7 Healthy Ways To Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth

ugar is my downfall like no other. I've always been one to skip a meal only to down anything in liquid form, which can be juice, lemonade, soda, milkshake, the list goes on. Back when I did my 45 day cleanse from sugar last year, I learned a lot of ways to satisfy my sweet tooth. Everything I will mention below worked so well for me. Well, I am actually back on that challenge and right now I am on day 18. I would love to achieve 45 days again, but for now, it's set at 30.

Be sure to read my sugar cleanse post above if you want to learn more about the process. I would recommend that if you want to cut out sugar cold turkey, do so during a week that you can handle the detox. I began my detox the week of my best friend's wedding and had to push through an intense migraine for two days. It wasn't the best timing, but I knew I needed to do this for my body. Plus, once my migraine broke I have been doing great! These tips below are ones that I am following right now and with them giving up sugar altogether isn't so bad. Here's why...

1. Snack on some fruit. 
I love fresh fruit. My go-to's are strawberries, pineapple, and blackberries. I also love to drink fresh squeezed orange juice, as it contains only natural sugar.

2. Make iced tea your best friend. 
For you, coffee drinkers, or soda drinkers (like me) then iced tea will be your best friend. As I survive my sugar detox during the week, a tropical, black, or peach tea helps me like no other. It still allows me to still go to coffee shops and sip on something.

3. Chew gum.
Now, this one saves me at night or when I'm out running errands. Of course, sugar-free gum is the key here. But a little Hubba Bubba bubblegum isn't going to hurt.

4. Find a healthy alternative for ice cream.
Ahh, my favorite way to help myself be healthy for sugar! I'm not talking about dairy or sugar-free ice cream at a grocery store. But, the kind you can choose at health stores. Pressed Juicery Freeze is my all time favorite, which is vegan and sugar-free. Another favorite of mine is from Nekter Juice Bar because their's is made from cashew milk and coconut sugar + it's vegan.

5. Brush your teeth. 
Lifesaver hack right here. Clean teeth will remove all aftertaste of food in general, and then it will eliminate your chances of taking a bite of something.
6. Drink water. 
I never drink enough water, so this is a good rule in general.

7. Use honey. 
Instead of refined sugar in a cup of tea, smoothie, or even on top of toast (guilty) use honey or agave. It still is so perfectly sweet and does the trick for less the cost.

How To Drink More Water

rinking water is so difficult for me. If I don't make a large ice water in the morning, I find myself without any sips at 2pm in the day. I've always preferred a cup of soda or juice, so that doesn't help either. So, I've had to really figure out how to help myself in this department.

I always know when I do horrible with my water in-take, because I will have migraines.
But as soon as I began to remind myself to drink water, the headaches and low level of energy left immediately. I felt refreshed, and able to concentrate on my homework and new environment. So since this is a goal of mine to keep track of, I thought i'd share a few tips on how you too can drink more water!

1. Pick up a cute water bottle: 
This helps me drink water! A cute water bottle, makes me want to bring it everywhere with me. It's also easier than a bottled water, because I find they usually don't stay cold for very long, then they sweat and my notebooks get damp inside my backpack. I would recommend finding one that has stainless steal inside the cup, because my few ice cubes will last longer than 24 hours...it's the best thing ever!

2. Substitute water for one meal: 
I love this method! For dinner I've been substituting my teas for a glass of water. I find this helps with the way I feel after dinner so late at night, not being so full and heavy.

3. Set a goal: 
For myself my goal is to drink up to five water bottles a day! In the morning I should easily have one bottle, one with lunch, and a few glasses with dinner!

4. Make it a routine: 
It's hard to remember and it takes time to constantly refill my hydro during the day. But, keeping it apart of my morning routine has helped.

5. Use an app tracker: 
Okay so now that you know your goal, and have started a routine it's always helpful to have a reminder throughout the busy parts of the day. I have this app and it alerts me in the morning and afternoon to drink water! I love this because my busy days at work, I need to be aware of consuming water. Check out this app here. 

A Health Update | Week 5

ood morning! Today, I am so excited to be writing this post, because I have never done anything like this before. Back in January, I started a no sugar challenge that lasted 45 days (read about it here)! I ate whole foods, barely exercised, cut out all sugars, and drank lots of water. I lost 17 lbs. I felt really good those two months, and then things started to slip up again. My birthday is in March and with a few bites of sugar, I slowly gave up all my good habits. Well, it took me until July 1st, to really commit to the lifestyle I was so thriving in.

I am ending week 5 of my whole food and exercising health journey. So far you guys, I have lost 10 lbs. I definitely had a few weak moments, but I still walked at the end of the night. That is something I would have never done. I'm trying to change my overall eating habits and realize that a few splurges will be apart of my week, rather than lose it all fast for a quick fix.

