Hi Byte Wellness Fam!

How are you post-Halloween? (Not too sugared up, I hope).

Did you have one too many pieces of bite-sized candy in between sharing with the Trick-or-Treaters?

Or did you pick up leftover candy for a post-Halloween discount?

Shoot… you might be crunching on your leftover candy stash as we speak.

Either way, no judgment. Wellness is all about balance.

If you over-indulged, charge that to the game, and get back to your healthy living goals.

In fact, this is the perfect time to dive into our next wellness challenge, which is all about cutting back on added sugars.

Prep for the #SlashAddedSugars Challenge (starting tomorrow November 6-26). If you’re reading this but don’t get our daily wellness texts, you can still join the challenge! Just text SUGAR to 1(224)302-6224 to get started.

By the way, the inspo behind the challenge was this community right here! I was all set to start a different challenge this month, but you all were vocal about your need to create a healthier relationship with sugar- NOW! So, that’s what we’ll work on together.

For more discussion about the upcoming challenge, check out our last #PhyteWellWednesday Workshop recording here and/or read below.

How To Win the #SlashAddedSugars Challenge

WHAT: Cut back on added sugars that we eat and drink. Added sugar is sugar that’s added to foods and drinks (including table sugar, syrups like agave and maple and high-fructose corn syrup as well as honey). We’re most likely to find added sugars in refined/highly-processed food. But, sometimes added sugars hide in food we normally think of as healthy! So, we have to be vigilant.

Not sure whether your food or drink has added sugars? Here’s how you can find added sugars in the ingredients list and the nutrition facts.

WHEN: 21 days from Sunday November 6th to November 26th.

HOW TO WIN: Choose 1 food or drink that you use on a daily or near-daily basis that has more than 6 grams of added sugar in it.

Our goal is to cut out at least 6 grams of that added sugar (by eating less-or-none of the food).

WHY:

The American Heart Association recommends women limit added sugars to no more than 25grams (6 teaspoons) per day- much less than what most of us eat.

Eating too much added sugar can increase our chances of gaining dangerous weight and developing conditions like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Filling up on added sugar also means we might be missing out on the plant magic of whole foods sugars (like fruits and veggies).

See, whole food sugar comes with perks that keep our bodies healthy: fiber, vitamins and the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits of phytonutrients. But, the more highly-processed items that tend to deliver the way too many added sugars don’t have deliver as many of those healthy perks.

Meanwhile, in case you’re trying to decide how to handle your post-Halloween candy…

LIST OF 6 HEALTHY HALLOWEEN TIPS

1. There’s strength in vulnerability- in recognizing your weaknesses and removing the source of the temptation. Pay attention to which Halloween treats are hardest for you to say no to and make sure those are the ones you give away first to trick-or-treaters.

2. Declare a “No Candy Zone” for your living room and your office (and wherever else in your home you spend hours sitting down). When you’re in those No Candy Zones and you crave candy, you’ll have to get up to grab it from the kitchen. Set a limit to keep yourself from grabbing more than 1 or 2 pieces per trip. You just might decide that mini snickers isn’t worth getting off the couch.

3. Tie multiple plastic bags around the candy, stash it in a place that you can’t reach at a momen't’s notice like the trunk of your car or in a high drawer or that way wayyyy back corner of your closet you hate leaning into.

4. Store your candy bag in the freezer. Put a giant candy bag in the freezer. Take out one piece at a time when you have a craving. By the time you wait the 10-20 minutes for it to thaw, you might not want it anymore

5. In addition to hiding the candy in your pantry or somewhere out of reach, give yourself a 15-minute exercise rule. When you have a candy craving, make yourself walk around your home (or dance, or squat, etc) for at least 15 minutes before you’re allowed to reach for the candy. This 2015 study found that people’s food cravings dropped by more than 1/3 after 15 minutes of moderate-intensity walking.

6. Donate your extra candy (make sure you buy individually wrapped candies so organizations will accept the bag even after you’ve opened it. Check out this list for updated sites to donate your leftover candy to.

Don’t forget the discussion question below.

Discussion Question

• What positive effects did you notice this month while you worked on moving more?

You went to all that effort to move more last month. Let’s make sure to reflect on what worked for you ;)

Hope to see you in the #SlashAddedSugars challenge!

Happy Healthy Living,

Dr. Wuse