February 4, 2025 • 30 mins
Have you ever thought about how sugar might be controlling your cravings and mood?
In this episode of A Really Good Cry, I share my personal journey of overcoming sugar cravings and embracing a more balanced, fulfilling life. From the shocking reality of how much sugar we consume daily to the emotional and physical grip it has on us, I dive into the effects of sugar on our bodies and minds.
Whether you're looking for a full sugar detox or just trying to cut back, this episode will inspire and equip you to take control of your cravings—one day at a time. Let's reset, rebalance, and create healthier habits together!
What Was Discussed:
- 00:00 Intro
- 01:16 How I started a sugar detox
- 07:12 Benefits of a sugar detox
- 09:17 “Do not wait to feel different before you make a change in your life”
- 10:08 The shocking truth about sugar consumption
- 11:40 Plan how you’re giving up sugar
- 13:37 Find alternatives to sugar
- 14:36 Check the labels of the food you eat
- 16:06 Plan for the scenarios you struggle to resist
- 16:50 Increase your protein intake
- 18:23 Difference between being full and feeling satiated
- 19:15 Don’t skip meals
- 20:05 Drink water and mind your business
- 20:53 How sleep is related to obesity
- 24:10 Take it one day at a time to break habits
- 27:37 Focus on portion control
- 28:49 Relationship between supplements and cravings
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I heard the craziest statistic about sugar recently and I
was shocked. Said, an average American person has seventeen added
teaspoons of sugar every single day, So that adds up
to about sixty pounds of added sugar every year. There
is six ten pound bowling balls. Do you know how
heavy a ten pound bowling ball is? That is six
(00:21):
of them that you are consuming in sugar. I'm Radi
Wukiah and on my podcast A Really Good Cry, we
embrace the messy and the beautiful, providing a space for raw,
unfiltered conversations that celebrate vulnerability and allow you to tune
in to learn, connect and find comfort together. Hey everyone,
and welcome back to this week's episode of A Really
(00:42):
Good Cry. If you're new here, thank you so much
for joining this community. I'm so happy you're here. And
if you're listening for the second, third, fourth, tenth, thirteenth,
one hundredth time, not that there are one hundred episodes yet,
but if you have been a consistent listener that has
committed and that has supported me through this, through all
the bad quality episodes, through all the chops and changes,
(01:05):
thank you so much. I appreciate it. So deeply, and
you guys are helping me to learn more, research more,
and understand myself so much better. So just want to
shout out and say thank you so much for that.
Now this week, I really want to talk about something
that has ruled my life for far too long, and
I feel like from all the conversations I've been having
with friends they could relate to this, and so I'm
(01:27):
sure you can too. I want to touch on a
topic called cravings. I feel like I have been a
victim to my cravings for far too long. For most
of my life, food has controlled me, rather than me
having control over the food, and it became my normality,
and to be honest, it was an emotional crutch for me.
(01:48):
It was a place of joy, a place of sadness.
Food really has been my go to for every single emotion.
But you know what, before Christmas, before I left La
for home to go home and celebrate Christmas with my family,
I decided to try and go on sugar detoks and
I thought I would last a week, but I celebrated
(02:08):
one month, one month of no sugar, which, by the way,
seemed absolutely impossible to me. You know, so many of
my friends when I told them I was doing it.
They're like, but you're so healthy, you know, you probably
don't even have that much sugar. You eat so many vegetables,
And I was like, yeah, I do eat vegetables, and
yeah I do cook meals at home, and I am healthy.
But at the same time, I was used to having
(02:31):
some sort of sugar at every single meal, and that's actually,
even if it may be less than other people, it's
actually just a sign to me that sugar is controlling me,
and I don't have control of that desire, and I
don't like that feeling. I spent a lot of my
life controlling the things that you get addicted to. So
I didn't smoke in my life, I didn't drink, I
didn't do weed. I really stayed away from the things
(02:52):
that I felt were able to control me or take
control of my body or my mind. And only recently
in noticing that sugar has the same effect on our
body as alcohol and drugs, and so unfortunately what we
see is normality, which is having sugar in our cereals,
in our drinks, in our milks, sometimes in our cookies,
(03:16):
in our breads, like every single thing. Eighty percent of
what we probably eat, especially in America, has sugar in it,
so it becomes our normality. But one thing is for sure,
just because something is normal does not mean it is
the right thing. And it confuses us because it's legal.
Sugar in food items is legal. Certain drugs are not legal,
(03:37):
But unfortunately sugar has pretty much the same effect as them.
From our head to our toe, whether it's our mind,
whether it's our organs, whether it's our anxiety levels, whether
it's our energy levels, our mood, nemely, any health condition
or any mental health issue, and I guarantee you it
can trace back to sugar. And the reason I ended
up doing it was because I had friends that were
(03:57):
visiting from Canada. Wonderful friends that were visiting from Canada.
We all went out for dinner at one of my
favorite places called Pure Beater. They do the most delicious
vegan terrama suit. Oh my goodness, it is so good.
So we all go out to eat and it gets
to dessert, and I'm like, obviously we're getting desert because
in my mind, going out with friends and having dessert
(04:17):
is like the best combination. There is no going out
with friends and not having dessert like that does not
make any sense to me. In my mind, a celebration
of being together means you eat sweet things together. And
so it got to dessert and he said, you know,
one of my friends said, you know, I'm not going
to have any dessert because I'm on a sugar detox.
And I was like, okay, but you're on holiday. Is
(04:37):
that is this not exempt from your sugar detox? And
he said no, I really don't feel like having it.
I don't want to break it. And I was like,
this guy must be joking, because in my mind, I
thought he's playing it up for us right now and
then when he goes home, he's gonna have a big
chocolate bar. Because honestly, in my mind, I couldn't imagine
in what world you wouldn't want to eat a dessert
with your friends and would want to skip a sweet
(04:58):
treat when you're on holiday, becau, there's this vacation mode
like you want to eat all the good things. But
he stuck with it. He didn't have it, and he
explained to me all the benefits that he was feeling.
So I was like, you know what, I started reflecting
back on my life and I said, since tour, which
was a year, which was the beginning of last year.
My stress levels were quite high during that time. My
(05:19):
courset levels definitely felt like they were high, and I
was craving so many sweet things. I think for energy
to ease my anxiety. Well, I thought it was easing
my anxiety and just for comfort. You know, when you're
traveling and you're all over the place and all you
want is something that feels good, like that feels really
good to you, and chocolate and sweet things was my comfort.
(05:39):
I honestly started having an extreme amount where I couldn't
imagine having a meal without having something sweet after. And
so when I thought about that, I was like, oh wow,
I really am being controlled by this and I have
zero control over my desire to eat these sweet things.
So I said, you know what, I'm going to try it.
And by the way, this was maybe the like one
hundredth time I've tried to do with sugar detoks, and
I usual, you fail on day one because I would
(06:02):
get headaches and I would feel low energy. So I'd
be like, I'll just have a little bit and I'll
just cut it down. I don't have to take it
out completely. This was the first time I was like
it has to be done, because I don't like the
feeling of being controlled. When you get to a point
where you know you don't want something but you have
it anyway, When you know it's not good for you,
but you have it anyway, that's when you know you
are going towards addiction. And I was like, mmmm, that's
(06:24):
not happening for me. So Day one came, and what
I did to start off with was I prepared myself
and think that's what's really important. I'm going to go
into this actually a little bit later on. I really
want to share all the tips. That's what this episode
is going to be about. I'm going to share with
you how I managed to do thirty days without having
any sugar. And by the way, after this thirty days,
I did go back home for Christmas, and I did
(06:46):
have some sweet things, but definitely in moderation, and I
wasn't like throwing myself back into it. Sweet things tasted
way sweeter than they used to, and small amounts wild
satisfy me. I'm now back from Christmas holidays, obviously, and
I've gone back to having no sugar. I'm on like
day four, but it's way easier this time. And because
I know how amazing the benefits are and what I
(07:07):
was feeling after it, it's a no brainer for me.
