The Granular on Extinguishing Your Sugar Habit For Good  

Pearl One

We’ll do it differently and begin with our journal today. The following is exactly what I did to put desserts in their place. You’re in charge of your health, not the candy companies.

Take a few moments to write to the following prompts:

One

What change would you most love to make in your day-to-day eating? Remember to set yourself up for success, by keeping your change small and manageable. I’ll use myself as an example: A couple of years back, I wanted to eliminate eating sugar in the evening. I told myself repeatedly that if I wanted cheesecake in the evening, I’d plan to have it the next morning. More on morning-eating here: Brownies for Breakfast.

Two

Remember, that to establish a new habit I had to give up evening sugar for sixty-six days (time it takes to establish a habit according to my favorite ’09 study out of England). I know that sixty-six days sounds overwhelming, but it’s only the first sixteen days that require a full plan to be written each morning.

That said, when you’re ready to change a bad habit, plan the date you’ll begin. Put thought into it. Don’t try this on the spur of the moment. You’re developing a new habit around your favorite helper/entertainer/caregiver: food. So be respectful of what you’re attempting to do. For the first sixteen days in the morning write a plan only for that specific day and note where the challenging parts of the day lie. Ask yourself, why the challenges come up when they do (ex: I’m tired from my long day at work or I think the boss is probably mad at me etc.). And write a smart eating plan for those tough times.

For me, I overate in the afternoons and well into the evenings taking in mass quantities.

Here’s how I plan in the morning, to contract with myself exactly how my evening will look.

5 pm: If I’m already hungry, I eat a small snack — like half of a banana and read a positive book until dinner. I then listen to a super positive podcast.

6 pm: I’ll have a small dinner like half a cantaloupe and cottage cheese or a scrambled egg with cheese (in moderation). I call cheese a spice.

6:15 to 7 pm — I’ll listen to really great music like Linda Ronstadt, the Eagles, Tom Petty, and Prince (music reliably takes me to a better place). The science world is taking note and studying how music affects our brains. For example: “JUST TAKE THOSE OLD RECORDS OFF THE SHELF. . .” You know the next line. See how a fun song is electrifying and does a body good?

Music is a serious game changer. Use its power.

7 pm: I’ll take Summer on her walk tonight.

8 pm: I shower, brush my teeth, put on my jams and get to bed early with a book-dessert

You get the idea. As I list ways that I can support my “no evening sugar” plan, it’s important that I only list ways that are fun to me. Can’t be lamo.

So plan to get what you need: an upper podcast, great music, a book-dessert, and smart food that you love (grapes and yogurt). In other words set yourself up for success.

Three

How will you record your daily results? Peter Drucker said, “What gets measured, improves.” I keep myself on track by measuring lots and lots of things: like my food (with measuring cups), my daily weight (on my laptop) and so forth. Tracking my food is crucial for the right outcome. I keep a notepad next to the refrigerator. I’ve tracked food for almost two decades now. I still see it as so important,

Goodbye Sugar!

I’ll be honest, the first couple of weeks of no-sugar were hard. I read a lot of great books, listened to awesome music, and got a lot of sleep. lol. But by week three the sugar cravings died way down. I’m on Day 128 of no-sugar, the cravings are gone, and I’m treating this hard-won habit like the crown-jewel that it is.

Update: on 9-26-21: I’ve been sugar-free after dinner for nine months now. Today I won’t risk the successful months I’ve accumulated by eating ice cream at night.

Update on 6-9-25: I have full control of evening and morning sugar. Was this difficult? Well, of course. Do difficult anyway. ♥

Pearl Two

Do you mind another James Clear quote? In Atomic Habits James writes that “the greatest threat to success is not failure, but boredom.”

I couldn’t agree more. I’ve done a ton of dumb stuff in my life merely because I was bored. And – as we all well know — eating fun food is surefire way to pinball us straight out of boredom (at least for the moment). Fun food is cheap, fun food is a breeze to attain, and fun food is sanctioned by the world.

When fun food calls to me it means one of three things. I’m either hungry, tired or I’m bored. If I’m all three, I’ve really entered the twilight zone.

Getting un-bored with our new habit isn’t a walk on the beach. The smartest way to give our subconscious a way to “talk” to us is through journal-writing.

Pick up the pen – or keyboard- and discover what makes you sparkle and come up with creative ideas to bring the sparkle to life. ♥

Pearl Three

Sequencing is taken directly from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The purpose of sequences is to help us move from reacting to circumstances to responding. I encourage you to do a sequence a day in your journal. Powerful stuff.

Automatic Sequence

• Situation (be super concrete): When I have any problem on my laptop, I call for IT guys in my family to help.
• Automatic thought: I’m a dingdong and am not good at technology.
• Feeling: Mad and sad at family members who get upset with me for needing help.
• Action: I continue whining and coming across as hopeless/helpless.
• Result: It’s a pain to get what I need done on my laptop. I’m always begging.

Chosen Thought:

• Situation (be super concrete): When I have any problem on my laptop, I call for IT guys in my family to help.
• Conscious thought: I’m starting today to google problems I might have on my computer.
• Feeling: A sense of pride and happiness at being able to fix the computer without bugging somebody.
• Action: I’ll google for answers until I can’t find one, and only then will I request help. I rarely need help on the computer anymore.
• Result: Happier, more confident me! And the IT guys in my family seem to know that perpetually asking for help. ♥

Pearl Four

Books love us and want us to be happy

We’re almost half way through the year, so I thought I’d share my three favorites so far.

Loving Frank: a Novel by Nancy Horan.

My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor.

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern: A Novel by Lynda Cohen Loigman ♥

Pearl Five

But patience can’t be acquired overnight. It’s just like building up a muscle. Every day you need to work on it, to push its limits.” —Eknath Easwaran ♥

Do you remember the book-dessert pearl from last week? Well I finished Chelsea Handler current book — I’ll Have What She’s Having — and was absolutely blown away at how good the book was. I’d read the first half before I wrote the post. And it was what I’d expect in a great book by Handler. But over the weekend I read the second-half and was floored. Describing the process that Handler went through was big-time inspiring for me. I never reread books, but I’m going in for my second read right now.

Handler has had six of her memoirs on the New York Times best seller list. Plus she loves dogs and I love that. This an easy-to-read book (although it’s substantial in size) perfect at the beach, plane, long afternoon alone. But fair warning: You’ll well up and your mascara won’t stand a chance. Really thought provoking..

And a word about politics. We don’t have them on here. Handler is a devout progressive but meets up with a former Republican president. It’s a sweet, super kind story. I might recommend Michele Obama’s Becoming and a week later Hillbilly Elegy.

Have a wonderful week,

♥, Wendy

You know the scoop: I’m an Amazon affiliate. If you buy from a link in my post, I’ll receive money, but the arrangement won’t cost you a dime.

Are you new to the Inspired Eater? Welcome!! This blog won’t make much sense until you first read the Aunt Bea post (and you’ll find Aunt Bea on this page to the right under my short bio). On your cell you’ll see it immediately following the first post. After you enter your email address, the Aunt Bea article will be sent to your email’s inbox. If it’s not there, you might check the spam folder. And always feel free to email me at Wendy@TheInspiredEater.com and I’ll get Aunt Bea right to you!!

I am not an expert, doctor, surgeon, nurse, dietician, or nutritionist: the information within TheInspiredEater.com is based solely on my personal experience and is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.