Sunday, May 30, 2010

Breakfast

Since I am asking so much of you when I ask you to join me in the challenge to give up sugar, here are some suggestions of WHAT to eat.

We will start first, with breakfast.

I love a high protein breakfast.

My favorite?

Scrambled eggs with spinach, tomatoes and Parmesan cheese.

Eggs are such a good source of protein.  This helps keep you full longer than a bowl of sugary cereal.  You can put anything you want in your eggs, well.. almost anything.  When I went to Kirby and Charlie's (love them) for breakfast a few weeks ago, she had some bell pepper, onions and tomatoes in the scrambled eggs she made. Right Kirby? And of course, free range eggs are best. I am kind of obsessed with Yonder Way Farm, although I have YET to order my meat and eggs from them. It will happen soon, and they have a drop in Katy, June 17th!

If anyone is eating gluten-free, I really want to try some gluten free pancake and muffin recipes. As of now, I am happy with my egg breakfast.

***I want to clarify, that the list of sugars below are not all bad. They only explain what each for is. I am using honey, stevia, 100% molasses and maple syrup for sweeteners.
This week, my cousin AJ,  who is also doing the No Sugar Challenge is coming over, and we are going to make some recipes. We are going to start with some healthy snacks such as granola, and some dinner recipes. First on the list will be quinoa. I will let you know how it goes, and maybe even use pictures to describe the process.

Happy Eating :)

Friday, May 28, 2010

i'm kicking my addiction

Sugar, Sugar, Sugar. It is everywhere, and it tastes so good.



This is a really hard thing to post about.  Because once I write about it, it is out there, and people will be watching me. like a hawk.

I am cutting out sugar from my diet.

My mom started this a few weeks ago (how are you doing mom?). I told my cousin AJ about how I wanted to cut out sugar from my diet for 1 week. I said this to her as we were on our way to starbucks.  So I jokingly and sarcastically said, "Oh, I'll start tomorrow!" The next day, AJ said, OK, lets cut out sugar for one week. I will do it with you. Thanks to AJ,  I am now excited about this. (kind of)

I have cut out sugar ONE time in my life. I made it for about 5 months. One day decided to reacquaint myself with my old friend named chocolate, and BOOM. Sugar addict again.

I truly believe that sugar is an addiction.

And unfortunately, sugar is in SO many things that we eat.

Sugar found in its naturally occurring form in foods like fruit and grains, is good for us to eat. Unfortunately, the standard American diet consists of processed, nutritent deficient foods which contain a daily average of 20 teaspoons of additional refined sugar. TWENTY.

This is from an article I read from Dr. Mercola. It gives an overview of some different forms of sugar.
  • Dextrose, fructose and glucose are all monosaccharides, known as simple sugars. The primary difference between them is how your body metabolizes them. Glucose and dextrose are essentially the same sugar. However, food manufacturers usually use the term “dextrose” in their ingredient list.
  • The simple sugars can combine to form more complex sugars, like the disaccharide sucrose (table sugar), which is half glucose and half fructose.
  • High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose.
  • Ethanol (drinking alcohol) is not a sugar, although beer and wine contain residual sugars and starches, in addition to alcohol.
  • Sugar Alcohols like xylitol, glycerol, sorbitol, maltitol, mannitol, and erythritol are neither sugars nor alcohols but are becoming increasingly popular as sweeteners. They are incompletely absorbed from your small intestine, for the most part, so they provide fewer calories than sugar but often cause problems with bloating, diarrhea and flatulence.
  • Sucralose (Splenda) is NOT a sugar, despite its sugar-like name and deceptive marketing slogan, “made from sugar.” It’s a chlorinated artificial sweetener in line with aspartame and saccharin, with detrimental health effects to match.
  • Agave Nectar falsely advertised as “natural,” is typically HIGHLY processed and is usually 80 percent fructose. The end product does not even remotely resemble the original agave plant.
  • Honey is about 53 percent fructose, but is completely natural in its raw form and has many health benefits when used in moderation, including as many antioxidants as spinach.
  • Stevia is a highly sweet herb derived from the leaf of the South American stevia plant, which is completely safe (in its natural form). Lo han (or luohanguo) is another natural sweetener, but derived from a fruit.


Do you want to know what our sugary sweet friend does to our bodies?

For one thing, it prematurely ages you.

Refined sugar is used in most processed foods and is very damaging to the immune system. Only two cans of soft drink containing 24 teaspoons of sugar can lower the efficiency of your white blood cells by 92%. This can last for up to 5 hours.  White blood cells are an imrtant component of your immune system. If you are exposed to a virus or bacteria after you have a couple of cokes, your immune system has already been hit by sugar, and may not be able to defend you against the intuder.

High sugar intake also causes blood sugar spikes which can lead to an overworked pancreas and adrenal glands. These vital organs become exhausted trying to balance our blood sugar levels.  Eventually, a high sugar diet can lead to type 2 diabetes, chronic fatigue, hypoglycemia and early menopause. Who whats that?

