Typical spiked lemonade often has 25 to 30 grams each of carbs and sugar—all from processed ingredients. The easiest way to cut carbs and sugar: Don’t use the fake stuff! Why use fake ingredients when real fruit tastes so amazing?

This spiked watermelon lemonade has no added sugar and makes sitting poolside that much sweeter. It’s way too easy. All you have to do is add vodka, water, watermelon, lemon juice and optional stevia to a blender and blend until it becomes completely smooth. You can serve your spiked watermelon lemonade right out of the blender, or you can pour it into a pitcher and refrigerate it while you wait for your friends to join you.

This spiked watermelon lemonade recipe is one of my favorite summer drinks. The clean ingredients make it taste light and refreshing, and it’s full of nutrients like vitamins A and C. Plus, the water and watermelon give you a boost of hydration—you can’t go wrong!

This Spiked Watermelon Lemonade is…

Summer Staple

Refreshing

Perfect Poolside

Added sugar–free

Hydrating

Spiked Watermelon Lemonade Ingredients

1 cup vodka

1 cup water

6 cups seedless watermelon

3 lemons

3 drops liquid stevia (optional)

Spiked Watermelon Lemonade Directions

Add vodka, water, seedless watermelon and stevia to a blender. Using a handheld juicer, juice lemons into the blender. Blend until watermelon becomes completely smooth. Pour into a large pitcher and refrigerate prior to serving.

Nutrition Facts

(Serves 4)

Per serving:

Calories: 211

Carbs: 20 g

Sugar: 16 g

Unlike sugar storage, fat storage is unlimited! So to work off the empty calories consumed from sugar alone, on average, you would have to hold a plank for two hours, do 30 minutes of constant push-ups or do 358 pull-ups! Is the sugar worth it? I think not—especially because sugar is void of all nutrients, does not satiate your appetite and actually leaves you hungrier!

Consuming too much sugar can also make your brain feel foggy, cause you to gain unwanted body fat and deplete you of energy. It’s time to get educated on the effects sugar has on your health and cut it out of your diet for good!

Sugar Addiction Is Real!

People joke about being addicted to sugar, but it’s actually a real struggle and not a joke. Added sugar provokes the release of dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter that works within the reward center of your brain and plays a crucial role in your feelings of hunger and pleasure.

Consuming high amounts of sugar leads to high amounts of dopamine being released, which then provides you with a feeling of amazing satisfaction. But if you consume sugar on a regular basis, your brain grows accustomed to this constant sugar satisfaction and begins to “need” this sweet taste to continue experiencing this feeling. When you continue to feed your brain its “needed” sugar, it then begins to require more and more to gain that same reward. This is due to your dopamine receptors becoming desensitized from all the sugar, requiring more dopamine to be released and an actual addiction begins.

Sugar, Insulin and Fat Storage

It is important to note that all sugar is not processed in the body the same way. When discussing added sugar, we are talking about processed, refined sugar. When you eat refined sugar, it goes directly into your bloodstream and causes a huge spike in your blood sugar. This causes insulin to then be released. The job of insulin is to remove excess sugar from the blood, store it in the body and keep blood sugar levels in check.

When excess sugar hits the bloodstream, you experience the well-known “sugar high” effect, where you feel extremely energized for a short period of time. This causes an overestimated amount of insulin to be released, removing more sugar than necessary from your bloodstream and causing the classic “sugar crash.”

When you experience the crash, your body thinks it “needs” more sugar, so you eat more sugar, and a vicious circle begins. Some like to call this the sugar roller-coaster. Naturally occurring sugar from fruit, meanwhile, is mixed with fiber and does not affect the body quite the same way. Fiber slows down the digestion process, resulting in the naturally occurring sugar being able to enter the bloodstream slowly and keeping blood sugar levels in balance.

Insulin is also a fat-storing hormone. While it is a necessity for proper functioning of the body, when in excess it becomes harmful. Insulin triggers a fat storage enzyme and, at the same time, represses the enzyme responsible for the breakdown of fat. Therefore, you are shutting down the fat-burning process when consuming refined sugar.

