2023 January Sugar Challenge -- Prep time!

Hello! We hope you’re enjoying 2023! As a reminder, the 31-day Sugar Challenge starts on January 9 and goes through February 8. The challenge focuses on abstaining from added sugar and other sweeteners. Find more info at: Sugar Challenge Rules

Time to get ready! Go through your fridge, freezer, and pantry and set aside anything with added sugar in the ingredient list. Add some fruit to your shopping list to enjoy when the sweet cravings hit. Remember this challenge includes not eating or drinking anything sweet that is added to food including natural sugars such as agave, honey, or maple syrup as well as sugar alternatives like stevia.

The goal of this challenge: to improve your sugar consuming habits. Throughout this challenge your brain might be telling you to consume sugar because you feel better when you do. Even if you cannot be entirely free from it for the whole 31 days, you are still helping your body to detox. So, if you slip up and have some sugar, do not give up! Slip ups happen, cravings happen, sometimes parties and dinner dates happen. Just do your best. Do not diet or restrict calories during this challenge. This challenge will be hard enough without adding additional work for yourself. If you want to try a diet in the future, this challenge will give you some great tools for that! Have breakfast, bring a lunch to work, and keep healthy snacks with you at all times. That way, when you start craving a sweet treat, you can break into your already prepared, no added-sugar snacks.

Read all food labels.

Added sugar and sweetener is not the easiest to locate. There is one definitive place to look when you're buying food - the food label. Look to the food label and you'll find info in the ingredient list and also the added sugar list.

Ingredients to watch out for:

Sugar alcohols- words ending in "-'ol" (i.e. erythritol, manitol, sorbitol, etc.).
Anything “sugar free”- stevia, sucralose, saccharin and aspartame
Brown rice syrup
Corn syrup/ high fructose corn syrup

Added sugar is prominent in about 75% of the grocery store, so spend some time looking at not only the food label, but also the ingredient list. This challenge is about a refrain, reset, and recharge. It isn’t going to be easy but it will be worth it. Remember, you aren’t alone in this and we are here to help!

Next week we will send more information to help you better prep with meal and snack ideas, etc. To start, the day before the challenge, prepare healthy snacks and plan your meals for the day. Bring a large water bottle, extra snacks and fruit with you throughout the day. Having easy food choices close by will help you stick with it.

This will be an awesome challenge, you’ll learn a lot, and by the end of January you will feel a major difference!

Sincerely,

St. Peter’s Wellness Team