Now you know how good it feels to have gained a better way of eating, a better way of exercising, a better way of changing your body shape and a better way of feeling, you will want to continue this. So, what are you going to do now? Well, the obvious thing is to carry on what you have been doing – if you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got! Eating a low sugar diet is going to benefit your health in so many ways and eating a very, very low sugar diet will increase those benefits even more!
This is why the next few weeks are so important for you and will make a difference to whether you have taken the Fatscrap principles on board for just a quick four week fix or whether you are prepared to commit further to them to maintain a healthy lifestyle and achieve further healthy benefits.
From what I understand, it is the sugar in our diets that is causing so many of the diseases we are suffering from and all around now there is strong evidence to support this. The high amount of sugars we eat in the form of carbohydrates put a huge strain on insulin production in the body and it is the result of the high levels of insulin that are thought to be causing so many health issues. The main sources of our high level sugar intake is starch (like potatoes, bread, rice, pasta) fructose and basic sugar. All of these foods (even the wholegrain!) cause insulin to be produced and insulin’s role is to store fat!! If you think about it, this makes sense as what are cows fed to fatten them up?...Grains!!
Over the last four weeks you have been amazed at how easy it is not to crave sugar when you are not eating so much of it, you have felt the benefits from eating less sugar, you have been shocked by how much sugar is hidden in so many of the “healthy” foods we think are told are healthy!! So, do you really want to bring more of this type of food back into your food choices? Ask yourself “what would be the benefit of eating more sugar again?” and then ask yourself “what would be the benefit of eating even less sugar?”
When I designed FatScrap I felt it was too much to ask of you to eliminate all forms starch, fructose and basic sugars so I compromised and suggested you eliminate the more obvious “unhealthy” forms of sugar – the starchy sugars in wheat and wheat based foods, the simple sugars in sugar, and sugary foods – and you managed to do this a lot easier than you expected. Now imagine how you would feel if you continued to choose delicious alternatives to these and more of those insulin raising carbohydrates?
I am not suggesting that you go on a “low carbohydrate diet” as such but just look at maintaining the reduction in the levels of these foods that you achieved so far and then gradually reducing them a little further as and when you feel you can. You may now be thinking, “What would I eat instead?” And the answer may surprise you, but it is probably what you have been eating more of instead already…
FAT!!!
“FAT!!!!” you may be shouting “But doesn’t fat make you fat?!!!
” NO!!!! “
“Well isn’t fat bad for you?!!” you may be asking.
“NO!!! – NOT THE GOOD FATS!!!!
“I’m confused!!!!!!” you may be thinking
And yes, this is where it gets so confusing. We keep being told to eat less fat, we eat less fat and yet we still get fatter, we still get diseases – BECAUSE WE EAT MORE SUGAR INSTEAD!!! Manufacturers produce low fat products but add sugar in some form (fructose being one of the worse forms!!) to make the food taste nice and make us want more!
The GOOD FATS are what we want to be eating more of…
• Oils (eaten unheated) ― Fish oils, Flaxseed oil, olive oil. If you must cook with oil use coconut oil or olive oil
• Avocados ― excellent source
• Olives ― green or black and olive oil
• Nuts ― macadamia, almonds, pecans, walnuts, Brazil nuts, etc. PEANUTS ARE NOT NUTS!
• Seeds - pumpkin and sunflower
It really is this simple!!
Eat less food that turns to sugar that raise insulin that stores fat.
Eat more GOOD FATS that turn to essential fatty acids that support the cardiovascular, reproductive, immune, and nervous systems.
Drink less alcohol that contains energy (calories) that contains no nutritional benefits and makes you feel ill in the long term (think how a hangover makes you feel!).
Drink more water that contains no energy (calories) that contains lots of nutritional benefits and makes you feel well in the long term.
If you are ready to keep committing to your long term health and fitness
Continue….
Omitting cakes, biscuits, sweets, chocolate, sugary deserts, honey, syrups, sugar based drinks and replacing with the natural occurring sugars in fruit and vegetables.
Omitting artificial sugars and replace with the natural occurring sugars in fruit and vegetables.
Omitting wheat and wheat based foods like pasta, bread, pastry, pizza and replacing with smaller portions of alternative starchy foods
Omitting alcohol and replacing with water
And start to…..
Reduce starchy foods portions including wholegrain and potatoes to smaller portions at meal times and replace with larger portions of vegetables.
Reduce saturated fat foods like chips, crisps, fatty meats, butter and replace with healthy fats like unsalted nuts and lean meats, avocados, oils.
Reduce high sugar fruits like dried fruits, bananas, pineapple and replace with lower sugar fruits like berries.
Reduce fruit juice and replace with fruit flavoured teas or water
Reduce peanut butter and replace with almond butter or other nut butters.
And of course
KEEP COMMITTING TO EXERCISE!!
Healthy eating and exercise go hand in hand with creating the healthy body you deserve to have!
Sue x