As explained above, excess sugar consumption causes insulin to remove too much sugar from your bloodstream, resulting in low blood sugar. When this happens, a stress signal is sent to the brain and your brain reacts by releasing cortisol, your stress hormone. This is bad news for you because cortisol energizes and increases your appetite, leading you to eat more than what your body actually needs.

Sugar Is Hiding Everywhere!

When it comes to becoming healthier and fitter, sugar is your greatest enemy in disguise. While some people know they are sugar addicts, others might believe they don’t have a sugar tooth. The truth is, sugar loves to sneak its way into our food any way it can. Food you consider healthy, and food that is not even supposed to be sweet, can be packed with this devious additive. So where is all of the added sugar hiding? Everywhere! Here is a list of common foods with shockingly high amounts of sugar:

• – Pasta sauce (Ragu), ½ cup – 12g
• – Yogurt (Yoplait strawberry), single serving – 27g
• – Granola (Nature Valley), ½ cup – 14g
• – Breakfast cereal (Raisin Bran), ¾ cup – 19g
• – Oatmeal (Quaker apple cinnamon), single-serve package – 22g
• – Baked beans (Bush’s), ½ cup – 15g
• – Trail mix (Emerald Breakfast On the Go) – 17g
• – Jam (Smuckers), 1 tbsp. – 13g
• – Maple syrup, ¼ cup – 47g
• – Fat-free salad dressing (Ken’s Steak House) – 13g
• – Vanilla almond milk (Silk), 1 cup – 13g
• – Tomato soup (Campbell’s On the Go) – 20g
• – BBQ sauce, 2 tbsp. – 15g
• – Energy bar (Cliff Bar chocolate chip) – 21g
• – Applesauce (Motts), 1 snack cup – 19g
• – Fruit cup (Dole), 1 snack cup – 18g
• – Jello, ½ cup – 19g
• – Soda, 12oz – 40g
• – Iced tea (sweetened), 16oz – 44g
• – Sports drinks (Gaterade), 1 bottle – 21g
• – Vitamin drinks (Vitamin Water), 1 bottle – 32g
• – Vanilla latte (Starbucks), 16oz – 32g

5 Steps to Kick Your Sugar Habit

Now that you know the effects sugar has on your brain, body and health, are you ready to kick it to the curb for good? If so, follow these five steps!

1. Read food labels. Sugar is hiding everywhere in your diet! Foods you think are healthy, like many yogurts, sauces, dressings, protein bars, oatmeal and coffee drinks, are packed with sugar. Never assume a food is healthy and sugar-free and always double-check the food label.

2. Eat whole foods. Even processed foods that do not contain sugar quickly break down into sugar. Avoid processed foods that will promote fat storage by consuming as many fresh, whole foods as possible. Whole foods will stabilize your blood sugar, decreasing your sugar cravings. Plus, no need to read the labels on whole foods—sugar can’t sneak its way into them!

3. Detox your kitchen. Look at the food labels on the items in your pantry and refrigerator to find where sugar is hiding in your diet. Toss out the items that are packed with sugar to help you successfully drop the sugar!

4. Buy unsweetened. Choose unsweetened options of foods like yogurt, oatmeal, coffee and plant-based milks. You can always sweeten them yourself with natural sweeteners like honey or stevia.

5. Go at least 21 days without sugar. Your brain can actually be addicted to sugar. The more sugar you eat, the more sugar your brain “requires” to feel satisfied. To break your addiction, go at least 21 days without eating sugar, no matter how much you are craving it! The longer you go without sugar, the less your brain “requires” it and the less you will crave it.

Top Tips to Battle Your Sugar Cravings

1. Drink more water. When you experience a craving, chug a glass of water before eating. Thirst is commonly confused for hunger, leading dehydration to be a common cause of your sugar cravings.

2. Combine protein, healthy fats and fibrous foods at each meal. This powerful combination will stabilize your hunger hormones and keep you full and satisfied for hours without causing any sugar cravings!

