Alright…just a few more days until January 1 and thus some more words to help prep any of you who are deciding to join me.  Like I’ve posted before, all of us have different reasons for wanting to embark on a sugar detox (and alcohol if you’re joining me on that journey also) and thus it is important to remember that all of us will have different ways to detox.  If you choose to 100% commit — woot woot — then go for it.  Others may not be able to 100% commit because it would be too overwhelming.  A sugar detox does not have to be all or nothing.  You may need to work up to truly committing to 100% abstinence — so you must first decide: Are you Sugar Detox ready?  Below are some tips in assessing what type of sugar detox you are ready for and what steps to take to be prepared for January 1.

How much sugar do you currently eat?  Depending on your current eating patterns this particular assessment will be key in assessing what sort of detox you are ready to embark on.  Please note that I am not devaluing your motivation — but sugar is an ADDICTION and thus treading lightly on “treatment” is necessary for success.  So, there are a few different type of sugar eaters….

Sugar Eater 1: The Healthy Cookie Monster —  This is me.  I do not possess in my cabinets any processed foods with added sugar, do not drink fruit juice unless I juice it myself, I rarely eat meals prepared away from the home, I do not consume soda, and I most certainly don’t buy “flavored” anything as I am game to add my own flavoring to anything needing sweetness (like yogurt or oatmeal).  BUT….I am a self-declared cookie monster.  Meaning…if sugar makes its way into the house then I am going to consume it en masse.  The pic above?  Holiday cookies that I’ve forced my significant other to take to his office before I eat them all (that plate was x5 only 3 days ago).  My mum had to hide the cake frosting from me as a child as I would put spoon to carton until I was sick.   My sugar detox will consist of ZERO added sugar (even my own, like honey or molasses) and I’m even foregoing any bread as sugar is needed to activate yeast and thus you will be hard-pressed to find any bread without added sugar.  I will gladly consume any and all things with natural sugars (plain yogurt, milk, fruit, etc.).  Carb-detox will come later 🙂

Sugar Eater 2: The Unknowing Addict — This is a good portion of America.  They know that eating cookies and drinking soda has sugar but they have yet to determine if the other 600,000 products in the grocery store that catches their eye contains sugar.  Thus when they go on a Shopping Tour with a dietitian like me they are FLOORED because they had “no idea there was so much added sugar.”  This type of sugar eater just has not paid attention to the foods they consume — to the whole wheat bread they buy that’s loaded with sugar, to the “healthy” granola bars that are a cupcake in disguise, the strawberry light yogurt telling them it’s OK to eat 60 calories of pure garbage for breakfast or the healthy cereal that is, in fact, just sugar veiled as fiber-rich.  This type of eater also eats out regularly and does not comprehend that most meals prepared away from the home contain loads of sugar (remember sugar actually has inherent chemical properties to keep food from rotting, as well as increase it’s flavor considering restaurant meals are not so fresh as they may seem).  This type of sugar eater would most likely benefit from a more watered-down detox considering more education is needed as to not overwhelm them.  Perhaps after some practice they would be able to detox 100%.  They would, of course, abstain from the obvious (cookies, cakes, etc.) but may also want to adopt a “if there’s sugar in the ingredient list” I’m not going to buy it and rather flavor their own with small bits of honey or black-strap molasses as to not shock their taste buds.  This type of sugar eater would maybe decide to eat out less, considering they cannot determine how much sugar is in their food, and adopt a more friendly detox of modifying their cupboards to better reflect their newly found knowledge.  They may buy a new kind of bread, buy plain yogurt rather than flavored, and give up those stupid granola bars for good and replace their snack drawer at work with fruit, nuts, wholesome crackers (without sugar) + cheese and buy peanut butter that they actually have to stir (keep it upside down in the cabinet and no stirring needed). These kind of eaters would benefit from very specific sugar-reduction goals (we call them S.M.A.R.T goals — Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely).

Sugar Eater 3: The Know-It-All Dieter — These kind of sugar eaters are everywhere.  They have been the bait for so much of the food industry and these are the ones who are trying (kind of)….but failing because they haven’t gotten down to the philosophy of what eating well truly is.  These sugar eaters buy sugar-free EVERYTHING and have switched out their cola habit and traded it for a diet-cola habit — without actually reducing their soda intake.  They’ve never heard of term “polyol” and its associated “gastrointestinal distress”.  These eaters can include diabetics who haven’t actually modified their eating behaviors but rather traded them for horrible stomach cramps due to all the indigestible materials in their so-called “healthy food.”  These eaters try myriad recipes for baked goods that include sugar substitutes and have replaced the honey in their cupboard (because so and so’s mom’s cousin’s co-worker heard that honey is high-carb) with Stevia and eat Lean Cuisine’s for lunch because “they’re only 120 calories for lunch!”  These type of sugar eaters, like the Unknowing Addict above, will benefit from S.M.A.R.T. goals and serious education about wholesome food.  These eaters tend to be quite malnourished (without realizing it) and have fits of sugar cravings they cave into at times because they’re misinterpreting their body’s signals for vitamins and minerals.  These eaters may adopt a detox that includes abstaining or reducing intake of “diet” foods and practicing eating real food for meals and snacks and learning how to identify best choices.  These eaters would benefit to paying attention to the their foods ingredient lists and learn to make better choices, but they may not be ready to embark on 100% abstinence because it’s baby steps for them.