Popularity Contest. JUST SAY NO

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Diet sodas are sooo popular because everyone thinks they are sooo cool because they save you calories.  Just like that cool kid in school, however when you get down to the nitty gritty, the end up being not so nice, not so great and when you look at them 20 years outta high school, they are not cool anymore! 

 

"Drink me!  I'm calorie free, I'm awesome"...years down the line, you will pay for it.  PROMISE 

 

There is NOTHING even remotely healthy about drinking diet soda. In fact, I've even seen several studies that showed dedicated diet soda drinkers got even FATTER than their regular soda drinking counterparts.

Here are some findings from an 8-year University of Texas study that was on WebMD...

An excerpt from the study author:

"What didn't surprise us was that total soft drink use was linked to overweight and obesity," Fowler tells WebMD. "What was surprising was when we looked at people only drinking diet soft drinks, their risk of obesity was even higher." 

"There was a 41 percent increase in risk of being overweight for every can or bottle of diet soft drink a person consumes each day," Fowler says.

 

 One reason is that the artificial sweeteners in diet sodas create a negative hormonal response in the body that increases fat storing hormone production and increases cravings for more sweets and refined carbohydrates in the time period after consuming the diet drink.
Another reason is that people may subconsciously think that because they are drinking a diet soda, that gives them more leeway to eat more of everything else, hence consuming more calories overall. 

 

YOu know the picture of the BIG MAC, LARGE FRIES, DIET COKE SCENARIO.  Doesn't work!!!

 

 Why can’t just enjoy a nice soda on a hot afternoon?  Well it’s the artificial sweeteners my friend

 

WAIT? WHAT? WHAT IS CONSIDERED AN ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER?

Just to clarify, some of the most popular artificial sweeteners on the market today are:

• Splenda (sucralose)
• Aspartame
• Saccharine
• Acesulfame Potassium (aka - acesulfame K)

Splenda is probably one of the worst offenders of claiming to be "healthy" as they say that it's made from real sugar. Don't be fooled! It's still an artificial substance. What they don't tell you is that Splenda is actually a chemically modified substance where chlorine is added to the chemical structure, making it more similar to a chlorinated pesticide than something we should be eating or drinking. Just say’n!



Other health issues that have been related to artificial sweeteners in scientific studies as well as observations are:

• some have been linked to potential cancer risks
• negative effects on the liver, kidneys, and other organs
• stimulating cravings
• gastrointestinal problems
• developmental problems in children and fetuses
• headaches

Now some of the above potential health problems are definitely not proven as fact in studies. However, some of them have been shown in animal studies given high doses. Also, if you do some research, you'll find mannnny  people that attribute the use of artificial sweeteners over the years with all sorts of illnesses in themselves or in family members.

 

 The companies that sell the products will continue to claim that they are fully safe. Don't believe them!  The bottom line is that the body was not designed to deal with foreign substances like artificial sweeteners.

GRILLED CHEESE PLEASE

"I HATE GRILLED CHEESE" said no person EVER.

Don't take a double take, this was my lunch today.  No sugar folks, see you can actually enjoy this no sugar deal and practically make it an enjoyable lifestyle.


So this grilled cheese is made from Ezekial Bread, Gouda cheese, grilled with organic butter with a side of cold fresh vegetables. 

FACT:  Be prepared to be SHOCKED IN THE NEXT STATEMENT I MAKE. 

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the average American consumes 156 pounds of added sugar per year.

THIS IS ADDED SUGAR, not even the natural occurring sugars. Sheeesh

We know we are not spoon feeding ourselves 156 lbs of sugar so go figure its hidden in most of your foods...the more you know folks...the more know.

Just because we can't eat sugar, doesn't mean we can look at it and laugh in its face:

 

Tempting, isn't it?

How easy would it be to sneak that one little piece of candy when no ones looking or casually walk back into the kitchen and add a little bit more wine to the glass you've been nursing for over a half hour( hey, not going to lie... thought about it)


Its hard when you are the only one in your family eating no sugar, and most of us are going through that. But we can hope that maybe we will be influencing some family members, or making better choices for our loved ones on our account.

ORRRRR...you can secretly feel better about your positive decisions you've been 'making when your family is making not so good ones and send me a picture of it!

(Cue the picture below taken by one of our challengers last night)

The challengers choice: Veggie Chips The spouses choice---I think you know that answer and don't get any bright ideas.( who knew they made football Reese's....)


On that note of healthier choices, another challenger wrote me and told me her version of ice cream that has saved her and her husbands sugar cravings. (they are doing the challenge together--awesome!)

