You’ve enjoyed yourself through the holiday’s and now it’s time to whip your body into shape. This goes deeper than getting on the treadmill or taking a few kickboxing classes. Are you ready to commit to something new? Is this a quick fix or a lifestyle change for you?

Quick fix or lifestyle change, the biggest contribution you can make to your big makeover is to cure your cravings for sugar. I can hear you now. What does sugar have to do with a makeover? Everything! It will delay your being able to get into that size 8, 10 or 12 for that matter.

Sugar has caused your body to swell. Then you hear that people with diabetes are at greater risk of brain shrinkage and dementia, all because of sugar. While I’m not diabetic, I need every brain cell I’ve got. So much for the homemade cookies I was eating when doing the research for this article.

Where Does Sugar Hide In Foods

Just when you thought you were eating healthy, you find out that sugar is a big culprit in some of your so called “healthy snacks”. Multigrain bread, one slice contains one teaspoon of sugar. Who eats one slice of bread? Healthy breakfast with Raisin bran? Nope. One cup of raisin bran has 1 3/4 teaspoons of sugar. Here’s one for you, one cup of Vanilla Almond milk contains 3 3/4 teaspoons of sugar. If you eat these three items for breakfast, that means your healthy breakfast contains 6 and a half teaspoons of sugar. Not so healthy, right?

A few other names for sugar are agave syrup, barley malt syrup, brown rice syrup, evaporated cane juice, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, honey maltose, molasses, rice malt sucrose and tapioca syrup. You’ve seen them all on the back or sides of packaging as you read the label.

So begin your transition from sugar by drinking water instead of flavored drinks, ditch the salad dressing for balsamic vinegar and instead of fruits in your yogurt, eat it plain.

How Do You Move Beyond Sugar?

It all begins with the right mind set. You decide to detox which is great. Instead of telling yourself you “can’t “ have a sugar coated or laced item, just say, I “don’t “ eat that. I puts a complete different perspective on cleansing.

Try cutting sugar from your meals for one week. You’ll be oh so surprised at just how great you feel. While fruits are considered natural sweetness, they’re loaded with sugar. So keep your fruit intake to a minimum.

What you do for one week can be extended to two and three and so on. Pretty soon, you’ll find yourself not missing or wanting sugar filled foods at all.

Don’t forget to move your body! I know you didn’t think you were going to get away without some form of exercise. Don’t want to walk, swim, run or jump, a rumble in the sheets with our significant other will do just fine.

That’s it for this week. As always …

Dedicated To Your Beauty,

Juliette Samuel
Esthetician/Author/Publisher

Nyraju Skin Care