I get a lot of questions from people about how they can stop themselves from straying from their diets. My answer? Unless your life or your livelihood depend on perfection, you should strive for progress, not perfection. Life gets in the way for all of us at times, and we need to learn that perfection isn’t going to give us the scale weight, physique, or performance that we want. What will? Consistency! If we keep our goals in mind and stick to what we need to achieve them, we will reach them. If we fall off the rails briefly but get right back to what we need to do, one less than ideal decision out of many won’t impede progress. So when you have had that crazy weekend or one more than you had planned, remind yourself of how far you have come, where you want to be, and what you are prepared to do to get there.

Sugar. It’s everywhere, and in everything. Most of us eat far more than we realize, and in consequence a large number of the calories that we consume each day have little or no nutritional value to them. Many people want to reduce the amount of sugar in their diets, but few have any real idea where to start. Here are some tips to help you get started:

• Stay away from boxes, jars, cans, and bags. If a food is pre-packaged, there is a nearly seventy percent chance that it has added sugar in it. Yes, you read that right. Nearly seventy percent of the items in packages on grocery store shelves have added sugar! Conversely, items that are not pre-packaged like meats, fruits, and vegetables usually don’t have added sugars (watch for marinades and pre-cut fruits, as sugar sometimes sneaks in there).
• If you do pick up anything in a box, jar, can or bag, read the label. Carefully. Anything with a –ose suffix or with syrup in it almost definitely has added sugar in it. Look for labels that have fewer than four ingredients, all of which you should recognize immediately, to minimize your risk of picking up something with hidden sugar in it.
• Do a pantry clean-out applying the same concepts as you would in the grocery store. The less you are around foods with added sugars, the less likely you will be to consume them.
• Keep a close eye on what goes into your beverages. Many restaurants and chain food providers automatically include syrups and sugars in their beverages, so if you want to avoid them, you need to ask. Avoid non-diet sodas, energy drinks, and sports drinks as well.
• Ensure you have an adequate supply of fresh or frozen fruit on hand. Fruits are high in naturally occurring sugars and eating a piece of fruit when you have a sugar craving is a great way to combat it. While fruit will satisfy that desire for sweetness, the fiber, vitamins and minerals in the fruit will provide you with valuable nutritional benefits that you simply cannot get from cookies, candy and cake.

It’s nearly impossible to eliminate sugar entirely from your diet, but taking the steps above will allow you to control when and how you consume it, allowing you to eat healthy and love life.