ekaterina choukel
nutritionist | #sugarcalm™
We are not like “normal” eaters.
We can’t simply tell ourselves to stop eating sugar any more than a stressed nervous system can relax on command. The body doesn’t respond to force, it responds to safety.
For years, I tried to quit sugar through willpower. I believed freedom meant fighting cravings, resisting temptation, and constantly managing myself. It never lasted. The harder I fought, the stronger the pull became.
Eventually, what changed everything wasn’t more discipline. It was mind shifting and reconnecting with my feelings and needs.
I realized I was living in the identity of someone “struggling with sugar.” Someone always resisting, controlling, and denying. And as long as I saw myself that way, sugar stayed powerful.
When I stopped fighting and began reconnecting with myself, my needs, boundaries, and inner safety, my identity shifted. I no longer saw myself as someone trying to quit sugar, but as someone who simply didn’t need it. I finally broke my own rules and put my needs before others’.
That’s the foundation of Sugar Calm™.
Real, actual food peace. And self-awareness that changes everything.
That’s why this blog is where I share what I learned on that journey, not the “drink more water and use willpower” kind of advice, but the deep identity shifts and stopping self-abuse help that truly change your relationship with food.
Because healing doesn’t come from restriction. It happens by gradually reconnecting with our feelings and by stopping abandoning ourselves.
So, if you’re tired of fighting yourself, if you’re exhausted from the cycle of motivation and failure, and if you’re ready to stop resisting and start transforming…
Then you’re in the right place.
Let’s find your food freedom together.
I don’t work with people who overeat simply because they lack discipline or nutritional knowledge.
I work with people who eat to fill something deeper: a lack of love, belonging, safety, or self-trust. People who learned early on to use food as a way to feel nurtured, soothed, or rescued when those needs weren’t met elsewhere.
For many, food, especially sugar, became a reliable source of comfort. Over time, this creates both a chemical dependence and a painful pattern of self-abandonment. The cycle isn’t just about cravings; it’s about using food to cope, punish, or survive.
That’s why my approach is built on two core pillars:
- strategic sugar abstinence (to stabilize the body and brain chemistry) and
- deep self-kindness (to heal the emotional roots driving the behavior)
When safety is restored and self-trust replaces self-criticism, calm around sugar becomes possible, and sustainable. You too can have the life you want.
I don’t recommend following the standard food pyramid guidelines. While it’s true that food should be a source of pleasure, ultra-processed foods aren’t merely “empty calories”, they actively harm our bodies and they are not a treat.
Similarly, I don’t advise my patients to “eat a little bit of everything” because, quite frankly, many of them simply cannot do so.
Furthermore, my patients aren’t lacking willpower, quite the opposite, actually. Most are addicted to ultra-processed foods, particularly those high in sugar. The reality is that we are not all equal when confronted with a piece of chocolate. Indeed, the biochemical structure of an addicted brain doesn’t respond the same way as that of someone who can moderate their consumption naturally. Additionally, there’s also a disruption in hormonal function.
When it comes to weight loss, I don’t believe it requires willpower either. Rather, it demands a fundamental mindset shift about what is truly important. Once we redirect our focus from restrictive rules to nourishing our bodies and honoring our well-being, sustainable change naturally follows.
A diet should not have a name. Instead, I believe everyone can find their own balance, a place where they feel at peace and confident about their health in relation to food.
Right now, we are raising a generation of sugar addicts. From the earliest age, we’ve systematically conditioned children to view sugar as a reward, a comfort, a celebration, essentially programming their developing brains to crave what will ultimately destroy their health. This seemingly innocent approach to treating sugar as a “special treat” is quietly creating a public health catastrophe that extends far beyond simple weight gain.
The consequences are absolutely staggering: we’re currently witnessing unprecedented rates of metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, that could have been entirely prevented. What begins as innocent childhood rewards inevitably evolves into adult dependencies that not only steal our vitality but also systematically burden our healthcare systems.
As someone who was addicted to sugar myself for most of my life, I deeply understand the profound and insidious grip it can have. Indeed, I’ve experienced firsthand how an addict’s brain can rationalize the most desperate behaviors, even retrieving sugar from the trash, just to satisfy an overwhelming, all-consuming craving.
Crucially, this isn’t about willpower, it’s about biochemical dependency that hijacks our most basic survival mechanisms.
However, my vision is radically different: a future where sugar is no longer positioned as a treat, where we make healthy choices effortlessly, without internal battles or constant self-control.
Furthermore, I envision a world where we prevent diseases through natural, sustainable habits rather than merely managing them with an endless cycle of medications. I see a future where we have the energy and vitality to actively enjoy our grandchildren, not merely survive long enough to meet them.
This is precisely why addressing sugar addiction isn’t just about individual health, it’s about breaking a generational cycle and reclaiming our collective well-being before it’s too late.
My approach goes beyond typical nutrition advice to address the root patterns keeping you stuck. Through my articles and programs, you’ll discover the mindset shifts and practical strategies that create lasting transformation:
- Identity transformation that turns “I can’t resist” into “I simply don’t need it”
- Emotional mastery to break free from stress eating and self-sabotage
- Food peace without restriction, guilt, or constant willpower battles
This isn’t just about quitting sugar. It is about becoming the person who doesn’t need it anymore, and discovering what else becomes possible from that place.
The greatest mistake in the treatment of diseases is that there are physicians for the body and physicians for the soul, although the two cannot be separated.
Plato
my training
Addictive eating – Nutrition Network
Nutrition for addictive brain (LCHF/ keto), adaptation of food plans, relapse prevention, de-shaming, solution oriented, Management & Treatment of Processed Food Addiction
Nutritionist – TCMA, Thérapie Complémentaire et Médecine Alternative, Geneva, Switzerland
Family/ Parent coach – HappyFamilies, Institut de Coaching Familial, Geneva, Switzerland
Solution-oriented method