Getting Control Of Your Sugar Demon – Episode 14: PaleOMG Uncensored Podcast

For many of us, sugar is a controlling b*tch. She takes over our mind, our body, and we feel like we’ve lost all control. Especially around the holidays. Those cookie plates or dessert plates are sitting out at a party and we just continue to go back and back for more. I even experienced that last night at a Christmas party. Since I try to stay away from alcohol, I find myself eating more while everyone else is drinking. And since I was trying to stay away from the cookie plate, I was stocking up on meat and cheese, just in hopes of keeping that sugar demon at bay.

In this podcast, I talked about what has worked for me, knowing what foods to completely stay away from, and how to get the sugar demon under control when she rears her ugly head. I talk about doing a Whole30, 21 Day Sugar Detox and what I do now that has worked way more than those programs. It’s all about trying things out and finding what works for you!

And I’m answering a ton of questions from you amazing readers, so THANK YOU for asking such great questions! If you have any other questions sugar related, feel free to leave them in the comments.

[powerpress]

Here’s a few links from the podcast:

• Why grains sucks & we shouldn’t be eating them
• Quick overview of sugars
• Names of all the sugars out there
• For sciency stuff and answer to all your questions, check out: Diane Sanfilippo, Whole9 Life, Robb Wolf, Loren Cordain

And THANK YOU so much for listening and leaving a nice review! It’s been so fun recording these podcasts all because of you guys! Happy Holidays! I hope you have the best weekend ever! And stay tuned next week on the podcast – after a request from a listen, I’ll be talking about my favorite things ranging from face treatments, to paleo products, to makeup and even more!

Episode 14 Transcription:

This is Juli Bauer from PaleOMG and you are listening to PaleOMG Uncensored.

Juli Bauer: Hello guys. We’re on. We’re doing this. We’re on to episode; what are we on like 14? I think this is episode 14. Going strong. Week 14. How’s everybody doing? Are you doing ok? I know the holidays are coming up; which means you have to hang out with your family; which means it can be stressful, unless you really love hanging out with your family. Or your in-laws. Luckily, I have f*cking awesome in-laws. But I hope you’re not stressing out too much. I hope you had your holiday shopping done. I hope you’re doing cool stuff for the holidays. We’re road-tripping it to Omaha; and no hate on Omaha, because the people in Omaha are awesome. But road-tripping to Omaha is the worst. There’s nothing to look at; once you get to Omaha it’s super windy because there are no mountains. So you’re just cold, and you have wind-blown face the while time you’re there.

But you know what; we’re going to go to a movie theater where you lie down, so you actually sleep the whole movie, so that’s kind of pointless. My friend told me about a distillery; I don’t really like alcohol but my husband does, so we might go to this distillery. What does distillery even mean? Just alcohol, or does that mean whiskey? I don’t know, I didn’t ask questions because I did not care. But we’re going to do that. I really have no idea what else we’re going to do. I’m going to cook some meals. My mother-in-law had knee surgery this year, that’s why we’re going out to Omaha because she can’t sit for long hours. So yeah, we’re going out there. Which honestly; I’m very excited about that we’re road-tripping out there instead of flying because I had quite the bad situation; quite the bad experience with Frontier airlines. And my new duty in life is to make sure I don’t ever fly Frontier again, and no one else ever does. Because it is the worst. It is so bad, you guys.

I’m going to tell this short story. So I talked about it on the blog, but let’s talk it out real quick. So my brother-in-law and his girlfriend came into town this past Saturday. Their flight gets delayed by hours; no big deal, it happens. So instead of picking him up at 7, we go pick him up at midnight. And we get there; no bars are open at this point, no restaurants, because it’s midnight. But the Westin Hotel that they just put in still has a bar open until like 2 or something. So we go over to that, hang out. So my brother-in-law lands at like midnight; and he’s like, hey, I’m here. We’re just sitting on the runway, they’re not telling us why. So they sit on the runway for 2 hours at DIA; we’re just waiting. And we can’t be like; oh, get an Uber to our house, because we’re like; it could be a minute, it could be 10 minutes, but then it turns into 2 hours. And we’re just sitting; falling asleep because at this point it’s 2 in the morning.

Then, they finally get off the plane. They’re so tired, because they’re also an hour ahead of us, so they’re exhausted. They’ve been up forever; they got up early because they had to get to Omaha from another town; whatever. So they’re exhausted, we’re exhausted; we go to baggage claim, and it is a cluster f*ck in baggage claim. I mean, hundreds of people; and this is only at Frontier’s baggage claim. No other baggage claim is crazy. It’s like, other people are just getting their luggage and going. But it’s pretty quiet because it’s 2-plus in the morning.

So we go to baggage claim; thousands of pieces of luggage everywhere. And you know that recording that comes on over the intercom; and it’s like, “Report any unclaimed baggage.” Well, hey, hey guys? There’s 5,000 pieces of unclaimed bagged here, guys. So who knows what was going on with that; people didn’t make it to their flights, but there are thousands of pieces of luggage. I’m just sitting up against someone’s piece of luggage, thinking about texting them and letting them know where their bag is so they can find it whenever they make it to the airport.

So we’re waiting; you know it says on the screen; Omaha, like the bags are coming from Omaha. And we just keep waiting and nothing has come out. We keep asking people’ we’re like; where did you just come from? And they’re like, Houston, whatever, once they get their bag. So at this point, we’re sitting on the floor; we decide to go up against a wall because we can’t stay awake anymore. We’re all falling asleep, and I’m falling asleep, and I look over; and I’m sleeping on the ground, you guys. Sleeping in the f*cking ground at an airport. Think about; I’m freaking out because I think all people are disgusting; me included, and we all just have disease, and you know when you get into an airport and you can just feel the air change, or in an airplane? That’s how it felt. I was like, all these people are probably sick, and they’re going to get me sick because I’m stressed out, I’m fatigued, and so I’m freaking out, and I’m sleeping on the floor because I can’t do anything else. And I look over; and there are mice running through baggage claim. I’m like, what the f*ck.

So three hours later, after they got off the plane; this is 5 hours later, this is 6 hours we’ve been in the airport, they finally get their luggage. It didn’t even come out of the baggage claim that it said it was going to come out of. My brother-in-law was like; I’m just going to go look somewhere else, and he finds it coming off of a different baggage claim area; no explanation. All Frontier says is; “We don’t know where your luggage is, we don’t know what’s happening, come back Monday.” So I was like; ok, I’ll come back and get your luggage another day. And my husband was like; do you want to look through this luggage; thousands of pieces of luggage? No I do not. So I’m glad we waited, because they got it.