I know that's not what I want to go back to.
So before I get into how you're going to do this,
I'm going to share some of the juicy, amazing benefits
of it so you want to stick with it, Like,
let me tell you what you can get from it
before I tell you the process of how to get there.
Number one, I was getting all these tiny, tiny spots
(07:28):
all over my forehead and all over my face here
and I was like, what is this? What is happening.
I've never had skin like this. I'm not eating anything different,
what is happening? And at first I thought it was
hormonal shifts, which, by the way, sugar will do that
to you. Like I said, sugar affects every part of
your body, and one of the key areas, especially for women,
is hormones. And at first I was like, maybe it's that,
(07:49):
But then I had my levels checked and everything was fine.
And let me tell you, three days, three days into
my sugar detox, my entire skin cleared up. My skin
was glowing like my body had done a complete shift,
not only that I stopped craving other things. It was
like my whole palette became neutral again. In hindsight, I
noticed that when I was craving lots of sugar, I
(08:10):
was also craving lots of like intensely sweet things, intensely
sour things, intensely chili things. I just wanted things at
the extremes, And as soon as I cut sugar out,
it almost rebalanced my taste buds where I wasn't craving
all those extremes. I just wanted a balanced meal, and
I didn't realize that that's what sugar was doing to
my body. On top of that, I was feeling way
(08:30):
less scruggy, I had way more energy, I didn't have
those afternoon slumps that I was having every single day,
And my skin just got better and better, and I
was shocked. I couldn't believe how clear my skin looked
and how glowy and bright my skin looked without having sugar,
Like what a difference it made. Sugar literally dulled my
(08:51):
entire being from the inside out. So now I'm convinced
that he actually didn't go home and have a chocolate bar,
and he actually did not want to have that sweet thing.
And I only realized that after doing a month of
it and thinking, wow, I really don't want to eat
this sweet thing every I actually plan to do a week,
and then I end up doing another week and then
another week, and then I was like, there is no
reason for me to stop this. So all that to sayosive,
(09:12):
if it's possible for me, it is possible for you too,
And I'm going to tell you exactly how you're going
to do it. The one thing I will start with
it's something that I mentioned on my episode about getting
back on track, But do not wait to feel different
before you make a change in your life. I think
that's a big mistake that we make. We wait to
feel the certain way to take action, when actually what
we have to do is take the action to feel
(09:34):
the change. That then fuels are sticking on that new
pattern that we've got. And so don't wait till something happens,
or don't wait till your stress is over, and don't
wait till whatever it is you're waiting for to make
this change. Make the change, feel the difference, and then
it will fuel you staying on that pattern. Do not
wait to feel before you do. All you have to
(09:54):
do is make it to day one. And as soon
as you know and you feel accomplished that you have
made it through day one, day two, day three, day four,
day five, day seven, it all becomes so much easier.
All you have to do is make it through day one.
I heard the craziest statistic about sugar recently, and I
was shocked. Said, an average American person has seventeen added
(10:16):
teaspoons of sugar every single day. Seventeen teaspoons of sugar
every single day. In an average American adults diet more
than three times the recommended daily amount. And by the way,
there's not a recommended daily amount, because a recommended daily
amount means something that you should be having for your health.
But actually this is the recommended limit because sugar actually
(10:38):
has zero benefit, it has no nutrient value, it actually
does nothing for you. So there's no recommended amount that
you should be having. It is an extreme limit that
you should not be going above. And American, an average
American is having three times more than the limit that
is set by the government. And so an average American
person is having three times that limit. So that adds
(11:01):
up to about sixty pounds of added sugar every year,
there is six ten pound bowling balls. Do you know
how heavy a ten pound bowling ball is? That is
six of them that you are consuming in sugar. I've
been seeing so much informationately about the toxicity of sugar,
especially when it comes to brain health, especially when it
comes to deterioration of the brain, especially when it comes
(11:24):
to anxiety, when it comes to female hormones. The amount
of things that sugar impacts that we're not aware of
is actually quite scary. And so let's get you off it,
shall we, Or at least let's get you to a
point where you're having minimal amounts and that it's not
in control of you. The first step to giving up
sugar is planning. So the first thing I did when
(11:45):
I decided I was going to be on day one
of no sugar, the first thing I did was planned.
Because when you're in day one, you think you're going
to be amazing. You think I'm never going to get
craving for sugar. No, as soon as I make the
decision to give up sugar, that's it. I'm going to
be superhuman and I will not even crave it, not once.
I'm not going to find it difficult because you're on
that hype, you're excited about it. The problem is you
(12:07):
get to mid day of day one and you're ready
to break. And so what you have to do is
you need a plan. My plan was stewed fruit. It
was absolutely delicious of taken apple, put into a pan
a little bit of water, and just cook the fruit down.
It would be plums, it would be apples, it could
be pears, whatever fruit you fancy. Put that in, let
(12:28):
it get really caramelized in juicy, and then I'd have
that with no other sugar, yogurt and a sprinkle of
some nuts or some nut butter. And it was my
saving grace. But you have to have it ready in
the fridge. You can't leave it till that moment because
in that moment you will get weak. It's just how
our mind works, the path of least resistance. So make
(12:48):
sure that it's ready in your fridge, or the apples
are already cut, ready to be put in the pan.
So there's very short period of time where you are
without the sugar fix. For don't let the motivation at
the beginning for you, because it will it will make
you believe that you are not going to feel like
you want something, but don't buy into it. It's a trick.
It's a trick, and your body will try and get
(13:10):
you to have some because it is what it's used to.
But do not let yourself fail. Do not let yourself
fall for it. Your mine will trick you. But now
you know better. The motivation runs out, the stressful times come,
our hormones are shifting, we get our period. Lord knows
you need to be ready for those shugar cravings when
you get your periods. So now you know, a little
(13:30):
bit of some post fruit, no matter sugar, yogurt, a
little bit of nut buttter delish. The second thing I
did was make sure that I had alternatives in the
house because at the end of the day, they're there
for a reason. They're helpful, especially in the first few days.
So I had monk fruit. Now, monk fruit is a sweetener.
It comes from a tree. It doesn't spike your glucose levels,
(13:52):
but it's quite sweet to taste. And so whether it
was like there's a maple syrup that they do, that's
monk fruit. You can get munk fruit chocolate chips, you
can get monk fruit sugar. So if you do want
to still use things that mimic sugar at least have
the alternative so you don't go to the real thing.
But again, all these things have to be taken in moderation,
Like you can't have too many things with sweetness because
(14:13):
it upsets your gut too, and so really it's about balance.
So if you are going to use it, still use
it as if it is sugar, small amounts if you
really have to put it into certain things, but don't
rely on it. But I do recommend trying to stay
away from them and just sticking to fruit because fruit
is delicious and it has way more nutrients in it,
because then you go from being addicted to one thing
to being addicted to another, and so it's kind of
(14:34):
nice to just have a clean cut if possible. Now,
the other thing you have to be really careful about
is all the other things that have sugar in it
that you may not realize, so whether it is your cereals.
