Authors: Anne Alexander,Julia VanTine
The Sugar Smart Diet: Stop Cravings and Lose Weight While Still Enjoying the Sweets You Love (29 page)
Goals for Days 26 through 32
•
Have breakfast every morning.
•
Mix and match the lunch and dinner options.
All of our quick and easy meals and recipes (see
Chapter 11
) are on the table now. You’ll find some new breakfast and lunch/dinner dishes added in this phase.
•
Have one serving of a processed grain product per day, if you like.
Sometimes you want a piece of crusty French bread, prefer regular pasta to whole grain, or want white rice with your take-out Chinese. In Phase 4, your daily processed grain product can be either regular or whole grain. However, I still want you to limit them to once a day. So if you have a sandwich at lunch, whether on a baguette or between two slices of whole wheat bread, don’t have pasta (even if it is whole grain) at dinner. As you’ve learned, these Sugar Mimics can negatively affect blood sugar levels. To further reduce the impact of processed grain products, always pair them with lean protein, a bit of healthy fat, or fiber.
•
Include one meal or snack that contains a natural sweetener per day, if you want to.
Like processed grain products, natural sweeteners are optional.
•
Have one serving of fruit up to three times a day.
•
Don’t forget to snack!
•
Have dessert!
This week and every week thereafter, if you want to, you can have a daily serving of sugary food that contains 100 to 150 calories and up to 12 grams of added sugar. Because of the effect on blood sugar levels, we consider a 6-ounce glass of 100% fruit juice to be a sugary treat.
•
Set your daily intention.
You’re sure to be feeling as light in spirit as in body. Stress eating is out; mindful eating, daily relaxation time, and sound sleep are in. But you may need more ways to navigate tricky situations, so here is our last round of strategies. Try these or continue to use the ones you learned in previous phases.
Dining out has become an American way of life. We eat away from home an average of four times a week, according to the restaurant industry. The good news: If you stick to the template below, it’s usually possible to order a meal that’s low in added sugars anywhere, from diners to five-star restaurants. This is just an example of the foods you can choose; you don’t have to order everything on the “menu.”
One important tip: Dine mindfully. Mindful eating works at restaurants, too! In a small study published in the
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior
, older women who ate away from home at least three times a week, but who practiced mindful eating while dining out, lost almost 4 pounds in 6 weeks, even though they were only trying to maintain their weight. They also ate fewer calories and grams of fat per day, and found it easier to manage their weight.
BROTH-BASED SOUP OR STEAMED SEAFOOD
(steamed clams or shrimp cocktail, minus the cocktail sauce)
SALAD DRESSED WITH BALSAMIC VINEGAR AND OLIVE OIL
(skip the cheese, bacon bits, croutons, and creamy salad dressings)
GRILLED POULTRY OR FISH
(sans butter or fatty sauces)
GRILLED, ROASTED, OR STEAMED VEGGIES
A SMALL PORTION OF STARCH
(a quantity of brown rice or grains that would fit in the palm of your hand)
FRUIT FOR DESSERT
(1 ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE OPTIONAL)
Specialty coffee shop drinks—like sugar-packed Frappuccinos and syrup-laced options—help grow sugar bellies, even if you don’t add a scone to your coffee order. If you’re hooked on coffee drinks, try our no-sugar, low-cal indulgence. At just 100 calories a serving, with zero sugar, it tastes decadent. (We used mocha-flavored coffee, but it tastes just as good made with vanilla- or hazelnut-flavored coffee or a regular brew.)
1 cup strong mocha-flavored coffee (cold or hot)
1¼ cups fat-free milk
½ teaspoon orange extract
unsweetened cocoa powder
In a pitcher, combine the coffee, milk, and orange extract and stir. Serve hot or iced. Dust with cocoa powder before serving. Makes two 1.5-cup servings.