But that’s what sucks about Frontier; you pay less to check your bag, so of course they check their bag when they could have just carried it on. But such a mess; I will never fly Frontier again. I’ve had issues with them in the past, and I’ve talked sh*t about them multiple times. And I’m not like a f*cking iTunes negative reviewer, like many people out there; or Yelp reviewer, but this company is just so bad at this point. And all airlines have these situations where it gets really bad, and you miss a flight, and they cancel, or whatever. But this was out of control bad; it’s been so bad. So I will gladly, gladly spend $200 more on a flight to just go to Omaha; less than hour flight, just so I never run into issues. It’s just; it was f*cking crazy.

So I was in a bad mood. It was just so cold outside. It was like negative 10 degrees. It was just so cold in Colorado. I know you’re probably like, “Ugh, stop complaining.” If you’re a person from Colorado, people are like, “Ugh, it’s not even cold.” They think they’re so cool. Yeah, it is cold. It’s miserably cold. But we’ll get through this winter. The shortest day of the year is already over; we’re going to get through it. I’m going to get out of this funk I’ve been in. I’ve been in a weird funk with Crossfit lately, and I love Crossfit. Nothing against Crossfit whatsoever; I’ve just not liked my {laughs} the owner of our gym; I haven’t liked his programming lately because it’s just been really strength and like really short Met Cons, and I’m just not f*cking into that. That’s not what my body wants. So I’ve been making up my own workouts lately, and looking on Instagram for inspiration. I’ve found a couple of really cool girls who just do cool; just different kinds of workouts, so I’ve been trying that lately. And it’s been super fun.

So if you want some free travel workouts, I share them every Monday on my blog. But I also have been sharing them on Instagram, so go over there. Let’s get inspired in the New Year. If you’re not a newsletter subscriber, I’m planning to send out a bunch of fun, free workouts, so sign up for that. I’m going to send that out in the new year to help people get kind of inspired; whether they’re working out in their house, or they’re traveling, or working out at a gym on their own; help kind of get inspired and I don’t know, get motivated. Because I want to do the same.

Anyways; let’s talk about sugar, guys. Let me get a little sip of water here; because sugar is just a touchy subject. I feel like my most popular podcast episode I think was alcohol; f*cking drunks out there! But now we have sugar too, and almost everyone is addicted to sugar. I would definitely say that. Most people are addicted to sugar, whether that’s sugar in the form of fruit, or refined sugars, or alcohol; whatever it is, a lot of people are addicted to sugar. So I’m just going to kind of talk about my background with sugar, what I think about sugar, and then I’m going to answer your questions as well and get you off that sugar train, because sugar is f*cking bad for you. Which is funny, because today I posted a recipe that is a dessert recipe. But everything in moderation, right? Right.

So a little background about me and where I came from; I’ve always been addicted to sugar. I f*cking love sugar. Sugar is delicious, and when you’re sad it makes you feel better, and it gives you endorphins. And sugar is literally a drug; it is such a drug. I don’t; well, I shouldn’t go onto the drug train because people will freak out. But, drugs are bad, some drugs are fun. But they give you the same feelings often that sugar does, and does the same sh*t to your brain. So sugar is no bueno. No, meth is no bueno as well. Sugar is no bueno. They’re just a little; just a tad different.

But I was always addicted to sugar. I was given the opportunity; no hate to my parents, but I was given the opportunity many Debbie snack cakes in my life. Those round little; I don’t even know what they’re called anymore. But oatmeal cream pies; are you kidding me? I f*cking love oatmeal cream pies. I still love them. Those little chocolate swirls with the cream in the middle; you unravel and peel back the chocolate. You know what I’m talking about. Any of those Little Debbie snack cakes; my mom bought them a ton. My mom is super addicted to sugar too; she’s just like me. So I was able to eat lots of that.

We always had this pumpkin bread that we’d get from King Supers; and we had sheet cakes; and I remember in college once I was able to buy whatever sugar I wanted; oh, sh*t got f*cking real for a while. I would buy those cookie pies, or cookie cakes or whatever, where it’s just those big round cookies. I remember this guy even asked me out on a cookie pie. That’s how addicted I was to sugar, he knew that I would say yes because he asked me out on a cookie pie. I was so addicted, it was crazy.

So I guess I really didn’t break that sugar habit until I found paleo. And even then, once I started paleo, I would; I found new sugar addictions. So I found what dates were like. And somebody told me that dates; I think one of my friends, Stacy, she told me that like 3 dates is equivalent to a Snickers bar in sugar. How f*cking crazy is that? I have no idea how scientifically proven that is, but I kind of cut back on my date eating at that point. But I would eat lots of dates and natural sugars like honey and all that stuff. So I just took that sugar addiction, just in a different direction, but I was definitely able to cut back on all the sh*t I was eating before.

When I first started paleo, I remember doing a Whole30; wait, no, no, no. I want to back up; I want to back up just a little bit before that. So just because I want to talk about just sugar in general and then kind of talk about that experience. So I write down this little thing that I want to follow, and then I never follow it because I get distracted by Frontier airlines.

Ok, so as we know, sugar is really bad for you. If you don’t know this; it’s true. But we just don’t always think about sugar in all the different aspects it is. Sugar is in grains; so if you’re eating these dense carbohydrates like breads, carbs are turning into sugar or they have sugar in them. Alcohol is sugar as well; so we just don’t always think that we’re like; this girl at the gym. She’s like, “I eat really well.” Well, she drinks like 10 beers a day, and beer is sugar, so she just doesn’t think about it that way.

But it’s also hidden in a lot of processed foods, so we just don’t always know the names. And that’s hard, because you look at something and you read it, and you just don’t know that’s a sugar because you haven’t seen that word before because it’s not like; w don’t learn that in grade school, when we’re learning all our words, they’re not telling us about maltodextrin; I don’t even know any of the names. But they’re sneakily added into any of our processed foods, which is one of the main reasons paleo is not about the processed foods.