So what you really have to do is start checking
all your labels. It's a bit of a tedious process,
but it's so worth it. Check everything that you normally
have from morning to evening. I guarantee you'll find it
in something that you weren't even expecting it. In whether
(14:56):
it is your sauces, you'll ketch up, oh my gosh,
catch up in One tablespoon of ketchup is one tablespoon
of sugar. So make sure you're checking your labels from
the first thing you in the morning till the evening
and check how many grams of sugar it has. Ideally
take it out completely while you're on this and try
and find alternatives. There are lots of no idea sugar cereals,
(15:17):
and honestly, the more processed something is, the more likely
it is to have a lot more sugar in it.
If you're not quite ready for the sugar detoks, a
good way to understand how much sugar you are actually
having is to look through your diet and touch up
how much sugar you're actually having throughout the day, and
then you could try and reduce it instead of cutting
out completely. So let's say you're on thirty grams of sugar,
(15:39):
maybe you cut it down to fifteen and you notice
the areas that you can take it out, so you
don't have to necessarily go to the extreme of cutting
everything out if you're not ready for it, but you
could definitely decrease it in some way. As sad as
it is, you basically just have to assume that sugar
is in everything from cereals to milks, to protein powders
to chips, the drinks and snacks. You'll probably be quite
(15:59):
surprised when you do end up adding it up, and
when you end up looking at labels, it will creep
up in places that you weren't even expecting. Another part
of planning is thinking about all the scenarios that you
find it the most difficult to resist. So for me,
it was social situations like if I go to the cinema,
then I want to have something a sweet tree. If
it's a Friday night and I've got friends coming around,
(16:20):
let's order some dessert. If I'm feeling sad, let's order
some dessert. So figure out the situations. Mine were mainly
social situations that I found it difficult to restrain. So
when I ended up going to the cinema, I ended
up actually having my vegan protein powder, which is chocolate flavor.
It doesn't have actual sugar in it, and I made
it into a hot chocolate. So I took my hot
(16:41):
chocolate with me to the cinema, and honestly, it was
so satisfying and I actually didn't want anything else. But
because I planned it beforehand and I knew in my
mind I was doing that, it made it much easier.
Next up, this was probably the biggest thing that helped
me curb my sugar cravings, and it was increasing my protein.
And I never actually thought I would link the two,
but it made it huge difference because I was so
(17:01):
satiated by my meals that I didn't even want anything afterwards,
So upping my protein completely changed my desire and my
craving for sugar. So the day that I decided to
give up sugar, I also made a point to increase
my protein and was way more conscious of it. And
so being Indian, I grew up with a carb predominant meal,
like most of my meals would be carbohydrate based and
(17:22):
then having protein on the side, and even the protein
would be diluted like in a dhal or something. So
now what I've done is, even if it's not large quantities,
every single meal without a doubt, has to have some
protein in it. And what a game changer it has made. Look,
I don't believe in this extreme of like the crazy
amount of protein that people are trying to get in.
It's so unnatural to the body, and so I think
(17:43):
some people are taking it to a far extremes. But
I do think there is a point to having a
balanced meal, and so protein is part of that balanced meal. Carbohydrates,
fats and protein, and so making sure you have a
protein with each meal, a carbohydrate with each meal, and
fats with each meal is really important. And if you're
lacking in the protein, it really changes the way that
you feel satisfied in the meal and therefore are still
(18:06):
craving things afterwards. Look in our radia, it even says
when you have the balance of a good meal, you
know a meal it has been well balanced. If you're
not craving something after when it's got the perfect balance
of all the tastes or the food groups, you actually
shouldn't desire anything afterwards. That's a sign of a good meal.
There's a difference between feeling satiated and feeling full. Full
(18:26):
makes you feel lethargic after a full makes you feel
really sluggish after your meal. Satiated energizes you, and so
I think there's a big difference between the two. When
you feel full, it results in feeling slow, sluggish, and
lithargic afterwards. But when you're satiated in just the right
amount to feel energized, to feel like you can get
(18:47):
on with your day, and it actually makes your body
feel more active. Protein basically just helps to regulate your
blood sugar levels too, which means that you don't have
as many fluctuations in your blood sugar levels, and that
results in lessings. The more your blood sugar levels fluctuate,
go from highs to lows, the more you actually end
up craving foods, and you end up craving the foods
(19:08):
that you know you don't want to eat, but also
want to eat, the high carbohydrate foods like breads and
pastas and all the sugary goodies. Next up, don't skip
meals because you know what happens. You get yourself to
a point where you're so hungry you just want to
reach for something that's going to give you instant energy.
And usually our body has been trained to know that
we get instant energy from the high carbohydrate, high sugary foods,
(19:30):
and that's what it wants to reach for. So just
don't get your body to that point. And again that's planning,
making sure that you've got if you're going to be
out over meal times, have a little snack with you.
Don't wait to get to that point, because inevitably your
body is just going to go into panic mode and
just reach for the thing that's going to give it
the most amount of energy in the least amount of time.
(19:50):
And all the science has indicated that as soon as
your blood sugar levels drop really low, that's when you
start reaching for all the high carbohydrate foods. It triggers
our bodies response to want those things. So plan your meals,
and if you can't plan your meals, plan your snacks.
Next up, hydration. So we've talked about protein, We've talked
about planning your meals. We've talked about poached apples and
(20:12):
fruits to help with curving your cravings. We've talked about
alternatives to sugars, like sweetness like monk fruit, stevia. But
a huge part of this is also hydration. Oh my goodness,
when you are hydrated enough. I actually didn't know this,
but the same area of your brain that controls your
hunger actually controls your thirst two. So sometimes your signals
(20:33):
get crossed and so when you're actually thirsty. You think
that you're craving something sweet or you're hungry, when actually
all you need to do is hydrate. One of my
favorite quotes in the world. My favorite quote is drink
water and mind your business, two very important things to
live a peaceful, happy life. So if there's one thing
you take away from this episode, it's drink water and
mind your business. Let's talk about sleep next, shall we.
(20:55):
That's the two things actually I've got on my feed
at the moment is sleep, how important sleep is, and
how toxic sugar is combination of both bad combo lack
of sleep. I actually did my university dissertation on the
correlation the association between sleep and obesity, and I remember,
(21:17):
after going through all the research, I was shocked at
how blatant the association was between lack of sleep and
obesity for so many reasons, some of which I've talked
about already. Whether it's the low blood sugar levels, your
cravings just being heightened from the moment you wake up.
And I've noticed this when I wake up after lack
of sleep, when I've had like four or five hours sleep,
(21:39):
from the moment I wake up, I'm hungry. And I
don't want the things that I know are good for me.
I want the things that I know are bad for
me but are going to give me energy. And that's
really what it's linked to. You're just trying to make
up for the lack of processing that's happened at night,
the lack of metabolizing, the lack of energy that you're feeling.
You just are trying to get get get because your
body feels depleted. Sleep impacts our hormones that control our appetite.
