Most of us know that cutting sugar out of our diet will help us burn fat quickly, but the cravings for sugary food can be extremely difficult to resist.

Luckily there is something that can be done to stop sugar cravings right away, other than making the conscious decision to not give in to junk food. Sugar affects us on different levels, but all of them can be addressed by simply eating something to replace the craving.

We hear it a lot that we should just, “eat a piece of fruit,” and though this is actually really good advice it rings hollow if nobody stops to explain why it actually helps.

What causes sugar cravings?

Cravings for sweets and other unhealthy foods, are deeply rooted and come from multiple sources. Before civilization and especially modern society, sweet things were hard to come by, extremely expensive, and rarely consumed by those who were not very rich.

The craving for sugar is a natural survival response, as in the natural world it represents a calorie-rich life source that gives instant energy. That is why the taste is so enticing and why the cravings it leaves behind are so powerful, because our brain is trained to recognize it, and seek it out for survival.

Tribes that live in the rainforest will even risk their lives to climb a tree for honey. But today sugar is everywhere, we consume it every day, and the cravings for it are wrapped up in almost everything people consume as a normal part of the western diet.

Cravings for sweets come from the taste, and also the actual need for energy, which intertwine to make sugar a very serious thing that can hold lots of power over a person.

But if you address both of these contributing factors by replacing your craving for the taste of something sweet, as well as actually satisfying your hunger with filling food… then cravings will be something that you can actively get rid of when they come, rather than having to struggle against them.

The secret to learning how to curb sugar cravings, isn’t a matter of continuing to struggle until they are gone. You can actually take action to completely replace the craving with another food that is much healthier for you.

Satisfying the need for something sweet

The sweet taste of sugary food is the most obvious thing that causes our cravings. Though the addiction to sugar goes deeper than taste alone, it’s undeniable that a desire for something sweet is one of the biggest contributing factors that causes those intense cravings.

When you get a certain taste stuck in your mind, it’s really hard to move on until you have satisfied the desire for it.

The most direct way to handle this is to eat something that tastes sweet but is also healthy. Foods with healthy sugars such as fruit can satisfy the taste but digest in a much different way, giving you necessary nutrients over a period of time rather than a simple sugar spike that turns straight to fat.

When you get a craving for ice cream or a snack cake, eating an orange or an apple might not seem like the most enjoyable trade but the point is that is doesn’t actually help until you start eating it and satisfy the need for something sweet.

When I was changing my diet and lost 80 pounds, I realized that the cravings would never stop and I would always struggle if I didn’t replace them with something else… in the same way that I wouldn’t have been able to stop eating unhealthy food until filled my life with whole, nutritious, healthy foods.

Focusing on the addition of good food into my diet rather than restriction, helped me to quickly and consistently transform myself without struggling against cravings all of the time.

If you give in to the craving, you haven’t failed

Once you start craving something it’s really hard to forget about it. Sometimes it’s not about how to stop sugar cravings, it’s about minimizing the damage when we give in.

If you really must give in to something, simply eat half of what you normally would. This will relieve the mental stress of not having the treat at all, and significantly reduce the amount of sugar you consume.

Use the situation as an opportunity to practice moderation and reaching your goals in steps. If you have half or less of what you normally would, then be proud of yourself for still making progress toward your fat burning and sugar conquering goals.

I do not drink soda anymore, but for a long time it was a big problem for me. In the past I had tried to give it up all at once and it never worked, so I cut back significantly until I had the strength to stop buying it all together. Instead of drinking 3 or 4 cans throughout the day, I drank 1 or less.

Embracing this imperfection made consistency much easier for me, and finally made me understand how powerful the idea of moderation was. You don’t have to be perfect to make big changes that bring on huge results!

The true source of the craving

Sugar cravings are not just about wanting something that tastes good, however. The strongest cravings are coupled with actual hunger, when your body is calling out for nutrients as well as something tasty.

Cravings can be stopped or prevented by simply keeping your blood sugar level steady, which healthy food is famous for. Imagine that… the cure to your cravings for sugar lies in the food that you should be eating to lose weight anyways! It sounds simple, and it is in theory, but the hard part is that we have to make the conscious decision to make a healthy replacement even if it’s with something that is not incredibly sweet and delicious.

It is not until after we’ve made this decision to eat something healthy that the craving is fulfilled (unless you don’t allow yourself to get hungry in the first place which is my preference).

Although I have almost completely kicked my sugar habit, when I let myself get too hungry my mind starts thinking of snacks that I have not eaten in almost a year and I start to feel that my very existence depends on getting a cup of ice cream. When this happens, I know that I need to make a healthy replacement right away.

Whether or not I choose something sweet, I make sure it’s healthy and I eat it before the craving gets worse. I will often eat a small piece of fruit to satisfy to need for the sweet taste while I am preparing a healthy meal to truly fill me up.

The distraction of seeking out and eating something other than the junk I was craving is enough to break the focus on the sugar craving, and the fulfillment of eating something healthy begins to truly take care of the craving at the source.

It’s honestly not fair that the sweetest and most delicious foods are also the most fattening, unhealthy, and addictive. But you may be surprised at how easy the cravings are to shake when you address the problem at its core (nutrition), and see the addiction diminish over time.

Now that you know how to stop eating sugar, by making a change to a healthy diet… if you want you start your weight loss journey today, try the 8-week weight loss challenge! The challenge will help you start eating healthy gradually, and build your exercise routine step by step. Sign up below to get your free PDF copy or learn more about the course here!