But there are regular sugars, artificial sugars, natural sugar, sugar alcohol, so you’ll see all those different names. And I’ll link; there’s a great list by Whole9; it’s the creators of Whole30, and they have a great list of all the sugars out there. So then if you’re ever looking at packages; if you’re eating any processed foods or packaged foods, you can have a little bit better understanding of what you’re looking at on the ingredients list.

So, sugar affects so many things to your body. It messes with your insulin, your gut, your hormones. It causes inflammation. It can even cause cellulite. Cellulite, guys. I remember doing a 21-Day Sugar Detox, which I’ll talk about in a second, and I remember my cellulite clearing up a little bit. So just keep that in mind. If you’re like; “Ugh, I hate this cellulite!” Well, sugar f*cking doesn’t help with it, that’s for sure. But it’s added in so many foods and drinks, and we just don’t always think about what all the different sources of sugar are.

So anyways; I’ll kind of go into my own story. When I started paleo, I decided to do a Whole30, because everybody did a Whole30. It was always talked about; you still see it, to this day. Everybody talks about Whole30 and doing their Whole30. When I did Whole30, the problem is I had really obsessive eating behaviors and food behaviors, just obsessive in general. So when I did a Whole30 it was just another way to be obsessive. And before I was just obsessed about any food, and this gave me another obsession. So it wasn’t; it didn’t create healthy behaviors. It gave me a better understanding of what foods I should be eating, but it didn’t translate into the real world for me.

And many people it does, and it helps out; but what I often see, especially on my blog, is a person will say, “I can’t wait until I’m done with my Whole30 so I can eat this dessert.” So you see that so much, and people are like, “When we’re done with our Whole30, when we’re done with our Whole30.” So you’re like; ok, I’ve done so well and then day 31 I’m just going to go f*cking ham on this dessert. That’s not creating healthy behaviors, in my mind, with my obsessive behaviors. Some people it works great with. For me it did not work.

So Whole30 you’re not doing baked goods, like paleo baked goods. You’re eating super clean, you’re not doing random sugars. I forget if you’re maybe allowed to do maple syrup or something like that, but you’re cutting out everything that’s fun. That’s what Whole30 is, and it really helps you get control of your eating behaviors and your food behaviors and what you’re putting into your body, and it helps you really see; “Oh wow, I feel so much better than I did when I was eating all these processed foods.”

So 30 days I think is so helpful because it really gets you to, “Wow, my body feels different than it felt 30 days ago.” So I think it’s really helpful; form e, it just caused too many obsessive behaviors, and I couldn’t wait until day 31 hit, and then I went ham and I ate all the sh*t I could eat, and it really turned it over. To me, it’s like; if you’re addicted to a drug, say you’re addicted to meth. {laughs} Just going f*cking deep here, guys; dark. Say you’re addicted to meth, and you’re like, “I’m going to cut out meth for 30 days, and day 31 hits and I’m going down on that meth!” That defeats the purpose, right? So that’s what I see. Sugar is a drug, and me cutting it out for 30 days and adding it back in and going f*cking crazy was really defeating the purpose; and that’s what I did. I think I did a couple of Whole30’s when I first started paleo. But it just did not work for me.

And so when I was probably; I think I started paleo when I was like 22-ish; I think 21 I dabbled in it a little bit, but 22, and so then 23 hit, I was out of college, I was living with girlfriends, really close to a Whole Foods. Less than a mile away. And my friend was just as addicted to sugar as I was; she’s the best. I can always count on her to try food with me. We go on food vacations together; she’s the best. So we would go to Whole Foods every night, and literally it started almost every night. We’d go to Whole Foods, and we’d go to the; what’s it called, all the bins, where you can pick out your own amount of food, and we would get chocolate covered walnuts, or some kind of chocolate covered nut. So not only was I addicted to sugar, but I was addicted to nuts, and I was eating f*cking nut butter like there was no tomorrow. I was eating jars of nut butter. And my skin was acting up, I kept gaining weight; I was like, ok. I need to cut the sugar out!

I knew about the 21-Day Sugar Detox, which is created by Diane Sanfilippo. I was like; maybe I should do this 21-Day Sugar Detox. I remember a friend told me about it, said it was awesome. So I was like, ok. I’m going to do this 21-Day Sugar Detox, and my best friend did it with me. I remember day 5 hitting, and it was literally, I was like; my body was detoxing. It was f*cking crazy, I’ve never felt like that before. I can’t imagine what it feels like to come off actual drugs; whatever it’s called when you’re coming off drugs.

I could not function. I had no energy; I was falling asleep. So I added in some sweet potatoes, more sweet potatoes to my diet and sweet potato chips, because I had absolutely no energy. And I had some kombucha, as well. But I was literally detoxing the sugar out of my body; it was crazy. And then day; I don’t know, like 10 comes, and you’re like, “Ahhhh! I feel so good!” And you just want to keep going with it. And you feel so good.

What I liked about the 21-Day Sugar Detox is it showed me kombucha, which really helped with my sugar obsession. It just kind of weaned me off some of that sugar, and I liked that it was 21 days. I think 21 days is very doable. 30 days seems a little bit daunting to many people. When I told my gym to do this paleo challenge and told them cut alcohol out for 30 days, they thought that was the longest time ever. All of them quit, because they’re like; I can’t f*cking do this. Well, 30 days seems very daunting, and 21 days just doesn’t. Like, 3 weeks, you’re like, I can do this. So I really liked that. I saw great; my body changed, my cellulite; it didn’t go away, that’s for sure. That ain’t ever going to happen. But it definitely went down a bit. And I just had more control, and I understood that when I did eat sugar, I didn’t feel my best.

For me, I don’t eat fruit. I mean, if there’s some random fruit around, I’ll have a piece or two; maybe pop a couple of grapes or something. But I don’t eat much fruit, and I don’t drink alcohol much because I think it’s just a waste of sugar; it’s a waste of calories. If I want sugar, I want it in the form of chocolate or a rich dessert. So I’m not going to waste it on some f*cking green apple or a banana; no thank you. But, I also see sugar as a bad thing, but I also see it as a sanity thing, as well. So I know, I don’t necessarily need something. But if I really want something, I have control enough to know that I can do it at this point.

