This Week's Tip: Skip the Sugar
Recent reports show that sugar causes more than a few extra pounds; health experts now say that sugar may cause or contribute to depression, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis as well as accelerate the aging process.

At home:
If you think not adding sugar to your tea, coffee, or cereal is the only step you need to take to eliminate it from your diet, think again. Food manufacturers are adding it for you, and unless you know all the names it goes by, you could be consuming larger quantities than you ever suspected. Be on the lookout for these "ingredients", a.k.a. sugars, in your pantry. Remember that every 4 grams of sugar listed on the nutrition label is equivalent to one teaspoon of sugar.
Incognito sugars: Amazake, brown sugar, carob powder, corn syrup, dextrose, evaporated cane juice, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, maltose

At work:
If you know having sweets nearby at work will mean you consume them, opt for other options, even if they need to be the naturally sweet variety at first. Good options (that still give your body nutrients and minerals) are dried apricots, figs, and dates. Although, don't eat too many--they tend to be calorie-dense. As for artificial sweeteners for your coffee and tea, check out our guide to safe sugar alternatives

At the spa:
At the spa you can skip the no-sugar mantra, and dive right into the sweet stuff, into a scrub that is! Scrumptious sugar scrubs are less abrasive to the skin than salt scrubs, and are natural humectants. For a Valentine's Day treat, look for spas across the country who offer special sugar scrubs. 

Courtesy of www.healinglifestyles.com