After decades of bingeing on sweet treats and failed yo-yo diets, weight loss expert Molly Carmel finally discovered the secret to transforming her relationship with food for ever.
Sugar addiction comes in all shapes and sizes – and in all bodies.
If you find yourself deep into a box of doughnuts when you’ve sworn to yourself you wouldn’t, then you probably have a problem with sugar.
If you’re in the kitchen at night finishing off a loaf of bread, hoping no one wakes up to hear you, you are probably in an abusive relationship with sugar.
If you are successful in many parts of your life yet cannot succeed at eating sugar in moderation, then you know how it feels to be addicted to the stuff.
I know how much pain, shame, isolation and suffering this relationship with sugar can cause .
I battled my food and weight disorder – tipping the scales at 23st – for more than 20 years.
Being morbidly obese and unknowingly trapped in an abusive relationship with sugar is a pain I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy.
But I was able to piece together a recovery and find a way to create the help I needed.
I amassed degrees, researched and went beyond the traditional fields of psychology, addiction and nutrition to open the doors to my Manhattan clinic, the Beacon, back in 2012.
Thousands of clients later, I’ve never looked back.
Today, my relationship with food is everything I hoped it would be.
I am incredibly satisfied with the food I put into my body, maintaining a healthy weight naturally.
I feel zero shame about food and I live a full, busy, and generally awesome life.
If you too are struggling with sugar, remember that our relationship with the sweet stuff has taken a nasty turn.
Today, processed food is made with highly concentrated sugar and minimal amounts of fibre and protein, activating the brain’s reward pathways with a new intensity and magnitude.
It’s also hidden in bottled and packaged foods such as peanut butter, salad dressing and sauces. In the UK, sugar intake per capita has more than doubled since 1950 and with that, the obesity rate has quadrupled.
We know it impacts our looks causing weight gain, breakouts, wrinkles and tooth decay.
But sugar has also been linked to inflammation, migraine headaches , anxiety, brain fog, trouble sleeping, gum disease, heart disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver and diabetes.
There’s even terrifying research showing that sugar increases the risk of developing certain cancers.
But I’m going to help end your unhealthy relationship with sugar with my unique meal plan, recipes and self-care tips.
Follow my plan for 66 days – the length of time it takes for new behaviour to become automatic – starting with a series of promises to yourself. I’m so proud that you’re making this important next step. I’m with you all the way.
How to read ingredients
Ingredients in packaged foods are listed in descending order.
First come the ingredients that are present in the highest quantities, and then gradually down to the ingredients with the lowest quantities.
If sugar, flour, or any of the words that mean sugar and flour (words that end in -ose, such as glucose, dextrose, fructose, or starch) are listed in the first four ingredients, don’t eat that food.
If sugar or flour are listed as the fifth ingredient or later, the food is good to go.
Breaking Up with Sugar by Molly Carmel (£14.99, Yellow Kite) is out now.
