During Nutrifit, our six-week optimum nutrition programme, we talk a lot about how important it is to create a supportive environment.

It’s easy to think that people just need to use self-control, but the reality is that willpower is a bit of a misleading concept. Research shows us that people who have better willpower with sugar, for example, tend not to want the sugar as much in the first place. I often have people say to me, “I’m really good with the sweet stuff, I don’t really eat it.” This is closely followed by, “I’ve never had that much of a sweet tooth anyway.”

I rarely hear (although it does happen), “I’m really good with sweet stuff and never eat it, despite the fact I have a raging sweet tooth.” In that latter scenario, people have often chosen the “nothing” side of an “all or nothing” approach. They recognise that they can’t manage to have just a little, so they don’t have any at all. And while that’s amazing, it doesn’t work for everyone.

But why do we need willpower anyway? Let me explain. Given that we all still have hunter-gatherer biology, we’re designed to 1) crave energy-dense sources of carbohydrates, 2) be able to overeat them and 3) store the excess as fat.

As hunter-gatherers we would ricochet between food scarcity and food abundance, so our biology provided a brilliant survival system.

However these days we’re lucky enough not to really experience food scarcity. Yet we’re unlucky enough (in some ways) to be constantly surrounded by energy-dense carbs.

Think about the number of grocery stores and restaurants in your proximity. Think about the other triggers – candy at every checkout, treats in offices, the ice cream in your freezer. No wonder that people with a sweet tooth struggle!

If you’re a teetotaller alcoholic, whilst you have to learn to live with alcohol around you, you can certainly avoid many of the trigger situations.

You can avoid the alcohol section at the grocery store, at group functions, such as weddings, there are usually some non-alcoholic options (drinks like those by the Three Spirit brand have made life more interesting in that respect) but it’s much harder to avoid exposure to junk food.

I mean, it really is everywhere; see how far you get today without stumbling across something processed and sugary.

Back to the supportive environment I mentioned earlier. For people that struggle to avoid sugar, it’s a really great idea to set up a supportive environment for the places you spend most of your time ie home, work and school.

Try not to keep processed sugar in the house (candy, ice cream etc) so it can’t call your name when you are relaxing on the sofa at 10pm.

I’m not saying you should never have anything sweet, but do it occasionally – when you’re out at a restaurant. If you make something at home, try only to make as much as you need that one time.

When it comes to the office, if you regularly fall into the bowl of M & Ms, try asking for healthier alternatives or for it to be moved out of your line of sight. It’s hard being triggered repeatedly through the day!

Schools would do well to avoid having sugary drinks, candy and ice cream on sale – doing so implies that these are “every day” items and it’s also a disaster for concentration and focus.

What do you do if the triggers outside of your home persist? The biggest piece of advice I have is to anticipate the craving.

If you look at your past behaviour, you’ll probably see a pattern where the sugar craving hits at around 3pm. If that’s the case for you, then have a large glass of water and a healthy snack at 2.30pm.

It will nip the sugar craving in the bud and give you a healthy boost of energy. Ideally pick a snack that includes a healthy carb and protein together.

Examples would include whole fruit (carb) and nuts/seeds (protein) or carrots (carb) with hummus (some protein). Easy bars that include both are the Aloha bars and the high-protein GoMacro bars (both at Miles).

• Catherine Burns is a qualified nutritional therapist. For more details: www.natural.bm, 505-4725, Natural Nutrition Bermuda on Facebook and @naturalbda on Instagram