So, say a protein shake. I don’t really need a protein shake. I can get protein in the form of a meat and have my normal dinner; but say I’m really craving a protein shake. And I always make protein shakes with a frozen banana. I know that is a lot of unneeded sugar, but sometimes that’s just what I want, and maybe that’s going to keep me away from having a shittier dessert, when this I know exactly what stuff is going into it. So I don’t think sugar is good for you; but I also think it’s sometimes good for your sanity. So you kind of have to find what works for you.

I’m going to link a bunch of different links in this post about sugar so you can read more. If you want to know more about science-y stuff; I don’t know why you’re coming to this podcast. If you’ve listened to any of my podcasts, you know I’m not into the science side of things. That’s just not my interest, and there are plenty of incredibly intelligent people out there who can give you much more information. The people behind Whole30; Diane Sanfilippo; I had a class with Loren Cordain in college; Robb Wolf. There are so many intelligent people out there that can really give you in-depth information about sugar. I just like to talk about my own experience, because I think that can relate to a lot of people. You can hear all the science facts in the world, but how often does that translate into real world scenarios, like a birthday party or the holidays, which are coming up. So I like to talk about real life scenarios and what I’ve been through.

So at the end of the day, I am not a person who works well with saying, “I cannot have something.” That leads into very obsessive behaviors, so I’ve really cut that out over the years. I know if I’m starting to get dependent on sugar; I’m like, ok, you need to cut it out for a few days. But that doesn’t make me want it more, because I’m not saying, “you can’t have it for 30 days.” I’m saying; ok, you need to back off. Get your sugar obsession and sugar addiction under control, and then you can step back into it. And this happens to me a lot because I make desserts for the holidays on my blog. And I’m of course trying all that food and tasting it, even as I’m making it. So a little sugar addiction can kind of sneak in there when I’m not consciously eating a dessert that I wanted because I’m making this dessert for the blog. So that happens from time to time. It happened recently and I was like; ok, I need to take a step back from sugar and get my sh*t together that I’m not just unconsciously eating it.

It shouldn’t be; ok, I finished my dinner, let’s eat dessert. It should be like; ok, I’ve eaten my dinner, I’ve cleaned up the house, I’ve gotten this post ready. You know, I still want a little treat. And then I want it. And if I get to the point where I’m not consciously thinking about it, and it just becomes second nature and a habit, then that’s how I know it’s time to cut the cord. Cut the cord, man.

So, I have a lot of questions to get to. You guys asked a lot of fun questions. If you are like; where the hell do people as questions? Every Monday on the blog in my weekly workouts post, I will talk about some sort of topic, but I’ll ask you as well; hey, the podcast next week is going to be about this, what questions do you have? So if you’re ever interested in asking some sort of question, definitely head to www.PaleOMG.com because I ask a bunch of questions there. And thank you guys so much for asking these questions. It just makes it so much more fun and interactive because it gives, I think, what people want to hear. Which you’re like; oh, I didn’t think to ask that question, but I loved hearing the feedback from it. So I just kind of wanted to talk about that. So let’s get into some questions.

Let’s start off with Katarina. What a pretty name. She says, “Sugar addiction is the worst. I do 21-Day Sugar Detox; after that I’m good for a while, but then I have something sweet and special occasion, and the flood gates open! How do you control yourself and eat sweets in moderation? I just can’t. For me it’s like; oh I ate a cookie yesterday, so it’s ok to eat the whole bag of caramel popcorn today.”

Oh girl; Katarina, I f*cking love caramel popcorn! My sister-in-law was at the mall the other day and she brought home this peanut butter and chocolate caramel popcorn; it was out of control. It was out of control good, so I get it. Those floodgates open, especially around the holidays, and it’s just, there’s no stopping it. So I think it’s; and you can write this stuff down, or you can just keep a little note in your head, of what desserts will open those floodgates. For me, it’s grains. First of all, my stomach doesn’t do well with grains, but if I have a real cupcake with those crazy loaded butter cream frosting; I want more and more, and I’ll just keep eating without even thinking.

Let’s say a totally different dessert; this is one of my favorite desserts, Eating Evolved chocolate. They have amazing chocolate, and I’ll have a couple of bites, and I feel satisfied. It’s not the same sugar that you get out of normal chocolate chips, like semi-sweet or whatever that you feel like you just can’t stop. This is like satisfying. It has; I don’t know, maybe it’s because it’s so creamy and they don’t use sh*tty sugar, obviously. But that doesn’t open the floodgates for me. I have much more control.

So I always keep in mind; what stuff can I not control? And oftentimes that’s holiday desserts or cookies; and what stuff can I control? I’m pretty good at controlling ice cream. So if I have ice cream in the house, I skim off the top of ice cream then I put it back away. My husband is the complete opposite; he’ll eat the whole pint in one sitting. So I just know what stuff I can moderate and what I can’t; and I keep that in mind and I stay away from the stuff that I cannot control. Or portion things out, and put stuff in the freezer. So then you’re not going back for it.

So I think freezing stuff is really helpful. I do that a lot, since I make a good amount of desserts. So I put that in the freezer, and so when that sugar calling calls, you can pull out one bar instead of having; like I have these apple pie bars on the blog today. Instead of pulling 20 bars out, because you keep just eating them, in the freezer ; you have one, defrost one, and you have one there. So that’s kind of what keeps me going. But definitely find what you can moderate and what you can’t, and stay away from those things that you can’t. You know; it’s just not worth it. Oh gosh; I have a little snoring puppy next to me.

Ok, Lindsey. “Do people with strong sugar cravings find that paleo treats; say desserts, or muffins, etc. are equally as addictive as non-paleo desserts, or is it very dependent on the person’s situation and recipe?” And I think it’s dependent on the person, and maybe what state you’re in. when I first started paleo, I was very addicted to those non-paleo desserts, and ate them all the time. And nowadays I don’t feel that. So I’ll make muffins, and I don’t have that same; “oh I have to go back to the fridge and eat another muffin”, and it keeps pulling me back and back.

So I think it depends on the person, and I think it depends on the situation they’re in; what time, what kind of sugar addiction they’re in. But you can get just the same type of sugar cravings with paleo versus not with paleo. So you have to be very careful with that, just because you’re using coconut sugar or maple sugar or maple syrup or whatever else. You can still get those same cravings, so it’s really important to be aware of that, just because you’re making a paleo treat doesn’t mean it’s good for you. It’s just; it gets us away from grains and some of the things.