There’s nothing like a hot bath to melt away tension or enjoy a little “me” time. According to
Prevention
advisory board member Tieraona Low Dog, MD, hot baths initially raise your heart rate and temperature. To dispel the heat, you perspire, which allows your body to rid itself of toxins. Then your blood vessels dilate and increase circulation, removing lactic acid from muscles, lowering blood pressure, and easing pain.
Ready to do some soaking? Here’s Dr. Low Dog’s recipe for a detox bath. Run a tub of hot water. Add 2 tablespoons of sea salt and 10 drops of one of the essential oils below, which you can buy at a natural foods store. Choose whichever suits your needs.
To ease tension: clary sage.
The wonderful floral aroma relaxes you and lifts your spirits.
When you’re feeling frazzled: lavender.
This lovely floral fragrance helps ground and center you. It’s perfect for those days when you’re feeling anxious.
To calm yet clear your mind: sandalwood.
Its warm, woodsy scent has been used for centuries to prepare the mind for meditation.
Check the water temperature for comfort, then soak for 20 to 30 minutes. If you’re pregnant or have heart problems, talk to your doctor before taking a detox bath.
You’ve likely heard of white noise, which is produced when the sounds of different frequencies are combined. It is often touted as a way to ease yourself into sleep. A study published in the
Journal of Theoretical Biology
, however, found that a noise with a much prettier name—pink noise—ushered in sleep even better.
Pink noise is a type of sound in which every octave carries the same power, or a perfectly consistent frequency. Think of rain falling on pavement or wind rustling the leaves on a tree. (That does sound relaxing!) It’s called pink noise because light with a similar power spectrum would appear pink.
In the study, conducted to discover how pink noise would affect sleepers, a research team from China exposed 50 volunteers to either no noise or the pink variety during nighttime sleep and daytime naps while the participants’ brain activity was monitored. A whopping 75 percent of the participants reported that they slept more restfully when the pink noise was on. When it came to brain activity, the amount of “stable sleep”—the most restful kind—increased 23 percent among the nighttime sleepers exposed to pink noise and more than 45 percent among nappers.
What’s going on here? Sound plays a big role in brain activity and brain wave synchronization even while you’re sleeping, the study notes. The steady drone of pink noise slows and regulates your brain waves, which is a hallmark of super-restful sleep. It’s simple to “sleep pink”—just set up a fan that produces a steady, uninterrupted sound or use the rain forest setting on a noise machine.
It’s inevitable that, at some point, you’ll find yourself in a situation that challenges all that you know, or have learned, about making healthy choices. The holiday dinner at your in-laws’. An eating-related event. A conversation at home or at work that you know will be stressful or emotionally charged. How will you handle it?
If you’ve struggled with overeating or an overactive sweet tooth in the past, any social event or celebration—from a simple dinner for two to a cocktail party or company picnic—may raise anxieties about food, eating with others, or socializing itself. I know, I’ve been there. Parties used to present dual temptations: all-you-can-eat foods from the sugar-heaven list and opportunities for anonymous eating. (Who’s going to notice if you’re scarfing handfuls of cookies?)
But if you’re honest with yourself and prepare in advance both mentally (you can do it!) and physically (no empty stomachs allowed!), social eating doesn’t have to derail your progress, even if it’s led you to overeat in the past. The following low-sugar guidelines and emotional coping strategies can help. They’re easy to remember, because they spell out the word SLIM. Review them before your next social event and remember them while you’re there. More than likely, they’ll help you conquer the impulse to swan-dive into the chocolate fountain.
S Savor flavor, not sugar.
If you’re dining out, follow the advice given on
this page
. At other events, stick to whole foods as much as possible, skipping sweetened beverages, slow cooker fare, and store-bought pasta and macaroni salads. If you know the menu will offer mostly unhealthy options, eat one of your favorite meals from any of the phases before you go, and skip to the next letter on this list.
L Lavish your attention on the company.