3. Eat more fat and less carbs at breakfast. A high-fat breakfast will help avoid  a blood sugar spike first thing in the morning, which can also prevent a sugar crash later and a roller-coaster of cravings throughout your day.

4. Don’t skip meals! Skipping meals leads to a drastic drop in energy. When your energy levels drop, your blood sugar levels drop as well, causing your brain to think it needs more sugar. Plus, when you are overly hungry, your willpower can weaken and it’s much more difficult to say “no”!

5. Cook food at home. When you prepare your own food, you are able to control all of the ingredients you use, making it much easier to drop the sugar.

6. Cut out the alcohol. Alcohol lowers your blood sugar, leading your brain to believe you need sugar to maintain normal levels. It also negatively changes the way sugar and carbs are metabolized in the body. Plus, most alcoholic beverages are jam-packed with sugar.

7. Reduce stress. Stress triggers hormones that increase your appetite, leading to dangerous cravings. It’s easier said than done, but decreasing your stress levels will simultaneously decrease your sugar cravings.

8. Get enough sleep. Lack of sleep causes a domino effect of chemical reactions in your body, altering your hormone levels and increasing your sugar cravings! And when you are sleep-deprived, you are much more likely to lack the willpower to say “no” to those cravings.

9. Eat fruit! There is a difference between processed sugar and naturally occuring sugar. Your body processes sugar from fruit more slowly due to its fiber content, so it doesn’t cause the same spike in blood sugar as processed sugar. When a sugar craving hits, grab a piece of fruit and enjoy the sweetness of natural sugar.

10. Ditch the fancy coffee. A Starbucks vanilla latte has 32 grams of sugar! Buy and brew your own vanilla-, caramel-, hazelnut- or mocha-flavored ground coffee beans. Mix together coffee, ½ cup of unsweetened plant-based milk and stevia to taste for your own homemade delicious version!

11. Avoid soda. It is a sugar trap!

12. Drink fruit-flavored herbal tea. Sugar craving setting in? Brew a cup of tea and sweeten it with stevia for a guilt-free sweet taste. Use two tea bags for a stronger flavor. Drinking tea also helps to keep you hydrated and not confuse your thirst for hunger.

13. Add a teaspoon of cinnamon. Try sprinkling cinnamon on coffee, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, apples and protein shakes. It has been shown to help control blood sugar levels.

14. Fight sugar with fat. Add more fat into your diet to overcome your sugar cravings. Healthy fats fuel the body, stabilize your blood sugar levels, cut hunger and keep you full and satisfied for hours.

15. Work out! Being active for at least 30 minutes every day reduces your sugar cravings.

By Chelsea Morrow

We all have health and fitness goals, whether it be reaching our ideal weight, defining our abs or simply feeling better in our own skin. And, we all know eating our favorite treats is not going to get us there.

This leaves us staring at the cookie jar while we angrily rip away at our celery sticks, attempting to stay disciplined. It’s a serious struggle! How are we supposed to enjoy our lives with a constant battle going on inside our heads?

Guess what? Being healthy does not equal deprivation, and deprivation certainly does not equal being healthy! Instead, you can fuel your fitness goals while continuing to enjoy your favorite treats.

The key to establishing lifelong healthy eating habits is finding the right balance. Rather than depriving yourself of foods you love, learn how to incorporate nourishing ingredients into them. With our best healthy baking substitutions, healthy never tasted so good!

Swap avocado for butter

Take in a fraction of the calories and nourish your body with a better source of fat by using our favorite healthy baking substitution! Swapping butter for avocado is easy by simply using half a cup of avocado for every one cup of butter your recipe calls for.

Benefits of avocado: Avocados are an amazing superfood and should be included in your diet for overall vitality! From boosting your weight loss, digestion, and vitamin absorption to promoting healthy skin and hair, why wouldn’t you make the swap?