So for me it was a stepping stone; a paleo dessert was a stepping stone to get me to paleo, so it was very helpful. But it can be detrimental, as well. So just keep in mind that you can get the same addictions, even if you’re doing paleo and it’s not just necessarily 10 times better for you. It’s just a tiny step better for you than gross grains.

Becky; “Do you have any sugar-free treats for when you’re craving sugar? If I eat anything with even honey or maple syrup in it before bed, I can’t sleep. Sometimes I slice a banana or freeze it for such an occasion, but wondered if you had other ideas.”

So you know; you asked sugar free treats, and I mean a banana is not a sugar-free treat. It still has sugar in it; so when you’re saying sugar-free treats, I don’t know if you necessarily mean like the sugar-free sugars; but to me, when you say sugar-free treats, and you’re having trouble with going to sleep because of whatever sugar, I don’t think you really need to have that sweet before you go to bed. If you’re craving something, it’s probably because you’re most likely having a sugar addiction reaction. So it’s better to replace that with something better. Meaning maybe just have some protein or some sort of fat; whether that’s some avocado; you could always do slices of turkey, or some rotisserie chicken on top of avocado with some hot sauce.

So getting away from the sugar at night, because that’s going to continue to build and you’re going to keep wanting that; and try something else that has some protein or fat in it, and that’s going to make you feel satisfied without giving you more of those sugar cravings. That’s what I would personally do. So I hope that helps.

Steph; “What are some foods that people may consume when trying to kick sugar to the curb but it kicks them in the ass instead. You may think you’re doing yourself a favor, but it ruining all your effort.” So I think fruit is one of these things; and people will fight me on this, my mom included; we think of fruit as better for us, but it’s really high in sugar. I mean, think about pineapple, or mango. Just anything that tastes really good; even a banana or apple, they are loaded with sugar. So when you’re trying to kick that sugar craving; maybe it’s processed foods and you’re adding in sugar, you’re still getting a lot of sugar in your diet and you might not be seeing all the results you could from eating healthy by consuming those sugars. So keep that in mind with fruit.

And people fight me on this all the time; and I say this because cutting out fruit was really, really helpful to me. Even my friend; my male friend, he cut out fruit and his body has completely changed. It’s absolutely amazing. So I think fruit can be one of those things that doesn’t always help kick those sugar cravings; so keep that in mind.

Let’s see; Jessica. “What is your best tip for avoiding the sugar monster that creeps the f*ck up on you the second you get home from work and makes you want to eat a bag of chips covered in Nutella while a pizza pocket heats up in the microwave! Maybe I went a little overboard and side tracked; but how do you avoid the between afternoon snack and dinner hit?”

So I always recommend; people are like, “well I get so hungry between lunch and dinner.” Well, have a snack, obviously. And that snack loaded up with some protein and fat; like the example that I just gave. Maybe you’re a person who eats eggs; having some eggs in between there. But get something that is going to make you feel satisfied so you’re not feeling that overwhelming urge to eat chips covered in Nutella. I mean, we’ve all been there. You know; we all just f*cking pour that Nutella in that bag of chips.

But get something that’s going to make you feel satisfied. And make it just a smaller meal. So say a lot; it’s like, say I made my pizza casserole, and I’m going to have that for dinner and maybe I’ll eat a smaller portion of it as a snack in between then just to make my life easier if I don’t have other stuff around. Sometimes I like to do smoked salmon; I like to do this lactose free cream cheese, so sometimes I’ll just wrap some salmon with that lactose free cream cheese. If you don’t do that, that’s totally fine if you don’t do dairy. But that’s a great snack. Getting some sort of protein; smoked salmon is awesome. And that’s what kind of works for me. So find a little smaller meal full of protein and fat that’s going to tide you over until dinner.

Christa; “I personally find it easier to have no cookies than just one. How do you feel about this idea?” And I think; somebody mentioned this but I forget what it’s called; but there are a lot of people out there who are either people who can’t do it at all, and then there are the people who can moderate. So I think what you have to find what kind of personality you are. If you’re a person who you know you’re going to have one cookie and those floodgates open and you’re f*cked; then maybe no cookie is the better option for you. If you’re a person; I used to be, I had to cut things completely out. But I’m a person, now I know certain foods I can control.

Like my friend; it was her birthday this past weekend, and we went to this restaurant, and then we got her this flourless chocolate cake, and it was so f*cking good. It was so good. But luckily I had a meal before; I was drinking a good amount of water. So I had one, maybe two bite, small bites, s of this cake, and then I set my spoon down and I turned away from it. I open the floodgates because I love flourless chocolate cake and I know that. But, I’ve gotten enough control over it nowadays I know I can put my spoon down and I can turn away. Not that it goes out of my mind, and I’m still kind of staring at it and wish I could pour soap on it, Sex and the City style. But I have enough control now to be able to set the spoon down and move on from it.

So I think you have to keep in mind what person you are or what stage you are in life that maybe the holidays are coming on and it’s not worth having that cookie because you know that cookie is going to lead into 10 more cookies that are set out. So keep that in mind. Try to figure out what kind of person you are, and work with what you have at the moment. If you’re a person who can’t have that cookie; you may be able to do that in the future once you have a little more control over that sugar addiction. So keep that in mind.

Tonya; “For the past year, I’ve been trying to switch over to become more paleo but often when I’m researching or looking for recipes, I find other things that show people against it. I’ve even dealt with it in my personal life. The people against it argue that you need whole grains and gluten in your diet. Is this true? I’m just curious how you would respond to someone arguing with you saying that paleo is just a fad.”

Oh man. People; people who argue are the most insecure people. Because if someone is like, “I love grains.” I have multiple friends who are like, “I would never cut it.” And these friends are in the fitness community. They’re like, “I would never cut out grains; I have pasta all the time.” Never once am I like, “Hey, do you know how bad grains are for you?” Because I don’t give a f*ck what they do. You can do whatever works for you.

So the people who are fighting you on this are the people who are very insecure with themselves and the choices that they make. I’m secure with paleo and so I don’t force paleo onto anyone. These are just my opinions; take it or leave it. I’m not going to tell you what you’re eating is bad for you. I’m not going to go to dinner with someone who gets pasta and be like; “What are you eating?” Because that would show that I’m very insecure.