The key to making it through a special occasion is to keep your focus on the celebration, rather than the food. When you attend an event where food will be served, make it a point to talk to at least one person—your favorite aunt at a family reunion or a coworker who shares your interest in hiking or gardening. The more attention you give to others, the less you’ll give to the food.
I Imbibe sensibly—stick to one drink.
The stress of a social event, or the flaring of family tensions during the holidays, may tempt you to drink one more glass of wine than is wise. Keep your head. Overdoing it on alcohol can lower your inhibitions. That leaves you vulnerable to scarfing sugary treats at a party or ordering dessert when you hadn’t planned to.
M Mind your thoughts and feelings.
During the event, notice any thoughts and feelings that being there brings up. Do you feel overwhelmed or shy? Overjoyed and ready to party? Intense emotion, negative or positive, can lead to overeating. To help keep you centered, practice one of the emotional coping strategies you’ve learned, both before and during the event.
If you don’t know, it can be helpful to use a technique called “coping ahead,” developed by Marsha Linehan, PhD, a professor of psychology and an adjunct professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington. Coping ahead involves seeking awareness of potential obstacles and creating specific plans to help you deal with them. Unlike with worry, you’re not going around in circles. You’re creating a path to resolution.
Here’s a simple, yet effective, exercise to practice this skill. You can use it to rehearse any situation in which you worry you may overeat.
- Think of a situation in which you anticipate experiencing intense negative emotions.
- Jot down your concerns about what may happen.
- On a fresh page, write down a plan for ways you might cope ahead to manage your feelings and eating. What choices can you make both before and during the situation that would make you feel more confident and in control?
You’ve got strategies to crush cravings. Coping techniques to cool your emotional connection with sugar. Tips to sleep better, relax more, move daily, and enjoy life. As you prepare to strike out on your own, team the strategies you’ve been using throughout the plan with these big-picture strategies. Together, they’ll help you stick to—and love—your sweet, Sugar Smart life!
CONTINUE TO SET AN INTENTION EVERYDAY
By now, I hope that setting an intention has become a habit, one that’s had a real impact on your life. Don’t give up doing that just because we’ve come to the end of the Sugar Smart Diet. In addition to helping you make your health a priority, intentions can steer you toward other goals and accomplishments.
My quiet time in the morning has made all difference in helping me stay energized, focused, and even serene through some tough times—including moving three kids, two cats, two mice, three fish, and a frog to a new city and a new house while holding down a busy job! Whether I use that time to daydream, meditate, or just ruminate, it’s all mine—an oasis of calm, where I turn down the volume on the competing demands on my energy and attention and suss out
my
personal priorities. When I set my daily intention, it’s a pleasure to get out of bed to start the day. Hopefully, you’ve found that out for yourself!
MAKE BREAKFAST A MUST
Metabolism revver. Brain booster. Cravings crusher. Breakfast is all of those things. So whether you’ve lost the weight you want or are still working on it, continue to eat breakfast each day, and make sure it contains 15 to 20 grams of lean protein. Feel free to enjoy your favorite breakfasts from any phase, and stock your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry with cravings-crushing breakfasts like all-natural peanut butter, egg whites, low-fat ricotta cheese, and bags of frozen edamame.
FORGET ABOUT SUGAR GRAMS, ONCE A WEEK
It’s your birthday or someone else’s, and there is cake. You’re visiting the town with the best ice cream shop on the planet. You’re at a restaurant where the desserts are to die for. Or you just want a nice glass of lemonade on a hot summer day. I don’t want you to concern yourself with parceling out a portion of the sugary treat that has exactly 150 calories and 12 grams of added sugar. Just have it—as long as you splurge only one time a week and skip your daily 150-calorie indulgence that day. The first few times, carefully monitor how you feel physically and emotionally afterward. Sometimes, the day after I’ve had an anything-goes meal is when I experience intense sugar cravings. Plan ahead, indulge, enjoy—and then clear your system of that sugar load by following a Phase 1 or 2 diet that day and perhaps even the next.
