We all know too much sugar isn’t good for us. Oh, but why must it taste so goooood???? It’s ok! We understand and we’re here to help. Here are some suggestions for how to cut back on sugar that are actually not terribly difficult!
How to Cut Back on Sugar
I’ll give you a step-by-step. BUT!!! If the order of these suggestions is too difficult for you, don’t give up and walk away! Instead, pick just one thing from the list that you feel is doable and go for it. Then once you’ve mastered that one thing, go on to another one. Put these in any order that works for you!
1. Wean yourself off of sugary drinks.
Are you drinking your sugar? Oooof, guzzling down the sugar in the form of soda or juice can be really hard on your body and your teeth. It’s amazing how much sugar is in just one cup of juice or soda. Work on weaning yourself back. You can do it!
Consider enjoying sugary treats only in the form of food instead of drinks. That way you can enjoy your sweet treats more, but will consume less sugar!
2. Put less sugar in your tea and coffee.
My southern sweet tea drinker friends are not gonna like hearing this one. ;) But what if, when making a gallon of tea, you start gradually cutting back on the amount of sugar you add? Your taste buds probably won’t even notice the difference if it’s just a little bit at a time.
And your coffee? Can you gradually start spooning in less sugar or pouring in less sugary, flavored creamer? If you like your coffee to be creamy and the idea of cutting back on creamer doesn’t appeal to you, I’d suggest still cutting back on creamer, but adding heavy whipping cream or half-and-half to provide the creaminess and even some natural sweetness!
3. Only eat candy on special occasions, or work to give it up altogether.
This is a tough one if you have some candy favorites that you consider staples for traveling or game watching or TV watching. But I’ve found that eating candy really ruins a persons desire for real fruit and other naturally sweetened foods. (Right? Who wants a real strawberry after eating licorice?)
Try to cut back on making candy a snack, and maybe only treat yourself on a special occasion here and there. Or stop eating it altogether so you can enjoy other sweet treats that aren’t so high in sugar!
Suggestion: Buy something fun like a box of this variety of Fruit Leather and let it become your “candy.” Now that I’ve stopped eating so much sugar, these really taste like candy to me – but they are 100% fruit!
4. Gradually add less sugar when baking homemade treats.
A few years ago I decided to start experimenting with regular cake, cookie, and muffin recipes to see if cutting back on the called-for amount of sugar would still turn out a good baked good. I have been so pleasantly surprised and pleased with this experiment! It doesn’t take nearly as much sugar as a recipe typically calls for to turn out a delicious cake, cookie, or muffin!
Don’t want your family to rebel against your cookies? Again, I recommend cutting back gradually until everyone’s taste buds have adapted to the lower sugar content. After a while, you’ll find that a treat made with full sugar will taste too sweet! How about that?
Suggestion: Check out this Low Sugar Treat list of recipes we’ve shared here!
- Easy {Low} Sugar Cookies
- Low Sugar Lemon Melt-Away Cookies
- Low Sugar Almond Melt-Away Cookies
- Low Sugar Orange Melt-Away Cookies
- Low Sugar Lime Melt-Away Cookies
- Low Sugar Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits
- Low Sugar Chocolate Fudge Cookies
- Low Sugar Chocolate Cheesecake Parfaits
- Low Sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake Cups
- Low Sugar Sunshine Cake
- Low Sugar Super Moist Chocolate Cake
- Coconut Fudge Bars
- Low Sugar Lemon Loaf
- Low Sugar Oatmeal Cookies
- Low Sugar Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
Why cut back on sugar?
Here are my top reasons to encourage a smaller sugar intake every day:
- Sugar kills our immune systems. It’s so much harder to avoid catching illnesses when we’re eating sugar!
- Sugar can make us fat. Boo, I know. Our bodies only need a small amount of sugar each day to help us function properly. After that small amount is used up, any extra we consume has no use inside our bodies, so it goes to our fat reserves. Yuck.
- Sugar wrecks our teeth. But we already knew that.
- Sugar tricks us into not eating other more nutritious foods. As I mentioned before, who wants a real fresh strawberry after you’ve eaten licorice? When we eat sweet treats, we are less hungry for nourishing, whole foods. So our bodies become depleted of nutrients, and we are more likely to get sick (see #1) or fat (see #2).
Well, that wasn’t much fun to read, was it? Never fear…
Cutting back on sugar is possible!
If I can do it, you can do it! Set some small goals for yourself and get started. You’ll be surprised by how one change can lead to another! Ready, set, go!