So, what I think you should do; I think this is the most helpful thing. Knowledge is power, but I think you should go, because this is what really I felt like gave me more power and understanding why paleo wasn’t good for you. Reading Robb Wolf’s book; why am I blanking, The Paleo Approach, I believe? His book is so helpful because he puts it in layman terms. He talks like a real human being. He doesn’t talk like a scientist, and it’s so healthy. Reading his book will give you more knowledge and more power to help you explain yourself if you’re ever put in this situation; but I also recommend, and I’ll link this in my blog post.

Going to Whole9Life.com and looking up the grain manifesto. It explains refined grains; it explains whole grains; it explains the problematic proteins; I’m looking at the article right now. The problematic proteins that are built within gluten and why what they do to our systems and how they inflame our systems, which leads to inflammatory autoimmune diseases; that can be fibromyalgia, which my mom suffers from; that could be Crohn’s; MS; Hashimoto’s; fatigue. It could lead to so many things because of that protein. So just getting a better understanding of grains. So if someone really backs you into a corner, you can explain this in your own terms.

But then, if they really want to know, you could always send them this article. And I think that’s super helpful as; hey, here’s a great article that explains it better than I can explain it, and it opens people’s eyes to that. So I really recommend this; I’ll link it in the blog post in case you forgot what I just said. But it is so helpful and I really gave me a lot of power to understand why the hell I did not want to eat grains anymore. It talks about gluten free grains, and why they’re not the best; and those are still some grains that I eat and work for my system. But it just gives you power and understanding our bodies more, and so many of us don’t understand our bodies because they’re f*cking intricate systems. So I highly recommend that. But remember, people can push back. You have to find what works for you and what you believe in. so I think that’s what’s important.

Lisa; “My question is a lot of “eating to perform” diets call for consumption of simple sugars during and post workout because of quick digesting, high glycemic carbs are supposed to help a lot with recovery. Do you think aiming to replenish glycogen with high GI carbs is good strategy for recovery, even when avoiding sugar?”

Obviously, you’ll see this in the fitness community a ton. Most people maybe eat a banana after a workout or have a protein shake. And they’re getting those simple sugars, so you can replenish and you can have energy to either get another workout in or just not be fatigued the rest of the day. So I think that is really important. For me, I don’t see my workouts as hard enough to need to have a protein shake or a simple sugar after every single workout. And that’s because I used to compete in Crossfit, and I did 3 workouts a day, so the workouts I do nowadays just don’t seem nearer as hard as they used to be. So I don’t always feel like I really earned that protein shake; that need for a protein shake or a banana afterwards. I just see a need for a meal, and just getting protein; maybe I had a harder workout so I’ll have a starchy carb like a potato or sweet potato or some sort of root vegetable or squash, whatever.

I just don’t necessarily see it as; people do all these protein shakes and crazy stuff like that, I don’t see we always need that. I’m not saying that everybody doesn’t. There are tons of people out there who are doing extremely hard workouts, or you’re having; my friend ran the Leadville 100 and you’re having to force yourself to eat those simple sugars so you can keep going during a workout those are totally different situations. For me, a person who is doing a 1-hour workout a day; sometimes I’ll have a shake if it was a really hard workout. Most of the time, I’m just eating a meal afterwards. If I can’t get a meal, sometimes I’ll eat a Larabar or something if I’m coaching after a workout and I know I’m not going to eat for a while.

But I think it’s important to just have food, and to replenish what you just worked off, so you have energy to do whatever you need to do with your day. So I think it’s important; but I think it’s good to keep in mind what kind of workout you’re doing, and if you need those extra calories and carbohydrates and sugars in your diet, when you could just be going home and eating a normal meal. I think it’s good to kind of keep that in mind. So I hope that answers your question.

Lauren; let’s see what time we’re at, guys. 45 minutes. OK, we’re doing pretty good. Doing pretty good. Ok, Lauren; “I know you have discussed this in earlier posts and podcasts, but I wanted to bring up sugar, alcohol, junk food in the holidays; especially regarding friends and family that don’t share the same eating habits. I find that now more than ever people really push sweets, drinks, etc., and get offended when I politely decline. I’ve been having stomach issues lately, and I’m even more hesitant to eat things that I know will cause problems. When I try to explain this, it’s either brushed off or not taken seriously. I’m all for indulging a bit during the holidays, but not when I know certain things will upset my stomach. I’m having a hard time enjoying myself because I feel either judged or isolated. Any advice is appreciated.”

And I think many people feel like that when the holidays hit and they’re trying to stick with their healthy eating habits; and especially if they have stomach issues. So first and foremost, I think it’s good to explain if they’re close people to you; say it’s your family members or in-laws or whatever; if they’re close enough to you I think it’s worth explaining, you know, “I’ve had these digestive issues, I’m having stomach issues, so I’m just trying to cut certain foods out and see what works for me and what doesn’t, and I’ve been cutting out, whatever, cookies lately, and I’ve felt a little bit better, so thank you, I’m just going to say no today. I just need to really kind of get these digestive issues under control.”

So I think if you explain yourself to your loved ones, they understand a little bit more, unless they’re f*cking assholes, which happens a lot of times. So explain yourself first; if that’s not going to work, or maybe you’re just not as close to these people; they’re like, “Try this cake.” Take the cake, take the cookie, have a small little bite of it; or pretend that you’re sipping on some sort of drink. I’ve pretended to drink alcohol more times than I can count in my life. I’ve acted like I’m sipping through a straw and I’m just holding it against my tongue, and let it go back down, and I’ve gone to the bathroom and I’ve poured my drink out and acted like I’ve finished it. And I still do that in my adult life, and I’ve done it many, many times.

So, taking it, thanking me, tasting it if they want to watch you eat it, having a small taste of it, giving them whatever love they need. So either explaining yourself, taking it; you can always throw things away. You can always pretend that you finished it. If you’re at a big party I think it’s pretty easy to do that because people get distracted pretty easily. If you’re at the dinner table, taking something and then getting distracted by conversation, so you haven’t finished it; and if people are like; “Oh, you didn’t try it,” take a small bite, and you’re like; “I’m just so full!” you know. So those are the things that I have done in the past. There’s no need to be like, “I’m not eating that.” Which I have also done. But just explain; “I’m not feeling good, and I’m going to try to cut this out so I can see what happens, your support would be really appreciated.” And the more you do that, the more people lay off you. They don’t give a sh*t, they just want to eat whatever food they have. So keep that in mind.