SWEET SONGS ICE CREAM

-Trader joes plain greek yogurt
-Vanilla stevia drops( regular stevia would work)
-Slivered almonds
-Mixed Variations for next time
-Unsweetened cocoa
-Coconut flavoring
-Freeze for 20 min to make ice cream
NO SUGAR YAY BUT SWEET.


And don't forget to email me some of your favorite pictures or recipes or stories..

With Halloween right around the corner, and are sweet tooth gnarlying out the side of our mouths as we round out DAY THREE, here are a three sweet and spooky recipes for you to try this week!

Debbie's Dracula Brownies

(One of our challengers actually made this and said it was goooey and delish, this is her actual picture)

Crust
1.5 cups of walnuts
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1/4 cup cacoa powder
1/4 cup xylitol
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling
1 small ripe avocado
1 banana
1/4 cup xylitoal
1/4 coconut oil
1/3 cup organic cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Toppings options: berries, nuts, cocoa nibs

Place crust in baking dish(8X8) it may not fill the entire pan, but form it til one inch thick, pat down and store in frig

Make the filling, blend all ingredients to make it smooth and creamy


*You can make this as a layer which is really good as well.  After the crust is in frig for at least one hour, bring it out and cut into fourths and then  stack crust, filling,crust filling.  VERY YUMMY
 
 

 

 

Yummy Mummy Cheesecake

 

 

3 8 ounce packages of Cream Cheese
1 tsp of vanilla
1 1/4 cups of xylitol
1 cup of heavy cream
4 eggs
2 cups of sour cream
1tsp of lemon juice

Toppings: strawberries or blueberries or combine both, heat them in a saucepan and serve (as pictured)

Beat the cream cheese first than gradually beat in the Xylitol until very fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, beating each addition
Beat remaining ingredients, and pour into a greased pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Turn off oven and let cake cool.  Put in frig 

Add your toppings
*if you can make a sugar free crust, go for it!!! 

 

 

 

 

 

Phantom Pumpkin Bars

 

 

 

½ cup pumpkin (acorn, butternut or other squash) puree ( or You can buy canned pumpkin)
½ cup xylitol
2 eggs
1 cup blanched almond flour (preferred) but white flour works too
¼ teaspoon salt (i like celtic sea salt)
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves

1. In a blender combine pumpkin, xylitol and eggs and pulse for 2 minutes
2. Pulse dry ingredients into wet for a full minute, until well combined
3. Pour batter into a greased 8X8 Pan
4. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes

DAY ONE...

I love that I received emails and text messages all day, here are a few I received:

"EVERYTHING HAS SUGAR , hellllp"

"What should I eat, I'm starving.."( 8am today, I"m guessing about an hour into the day already)

"I need food options"

"YAY, this is great, love starting a challenge like this"

"Bring it on day one"

"I had no clue how many things have sugar in it and its not even noon"


Anyway, I received many more than those, but these seemed to be repeating themselves.

So I thought on day one and throughout, I'll be giving some suggestions on what to eat, showing you some of the foods I make on the challenge. 


Now this is where you come in, HELP others by finding yummy choices by sending them to me.  Also send me any stories or recipes or pictures or videos


Here are some suggustions: 

Recipes will be coming but first you need to go buy some things if all you are finding in your house is the devil, I mean sugar.

 

Eggs, Cottage Cheese, Plain greek yogury, FRUIT, Ezekial Bread (wraps or english muffins in the frozen food section) Almond Butter, Vegtables, Beans, Meats, Fish, Chips with no sugar, avacodos, sweet potatoes, baked potatoes, BUTTER(yes I said butter), cheese, unsweetned vanilla almond milk in coffee as a sweetnerand there is more you just gotta look around.

Some things that may have peaked your interest in that little suggustion box:
CHIPS WITH NO SUGAR...

These are great! No sugar, I ate some with lunch today.....below:

 

 

And I had black beans but they were not in the picture.  For Breakfast I had a green apple with almond butter and 2 eggs.

ANDDD one of our challengers, Heather,  wrote in and informed me that LARA Bars do not have added sweetners or sugars...

(Almost all meat and dairy products I buy are organic or grass fed beef, I don't expect you to do that, but I reccomend it when you can!)

Welcome to the 60 Day 
SUGAR FREE ME
 Challange. 

 

 (They place where you can come to find other people are are just as hungry as you are..just kidding)

 

You are smart and informed and you should be giving yourself a huge pat on the back right now.  Whatever Honey Boo Boo is eating, we want to do the exact opposite right?

 

In all seriousiness to our health, sugar is toxic. I said it, I mean and the video below proves it.  If you do yourself one favor today, watch it.  If you are struggling on this challenge, come back and watch it again.  It motivated me and I hope it does the same for you.  One of our challengers sent it to me the other day.