By Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN, LD 

Do you find yourself relying on high carb and sugary foods to get you through the day? Maybe you feel the urge to reach for a candy bar or soda every afternoon?  

Many people struggle with feeling reliant on less healthy foods. In fact, some foods may be such a vital part of your diet or routine that they seem impossible to limit or give up. How can you get through your morning meeting without your caffeinated soda and donut, after all? 

Fortunately, there are several easy ways that you can start to decrease your reliance on certain foods, especially those that are high in refined carbs and sugar. 

1 – Include protein at every meal and snack. 

If you always feel hungry and overeat high carb foods as a result, making sure you get enough protein can make a big difference. 

Protein is known to increase satiety, and combining it with the other macronutrients (fat and carbohydrates) can stabilize your energy levels and help you feel less reliant on sugary foods.  

Instead of eating a donut for breakfast, try a slice of whole grain toast with peanut butter and jam (with no added sugar). In place of a sugary, fat-free yogurt, opt for a plain Greek yogurt with berries and a handful of nuts instead. These options contain all three macronutrients and will help keep you full. 

2 – Try not to skip meals. 

Regularly skipping meals can increase your reliance on high carb and sugary foods. When you wait too long in between meals, you may be more likely to reach for the foods that provide the quickest boost of energy. 

Instead of letting yourself get to this point, keep snacks on hand at work, in the car, or in your bag. Lean jerky (that’s not too high in sodium), nuts, and dried fruit make great portable snacks that can hold you over until you eat again. 

Even better, aim to eat meals 3-4 hours apart so that you can maintain your energy levels and avoid the urge to grab any piece of candy in sight. 

3 – Identify triggers and steps to overcome them. 

Most people feel reliant on foods because of an influence or situation that triggers them to crave a particular food. 

Do you find yourself craving chocolate at 2 pm because it’s always sitting out in the lunch room when you take your afternoon break? Or maybe you drive past a Dairy Queen on the way home and can’t help but stop for a sundae? 

Identifying these triggers can help you come up with a plan. Perhaps you can pack your own snack of nuts and dark chocolate for your 2 pm break, and ask your co-workers to store the chocolate in a cabinet instead of the table. Instead of stopping at Dairy Queen, take a different way home and plan to stop at DQ only once a month. 

Incorporating the tips in this post can help you gradually decrease your reliance on certain foods, and improve your energy levels as a result!  

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