A Look Back at 2015 and A Look Into the Future

It's been months since I've posted on here.  I seemed to run out of steam for my soapbox, but this past week I celebrated my one year anniversary of being sugar free and gluten free.  What a year it's been!  The outward reward that others can see is the near 50 lbs. that I've lost since January 2015.  People who don't see me often call me the Ever Shrinking Woman. :)  It's a nice compliment, but I still can't accept a compliment.  I just blow it off, like it's no big deal.  I'm easily embarrassed by compliments and don't know how to respond appropriately to them.

But the internal rewards far outweigh the outward reward.  My mind is clearer.  My body is free from all inflammation.  I have no back pain, muscle pain, or joint pain.  I'm happier and my brain isn't over taken by feelings of guilt, shame, and anger.  I'm calmer.  Honestly, in general, I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life.  Everything else has stayed the same in my life.  I'm still married to my sweetheart and we still get on each other's nerves.  I'm still the mother of 4 great kids, that seriously get on my last nerve at times.  I'm still a teacher, but at a new school.  I continue to work with great professionals, but the learning curve in this new position has been enormous (to say the least).  We've had our ups and downs as a family.  Some major stress issues, same effect, just different scenarios.  So, everything is essentially the same, but I'm happier.  I'm more fulfilled.  It's because my brain isn't hijacked by sugar anymore.  I'm not coming off a sugar high every few hours and am not jonesing for my next sugar fix.  I'm not depressed.  It's been more liberating than anything else that I've ever tried in my entire life.  Never, ever did I ever think I could feel this good on the inside.  The outside doesn't matter nearly as much to me as the inside does.  I never fathomed this would be an effect from going sf / gf.

I've stuck to my sugar-free and gluten-free way of life the entire time.  I still see sugar as my addiction.  I know how easy it will be for me to succumb to its power, so I have NO intentions of ever eating it.  The sugar I eat is from natural foods such as fruit and diary.  I still only drink unsweetened almond milk, but I've added Oikos triple zero greek yogurt to my menu.  It's sweetened with Stevia and has 7 grams of sugar (found naturally in the milk).  It's the only thing I eat that has more than 3 grams of sugar.  I usually eat 2 of these a week.  Once in awhile I'll eat a serving of Cheerios (3 grams) or Rice Chex/Corn Chex (3 and 4 grams).  But, I eat these sparingly, maybe a few times per month.

As for gluten, I only buy and eat gf bread, pasta and just recently pancake mix.  I also buy gf - low sugar (>3 grams of sugar) protein bars for sports.  They are the only things we have in the house that are really super processed (that's what I consider it).  It's still "junk food" because it still spikes your blood sugar, but we enjoy it as a treat.  One loaf of bread a week is our staple for 5 people, so we average 2-3 slices each per week.  I also buy 2 packages of gf pasta per month.  My kids love this pasta dash that I've made for years and none of us want to give it up entirely :) (It's made with fresh cherry tomatoes, garlic, apple chicken sausage, and arugula).  Super yummy!  As for the pancake mix, I found a great mix at our local health food store around Christmas.  I picked it up for a treat for Christmas morning.  The kids were super stoked.  Joe's been making gf crepes for months, but it was a nice treat to get pancakes.  The kids use local honey as their syrup.  We used pure maple syrup at Christmas, but my kids seem to go nuts over it.  I feel like they have an easier time with honey, in regards to not craving it, unlike the maple syrup.

I remain gf and keep a gf home in solidarity for my 9 year old who is allergic to wheat.  But, the other kids are free to make their own choices when they are not home.  So, they've been eating gluten and sugar at times, but the vast majority of the time they are eating very healthy.  Joe will eat freely when he's not at home too, and had a feast on his last trip overseas.  2 weeks and a ten pound gain is proof to what sugar and over- indulging in processed carbs will do for your waistline.

