Is it time to admit you have had ENOUGH chocolate eggs, bunnies and chicks? For many people, the sugar roller coaster has made for a very long weekend.

Sugar can be very hard on our bodies, in many ways. There are studies which report the average American consumes well over 100 pounds of sugar per year!!! Aside from our regular daily intake, holiday weekends like this don't help with our healthy eating plans. If you need some convincing to toss the rest of that chocolate away, here's just a few tidbits on sugar.

Our blood sugar levels need to remain fairly constant for our livers and other organs to function properly. When we eat refined sugars(sweets, candy, white sugar), it will raise blood sugar levels and help us to feel good. The liver and pancreas will try to decrease the sugar to a safer level, then this resultant drop in blood sugar results in a craving for even more sweets. Its a cycle, and a bad one.
At this time of year, there are many viruses, colds and flus going around (It hit my house just last week!). Studies have shown that eating white sugar and other sweets can in effect 'paralyse' the white blood cells(your immune system) for half an hour or more. This weakening of our immune system is just the time infections need to set in, and make us sick. If you have been eating sugar off and on all weekend, you immune system is way behind, and struggling to keep up.
If highly advertised reasons such as obesity and tooth decay isn't enough reason to quit sugar, then here's a more extensive list of diseases that can a sugar laden diet is a precurser to: heart disease, hypoglycemia, diabetes, kidney disease, gallstones, depression and ulcers. I could go on and on with this list..... but I think we all get the point.
When we eat sugar, it soon after gives us a sugar rush, and then sometime later a sugar crash. It can be really exhausting to go through these highs and lows on our body. This in turn can affect our moods, and our sleep. I think we can all agree that we want more, uninterrupted, quality sleep at night and full, stable energy to last us through the day. Sugar ruins these normal cycles of our body, and in turn we often turn to more sugar to help stay awake, and possibly sleeping pills or alcohol when its time to go to sleep.

This list of things isn't here to scare you, but to remind you something you probably already know- SUGAR IS BAD FOR US. With holidays, TV commercials and grocery stores, we don't stand a chance when everywhere you turn is full of fun, colorful treats.

So, what do we do then? We need to take our health back into our own hands. Make healthy choices at the grocery store, and in our kitchen. Research fun recipes, cook from scratch and pack our lunches. We can change our mindsets about treats- and what they mean. They don't have to mean sugar and candy, they just mean something special, that you enjoy and will appreciate- pedicures, a tea from your favorite shop, a nice soak in a bath.

So put down that chocolate bunny, step away, and let's go get a pedicure!

If you are ready to give sugar the boot, I would like to invite you for a 5 day sugar free challenge!

You will learn why you keep having these cravings, how to swap out healthier options, and motivation and tips to get rid of the sugar habit. It's free to join!