YOUR 7-DAY PLAN

To slash added sugars in your daily diet

Yes, you can get over the cravings and cut back on the amount of sugar you eat, just follow this plan.

To help you give sugar the boot, we’ve designed a 7-day plan to so you can break your sugar addiction for good. Yes, it will be difficult, but you can get through it (it’s only a week!). And we guarantee you’ll feel great when done. Plus, by stepping down gradually, it’ll be easier for you to stick with the changes for the long haul, freeing you (and your waistline) from a vicious cycle of sugar cravings and yo-yo dieting. So get ready, it’s time to break the sugar spell!

KEEP ON TRACK

This week you’re aiming to make sustainable changes – ones you can live with for life – and the following will help:

START SLOW. Addiction to sugar is real – some studies have found it’s just as powerful as cocaine – and though it’s not dangerous to drop sugar all at once, it may be hard for you to sustain unless you have a strong support group. An easier option? The slow-and-steady method of cutting back. For example, if you usually put 2 teaspoons of sugar in your coffee, put 1½ in for a few days, and then 1 teaspoon for the next few. Instead of sitting on the couch with the entire packet of Tim

Tams next to you, put two on a dish and put the rest away. You won’t feel as deprived, and your tastebuds adjust over time.

KEEP IT OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND. Whether it’s a sugar bowl on the table or a lolly jar on your desk, it’s hard to resist the white stuff when it’s staring at you. An easy way to eat less is to make it harder to find. Put biscuits on top of the fridge instead of in a clear jar on the bench, change your route to work so you don’t walk past the pastry shop with its tempting aromas. When it takes extra effort to get your sugar fix you’ll be giving your mind more time to talk yourself out of an unhealthy choice.

THE BEST WAY TO CHECK FOR SUGAR. Most packaged foods don’t tell you how much added sugar is in them, which makes it hard to distinguish concentrated forms from naturally occurring sugars, for example in a yoghurt, the total sugars includes the naturally occurring lactose in milk together with added sweeteners. The best way to tell at a glance if a food is high in sugar is to look at the ingredients list. Ingredients are ordered from highest to lowest quantity, so a food that lists sugar in the first three ingredients is mostly made of sugar. Next, scan the list for other names for sugar, like fruit juice concentrate, rice malt syrup, glucose syrup, agave syrup, maltose and dextrose.

(In fact ,there are more than 35 names; we’ve included some of the most common ones on page 87).