Whew! it's week #2 into the new year, and we all hope that you're sticking to your resolutions so far. If not, that's okay. The problem is that you might have probably started with too lofty notions in the first place like, cut out all carbs or exercise one hour every day when you've never exercised more than an hour in the last decade. You triggered your Inner Resistance Monster who barked, "Hold up thar cowpoke. Whatcha thenk yer doin?"
So okay, you live and learn. But, it's easy to get back on track with the "Better Than Nothin" strategy where tiny, small actions and changes are better than zero, and we applaud minuscule actions because it's still a step in the direction to better health. The Better Than Nothin' approach is like making effortless change.
Any sweet-toothaholics in the house?
This week, if you are a sweet-toothaholic, a small change you can start making is kicking the candy to the curb. That's right! Now, I know some of you are probably going into sugar shock as you read this, and thinking, "But Steph, that is no tiny change. You're asking me to practically remove a limb." Yeah, I get it, but hear me out. Trust me, I've been there as sweets are my weakness. I can give up bread and cheese faster than cookies or Goobers, and Boston Baked Beans might as well be kryptonite.
If you want to drop the pounds, you are going to have to start weaning off the sugar. In fact, if you've been doing a food diary for your NY's resolutions, take a look at the last week, and calculate roughly what percentage of your food intake is from sugars. Just because you are eating little to none flours or fats doesn't mean you're not consuming gobs of sugars, and sugars will keep the pounds on.
And, people will disagree with me on this, but I include the artificial sweeteners in the sugar category because just because there are 0 calories it still falls into the sweet bucket. You don't need zero calorie candy. You want it, yes. But you don't need it.
Start the candy wean
Those of you who don't eat candy. Good for you. Those of you who eat candy everyday or over 2 times a week, need to star the candy detox, and yeah, that includes those organic or all natural candies at Whole Foods. Just because those candies are better made with better ingredients doesn't mean that it's "good" for you. Candy is still that candy. Sugars. Lots of sugars.
BUT, I'm not saying ex-nay to the candy all together. That is unrealistic. Treat candy like a special treat, a once in awhile kind of thing. Also, don't go cold turkey because that will just piss off your Inner Resistance Monster and when he/she is mad, well you know what happens.
Start to wean. Eat one less piece of candy a day. Then move to half the amount per day. Perhaps eat less chocolate and chew gum instead. Then try going one whole day candy free. Then try going to 2 days straight, then 3, and so on. Take it slow as you want to almost not even notice that you're eating less of the candies. Slow if fine. It took me 2 years to wean off Diet Coke as it used to be like my crack, but I did it, and I've never felt better. The same thing can happen for you with the candy.
