1. I removed some of these highly inflammatory foods from my diet. Again, it does not need to be done cold turkey but the more of these you can remove the better. Remember, it’s not forever. It’s simply for a short period of time until you can restore your gut bacteria to good balance. Removing foods like alcohol, hydrogenated oils, gluten, wheat, dairy, fried foods, sugar, artificial sweeteners/flavors, etc. This is not an extensive list but being able to slowly remove some of these foods can truly help you detect and heal your body so that you can ultimately slow down these sugar cravings.
I've found that if you can remove inflammatory foods for anywhere from 1-3 weeks it can help with this process. I personally removed all of these for 2 weeks (except for dark chocolate when my cravings were really bad). Having that little piece of sugar really helped me to wean off of my cravings without feeling restricted.
2. I changed many of my lifestyle factors that were causing my body to have stress. I committed to sleeping 8 hours at night again, I removed many major stressors from my life and started walking or doing low/moderate exercise a few days per week (instead of intense hour long workouts each day). I also removed as many toxins as possible. I switched to more natural personal care products and make up and stopped using over the counter meds as often as possible.
3. I introduced many anti-inflammatory foods into my diet. Introducing good bacteria from whole foods can help combat the bad bacteria in your gut. I personally started eating foods like, kombucha, Kefir, flaxseed, avocado, bone broth, fresh veggies, coconut oil, and olive oil every single day.
4. I got on a high quality probiotic supplement. A probiotic supplement is a great option to get your gut back in balance however, would urge you to not solely rely on this method. You can receive essential probiotics through whole foods; however, this is a great complement to that.
5. I stopped restricting myself. I recommend using a natural sugar substitutes like stevia and/or eating dark chocolate or other sweet alternatives like a chocolate chip cookie recipe or a chocolate coconut cookie recipe when you have cravings. (You can find these and more on my website) Knowing that I have this option and that I'm not restricting myself from sugar completely really helped me to make this process smoother.
I hope that some of these tips I shared help you to overcome your own sugar addictions and remember that this is NOT your fault. Now that you have the knowledge I hope you can break the cycle of addiction like I did.
When you heal your body and restore balance to the inside of your body, not only will the cravings become much more minimal, but the outside of your body will benefit as well!
If you need more help in this process feel free to reach out to me for personal 1:1 coaching or to get involved in one of my online programs where we walk through this process together. www.jackiepetersonfitness.com