03/03/2019
Hi Mum, are stimulants affecting your energy and weight-loss?
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💡Top Tips on cutting down on Stimulants💡
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➡️So now we have seen that caffeine, stress, and sugar keep your blood sugar out of balance by giving you an artificial boost, closely followed by an energy slump. This sets up cravings and keeps you addicted. It also encourages you to eat more, as you try to summon up the energy you need to get through your day.
➡️Addressing this imbalance will help you to feel calmer, more energised and alert without the ups and downs. You can begin to see how much easier it is to stick to a weight loss plan, if you are not trying to contend with this vicious cycle.
➡️Changing any food habit can be stressful in itself, so it's best not to quit everything in one go. A good strategy is to avoid something for a month and then see how you feel. Now let’s talk some top tips to get you in action:
👉🏻Tip 1--- quit coffee for 2 weeks
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To find out what effect it has on you, quit for just two weeks. You may get withdrawal symptoms for up to 3 days (e.g. headaches, irritability). These reflect how addicted you've become. After this, if you begin to feel perky and your health improves, that's a good indication you're better of without coffee. Reduce your consumption by 1 cup every 3 days until you stop. Replace the habit with another habit, introduce coffee alternatives like Teeccino or Chicory coffee.
👉🏻Tip 2------ Make friends with herbal teas
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Tea (including green tea and Earl Grey) contains caffeine and tannin, which interferes with the absorption of essential minerals, such as iron and zinc. If you're addicted to tea, try stopping for 2 weeks and see how you feel. One cup of weak tea a day is ok. Introduce herbal teas instead - try licorice or cinnamon as naturally sweet with great flavour.
👉🏻Tip 3------ Say Bye to soft drinks & Hello To Sparkling water
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Cola contains as much caffeine as a cup of coffee and is high in sugar or artificial sweeteners, so its net stimulant effect can be considerable. Stay away from drinks containing caffeine, chemical additives, artificial sweeteners or colourings. Try sparkling water instead. You can add slices of lemon, mint, licorice or any herbs, spice or sliced fruit to flavour it naturally. Explore with Kombucha too, a fermented beverage that is fizzy, low in sugar and so good for your tummy.
👉🏻Tip 4----- Replace Sugar with Xylitol
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Reduce sugar in hot drinks and food, eat less dried fruit, dilute fruit juice and cut out squash. Also check for hidden sugar in prepackaged foods. Try using xylitol (plum sugar) instead of regular sugar. It has very little effect on blood sugar and it's just as sweet as sugar. Use it in place of sugar in anything that requires sugar (but please be ware, it's highly toxic to dogs).
It takes about a month for a preference for less sweet foods to kick in. After that, most people lose the taste for sugar.,
👉🏻Tip 5---- Avoid Going Hungry
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Reduce cravings with an excellent low glycemic load diet. Make sure to have a good breakfast of protein, fiber and complex carb, and avoid going hungry to keep your energy levels stable through out the day.