10 Day No Sugar Rules
SUGAR is America’s crack! There are many anatomical and chemical changes that happen in the body and brain when we consume sugar – making our bodies crave more and more – putting us into a downward spiraling tailspin towards weight gain, sluggishness, unstable blood sugar levels, cravings, headaches, bloating, fatigue and increased chance of developing a lifestyle disease (ie – type 2 diabetes).
SO, if you are COMMITTED and READY to make these changes for YOU; together over the next 10 days, our goal is to:
- Break bad habits that have currently added more and more sugar into our lives
- Learn how to find natural, sustainable ways to satisfy our sweet tooth
- Learn about how sugar is “snuck” into the foods we eat
- Learn how sugar and artificial sweeteners effect our bodies and feel how much better we function without it
According to the USDA, the average american consumes 150 to 170 POUNDS of sugar every year. This translates to about 22 – 28 teaspoons per day.
We are not average!!!
You are receiving the rules for this challenge because you are committed and have taken the honorary pledge to go for the next 10 days without added sugar! Feel free to share this with family & friends and have them join us!!!
I, ________________ commit to eating a clean, healthy diet with no added sugar, refined sugar or sugar substitute from May 16th – 25th.
I am doing this as a challenge and commitment to myself, knowing that it will change my habits and improve my health.
Please keep in mind that if reducing the amount of sugar you eat on a regular basis is your goal, it takes a full 21 days to change a behavior of establish a new habit; HOWEVER, you will notice a significant difference after the 10 days if you follow the rules. YOU can do ANYTHING for 10 days!!
NO SUGAR CHALLENGE RULES:
#1 – No ADDED natural sugars or sweeteners (yes folks, that means none in your coffee). This includes honey, syrup, coconut sugar, Stevia, sugar in the raw, xylitol, etc.
#2 – NO refined sugar. If a food item has more than 5g of sugar, do not eat it! (Watch for things you would not think of like bread, salad dressing, condiments, cereals, crackers). It is best to stay away from processed food and/or whatever your kids are snacking on.
#3 – NO artificial sweeteners. I could have and will write another entire blog on this! Some artificial sweeteners are 200X sweeter than sugar – causing your body to crave more sugar. Plus, MOST are chemicals. Stay away from things like acesulfame potassium (also called acesulfame K), aspartame, saccharin, sucralose, neotame. This also means absolutely NO soda!
#4 – Sugars occur naturally in food – especially fruits and dairy. This is fine; it is a good general rule of thumb to keep fruit intake to 3 servings a day.
Now, let’s be real…the #1 most asked question I have gotten coming from this challenge is about COFFEE, WINE & VODKA!
This challenge is what YOU make of it for YOU! But here is the deal.
- COFFEE: no added sweetener. Maybe you ditch coffee for 10 days (yikes!) or try it black. I make mine with almond milk and add some vanilla extract, cocoa powder and/or cinnamon.
- WINE: I am not one to want to give up my wine either, ladies! If you MUST have a glass of wine during the 10 day challenge – stick to ONE glass of dry red wine. Whites and sweet reds are much higher in sugar. I will go into more detail on this over the next 10 days.
- VODKA: Vodka actually contains 0 sugars. However, when you drink alcohol, your body makes metabolizing it a priority over all other metabolic processes (ie – fat/calorie burn). When hard liquor becomes and even bigger problem is when it is combined with mixers (most being extremely high in sugar).
I am super excited for you all to join me on this journey! Grab an accountability partner, stay plugged in by following and commenting on posts and blogs, share info with your friends, ask questions and report back consistently over the 10 days on how you are doing!!!
Post your questions here under comments or on my Facebook page.
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