So, I've been toting for a year the effects of sugar and it's highly addicting qualities and the health benefits of going sugar free.  I'm sure people are annoyed with my preaching, but I now have two huge backers supporting my claim and research....Weight Watchers and the USDA.  In November WW announced their "Biggest Change in 50 Years!"  They reformulated their program and got rid of Points Plus and started Smart Points.  Over 50% of foods have had a point value change.  Do you know why?  Because now they are focusing on SUGAR and SATURATED FAT!  So, instead of just calculating with dietary fiber, people have to input sugar and saturated fat content manually.  Lean proteins like shrimp, turkey and most seafood are 1 Smart Point.  3 oz. of chicken is now only 2 points.  Foods with higher sugar and/or saturated fat have much higher point values now.  Faithful Weight Watchers, have been shocked by the new plan, but are seeing huge results.  A friend of mine works for WW and her first week on the new plan she lost 4.5 lbs.!  She was shocked and it's her biggest single week loss she's ever had and she's been with them for YEARS!  She said people are losing more weight than ever before.  I'm so excited for WW because they do change lives and educate people about nutrition.  I feel like it's a huge step in the right direction for our country.

Another big change in the U.S. is the new dietary recommendations by the USDA.  They have finally made an actual recommendation on sugar intake.  They recommend that 10% of our daily recommended calories come from added sugars.  But sadly, they still have not actually changed the food labels.  It would be a hell of a lot easier for them to just give us the recommended grams of sugar like the World Health Organization and American Heart Association.  They recommend 36 grams for men, 24 grams for woman, 12 or 16 for school age / preschoolers and 9 grams for adolescents.  And, these grams are for all sugars....dairy and fruit plus the sugars found in anything else.  Essentially, if you are eating 3 fruit a day and having some dairy, chances are you meet your recommended daily allowance.

My hope for 2016 is to inspire more folks to really take sugar seriously.  It's no joke.  Sugar is not healthy for anyone.  You don't need to be addicted to it to be negatively effected by it.  You don't need to be obese to suffer from the health issues of sugar.  You can be completely unaware of the side-effects of added sugars.  But, I kid you not, it IS effecting you in a metabolic way.  It IS playing havoc on your internal systems.  If you care to know more, comment on this post and I'll be happy to post links to the scientific research behind these claims.

My other goals for this year is to lose that extra 35 pounds.  I want to be within the normal weight range for my height.  And, I hope to run my first official 5k.  I hope to continue to inspire my friends and family to be healthy.

Peace, Love, Happiness and Healthy Eating,

Tiff

Trials, tribulations, and triumph

It's been quite awhile since I wrote on here.  I ran out of steam and didn't want to bore anyone with daily check-ins.  I promised myself, I'd write a new blog when I had a personal goal to share.  This week the scale read under 200 for the first time in 18 months.  I'm at 197.0 lbs.  It's been slow to come off, but that doesn't really matter.  I fell into a fitness slump for a few months.  I just couldn't motivate myself to get out of bed at 5 a.m. to workout.  I'm doing better fitting in fitness now that school is out.  And if I don't workout at 5 a.m., it's near impossible for me to fit in a workout or a dedicated walk after work.  I'm in non-stop mode from my roles as mother, prep-cook, teacher, taxi-driver, tutor, wife, homework helper, cheerleader, and storyteller from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. 5 days a week.  Come 9 p.m. my body shuts down and I'm wiped out.  So if I'm going to fit in any type of workout during the school year, it has to be at 5 a.m.  My weight from March 29 to June 14 only decreased by 4.5 lbs.  By most standards, that isn't anything to really celebrate.  And, while I was disappointed at the time, I look back at the past 3 months and I'm absolutely amazed by everything I've been through and not once did I turn to sugar.  I have remained completely sugar free for 7 whole months now.  That is amazing!  Sugar is my drug of choice.  For 22 years I turned to food for comfort.  I used food to calm my nerves when anxious, to quiet my anger, to reward victories, to celebrate happiness, to sooth my aching heart, and every other emotion that came my way.  I prided myself for years for never turning to drugs, alcohol or tobacco.  I'm repeating myself from previous posts, but sugar is absolutely my crutch.  My go to when life starts to get tough.

