When you are slowly converting yourself into vegan for healthy purposes, and if you happen to be a junk food lover especially chocolates and candies, then you should think about a way to slowly cut down the consumption.
You can try to get vegan replacement and substitution for this as well if you are not having a good feeling for giving them up altogether. Here are some suggestions that you can refer to if you are craving these types of foods.
My Addiction
I have been overweight most of my life, and I have spent more of my life dieting than not. After so long, whatever program I am on seems to stop working and I am on a quest for the latest and greatest road to health.
The more I searched, however, the more convinced I became that I need to focus on total health and wellness, not just my weight. And the more I learned, the more I became convinced that sugar, in all forms, was the MAIN reason I could not lose weight.
Once I broke my addiction to sugar, the weight came off easily and – even more important – it has stayed off. Also, after I stopped deadening my taste buds with sugar I found out that I actually enjoyed and craved healthy food, not junk food and sweets. That pleased and surprised me!
How Did You Develop An Addiction To Sugar?
People are born with a sweet tooth. It is natural to crave the easy energy that sugar provides, and as long as we get an adequate amount of good, natural sugars from fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and even healthy proteins, we may stay healthy. The problems begin when we are exposed to more sugar than we need, and when we start to eat less wholesome foods in greater amounts.
Your Addiction to Sugar is Fueled by Hidden Sugar
Sometimes, the excess sugar we take comes in the form of foods that we think are good for us. Processed foods, including regular pasta, parboiled rice, and even packaged potatoes contain the kind of sugar that is best left behind.
So do salad dressings, cereals, and even baby formula! The secret to ending an addiction to sugar lies in the glycemic index, which measures the effect various foods have on our blood sugar levels.
Some foods, like soft drinks, candy, and sugary desserts are obviously high on the scale, while others, like beans, whole grains, proteins, and green vegetables take longer to break down into sugars.
Eating only low glycemic foods for as little as two to three weeks, and then gradually adding healthy sources of natural sugar, like fruit and high glycemic index vegetables, can help end an addiction to sugar.
How To Break Your Addiction To Sugar
There is a lot of information available on how to break your addiction to sugar. It can be challenging because sugar is so common in the foods we eat.
I also find that once I get the taste of something sweet in my mouth I crave food all day. But I found that if my first meal has NO SUGAR meaning NOT EVEN FRUIT or processed foods with hidden sugar, but instead something like a veggie omelet or potato mashed with spinach, I don’t have any cravings for sugar or anything else. I’ve never felt so un-hungry in my life since I stopped having a sweet breakfast.
Here are some further methods that you can try to break your craving for sugar.
Drink Water
One method on which all experts agree is that you should drink plenty of water. It fools your body into thinking it is not hungry plus there is no sugar at all in water. Cut out white foods such as pasta and sandwich bread, because these are really sugar products in a different form. Whole wheat bread and brown rice allow for positive carbohydrate effects without creating cravings.
Eat More Vegetables
Eat vegetables in their original form such as carrots from the produce section instead of from a can. Similarly, eat real fruits like apples instead of their processed counterparts in the form of juices. Read labels while shopping, and avoid processed food and products with excess sugar.
Learn the different names of sugar so you can identify them on the ingredient list. Also, by eating a balanced diet and getting the proper nutrition from your foods you will naturally crave less sugar.
Consume Fruits That Rich With Sugar
You can try to eat more fruits as most of the fruits are enriched with sugar. These are ideal sugar substitutes where you can have enough sugar to fulfill your taste bud and at the same time keep a healthy habit.
Fruit can eventually use to replace other sweets and you should choose to eat fruit since they contain a lot of sugar and once you use the fruit you are going to start craving for fruit instead of junk food.
At the time you crave for sugar, you can take an apple, banana, or a handful of berries and eat. You can also eat oatmeal by mixing them with berries. Or you can use honey to sweeten things instead of sugar. But you need to know that vegan is prohibited for taking honey. If you are vegetarian, then it is alright for you to do so.
Get No Calorie Sweetener
If you like to drink coffee, you may put no-calorie sweetener such as Splenda in your coffee since Splenda has been examined for many years in other countries and they are totally safe to eat.
However, in case you are doing your cooking with Splenda, you would need to know what is the correct proportion that you need to add in you cooking since if you add too much and your cooking is going to taste awkward.
Consume More Fibrous Food
You can also try to eat more fibrous food such as whole-grain food, whole wheat or oatmeal, lentils, a variety of beans and peas, brown or wild rice. All this food can reduce you are craving for sugar.
Besides, you can prepare yourself a lot of different fruits and vegetables in your diet. Then you can just stew them with rice or pasta. You can refer to some recipes using rice, pasta, vegetable, and fruits.
Generally, when you build up the habit of consuming such food recipes, your belly is going to has less cravings for sugar after some time.
Another thing you can do is you may go for herbal products and they are all-natural and don’t have any side effects. You are rather safe to consume them.
After all, vegan is actually meant for those who have figure out the joy of compassion, and the joy of having such an eating habit can make them feel like they are living in whole. In other words, vegan are people who choose their choices of food from where their heart is.