Erin; “Any good suggestions for getting your mind right to convince yourself, ‘No, you don’t need another piece of candy on top of the 400 pieces you already ate! You’ve got baby weight to lose!’ Talking to myself, not you, of course. Any good diversions or replacements to help that down and get that under control?”

So what I did recently, because I was feeling addicted to sugar after making all these Thanksgiving and holiday desserts, and I was feeling that sugar addiction at night where after I would finish a meal I would go straight to dessert. So, what I’ve been doing is brushing my teeth at night. So as soon as I finish dinner, I go brush my teeth and I put my retainer in. So then I don’t go back to desserts, because I already brushed my teeth, and who wants to brush their teeth again? F*ck no. So yeah, that’s what I do and that’s worked for me. So if you’re like; “ok, I’m eating so much candy and I can’t stop!” Go brush your teeth. A little life hack there. That’s helped me.

Ok. Oh man; I need to figure out how to pronounce this name. So if this is you, write me and tell me how you pronounce your name because I’m sorry if I’m pronouncing it wrong. Saibon. Cioban? Saibahan. God, I’m such an asshole. I’m sorry. Please let me know how you pronounce your name so in the future I can pronounce it correctly.

“I know you don’t eat a lot of fruit because you said you can get the nutrients from other foods like vegetables, and they’re typically high in sugar; would you ever just eat an apple or grapes as a snack then? I actually don’t have too much of a sweet tooth because I love salt, but I occasionally feel like I need something sweet after dinner. I try to have some peppermint tea or something, but that doesn’t always do the trick.”

So if you’re a person who doesn’t eat sugar very often, and you don’t eat fruit very often, I don’t think it’s bad to have fruit sometimes. If it becomes a habit every single night, that you’re like; “ok I need an apple every single night.” It’s not the worst thing in the world, by any means, but if we can cut that out most of the time I don’t think it’s bad to have a piece of fruit once in a while. I know I hate on fruit a good amount, but you can easily still have that once in a while if you’re having that sugar craving, and it’s definitely better than having whole cake that some people can turn to. So I don’t’ think that’s super bad. I think that’s a good option. Peppermint tea is so good though. I had peppermint tea yesterday; it’s f*cking delicious. Not as like a treat, but it’s just a delicious afternoon snack. Not a snack; drink.

Ok, Lynette. I love this question, Lynette. “I do great 3 weeks out of the month, but that one week, when my hormones are raging, I’m an admitted emotional eater and I can pack in so, so, much sugar. Can you relate, either now or in the past?” I definitely can relate, and I definitely feel that I eat more and then I want more sugar around that lovely time of the month. You know, if I’m not feeling much of a sugar addiction other times, I let myself have more sugar. If I’m craving something, if I really want it, then I’m going to have it because I know I’m not super addicted to sugar at that point. But if you know you’re emotionally eating and it’s getting out of control I think it’s’ good to find some of those desserts that don’t make you as crazy; like I talked about that Eating Evolved chocolate. I’ll have some of that chocolate, because it doesn’t make me crave way more chocolate. Or I’ll make something that’s a dessert because then when I make something, I don’t want to eat it quite as much, surprisingly, because I’m like; I just put all this effort in, and I’m f*cking over it.

So those are the things that I do. But if you’re emotionally eating and you can’t stop, I think it’s good to make sure you’re drinking a sh*t ton of water, because a lot of times we just kind of eat out of boredom. So drink a ton of water, and don’t eat those foods that make you feel like you can’t stop. Because that will help you out a little bit. Hopefully that helps, Lynette.

Ok, just a few more. Let’s see; Annie. “When you’re fighting sugar cravings, do you find it better to indulge a little, or to completely avoid sugar and treats? Any tricks to keep your portions small when you do indulge?” So I kind of talked about that, but putting stuff in the freezer so you can only pick out one helps kind of just portion things out. And like I said; I don’t like cutting things out all together because then I crave them so much more. So I like to have a small piece of something, because I have control of that. So yeah, I hope that helps. Cutting out the stuff that makes you crazy, but then portioning stuff out in the freezer so you just take out one small portion, and then don’t go overboard because then it’s gone and you can’t see it. Out of sight, out of mind.

Let’s see; Emily. Let’s see; one, two; we’ve got about 5 more comments. Emily; “What are your thoughts about ‘healthy sugars’ versus ‘real sugars.’ Do you find if you’re craving something sweet, it’s better to indulge in something truly decadent, or try to satisfy the craving with a healthier version? Like a chocolate protein smoothie, or a bar made of stevia instead of a chocolate cookie made of real fat and sugar. I know in theory, the real one is supposed to satisfy your craving;” sorry I lost my place. “But if I have the real thing, it sets off a pattern of just wanting more sweets the following days.”

So I think this is good to keep in mind like we said earlier. For me, if I’m craving a milk shake, I can make a really thick protein shake and I can satisfy that craving. And so the whole reason I got into paleo and writing my blog is because I can make “healthier versions” of the sh*tty food out there. So if I want cake, I can make this really decadent flourless chocolate cake, and I can feel satisfied without feeling completely sick afterwards.

So if you’re a person who goes down the rabbit hole after you have that cookie made of real fat and real sugar, then maybe it’s something you shouldn’t have and you can make your own cookies; or you could make, you know; I’m not a huge fan of using like xylitol or stevia in place of desserts; I’m more of like a maple sugar, maple syrup, coconut; that sort of thing. But making your own version of things I think is a great step instead of going the route of a big giant cookie at Whole Foods that’s full of flours and some ingredients you can’t pronounce. So I like the healthier versions. I think that’s a good stepping stone into a healthier lifestyle; and then you can find what stuff is good for you and what doesn’t work for you.

Sarah; “How important do you think it is to cut out sugar in non-dessert foods. Is it really worth scouring the shelves for lunch meat and bacon that doesn’t have sugar?” I think it definitely is important, because added sugar is added sugar. So in deli meats, there are plenty of deli meats at this point that don’t have added sugar in them. So if you’re consuming, say deli meat, on a daily basis, then it’s definitely worth looking into the package. Say you have; like I’ve been in an emergency and people have only this store bought deli meat that has sugar in it; is that better than me digging into the box of cookies that they got at Safeway? For sure. But if you’re consuming deli meat on a daily basis; if you’re making this all the time and you’re having it all the time, then it’s definitely worth finding the brands that don’t have added sugar. Because if you’re doing that daily, that’s daily added sugar that you don’t really need in your diet.