So, here are a few things I've been doing and feeling....

My go-to meals | A few of my favorite meals lately has been; lime bbq chicken tacos with guacamole / green pineapple smoothie / apples and almond butter / oatmeal and peaches / egg salad / quest protein bars / zucchini fries.

Joined the gym | After two weeks of the 100 degree heat wave and four straight days of no walking, because of the heat, I got a gym membership. I'm super excited, as my sister loves it, and my friend just joined as well. I was so nervous about going. I've had two memberships before, and I did great. But, this time it took courage, and lots of convincing from my sister to join. I've been going almost daily now for three weeks, and my anxious thoughts are disappearing as we speak.

Craving lifesavers | Sugar is my thing. My first week was easy, second week is when I splurged. So, I thought I'd share a few drinks and snacks I go to while craving something sweet. I love making my own unsweetened iced tea. I recommend Trader Joe's black mango tea and pour it over ice. I also will chew gum instead of candy, haha. I've only made it once, but banana ice cream is super delicious. I blended 3 frozen bananas, and 1tbs of peanut butter, then stick it back in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Exercise routine | I am half way through my 100 squat challenge!! I found it through Blogilates, and I love it so far. Everyday for 30 days, I have to do a 100 squats. The hard part is that everyday is a different form of squat. Who knew there are 30 different ways to squat?! Well, let me say it challenging but so far I'm feeling some muscle. As for the gym, cardio has been my best friend. Oh, and I bought a yoga mat to do some workout videos in my room.

Improvements moving forward | I need to drink more water. I've always had this issue, but now eating whole foods that aren't dripping with sugar or salt, I'm not very thirsty. Maybe I need to keep track on paper every day!

I CUT SUGAR FOR 31 DAYS, HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED

For the whole month of January I cut sugar completely from my diet. It was so hard at first, but really needed. I never had completed a type of challenge like this so, I am very proud of myself. Even though the 31 day challenge is over, I am still not eating sugar. Now that it already feels like a habit, I want to see how much further I can go!

Below I wanted to share my craving patterns, detox feelings, and unsweetened foods that helped me get through this. Now, just to clarify I removed all sugar no matter it's form such as soda, chocolate,  white or brown sugar, etc. So let's dive in!

Week 1 - In some ways it was easy to give up sugar because of the holiday indulgence, but it was still hard. I never had a sugar detox migraine, mostly because I made sure to drink some cranberry juice the first few mornings. Over all, my body felt great! 

Week 2 - Believe it or not, but my cravings went away. This is when I started to implement my love for acai bowls, so the mixture between the granola and agave was the best. 

Week 3 - Still no need for sugar. I felt great in terms of having no cravings! But, going to the movies without any butter popcorn, or candy it was a different experience. Isn't it interesting how we glorify certain outings only for food? 

Week 4 - This week was a little harder for me. At times I definitely wanted something sweet, other than fruit! But, this week it was nice to be surrounded with friends who have also been watching what they eat! 

Week 5 - Crazy to think 31 days free of no sugar. I didn't think I could do it. This week I implemented lots of fitness, and that kept the motivation even stronger than ever! I found that working out gave me more of an incentive to never cheat myself on such hard work. 

1. No headaches! I loved not having any type of symptoms of being addicted to sugar. I still had headaches if I was working too hard with homework, starred too long at a computer screen, or didn't drink enough water, but nothing related towards food. 

2. Never felt sick. Sometimes eating sugar always made me feel funny, or give me stomach aches. It felt great to not have any of those problems. 

3. No cravings. It's amazing how after the first week of detox, I was able to not have any cravings. I loved not being dependent on needing a sweet fix in order to be satisfied. 

4. I drank more water. I have always loved soda, but now I definitely love the taste of water. It doesn't bother to only have water with my meals now! 

Drink freshly squeezed juice. Jamba Juice was another hot spot for me, because their freshly squeezed orange juice was delicious. The oranges this time of year are so sweet, I just love it!

Acai bowls are life. Nekter is the first place I've tried a bowl, and I love it. I like to replace an actual meal with this bowl because it is so filling. But, I love how this taste like dessert.

I loved iced teas if the cravings were bad. Some of my favorite teas are the tropical black iced tea from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, passionfruit from It's A Grind, black iced tea from Sidecar Donuts and Coffee. All are unsweetened and I promise the taste, flavor, and sweetness doesn't even need sugar!

Use agave. Sometimes I loved honey with hot tea, or agave with my acai bowls. I never used it enough to even make it become a bad habit to replace my sugar absence, but this is something you'll have to decide for yourself.