1. Drink more water. We know. “drink more water!” has been the answer to “I’m hungry” for years, but that’s because it really does help! By staying fully hydrated throughout the day, your body has a better sense of knowing when it’s really experiencing hunger as opposed to salt and sugar cravings. In addition, swapping your fizzy drinks for water could have a huge impact on your sugar intake - many of us may actually be drinking all of those extra grams of sugar each day. Think iced tea, your morning latte, and even a simple glass of milk- all of these drinks contain sugar. And, not only that but drinking sugar packed fizzy drinks is a quick way to consume far beyond the recommended daily amount in just a short amount of time.

2. Have fresh healthy snacks. If you read each and every label of your foods you’d be shocked by the amount of sugar that’s hidden inside – especially when it comes to pre-packed and processed items. Instead of reaching for the processed snacks opt for some fruit with natural sugars. Enjoying these healthy snacks will also help prevent you from feeling hungry during the day and craving foods packed with sugar and empty calories. Only have one smoothie a day (125-150ml serving) as blitzing releases natural sugars which adds to your daily sugar intake. 

3. Make your own salad dressing.  As mentioned above pre-packed foods are surprisingly full of sugar, and salad dressings are one of the biggest culprits. An easy way to cut back on unnecessary sugar is to make your own salad dressing at home. We have some great salad dressing recipes on the members’ site! 

4. Dark chocolate is your friend. If a chocolate addiction is causing you to consume a bit more sugar than you’d like, you might want to try switching to dark chocolate instead. It contains less sugar, is said to help lower blood pressure, reduces inflammation, and helps fight ageing. Yes, please! The trick though is to stick to 70% or darker dark chocolate and to make sure it’s unsweetened.

5. Watch your Alcohol. With the summer weather on its way, a lot of us crave that cheeky cocktail in the garden. However, alcohol, in general, is notorious for being high in sugar, so when you mix that with fizzy drinks or juice, the sugar content can quickly get out of hand.

If you want to partake in a few adult beverages, limit your sugar intake by making choices like wine, straight spirits, or choose diet fizzy water as a mixer. Of course, no alcoholic beverage can be sugar-free, so remember to sip in moderation.

Making changes to your eating habits and lifestyle takes time, It’s important not to take on too much change at once, as you’re more likely to fall off track. Slow and steady wins the race, start to make just a few adjustments to your eating habits until you’ve got into the new habit. It may feel difficult at first, but after a few weeks of sticking to it, it will become a new healthy habit! Then you can continue on to the next small change and soon you’ll be living a healthier and happier lifestyle with fewer sugar cravings! 

‍