(22:03):
But when you're sleep deprived, your hunger hormone grellin increases
and your satiety hormone called leptin decreases, which means you
start craving all the sugary carby things that you know
you don't want but also really want. I've actually never
had alcohol before, or i haven't had a drunk night,
but every single time I've had a late night and
an early morning on a couple of hours sleep, I
(22:25):
swear I start to understand what a hangover must feel like,
and I just start craving a really big carby comforting
breakfast in the morning. And I always remember my friends
after having a late night out and getting smashed the
night before. All they want in the morning is like
a big, solid breakfast, and so I definitely think lack
of sleep has that same effect as a hangover does. Also,
(22:48):
I think you need to remember not to be too
hard on yourself and don't restrict yourself too much. When
people surrender to a food craving, they often blame it
on a lack of self control. But you know what,
cravings are caused by a combination of so many things,
whether it's our appetite, hormones, our behavioral conditioning, and the
fact that we have all these sugar foods so easily
accessible to us more so than healthy foods. Cravings can
(23:11):
actually be fueled by just smelling fresh bread when we
walk into a bakery, or situations or emotions that trigger
us to want comfort, and so restricting yourself completely can
actually lead to binge eating rather than sustain change. So
understand that your cravings are also just part of life,
and not giving yourself unto ultimatums is so important. It's
(23:32):
like when you're younger and your mom says you can't
have this, it actually makes you want it more. So
don't even phrase it like that to yourself. Find the
reason and repeat that instead, I don't want to eat
this because it makes my skin feel terrible, it makes
me feel lethargic and unhappy, it makes me feel sluggish
after I've eaten it, rather than saying do not have
this because it's off bounds and if you have it,
you're a terrible person with no self control, which is
(23:54):
usually what our mind ends up telling us. We create
these limitations, we create these ultimatums that if you have
it this one time, that means you're a failure. But
you're not. And so I think changing the way that
you're wording it to yourself and the way you're framing
it can make all the difference to being able to
stick to it. I remember hearing this and it is
stuck with me through so many parts of my life.
It's not about subtraction, it's about addition. So find the
(24:17):
higher taste and find the things that make you feel
good that you can add into your life, and then
the things that you want to get rid of will
naturally fall away or they feel easier to let go of.
I remember my spiritual teacher referring it to as a
higher taste. When you get a higher taste, when you
experience something better that makes you feel better, that makes
you feel vibrant, that makes you feel energetic, that creates
(24:40):
something good inside of you. You naturally don't want the
things that make you feel lesser, that actually don't make
you feel good, and so focus on creating better habits
rather than trying to get rid of the negative habits.
We always think about the things that we are losing
before we think about the things that we're gaining, and
so it takes a mindset shift of actually, let's think
about we are gaining before we think about the loss.
(25:03):
Your mind will feel so much more at ease about
those choices that you make when you're thinking about what
you're gaining versus what you're losing, because as soon as
you're in a lost mentality, you essentially put yourself in
a scarcity mindset, which creates panic and anxiety. And take
you one day at a time. People, there's no rush,
We've got a whole life. Doesn't mean that you should
slack on this, but don't set yourself goals that feel
(25:23):
too far away, like oh, I'm giving up sugar for
a year. I literally told myself I'd give out for
a week if anything I was hoping to make it
to one day and I was going to feel like
I had success. So take it one day at a time,
say you know what, yeah, maybe today, maybe three days,
maybe seven days, and then eventually you'll probably end up
doing it for longer. But as soon as you set
a crazy long goal, your body's also going to start
(25:43):
panicking and thinking, oh my god, all those situations I'm
going to miss out on, all the sweet, delicious things
I'm going to miss out on, and naturally you're going
to feel like crab. And so take it one day
at a time, one week at a time, and just
give yourself some grace. And you know what, once you've
done it for a certain amount of time, I decide,
you know, I want to include something once a week,
a little treat once a week, And why not have
(26:04):
that treat once a week. It's better than daily. Having
once a week sugary treat is better than what you
were doing before. Or decide you want it on celebrations
or on Christmas. Enjoy the celebrations, but just know how
to get yourself back on track. I've noticed people say
to go cold turkey, because when you have a small
taste of it, it can set you off on the
wrong path. But honestly, that's not the case for me,
(26:25):
and it may not be for you either. I found
the one offs are totally fine, and I actually don't
even eat as much of it as I normally would
or binge on it. I usually take a bite to
try and then I'm like, Okay, this is great, but
I don't necessarily need all of it. And so sometimes
letting yourself have something once a week stops your mind
from feeling like you've taken it away completely, and it
just creates normality in your life rather than feeling too restricted. Also,
(26:49):
what you will notice is how sweet things actually are
once you've gotten rid of it. So it's actually great
to do this just as a reset to realize what
things actually taste like and what you're actually putting into body.
I feel the same way about salt. I've really reduced
my salt intakes, so now everything tastes so salty to
me when I eat out when I'm not in control
of the amount of salt I'm putting in. I really
think it's the more you have, the more you craved.
(27:11):
That's the same with you know, cigarettes, with alcohol, it's
like the more you have, the higher your tolerances, which
means the more you need to satisfy your cravings for it,
And so having these random one offs actually shouldn't throw
you off or make you want it the next day
and the next day. I think it should just satisfy
you for that moment. But if you are someone who's
all or nothing Jay, my husband is definitely like that,
(27:33):
then you might just have to go cold turkey and
not give yourself some treats. Next up, I recommend really
focusing on portion control. One of my team members actually
really wanted to get off chips. She loved a good
tortilla chip, and I don't blame her. They're so Moorish
and delicious. It was actually one of my big cravings
when I was having a lot of sugar. That was
(27:53):
my other thing. I really wanted lots of chips. I
think it was a salty and carbiness of it that
really attracted me. Anyway, She didn't want to give it
up completely because she really loved her chips and wanted
to keep them in her life, but she didn't want
to finish a whole bag. She would usually sit with
a whole bag and by the end of it she'd
throw it at me and be like, you shouldn't have
let me do that. Why did you let me do that?
Take this away from me? So I kept telling her
(28:16):
just portion it out, like take the amount that you
want in a bowl and cap yourself with that. Don't
go back to the bag. And once you've got it
in the bowl and you've calculated the amount of chips
that you want, just eat that and then you know
what your limits are. It really makes a difference because
when you got bag of chips in front of them,
you know you're just gonna go act it. And that's
the same with chocolate. You made this at My mom
is so cute. She has one small piece of dark
(28:38):
chocolate every single day after her lunch and that's just
her portion. She doesn't go back for another one. She
just knows that that's a sweet tweet that she loves having,
and so she's got it controlled in the amount that
she wants it and it really satisfies her. So let's
talk about supplements and vitamins when it comes to cravings.
So research has shown the low levels of B twelve
in your body actually leads to more cravings. B vitamins
(28:59):
actually help our body to convert what we eat into
the energy that fuels ourselves in our body, and so
when the brain doesn't have enough energy, it triggers our
cravings and our desire to have sweet foods. So get
yourself a bee supplement if you are finding yourself craving
a lot of things. To be honest, most of us
are deficient in it, and so I'm sure you could
use it in your life, especially South Asians, we have
(29:22):
seem to have a genetic disposition to having low B
twelve levels. Another supplement people actually don't know about that
helps to curb cravings and is not as zepic and
does not ruin your body is a supplement called Berberon.