Here are other "to the point" facts about sugar.
  1. sugar upsets the mineral relationships in your body causing chromium(needed for sugar metabolism) and copper deficiencies and interferes with the absorption of calcium and magnesium
  2. sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function
  3. sugar FEEDS cancer cells 
  4. sugar can weaken eyesight
  5. sugar can cause your saliva to become acidic, tooth decay and paridontal diseases
  6. sugar can sause autoimmune diseases such as arthritis, asthma and multiple sclerosis
  7. sugar assists the growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections)
  8. sugar can lower your vitamin E levels
  9. sugar can increase your blood pressure
  10. sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children
  11. sugar can interfere with your absorption of protein
  12. sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy
  13. sugar can cause eczema in children
  14. sugar can cause headaches
  15. sugar can cause depression
  16. sugar is addictive
And there is so much more.

This next thing I am about to say deserves its very. own. special. line.

According to Dr. Mercola:
"And now most infant formula has the sugar equivalent of one can of Coca-Cola, so babies are being metabolically poisoned from day one if taking formula."

Did you read that? 


No wonder there is an obesity epidemic in this country.


There are various names for hidden sugars on nutrition labels. Some include: glucoamine, dextrin, dextrose, cane sugar, cane juice, brown rice syrup, xylitol, monosaccharides... and the list goes on.

Sugar isn't so sweet after all.

So, I am on a mission to cut out these refined sugars. Refined sugar is without nutrients, meaning that your body has to take nutrients from its reserves in order to metabolise the sugar. So not only does it lack life sustaining nutrition, it robs you of it.

My advice?

AVOID ALL PROCESSED FOODS. Sugar is added to soft drinks, sports drinks, fruit juices almost all processed foods, even if they aren't sweet. Bologna, pretzels, worchestershire sauce, ketchup and cheese spread.

Since I LOVE sweet things, the alternatives I am going to use are honey, stevia and fruit for when I get a sweet craving.  The best way to eat fruit is with a protein because is still is sugar, just "good"sugar with nutrients.  Also, avoid artificial sweeteners. They are not safe. I will repeat this many times.

I hate artificial sweeteners

If the food you are about to eat wasn't around a thousand years ago, you probably don't need it.

7 Day Challenge: No Sugar

Who's in?

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Throwing you a bone...

I was getting complaint(s) (from my mom) about not updating my blog enough.  It hasn't even been a week, no one wants to read what I have to say every day. She does.


I have been contemplating what my next topic will be.

-eggs
-nitrates
-pesticides (organic foods)- i just read an article about how pesticides are linked to ADHD
-great, easy, healthy snacks


But in the mean time, here are some pictures we took over the weekend. It had just rained, so the air was clear, and everything was so green. If only our little boy would smile for the camera.

Brooks is almost 9 months old!  It's true what they say, time sure does fly!


Thursday, May 13, 2010

Lemons with a Purpose

I want to blog with a purpose. So many of you share your gifts and talents with us. You show us how to make crafty things, save money, and organize our home.

I want to share my passion for nutrition and fitness with you! I hope you are excited. I want to help, and encourage all of you by sharing recipes, and fitness tips.  For women especially, weight control and body image is a thought that dwells in our minds.  I want you to be encouraged.  Being healthy is not about looking like a supermodel.  Good news right?

When I told my mom about what I wanted to do with my blog, she said, "If you are going to share healthy food recipes, I am going to make a blog and share DESSERT recipes!" Since it seems like many people have been passing along their favorite dessert recipes with me lately, I will have to share some of those too :) 

I believe in the more natural approach to health and nutrition.  The new trend is bombarding us with how calories, fats and carbs are BAD. Well, I dont agree, and neither do our bodies.  We will get to this in the days to come.

But first,  this is my new obsession. lemon water... with stevia. aka: lemonade.

We know that water is important. We learn this fact in kindergarten.  Water is essential to our health, but lemon water is even better!



 I drank lemon water all day while I was pregnant to aid in ridding my body of bacteria. Lemons act as a natural agent that prevents sepsis (harmful bacteria).  At restaurants, I used to pass my lemon along to my neighbor, or just place it on the table to be unused, or heaven forbid, given to the next customer who ordered water.  But now, I squeeze it into my water.  I do not put the actual lemon IN my drink, as it can have harmful chemicals and rat poo in the peel, unless you wash then thoroughly. Yuck.

Lemons have many health benefits. Mixed with hot water, lemon water can cure many digestive problems such as
  • nausea
  • vomiting
  • heartburn
  • constipation
It can relieve hiccups, and when taken every morning, can act as a tonic to the liver, helping it to stimulate bile production.  Bile helps digest food that we eat.  Lemon water can help dissolve gallstones.

Because of its high vitamin C content, it can help prevent and treat many infections, hasten wound healing, and bring down high fever.  Lemon juice can also relieve symptoms of asthma, tonsillitis and sore throat.

Lemon also acts as a diuretic.  This is good news for people who experience more than their fair share of urinary tract infections. (me).  It helps flush out bad bacteria and toxins, like I said before.

Is this convincing enough? I also read where lemons help improve memory storage and recall, treat depression, and are a GREAT cleaning agent.

To make your new drink an even better one, add some stevia!

My favorite is by Truvia.


Before you turn you nose up, stevia is very good for your health, and is a waaay better alternative to sugar than equal, sweet N low, or splenda. Yes, I said splenda.

Click here to read bad things about Splenda

Like I said before. I believe that the more natural, the better. The only sweeteners I have in my house are sugar and stevia.  We are trying to transition to mainly truvia, but my husband is the biggest sweet tea fan there is.  Stevia doesn't quite cut it for him.  So we are trying to do the un-sweet tea thing when we have tea. 

When life gives you lemons, stick them in your bra!

just kidding... you should make lemonade.