How to Break Your Sugar Addiction in 6 Steps
Do you feel like you are out of control sometimes? Like the desire to eat that pint of ice-cream is just too strong? Like you don’t have a choice?
Most of us think desire is innate, something we either have or don’t have. Like you are attracted to someone or not. But the truth is desire is something we LEARN by repeating it over and over until our brain recognizes it as a pattern and takes it out of our prefrontal cortex where it takes a lot of brain power and moves it back to the midbrain so it becomes automatic.
So your desire for junk food seems involuntary because it’s something you’ve programmed into your mind. It feels intense because of the concentrated REWARD associated with it, a flood of dopamine to your brain.
So you aren’t really out of control, you’re just PROGRAMMED to desire. And the good news is you can UNLEARN your habit and REPROGRAM yourself if you want.
So what creates this insatiable desire and urge to eat junk food?
Your thoughts!
It can be as simple as the thought “I want that!” You’ve thought it so many times you don’t even recognize that you are thinking it. Others might be:
Everyone else eats desserts, it's normal.
It’s celebratory.
It relieves my stress.
So when you combine programmed thoughts and highly concentrated “rewards” like a sugary food that release a flood of dopamine, you create the perfect storm in terms of an addictive behavior like overeating.
Programmed Thoughts + Reward with Dopamine = Addictive Habit
The same goes for other concentrated pleasures like over consuming alcohol, porn, online gaming, shopping and social media. It is easy to keep increasing our consumption of them when you are rewarded with a flood of dopamine.
I’m not going to address high levels of addiction here. But you do have control over your next cookie, Netflix show, purchase or third glass of wine. It starts with recognizing that willpower and struggle aren't sustainable long-term solutions against desire. You want to get to the root cause of it and reprogram your brain.
Here are some key steps in deprogramming yourself once an unhealthy habit is formed, such as overeating sugary food (or whatever you decide you'd like to cut back on):
1. Allow the urge: ALLOW your urge to simply be there. Don’t fight or react to it. You can’t make it go away. The only way it’s going to go away is to stop rewarding it with the dopamine rush that comes from the concentrated amounts of sugar. Resisting it or white knuckling it with willpower is just going to make the urge stronger, increasing your need for a release.
Allowing the urge and sitting in the discomfort of it is a skill you can develop with practice. Desire is harmless until you give into it. Breath into it and notice how it feels in your body.
2. Watch your brain: Notice the root thoughts that are creating your desire for the sugary foods in the first place. Watch your brain with a sense of curiosity and fascination. Let go of self-judgement and be self-compassionate. Do thought downloads to excavate those unconscious thoughts. Question them. Are they really true? Are they serving you?
Dig deep and be honest with yourself as to what emotions you are trying to avoid by indulging in the junk food.
3. Create an environment that sets you up for success: Create a plan about the consumption of sugary foods 24 hours in advance using your prefrontal cortex, so you are never responding to a craving in the moment. Make the decision with a clear mind and commit to it 100%. Stay in charge. If you allow yourself to eat one cookie after dinner, stick to that one cookie. Never respond to an urge to eat more.
Also, while reprogramming your brain remove any environmental cues that might prompt you to be tempted (like junk food sitting around the house). People with high self-control tend to spend less time in tempting situations. It’s easier to avoid temptation than resist it.
4. Decide who you want to become: The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve but on who you wish to become. The real reason habits matter is not because they get you better results but because they can change your beliefs about yourself. Ask yourself: “Who is the type of person that could get that outcome I want?” Envision that person and all the decisions they would make.
5. Compassionately learn from your mistakes: Anytime you make a mistake along the journey take the time to study what happened and learn from it. How can you prevent it from happening again? What were you thinking? Never beat yourself up. Just learn your lessons and keep moving forward.
6. Eat a nutritious diet and get lots of sleep: A food protocol full of high quality proteins and fat is critical to kicking a sugar addiction, along with 8 hours of sleep a day and lots of hydration. My preference is for lots of veggies and nuts, but everyone has to figure out what works best for their body.
If you’d like help letting go of a habit that isn’t serving you and reprogramming your brain for success, reach out to me. I'd love to guide, support and inspire you in achieving your goal!
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