It's been around an Ivadic and Chinese medicine for a
really long time. It is plant extracts, but it helps
to support your insulin secretion in your body, which helps
(29:42):
to control your blood sugar spikes and your blood sugar levels,
which in turn helps with cravings. So I really hope
that these tips help you in curbing your cravings. If
this is one of your goals for this year, then
I really hope this helped. It has helped me so much,
So try one of these things or all of them,
everything from planning to sleep, to protein to mindset shift,
(30:04):
and hopefully between all of these tips, you neither take
all of them or just some of them, and it
gives you what you need to feel more balanced and
in control. I know we can feel really disheartening when
you're trying to stick to something and you keep feeling
like you're failing, But just know that if you're trying
to make changes, you're already doing something that's amazing for yourself.
Life is all about the ebbs and flows. So show
(30:25):
yourself some love for even trying loads of love and
have a wonderful week. Cry out if you need to,
but don't reach for that sweet tree. Not this week anyway,
not after listening to this episode. Have a great week, guys,
and sending you so much love.
I heard the craziest statistic about sugar recently and I
was shocked. Said, an average American person has seventeen added
teaspoons of sugar every single day, So that adds up
to about sixty pounds of added sugar every year. There
is six ten pound bowling balls. Do you know how
heavy a ten pound bowling ball is? That is six
(00:21):
of them that you are consuming in sugar. I'm Radi
Wukiah and on my podcast A Really Good Cry, we
embrace the messy and the beautiful, providing a space for raw,
unfiltered conversations that celebrate vulnerability and allow you to tune
in to learn, connect and find comfort together. Hey everyone,
and welcome back to this week's episode of A Really
(00:42):
Good Cry. If you're new here, thank you so much
for joining this community. I'm so happy you're here. And
if you're listening for the second, third, fourth, tenth, thirteenth,
one hundredth time, not that there are one hundred episodes yet,
but if you have been a consistent listener that has
committed and that has supported me through this, through all
the bad quality episodes, through all the chops and changes,
(01:05):
thank you so much. I appreciate it. So deeply, and
you guys are helping me to learn more, research more,
and understand myself so much better. So just want to
shout out and say thank you so much for that.
Now this week, I really want to talk about something
that has ruled my life for far too long, and
I feel like from all the conversations I've been having
with friends they could relate to this, and so I'm
(01:27):
sure you can too. I want to touch on a
topic called cravings. I feel like I have been a
victim to my cravings for far too long. For most
of my life, food has controlled me, rather than me
having control over the food, and it became my normality,
and to be honest, it was an emotional crutch for me.
(01:48):
It was a place of joy, a place of sadness.
Food really has been my go to for every single emotion.
But you know what, before Christmas, before I left La
for home to go home and celebrate Christmas with my family,
I decided to try and go on sugar detoks and
I thought I would last a week, but I celebrated
(02:08):
one month, one month of no sugar, which, by the way,
seemed absolutely impossible to me. You know, so many of
my friends when I told them I was doing it.
They're like, but you're so healthy, you know, you probably
don't even have that much sugar. You eat so many vegetables,
And I was like, yeah, I do eat vegetables, and
yeah I do cook meals at home, and I am healthy.
But at the same time, I was used to having
(02:31):
some sort of sugar at every single meal, and that's actually,
even if it may be less than other people, it's
actually just a sign to me that sugar is controlling me,
and I don't have control of that desire, and I
don't like that feeling. I spent a lot of my
life controlling the things that you get addicted to. So
I didn't smoke in my life, I didn't drink, I
didn't do weed. I really stayed away from the things
(02:52):
that I felt were able to control me or take
control of my body or my mind. And only recently
in noticing that sugar has the same effect on our
body as alcohol and drugs, and so unfortunately what we
see is normality, which is having sugar in our cereals,
in our drinks, in our milks, sometimes in our cookies,
(03:16):
in our breads, like every single thing. Eighty percent of
what we probably eat, especially in America, has sugar in it,
so it becomes our normality. But one thing is for sure,
just because something is normal does not mean it is
the right thing. And it confuses us because it's legal.
Sugar in food items is legal. Certain drugs are not legal,
(03:37):
But unfortunately sugar has pretty much the same effect as them.
From our head to our toe, whether it's our mind,
whether it's our organs, whether it's our anxiety levels, whether
it's our energy levels, our mood, nemely, any health condition
or any mental health issue, and I guarantee you it
can trace back to sugar. And the reason I ended
up doing it was because I had friends that were
(03:57):
visiting from Canada. Wonderful friends that were visiting from Canada.
We all went out for dinner at one of my
favorite places called Pure Beater. They do the most delicious
vegan terrama suit. Oh my goodness, it is so good.
So we all go out to eat and it gets
to dessert, and I'm like, obviously we're getting desert because
in my mind, going out with friends and having dessert
(04:17):
is like the best combination. There is no going out
with friends and not having dessert like that does not
make any sense to me. In my mind, a celebration
of being together means you eat sweet things together. And
so it got to dessert and he said, you know,
one of my friends said, you know, I'm not going
to have any dessert because I'm on a sugar detox.
And I was like, okay, but you're on holiday. Is
(04:37):
that is this not exempt from your sugar detox? And
he said no, I really don't feel like having it.
I don't want to break it. And I was like,
this guy must be joking, because in my mind, I
thought he's playing it up for us right now and
then when he goes home, he's gonna have a big
chocolate bar. Because honestly, in my mind, I couldn't imagine
in what world you wouldn't want to eat a dessert
with your friends and would want to skip a sweet
(04:58):
treat when you're on holiday, becau, there's this vacation mode
like you want to eat all the good things. But
he stuck with it. He didn't have it, and he
explained to me all the benefits that he was feeling.
So I was like, you know what, I started reflecting
back on my life and I said, since tour, which
was a year, which was the beginning of last year.
My stress levels were quite high during that time. My
(05:19):
courset levels definitely felt like they were high, and I
was craving so many sweet things. I think for energy
to ease my anxiety. Well, I thought it was easing
my anxiety and just for comfort. You know, when you're
traveling and you're all over the place and all you
want is something that feels good, like that feels really
good to you, and chocolate and sweet things was my comfort.
(05:39):
I honestly started having an extreme amount where I couldn't
imagine having a meal without having something sweet after. And
so when I thought about that, I was like, oh wow,
I really am being controlled by this and I have
zero control over my desire to eat these sweet things.
So I said, you know what, I'm going to try it.
And by the way, this was maybe the like one
hundredth time I've tried to do with sugar detoks, and
I usual, you fail on day one because I would
(06:02):
get headaches and I would feel low energy. So I'd
be like, I'll just have a little bit and I'll
just cut it down. I don't have to take it
out completely. This was the first time I was like
it has to be done, because I don't like the
feeling of being controlled. When you get to a point
where you know you don't want something but you have
it anyway, When you know it's not good for you,
but you have it anyway, that's when you know you
are going towards addiction. And I was like, mmmm, that's
(06:24):
not happening for me. So Day one came, and what
I did to start off with was I prepared myself
and think that's what's really important. I'm going to go
into this actually a little bit later on. I really
want to share all the tips. That's what this episode
is going to be about. I'm going to share with
you how I managed to do thirty days without having
any sugar. And by the way, after this thirty days,
I did go back home for Christmas, and I did
(06:46):
have some sweet things, but definitely in moderation, and I
wasn't like throwing myself back into it. Sweet things tasted
way sweeter than they used to, and small amounts wild
satisfy me. I'm now back from Christmas holidays, obviously, and
I've gone back to having no sugar. I'm on like
day four, but it's way easier this time. And because
I know how amazing the benefits are and what I
(07:07):
was feeling after it, it's a no brainer for me.
I know that's not what I want to go back to.