Bacon; I buy a brand that has sugar in it. There are some sugar free brands. There’s like Peterson; I think it’s Peterson Farms that has no sugar; it’s like a paleo bacon. There might be a couple of other ones. But I don’t eat bacon enough; I’m not like a person who has eggs and bacon every morning. So I don’t eat bacon enough to really worry about the sugar content. I use it mostly to add like one piece of bacon into a big pot of like cabbage or something. So I don’t worry about that that much; but if you’re a person who is eating bacon every single day, I think it’s definitely important to find a sugar-free bacon. So if it’s something you eat every day, it’s definitely worth considering.

Let’s see; Diane. “I’ve done two successful sugar detoxes, but I have issues with social aspect of sugar. I always end up eating cakes at birthday parties; donuts at fried brunches.” {laughs} Fried brunches. “Friend brunches. I don’t eat any sugar at home, but it feels impossible to celebrate with friends and family without dessert.” And that definitely happens. Especially if you work in any sort of office building. I feel like people are just bombarded with treats and desserts during the holiday seasons, or birthdays, or whatever else.

So I think it’s important; if you know you’re going to a birthday party with cake; with desserts, with treats, get yourself a meal before. So if you’re going to a friend’s house, eat something so you’re going to feel satisfied so you don’t get that craving. If you’re full and you’re satisfied, you’re less likely to indulge in those foods. And you know; say you’re going to brunch with friends and there are donuts involved; I think it’s a choice that you have to make that you have to say, “I’m not going to eat this,” And if you’re friends ask why, you can lie, you can tell them the truth, whatever you need to do to keep up with your healthy behaviors.

There are always those social moments that we want to enjoy food; but if it becomes you’re going to brunch with your friends every single week and it’s detrimental to your goals, then it’s worth telling them why you’re doing something and why you’re trying to cut it out, and maybe they’ll be on board with you and support that with you. So eating before you’re going to certain events to keep you away from the dessert table, but also explaining to those friends in certain situations why you’re trying to stay away from something. Because people can really help you out with that, and might be really supportive. You never know.

Let’s see; ok this is the last question, because I actually answered the last two. Heather, “How do you feel about intermittent fasting? I’ve done 24-hour fasts in the past, and lately have been doing 12-hour fasts once a week, but read recently that intermittent fasting might not be best for women. Do you have experience with it, and any thoughts on the subject?”

So. This is my opinion on intermittent fasting. I understand where intermittent fasting comes from; it kind of comes from the belief that before we were able to get food every second of every day; we can get food at any point, that people had to go a certain amount of food without food when they were trying to get their food or there was nothing around. So they were going through these intermittent fastings, and if it’s good for resetting the body.

To me, we’ve evolved that we need food, and a lot of times; because I’m speaking from experience of doing intermittent fasting; I remember doing a 24-hour intermittent fast, is literally starving yourself. You’re starving yourself. And your body says, “Eat” and you’re saying “No.” How is that any different than an eating disorder? And that’s how I see it because I used to starve myself. I was getting to the same mind frame of; “Ok, I’m not going to eat.” My body says, “eat something, you’re so f*cking tired, you need food, you need energy, you’re working out multiple times a day,” and I’m like, “Nah, I’m cool. I’m not going to eat.”

So I do not personally; this is just personal, believe in intermittent fasting for a person who has those obsessive behaviors. It is not a good idea. That’s just my opinion. So my thoughts are; I mean, you’re intermittent fasting when you’re not eating between meals. That’s an intermittent fast; {laughs} you’re just not eating. It’s just, you can call it something. But if you’re going 12, 24 hours; I just don’t see the point of it. I don’t. I don’t think we need to do that. I think we need to eat when our body says we’re hungry. And maybe your body just isn’t in a regular rhythm yet. Maybe you’re addicted to sugar, so your body is telling you you’re hungry when you’re not. But if you have that stuff under control, and you know when your body needs to eat and you have regular hunger cues, I don’t think intermittent fasting is needed.

So that’s my opinion; there are many much more intelligent opinions out there. You can look for clinical studies and listen to the doctors out there; but that is just my view point because I think people need to eat when they’re hungry, and starving yourself is f*cking stupid. So that’s what I think; I hope that helps you out. Or you’re like; “Ugh, that was a stupid answer.” But that’s all I got!

So that’s all I have for you today guys. Hopefully that was helpful. I mean, sugar sucks, and I’m sure a lot of you are feeling sugar dependent at this point because of all the holiday parties that have been going on. But remember, if you can cut the cord with sugar, you’ll have much more control over it. And the New Year is a perfect time to really get control of it. So if you’ve gone through the holidays and you want those holiday treats; cool, but you’ve got to get it under control because you will feel so much better when you’re not addicted to sugar; speaking from experience of going on and off with sugar. We’ve dated; we’ve not dated, we’ve gone through it all.

So that’s it guys; that’s all I have for you today. Next week, let’s see what I have written down for next week. A person, a listener, recommended that I did a podcast about my favorite things; whether that’s beauty products or food products. So I was going to do a podcast about just kind of my favorite things for the New Year. Beauty treatments I’ve been trying lately. I’m doing a blog post about that soon, so I’m going to kind of talk about that in the podcast. God, I can’t talk at all. I’m going to talk about that on the podcast as well. But I’m going to talk about products that I’m loving, whether that’s food related or clothing or shoes or whatever else. So I’m going to talk about my favorite things.

So if you want to know about any certain favorite things, any just products maybe you’ve seen but you haven’t heard a review about, or something like that; let me know. I’d love to hear your thoughts about it. I’ll be asking that question in my weekly workouts post. But yeah; that’s what I’ll be doing next week.

So thank you guys so much for listening; if it’s before the holidays, Happy Holidays. If not; happy new year. And I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend. If you like this podcast, please tell your friends about it. Please leave a positive review. I’ve had to stop looking at the reviews on iTunes, because you can’t respond to reviews. So when there’s a negative one, it just irks me and really makes me so sad. So if you have a positive review, please leave a positive review. Remember to rate, review, subscribe to my podcast, and keep being awesome guys.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for listening. That’s it. That’s all I got. I wish Jackson could give you a little smooch. My dog; not my husband. OK, I’ll see you guys later. Have a great day. Bye!