Swap honey for sugar

Processed sugar (white sugar) is our enemy and is highly addictive. It not only increases our body fat but also heightens are appetite and sugar cravings. Ditch sugar now by making this awesome healthy baking swap! According to Kitchn, there are a few rules to follow. For every 1 cup of sugar your recipe calls for, use ½ cup honey instead. Slightly reduce the amount of liquids added to compensate for honey’s wet consistency. For best results, add ¼ tsp. of baking soda for every cup of honey added.

Benefits of honey: Enjoy honey and reap the benefits! Honey boosts your energy and memory, wards off infections and allergies, clears your skin and helps you sleep. Although honey has amazing health benefits, it should still be consumed in moderation.

Swap unsweetened applesauce for oil

Just because it says vegetable doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Vegetable oil is chemically altered, heavily processed and linked to heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity. No thank you! Say goodbye to vegetable oil and hello to unsweetened applesauce. Easily make this healthy baking substitution by using a 1:1 ratio when baking.

Benefits of apples: The abundant health benefits of apples help you and your body function flawlessly. Eating apples helps you ramp up your weight loss and digestion, as well as increase your intake of fiber, antioxidants, vitamin c and other essential vitamins and minerals.

Swap flaxseeds for eggs

Take a break from animal products and turn your recipe vegan by using flax eggs. Make a flax egg by combining one tbsp. ground flaxseeds with three tbsp. hot water and let sit for five minutes. One flax egg is equivalent to one egg.

Benefits of flaxseeds: Feel fuller with flaxseeds! They are filled with fiber and expand in your stomach, leading to a decrease in your appetite. They also are an amazing source of omega-3 fatty acid, helping your muscles recover and get stronger.

Swap almond flour for white flour

Avoid unwanted body fat by making almond flour a staple in your baking! White flour is heavily processed, stripped of all vitamins, nutrients and fiber, leading it to be absorbed directly into your bloodstream. This rampantly spikes your blood sugar causing an increase in fat storage. Yikes! Let’s make this healthy baking substitution by using a 1:1 ratio. For best results, add in an extra egg (or flax egg!).

Benefits of almond flour: The best benefit of almond flour: It is gluten free! Not sold yet? It is also protein packed, low carb, and an amazing source of dietary fat (helping you burn more fat!).

Swap cacao nibs for chocolate chips

Cacao nibs are chocolate chips in their natural state, raw and much less processed. While chocolate chips are packed with toxic ingredients, cacao nibs are overloaded with numerous health benefits. Enjoy the wonderful crunch and rich dark chocolate flavor of cacao nibs, guilt free.

Also, try swapping cacao powder for cocoa powder.

Use cacao nibs and cacao powder interchangeably for chocolate chips and cocoa powder when baking.

Benefits of cacao: Need an energy booster and mood enhancer? Eat cacao! This superfood will also increase your fat burning, stabilize your blood sugar and provide you with important antioxidants.

Swap coconut cream for heavy cream

Coconut cream and heavy cream contain the same amount of fat, so why bother making this healthy baking substitution? Not all fats are created equal and while coconut cream boosts fat burning, heavy cream initiates fat storage. Make the swap by refrigerating a can of coconut cream and use as if it were heavy cream.

Can’t find coconut cream? Easily make your own! Refrigerate a can of full-fat coconut milk overnight, drain the separated coconut water and scoop out the remaining cream.

Benefits of coconut cream: Enjoy coconut cream, not only for the delicious taste, but also for the numerous benefits. Coconut cream replenishes electrolytes, improves digestion, raises energy levels, builds muscle and burns fat!

Enjoy the foods you love and stop depriving yourself now! With these healthy baking substitutions, easily turn all your favorite baking treats into nutrient-dense superfoods!

Learn more about developing a healthier diet here.

Chelsea Morrow is a certified personal trainer and yoga instructor. After a six-year career as a professional figure skater, she now works at Burn Boot Camp HQ on the Marketing team and is passionate about educating all of Burn Nation about fitness, nutrition, and a positive mindset. Chelsea is also the author and mastermind behind The Blueprint, Burn Boot Camp’s weekly newsletter. She loves doing yoga, meditating, rock climbing, her dog Yogi, and eating Mexican food.