So before I get into how you're going to do this,
I'm going to share some of the juicy, amazing benefits
of it so you want to stick with it, Like,
let me tell you what you can get from it
before I tell you the process of how to get there.
Number one, I was getting all these tiny, tiny spots
(07:28):
all over my forehead and all over my face here
and I was like, what is this? What is happening.
I've never had skin like this. I'm not eating anything different,
what is happening? And at first I thought it was
hormonal shifts, which, by the way, sugar will do that
to you. Like I said, sugar affects every part of
your body, and one of the key areas, especially for women,
is hormones. And at first I was like, maybe it's that,
(07:49):
But then I had my levels checked and everything was fine.
And let me tell you, three days, three days into
my sugar detox, my entire skin cleared up. My skin
was glowing like my body had done a complete shift,
not only that I stopped craving other things. It was
like my whole palette became neutral again. In hindsight, I
noticed that when I was craving lots of sugar, I
(08:10):
was also craving lots of like intensely sweet things, intensely
sour things, intensely chili things. I just wanted things at
the extremes, And as soon as I cut sugar out,
it almost rebalanced my taste buds where I wasn't craving
all those extremes. I just wanted a balanced meal, and
I didn't realize that that's what sugar was doing to
my body. On top of that, I was feeling way
(08:30):
less scruggy, I had way more energy, I didn't have
those afternoon slumps that I was having every single day,
And my skin just got better and better, and I
was shocked. I couldn't believe how clear my skin looked
and how glowy and bright my skin looked without having sugar,
Like what a difference it made. Sugar literally dulled my
(08:51):
entire being from the inside out. So now I'm convinced
that he actually didn't go home and have a chocolate bar,
and he actually did not want to have that sweet thing.
And I only realized that after doing a month of
it and thinking, wow, I really don't want to eat
this sweet thing every I actually plan to do a week,
and then I end up doing another week and then
another week, and then I was like, there is no
reason for me to stop this. So all that to sayosive,
(09:12):
if it's possible for me, it is possible for you too,
And I'm going to tell you exactly how you're going
to do it. The one thing I will start with
it's something that I mentioned on my episode about getting
back on track, But do not wait to feel different
before you make a change in your life. I think
that's a big mistake that we make. We wait to
feel the certain way to take action, when actually what
we have to do is take the action to feel
(09:34):
the change. That then fuels are sticking on that new
pattern that we've got. And so don't wait till something happens,
or don't wait till your stress is over, and don't
wait till whatever it is you're waiting for to make
this change. Make the change, feel the difference, and then
it will fuel you staying on that pattern. Do not
wait to feel before you do. All you have to
(09:54):
do is make it to day one. And as soon
as you know and you feel accomplished that you have
made it through day one, day two, day three, day four,
day five, day seven, it all becomes so much easier.
All you have to do is make it through day one.
I heard the craziest statistic about sugar recently, and I
was shocked. Said, an average American person has seventeen added
(10:16):
teaspoons of sugar every single day. Seventeen teaspoons of sugar
every single day. In an average American adults diet more
than three times the recommended daily amount. And by the way,
there's not a recommended daily amount, because a recommended daily
amount means something that you should be having for your health.
But actually this is the recommended limit because sugar actually
(10:38):
has zero benefit, it has no nutrient value, it actually
does nothing for you. So there's no recommended amount that
you should be having. It is an extreme limit that
you should not be going above. And American, an average
American is having three times more than the limit that
is set by the government. And so an average American
person is having three times that limit. So that adds
(11:01):
up to about sixty pounds of added sugar every year,
there is six ten pound bowling balls. Do you know
how heavy a ten pound bowling ball is? That is
six of them that you are consuming in sugar. I've
been seeing so much informationately about the toxicity of sugar,
especially when it comes to brain health, especially when it
comes to deterioration of the brain, especially when it comes
(11:24):
to anxiety, when it comes to female hormones. The amount
of things that sugar impacts that we're not aware of
is actually quite scary. And so let's get you off it,
shall we, Or at least let's get you to a
point where you're having minimal amounts and that it's not
in control of you. The first step to giving up
sugar is planning. So the first thing I did when
(11:45):
I decided I was going to be on day one
of no sugar, the first thing I did was planned.
Because when you're in day one, you think you're going
to be amazing. You think I'm never going to get
craving for sugar. No, as soon as I make the
decision to give up sugar, that's it. I'm going to
be superhuman and I will not even crave it, not once.
I'm not going to find it difficult because you're on
that hype, you're excited about it. The problem is you
(12:07):
get to mid day of day one and you're ready
to break. And so what you have to do is
you need a plan. My plan was stewed fruit. It
was absolutely delicious of taken apple, put into a pan
a little bit of water, and just cook the fruit down.
It would be plums, it would be apples, it could
be pears, whatever fruit you fancy. Put that in, let
(12:28):
it get really caramelized in juicy, and then I'd have
that with no other sugar, yogurt and a sprinkle of
some nuts or some nut butter. And it was my
saving grace. But you have to have it ready in
the fridge. You can't leave it till that moment because
in that moment you will get weak. It's just how
our mind works, the path of least resistance. So make
(12:48):
sure that it's ready in your fridge, or the apples
are already cut, ready to be put in the pan.
So there's very short period of time where you are
without the sugar fix. For don't let the motivation at
the beginning for you, because it will it will make
you believe that you are not going to feel like
you want something, but don't buy into it. It's a trick.
It's a trick, and your body will try and get
(13:10):
you to have some because it is what it's used to.
But do not let yourself fail. Do not let yourself
fall for it. Your mine will trick you. But now
you know better. The motivation runs out, the stressful times come,
our hormones are shifting, we get our period. Lord knows
you need to be ready for those shugar cravings when
you get your periods. So now you know, a little
(13:30):
bit of some post fruit, no matter sugar, yogurt, a
little bit of nut buttter delish. The second thing I
did was make sure that I had alternatives in the
house because at the end of the day, they're there
for a reason. They're helpful, especially in the first few days.
So I had monk fruit. Now, monk fruit is a sweetener.
It comes from a tree. It doesn't spike your glucose levels,
(13:52):
but it's quite sweet to taste. And so whether it
was like there's a maple syrup that they do, that's
monk fruit. You can get munk fruit chocolate chips, you
can get monk fruit sugar. So if you do want
to still use things that mimic sugar at least have
the alternative so you don't go to the real thing.
But again, all these things have to be taken in moderation,
Like you can't have too many things with sweetness because
(14:13):
it upsets your gut too, and so really it's about balance.
So if you are going to use it, still use
it as if it is sugar, small amounts if you
really have to put it into certain things, but don't
rely on it. But I do recommend trying to stay
away from them and just sticking to fruit because fruit
is delicious and it has way more nutrients in it,
because then you go from being addicted to one thing
to being addicted to another, and so it's kind of
(14:34):
nice to just have a clean cut if possible. Now,
the other thing you have to be really careful about
is all the other things that have sugar in it
that you may not realize, so whether it is your cereals.
So what you really have to do is start checking
all your labels. It's a bit of a tedious process,
but it's so worth it. Check everything that you normally
have from morning to evening. I guarantee you'll find it
in something that you weren't even expecting it. In whether
(14:56):
it is your sauces, you'll ketch up, oh my gosh,
catch up in One tablespoon of ketchup is one tablespoon
of sugar. So make sure you're checking your labels from
the first thing you in the morning till the evening
and check how many grams of sugar it has. Ideally
take it out completely while you're on this and try
and find alternatives. There are lots of no idea sugar cereals,
(15:17):
and honestly, the more processed something is, the more likely
it is to have a lot more sugar in it.
