If you are health concious you have probably already heard speculation that sugar and processed carbohydrates may be to blame for the obesity epidemic in our country. Maybe as a result you are wondering how to begin cutting back on sweets naturally. That is precisely what I would like to help you with today. There are basically two approaches to how to do this and you have to know yourself well enough to know which method would work best for you. Method one: cold turkey; all or nothing; a cleanse of sorts. Method two: slowly ween yourself off; cut back on your sugar or artificial sweetener intake slowly.

I recommend the second method. Those who quit anything cold turkey tend to have severe withdrawals and cravings that often cause them to go right back to what they quit with more passion than before. Start replacing things that you eat that are sweet with a slightly less sweet, but still satisfying choice. If you have a huge bowl of ice cream every single night (wether it be sweetened naturally or not) try cutting back to a half portion and eating a banana also. After a couple of weeks of that try cutting the ice cream out entirely and just being satisfied with the banana. After that will it be ok to have a bowl of ice cream once a week? Sure! As long as it's not a bowl of ice cream, a brownie, a chocolate chip cookie, a handful of chocolate covered almonds, and a piece of cake once a week.

On that note, set limits as to how often you will have desserts. A good idea is to limit them to only special occasions, or only when eating out or only once a week. Figure out what works for you, make a plan and stick to it.

Start making substitutions. Trade out the added sugar for natural. Try blending a frozen banana and some unsweetened almond milk together until it forms an ice-cream-like consistency. Banana cream, yum! Want chocolate? Add a teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder. No added sugar, but still a sweet treat!

When you do decide to have something sweet, try making it yourself and cutting back on the amount of sugar called for in the recipe. You can reduce the amount of sugar in cakes, cookies and brownies by 1/3 to 1/2 without even noticing much of a difference. You could also try replacing all of the sugar with unsweetened applesauce cup for cup.

Speaking of unsweetened applesauce, start looking for foods at the store that say "unsweetened" or "no sugar added". Can't do plain yogurt just yet? Try mixing 1/2 flavored with 1/2 plain and slowly reduce the amount of flavored until you are just eating plain sweetened up a bit with some fresh berries or all fruit (no sugar added) preserves. That can also be done with fruit juices. Start cutting your juice with water. What my girls call juice is actually about 4/5ths water and only 1/5th juice.

That brings me to my next tip: don't drink your sugar! Drink water, not soda, juice, tea and sweetened coffee beverages. Save your sugar calories for the good stuff, don't waste them on drinks. You may have to slowly ween yourself from these things as well. I drink coffee every morning and have for at least 10 years. I used to take a little coffee with my sugar and creamer, but I have weened myself down to a mug of coffee with just two teaspoons of sugar in it. I save myself about 75 calories and lots of grams of sugar that way and I still enjoy my coffee only slightly sweetened.

One way to keep the flavor and a little of the sweet taste in your foods without adding sugar is to use lots of herbs, spices and extracts when cooking. Make a bowl of oatmeal and top it with a splash of almond extract and some cinnamon or mix in some fresh fruit like sliced banana or strawberries.

I love to have a bowl of oats for breakfast mixed with a serving of natural peanut butter and 1/2 of a sliced banana. It has lots of fiber, protein and fat to keep me full and keep my blood sugar stable until my next meal. Concentrate on pairing protein, fat and fiber together to avoid cravings and hunger that may send you reaching for a convenience food laced with sugar.

Don't skip meals. Skipping meals will cause you to be hungry at times when only convenience foods are available and will cause big changes in your blood sugar levels which takes a toll on your health.

One last craving busting tip is to go for a walk when a sugar craving hits that can't be quelled by eating a piece of fruit. Taking your mind off of it and getting active will fight that craving off and shed some calories at the same time.