Hi sweetness, how are you this week?
You may have guessed that I would probably be writing something about those sugary treats that usually make their famed appearance around this time of the year, and you would be correct. I do want to insert a big BUT right about…..now…..because as you may have read in my nutrition section, I don’t believe in a one size fits all nutritional plan, nor do I believe in shaming my clients, or you, dear reader, into swearing sugar off for good and staying away from it. That’s not how this works, and that’s not how I work. What I’m going to do is give you the tools and knowledge you need to be your badass self, so you can make educated choices regarding your late October sugary plans and throughout the entire holiday season.
Let’s break this down a bit – there are four types of sugar – glucose, fructose, lactose, and sucrose. Glucose is an important term to discuss in terms of sugar consumption because every cell in our body needs this form of sugar to function. Smart folks over at Harvard will also tell you that your brain can’t function without glucose. So, to recap – your brain, one of the most energy-demanding parts of your body thrives on glucose, and every single cell that makes up your body also uses glucose to function (remember high school bio? and mitochondria?). This is all to tell you that if you stopped consuming glucose, your body wouldn’t necessarily just stop drop and roll (if you were on a hill?), but it would start to malfunction. Sugar is important. Glucose comes from a variety of sources such as carbohydrates, simple and complex, as well as sucrose (sugar crystals as in table sugar or the sweet stuff you get from sugar cane), lactose (you know….milk, enough said) and fructose (fruit – do tomatoes count? I don’t know). All sugars are not created equal, as we have just discussed, but how glucose is used within the body is the same no matter what source you get it from.
The caveat here is glucose, because your body doesn’t need other types of sugar like sucrose or fructose, and can, in fact, make glucose on its own from synthesizing muscle protein (amino acids) and fat (ketones) when there is a deficit in your diet (Keto-dieters, I’m talking to you). Another caveat is the opposite of when you are not consuming enough glucose in your diet; when you consume too much, it is converted into fat and stored for later use. This is further compounded by the intake of added sugar from sweet treats you reward your taste buds with. I don’t want you to stay away from sugar, because saying you can’t have something forever is not an effective method to help you make healthy lifestyle changes… even though dangling a donut in front of you to make you run faster does seem appealing from time to time. I suggest moderation. If you eat a balanced diet rich in micronutrients and (balanced- every person’s needs are different) macronutrients, you don’t need added sugar for your brain to function and for your body to do its thang. And here is where the buts come in, and not the toned badonkadonk kind – ‘but I need something tasty once in a while to get my jam on,’ you say, and probably something along the lines of ‘but I thought you weren’t like other personal trainers, and you care about me and the needs of my taste buds.’
I do care, I really do. So, let’s first start with how to moderate added sugar in your diet by substitution via an alternative, natural sweetener. The key to alternative sugars is that they are still nutritive, whereas artificial sweeteners are not, and can actually alter your brain’s response to sweetness, and satiety, sometimes causing you to eat more than you normally would… so don’t go reaching for that diet soda, it will do more harm than good. I’m a big fan of stevia as a natural, low GI scale, sweetener, but I’ll let you explore a bit and make up your own mind. To make it even simpler and because I know you like variety, Lucky Vitamin has 60% off alternative sweeteners right now. You are welcome. All I can say about alternative sweetness (yes sweetness) is you have to play around, see what works for you, and what appeals to those demanding taste buds of yours, if you click on the Lucky Vitamin link, you will notice there is quite a selection of monk fruit alternative sugar, for example (I also personally LOVE monk fruit and find those who don’t care for stevia, do better with monk fruit). Just like a kid in a calorie-free candy shop; try a selection, experiment (and now you don’t have to break the bank to do it), savor the options.
Another key to moderation is not depriving yourself of sweet treats. Yep, allow yourself to enjoy sweetness, it’s a part of life, and you can enjoy it without feeling guilty. Here are some treats I use every day of the year to help curb that sweet tooth, and ESPECIALLY during October;
I’m a chocolate connoisseur myself, but I have also heard great things about these gummies, and although there are a couple of grams of sugar in these, it comes from food sources that naturally contain sugar, not added sugar.
….and these lollipops are one of my kid’s favorite sweet treat alternatives, but they are VERY used to stevia at this point, so please consider that before buying 20 cases for your own kiddos.
….Annnnnnddd last but not least, Stevia sparkling water. You’re DOUBLE welcome. While this isn’t a candy or sweet in the traditional sense, it’s my go-to treat for when I’m craving some sugary-goodness, but also deep into a fast (intermittent fasting)…. or because I’m craving something sweet and don’t want to consume the calories.
Wishing you all safe and healthy holi-days, and the sweetest of dreams at night.
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