If you're not quite ready for the sugar detoks, a
good way to understand how much sugar you are actually
having is to look through your diet and touch up
how much sugar you're actually having throughout the day, and
then you could try and reduce it instead of cutting
out completely. So let's say you're on thirty grams of sugar,
(15:39):
maybe you cut it down to fifteen and you notice
the areas that you can take it out, so you
don't have to necessarily go to the extreme of cutting
everything out if you're not ready for it, but you
could definitely decrease it in some way. As sad as
it is, you basically just have to assume that sugar
is in everything from cereals to milks, to protein powders
to chips, the drinks and snacks. You'll probably be quite
(15:59):
surprised when you do end up adding it up, and
when you end up looking at labels, it will creep
up in places that you weren't even expecting. Another part
of planning is thinking about all the scenarios that you
find it the most difficult to resist. So for me,
it was social situations like if I go to the cinema,
then I want to have something a sweet tree. If
it's a Friday night and I've got friends coming around,
(16:20):
let's order some dessert. If I'm feeling sad, let's order
some dessert. So figure out the situations. Mine were mainly
social situations that I found it difficult to restrain. So
when I ended up going to the cinema, I ended
up actually having my vegan protein powder, which is chocolate flavor.
It doesn't have actual sugar in it, and I made
it into a hot chocolate. So I took my hot
(16:41):
chocolate with me to the cinema, and honestly, it was
so satisfying and I actually didn't want anything else. But
because I planned it beforehand and I knew in my
mind I was doing that, it made it much easier.
Next up, this was probably the biggest thing that helped
me curb my sugar cravings, and it was increasing my protein.
And I never actually thought I would link the two,
but it made it huge difference because I was so
(17:01):
satiated by my meals that I didn't even want anything afterwards,
So upping my protein completely changed my desire and my
craving for sugar. So the day that I decided to
give up sugar, I also made a point to increase
my protein and was way more conscious of it. And
so being Indian, I grew up with a carb predominant meal,
like most of my meals would be carbohydrate based and
(17:22):
then having protein on the side, and even the protein
would be diluted like in a dhal or something. So
now what I've done is, even if it's not large quantities,
every single meal without a doubt, has to have some
protein in it. And what a game changer it has made. Look,
I don't believe in this extreme of like the crazy
amount of protein that people are trying to get in.
It's so unnatural to the body, and so I think
(17:43):
some people are taking it to a far extremes. But
I do think there is a point to having a
balanced meal, and so protein is part of that balanced meal. Carbohydrates,
fats and protein, and so making sure you have a
protein with each meal, a carbohydrate with each meal, and
fats with each meal is really important. And if you're
lacking in the protein, it really changes the way that
you feel satisfied in the meal and therefore are still
(18:06):
craving things afterwards. Look in our radia, it even says
when you have the balance of a good meal, you
know a meal it has been well balanced. If you're
not craving something after when it's got the perfect balance
of all the tastes or the food groups, you actually
shouldn't desire anything afterwards. That's a sign of a good meal.
There's a difference between feeling satiated and feeling full. Full
(18:26):
makes you feel lethargic after a full makes you feel
really sluggish after your meal. Satiated energizes you, and so
I think there's a big difference between the two. When
you feel full, it results in feeling slow, sluggish, and
lithargic afterwards. But when you're satiated in just the right
amount to feel energized, to feel like you can get
(18:47):
on with your day, and it actually makes your body
feel more active. Protein basically just helps to regulate your
blood sugar levels too, which means that you don't have
as many fluctuations in your blood sugar levels, and that
results in lessings. The more your blood sugar levels fluctuate,
go from highs to lows, the more you actually end
up craving foods, and you end up craving the foods
(19:08):
that you know you don't want to eat, but also
want to eat, the high carbohydrate foods like breads and
pastas and all the sugary goodies. Next up, don't skip
meals because you know what happens. You get yourself to
a point where you're so hungry you just want to
reach for something that's going to give you instant energy.
And usually our body has been trained to know that
we get instant energy from the high carbohydrate, high sugary foods,
(19:30):
and that's what it wants to reach for. So just
don't get your body to that point. And again that's planning,
making sure that you've got if you're going to be
out over meal times, have a little snack with you.
Don't wait to get to that point, because inevitably your
body is just going to go into panic mode and
just reach for the thing that's going to give it
the most amount of energy in the least amount of time.
(19:50):
And all the science has indicated that as soon as
your blood sugar levels drop really low, that's when you
start reaching for all the high carbohydrate foods. It triggers
our bodies response to want those things. So plan your meals,
and if you can't plan your meals, plan your snacks.
Next up, hydration. So we've talked about protein, We've talked
about planning your meals. We've talked about poached apples and
(20:12):
fruits to help with curving your cravings. We've talked about
alternatives to sugars, like sweetness like monk fruit, stevia. But
a huge part of this is also hydration. Oh my goodness,
when you are hydrated enough. I actually didn't know this,
but the same area of your brain that controls your
hunger actually controls your thirst two. So sometimes your signals
(20:33):
get crossed and so when you're actually thirsty. You think
that you're craving something sweet or you're hungry, when actually
all you need to do is hydrate. One of my
favorite quotes in the world. My favorite quote is drink
water and mind your business, two very important things to
live a peaceful, happy life. So if there's one thing
you take away from this episode, it's drink water and
mind your business. Let's talk about sleep next, shall we.
(20:55):
That's the two things actually I've got on my feed
at the moment is sleep, how important sleep is, and
how toxic sugar is combination of both bad combo lack
of sleep. I actually did my university dissertation on the
correlation the association between sleep and obesity, and I remember,
(21:17):
after going through all the research, I was shocked at
how blatant the association was between lack of sleep and
obesity for so many reasons, some of which I've talked
about already. Whether it's the low blood sugar levels, your
cravings just being heightened from the moment you wake up.
And I've noticed this when I wake up after lack
of sleep, when I've had like four or five hours sleep,
(21:39):
from the moment I wake up, I'm hungry. And I
don't want the things that I know are good for me.
I want the things that I know are bad for
me but are going to give me energy. And that's
really what it's linked to. You're just trying to make
up for the lack of processing that's happened at night,
the lack of metabolizing, the lack of energy that you're feeling.
You just are trying to get get get because your
body feels depleted. Sleep impacts our hormones that control our appetite.
