How Eating Sugar Puts Fat On Your Belly

Sugar could possibly be the biggest obstacle to losing belly fat. Consuming too much sugar is basically telling your body to store fat instead of burn it. When you digest sugar your blood-glucose level rises fast which then tells your body to release insulin. Insulin is like your body’s hoarder of fat so it collects it and doesn’t want to give it up. What’s even worse is the more sugar you eat in one sitting the more your blood-glucose level rises which means your body stores even MORE fat.

Scary stuff easily and you can only imagine what will happen over a long period of time if your body continually stores fat. A bigger stomach! Plus tons of other conditions & plenty of trips to your doctor. Unfortunately sugar is so integrated into our food you can almost find it in everything. So when you’re buying your food you want to check the sugar count and try to cut down as many sugar-filled foods since those typically don’t help either.

The common offenders to avoid or limit are: soda, candy, desserts, refined carbohydrates like pastas, white rice, white bread. Sugar also hides in yogurts, juices, cereals, and even sauces. All these offenders you either want to eliminate or substitute for a healthier alternative. So when you’re grocery shopping always be aware of the sugar count.

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How To Do the Sugar Busters Diet

The Sugar Busters diet is all the rage these days. It's based on the idea that sugar leads to weight gain, not just fat. Developed by a cardiologist, an endocrinologist and a gastroenterologist, this plan is safe and proven to be effective at helping you to shed inches and lose weight. Here's how to do the Sugar Buster's diet.

Step 1

Understand how it works. The Sugar Buster's diet is based on the glycemic index. This rates the amount of sugar in food, both natural sugars and added sugar. The lower the food is on the glycemic index, the less sugar it contains and the more nutritious it is for you. Low sugar keeps your blood sugar in check and stops your body from turning sugar into fat. The diet isn't just about cutting out treats and limiting your carbohydrates. It is a more calculated approach to avoiding high sugar foods that are proven to lead to weight gain.

Step 2

Don't worry about measuring. The best part of this diet is that it's easy. There is no measuring needed, no portions to size out, and no exact times you need to eat. You are basically free to eat as much as you want (within reason), whenever you want. What's the catch, you ask? You just have to limit what you eat to the acceptable foods on the Sugar Buster's list.

Step 3

Know what foods to avoid. To do the Sugar Buster's diet, you will probably need to cut out a few foods you've become accustomed to eating over the years. On this diet plan, you can no longer consume:

• sugar / honey / syrup
• sweet treats / desserts / pre-packaged snacks
• beer / pop / high-fat milk / juices
• pasta / white bread / non whole-grain cereal
• potatoes / corn / carrots / bananas

It may seem like a large list, but you'll soon find that there are many healthy foods you are able to eat when you do the Sugar Buster's diet.

Step 4

Know what foods you should eat. When you're on the Sugar Buster's diet, you have to avoid all starches and sugars. But you don't have to avoid good taste! You can still eat lean cuts of all meats (except pork). Stock up on green vegetables, and buy only whole-grain bread. Purchase low-fat milk and dairy products, and make sure that your yogurt is sugar-free. Switch to olive oil instead of butter, and ensure that your salad dressings are fat-free and sugar-free. You don't even need to ignore your sugary cravings. Satisfy your sweet tooth by using artificial sweeteners in low quantities to sweeten your favorite treats. And keep sugar-free treats and drinks around the home for when that craving strikes.

The Sugar Buster's diet is more of a way of changing how you eat than a diet. You don't need to follow set recipes. You just need to eat the recommended foods and avoid the sugary and high-fat foods that have been making you fat. On the Sugar Buster's diet, you'll likely start dropping the pounds within the first few days. You won't feel deprived when you do the Sugar Buster's diet. Actually, you'll probably find that you feel fantastic!

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How To Stop Sweet Cravings

Is your healthy lifestyle being hindered by an incessant sweet tooth? Sweet cravings can distract you from work and sabotage your efforts to get healthy and lose weight. Add these steps into your routine and you will be able to stop sweet cravings from controlling your life.

1. Learn to recognize sugar in all its forms. Sugar is not just the sweeter in your tea. Sweet cravings are caused by the artificial sugary substances we eat and drink. Check labels for words like corn syrup, fructose, glucose and sucrose. These are all sugar substances that can be found in almost all packaged foods, soda and other beverages. Even some waters are flavored with one of these substances. You can think you have cut sugar out of your diet but if you aren’t avoiding these substances as well, you are just creating more cravings.
2. Stop eating sweets. Believe it or not, the more sugary substances you ingest, the more you crave it. In order to stop your cravings your best bet is to get the sugar out of your system for good. The first three to five days will be difficult as your body starts to feel the effects of withdrawal. In many ways sugar is like a drug and your body must recover from years of dependence.
3. Drink water. Show your craving you’re in control by gulping water whenever you feel the urge to splurge on sugar. The water is an attempt to distract you from your cravings but it also helps flush the old sugar residue out of your system.
4. Eat regular meals. Cravings are often strongest when you are at your weakest point. They come at you late in the afternoon when it’s been too long since lunch and dinner is still hours away. By eating regular, small meals every three to four hours, you can keep cravings down.
5. Get your sugar naturally with fruits and vegetables. Quench a thirst for sugar by getting a little natural sweetness into your system. The sweet taste of fruits and some vegetables is not the same high concentration as fructose and corn syrup so your body doesn’t experience the rush that satisfies the cravings for sugar. Still get your body used to eating raw fruit when it craves sweets and you can replace your sweet cravings with healthier ones.
6. Take a stroll for distraction. Sometimes all you can do is distract yourself from the craving until it goes away. If none of the other steps works when a craving strikes, remove yourself from any access to sweets. Then head outside for a walk. Wander at any pace; just get moving and get away from the stressor and any temptation you feel to indulge in sweets.

Remember that putting an end to cravings is a process. If you fall back into the sugar habit your cravings will resurface. If that happens, just get back on track.

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