without eating it, 100 times.
The magic number is 100
Actually, there is no magic.
We can extinguish a biological reaction our body has to a stimulus by breaking the association we have created. Sugar is particularly tricky, because it creates a reward in our brain that conditions it to want more. We also create associations between sugar and social situations, e.i. eating desert at the end of a meal, cake for birthdays just to name a couple. If we stop providing sugar, process (not resist or avoid) the craving, our brain and body will understand that there is no point in trying. The cravings will diminish and feel less urgent.
We can reach a place where we do not care for sugar (or savoury) anymore. That is when the process becomes easy. If you are a non-smoker, how difficult is to say no to a cigarette?
The more you let yourself experience the craving, feel the desire (acknowledge it is there, allow the urge) instead of resisting it, avoiding it, or will-power yourself through it- will accelerate the whole process.
That is where 100 come sin. It is not a 100, it just means a lot of times. Plan for a 100 and I can promise you success. If it happens earlier, that is your bonus.
How to stop wanting sugar
It is easier to say no when we anticipate the desire, plan to say no to it, and plan in advance to process the craving, decide to experience it, feel it in our body.
My hardest problem has always been sugar. Not all. One in particular, Nutella.
It may be somethign else for you and it does not need to be sweet.
Feeling out of control can happen with any food, even with healthy snacks.
Yes, you can crave a carrot. The mechanism and feeling out of control are exactly the same. Yes, you may use carrots to avoid feeling the uncomfortable emotions life throws at us, if you are eating the carrot to distract yourself from something else.
Remember:
know cravings will happen
plan for them
plan what you will do
say no
process the urge
analyse why it has worked or why it hasn’t worked for you this time (what were you thinking)
repeat 100 times