(22:03):
But when you're sleep deprived, your hunger hormone grellin increases
and your satiety hormone called leptin decreases, which means you
start craving all the sugary carby things that you know
you don't want but also really want. I've actually never
had alcohol before, or i haven't had a drunk night,
but every single time I've had a late night and
an early morning on a couple of hours sleep, I
(22:25):
swear I start to understand what a hangover must feel like,
and I just start craving a really big carby comforting
breakfast in the morning. And I always remember my friends
after having a late night out and getting smashed the
night before. All they want in the morning is like
a big, solid breakfast, and so I definitely think lack
of sleep has that same effect as a hangover does. Also,
(22:48):
I think you need to remember not to be too
hard on yourself and don't restrict yourself too much. When
people surrender to a food craving, they often blame it
on a lack of self control. But you know what,
cravings are caused by a combination of so many things,
whether it's our appetite, hormones, our behavioral conditioning, and the
fact that we have all these sugar foods so easily
accessible to us more so than healthy foods. Cravings can
(23:11):
actually be fueled by just smelling fresh bread when we
walk into a bakery, or situations or emotions that trigger
us to want comfort, and so restricting yourself completely can
actually lead to binge eating rather than sustain change. So
understand that your cravings are also just part of life,
and not giving yourself unto ultimatums is so important. It's
(23:32):
like when you're younger and your mom says you can't
have this, it actually makes you want it more. So
don't even phrase it like that to yourself. Find the
reason and repeat that instead, I don't want to eat
this because it makes my skin feel terrible, it makes
me feel lethargic and unhappy, it makes me feel sluggish
after I've eaten it, rather than saying do not have
this because it's off bounds and if you have it,
you're a terrible person with no self control, which is
(23:54):
usually what our mind ends up telling us. We create
these limitations, we create these ultimatums that if you have
it this one time, that means you're a failure. But
you're not. And so I think changing the way that
you're wording it to yourself and the way you're framing
it can make all the difference to being able to
stick to it. I remember hearing this and it is
stuck with me through so many parts of my life.
It's not about subtraction, it's about addition. So find the
(24:17):
higher taste and find the things that make you feel
good that you can add into your life, and then
the things that you want to get rid of will
naturally fall away or they feel easier to let go of.
I remember my spiritual teacher referring it to as a
higher taste. When you get a higher taste, when you
experience something better that makes you feel better, that makes
you feel vibrant, that makes you feel energetic, that creates
(24:40):
something good inside of you. You naturally don't want the
things that make you feel lesser, that actually don't make
you feel good, and so focus on creating better habits
rather than trying to get rid of the negative habits.
We always think about the things that we are losing
before we think about the things that we're gaining, and
so it takes a mindset shift of actually, let's think
about we are gaining before we think about the loss.
(25:03):
Your mind will feel so much more at ease about
those choices that you make when you're thinking about what
you're gaining versus what you're losing, because as soon as
you're in a lost mentality, you essentially put yourself in
a scarcity mindset, which creates panic and anxiety. And take
you one day at a time. People, there's no rush,
We've got a whole life. Doesn't mean that you should
slack on this, but don't set yourself goals that feel
(25:23):
too far away, like oh, I'm giving up sugar for
a year. I literally told myself I'd give out for
a week if anything I was hoping to make it
to one day and I was going to feel like
I had success. So take it one day at a time,
say you know what, yeah, maybe today, maybe three days,
maybe seven days, and then eventually you'll probably end up
doing it for longer. But as soon as you set
a crazy long goal, your body's also going to start
(25:43):
panicking and thinking, oh my god, all those situations I'm
going to miss out on, all the sweet, delicious things
I'm going to miss out on, and naturally you're going
to feel like crab. And so take it one day
at a time, one week at a time, and just
give yourself some grace. And you know what, once you've
done it for a certain amount of time, I decide,
you know, I want to include something once a week,
a little treat once a week, And why not have
(26:04):
that treat once a week. It's better than daily. Having
once a week sugary treat is better than what you
were doing before. Or decide you want it on celebrations
or on Christmas. Enjoy the celebrations, but just know how
to get yourself back on track. I've noticed people say
to go cold turkey, because when you have a small
taste of it, it can set you off on the
wrong path. But honestly, that's not the case for me,
(26:25):
and it may not be for you either. I found
the one offs are totally fine, and I actually don't
even eat as much of it as I normally would
or binge on it. I usually take a bite to
try and then I'm like, Okay, this is great, but
I don't necessarily need all of it. And so sometimes
letting yourself have something once a week stops your mind
from feeling like you've taken it away completely, and it
just creates normality in your life rather than feeling too restricted. Also,
(26:49):
what you will notice is how sweet things actually are
once you've gotten rid of it. So it's actually great
to do this just as a reset to realize what
things actually taste like and what you're actually putting into body.
I feel the same way about salt. I've really reduced
my salt intakes, so now everything tastes so salty to
me when I eat out when I'm not in control
of the amount of salt I'm putting in. I really
think it's the more you have, the more you craved.
(27:11):
That's the same with you know, cigarettes, with alcohol, it's
like the more you have, the higher your tolerances, which
means the more you need to satisfy your cravings for it,
And so having these random one offs actually shouldn't throw
you off or make you want it the next day
and the next day. I think it should just satisfy
you for that moment. But if you are someone who's
all or nothing Jay, my husband is definitely like that,
(27:33):
then you might just have to go cold turkey and
not give yourself some treats. Next up, I recommend really
focusing on portion control. One of my team members actually
really wanted to get off chips. She loved a good
tortilla chip, and I don't blame her. They're so Moorish
and delicious. It was actually one of my big cravings
when I was having a lot of sugar. That was
(27:53):
my other thing. I really wanted lots of chips. I
think it was a salty and carbiness of it that
really attracted me. Anyway, She didn't want to give it
up completely because she really loved her chips and wanted
to keep them in her life, but she didn't want
to finish a whole bag. She would usually sit with
a whole bag and by the end of it she'd
throw it at me and be like, you shouldn't have
let me do that. Why did you let me do that?
Take this away from me? So I kept telling her
(28:16):
just portion it out, like take the amount that you
want in a bowl and cap yourself with that. Don't
go back to the bag. And once you've got it
in the bowl and you've calculated the amount of chips
that you want, just eat that and then you know
what your limits are. It really makes a difference because
when you got bag of chips in front of them,
you know you're just gonna go act it. And that's
the same with chocolate. You made this at My mom
is so cute. She has one small piece of dark
(28:38):
chocolate every single day after her lunch and that's just
her portion. She doesn't go back for another one. She
just knows that that's a sweet tweet that she loves having,
and so she's got it controlled in the amount that
she wants it and it really satisfies her. So let's
talk about supplements and vitamins when it comes to cravings.
So research has shown the low levels of B twelve
in your body actually leads to more cravings. B vitamins
(28:59):
actually help our body to convert what we eat into
the energy that fuels ourselves in our body, and so
when the brain doesn't have enough energy, it triggers our
cravings and our desire to have sweet foods. So get
yourself a bee supplement if you are finding yourself craving
a lot of things. To be honest, most of us
are deficient in it, and so I'm sure you could
use it in your life, especially South Asians, we have
(29:22):
seem to have a genetic disposition to having low B
twelve levels. Another supplement people actually don't know about that
helps to curb cravings and is not as zepic and
does not ruin your body is a supplement called Berberon.
It's been around an Ivadic and Chinese medicine for a
really long time. It is plant extracts, but it helps
to support your insulin secretion in your body, which helps
(29:42):
to control your blood sugar spikes and your blood sugar levels,
which in turn helps with cravings. So I really hope
that these tips help you in curbing your cravings. If
this is one of your goals for this year, then
I really hope this helped. It has helped me so much,
So try one of these things or all of them,
everything from planning to sleep, to protein to mindset shift,
(30:04):
and hopefully between all of these tips, you neither take
all of them or just some of them, and it
gives you what you need to feel more balanced and
in control. I know we can feel really disheartening when
you're trying to stick to something and you keep feeling
like you're failing, But just know that if you're trying
to make changes, you're already doing something that's amazing for yourself.
Life is all about the ebbs and flows. So show
(30:25):
yourself some love for even trying loads of love and
have a wonderful week. Cry out if you need to,
but don't reach for that sweet tree. Not this week anyway,
not after listening to this episode. Have a great week, guys,
and sending you so much love.
Host
Radhi Devlukia
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