To say the past 7 months has been easy, would be a joke.  There have been very stressful times over the past 7 months.  Times that easily would have been dealt with in the past by a package of Oreos, a bag of M&M's, a carton of Ben and Jerry's, a bag of Hershey minis, a pound of Tootsie Rolls.  To say that I didn't want to run to the store and buy my fix, would be a lie.  But not once did I do it.  My mind wrestled with the stresses and the old habits of turning to food by waking me up in a cold sweat from nightmares.  Nightmares that consisted of chocolate that subconsciously would be consumed.  My latest one was while I was in Massachusetts on holiday.  In my dream I was making trail mix and I unknowingly popped two M&M's in my mouth.  In my dream I could taste the chocolate and feel the crunch of the candy coating.  I immediately went into a panic attack and started to slap the chocolate out of my mouth.  I woke up sweating and a bit upset.  My face hurt too because I literally was slapping my mouth in my sleep.  LOL.  In reality, I'm not paranoid about eating chocolate.  I'm not afraid that I'll let something slip by.  I read labels for sugar content.  I make good conscious decisions.  In my dreams, the chocolate or cookies always slip by.  In my dreams, I turn to my drug of choice to cope with my emotions.  It's always a subconscious action that gets the sugar past my lips.  I wonder if other people who struggle with any type of addiction and who are in recovery experience nightmares about their drug of choice whether it's food, alcohol, tobacco, or drugs.

So I see the past 7 months as an enormous victory.  I feel like I can beat this disease of the mind.  But I also know that I can never, ever have just one bite.  I have to face the stresses from day to day head on.  I can't and won't turn to food to escape the fears, anxiety, anger, sadness, or celebrate the pure joys and elation's or achievements.  I pray each and every morning that I don't relapse.  Some people might find my view on this completely out there because we don't really take food addiction seriously.  But for me, my success so far is due to the fact that I finally see sugar for what it is to me, and me alone.  It is my fix.  And because I see it for what it is, I'm more confident than ever that I will beat this addiction.  I will live a healthy and long life filled with a healthy relationship with the foods that are good for all of us.  Fresh fruits and veggies, nuts, berries, quinoa, buckwheat, seafood, meat, poultry and eggs (beaters in my case) - as much organic and grass-fed as possible.  Almond milk.  Water, lots and lots of water.   Limited dairy (only in the form of cheese - used sparingly, and Greek yogurt (once or twice a week).  All of these eaten when the body says it's hungry, not because of emotions.  So, for those of you who have been wondering, I'm still going strong.  If you need any help, feel free to call, text or message me.  I'll be more than happy to talk.  Goodness knows I can talk forever about this journey.

A tell-all nightmare and a brief check-in

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve checked in here.  I am doing great and haven’t had any slips since this journey started in January.  I weighed in this morning at 210.0, so that’s a total of 18.6 pounds in 2 months.  Other than being sick with a stomach / chest / head cold this past week, I have felt great.  I’m working out 3 to 4 days a week (other than when I was sick).  I prefer strength training and do that in the mornings.  I LOVE Les Mills Pump.  I can’t say that enough J.  I love that I don’t have to go to a gym and work out in front of a ton of other people. 

The kids are doing really well too.  They love grocery shopping and picking out their favorite healthy snacks.  I let them pick their own fruits and veggies and this has really made them eager to eat what they pick out.  We have minimal food waste, if any.  Joe and the kids also started building a garden today so that we can grow a ton of our own fresh, organic, non-GMO produce.  The kids are packing lunch every day for school.  And when I give them the choices of various main meals they choose salad with a protein 4 out of 5 times.  When we first started they would take a salad maybe twice a week.  Now, they are choosing to take a salad 4 or 5 days a week.  That gives me a happy heart. 

I did have a very upsetting dream the other night.  You’ll probably laugh, but it was actually really upsetting to me.  I don’t remember all the details, but basically I was in my house by myself and I ate a half container of Costco’s chocolate chip cookies.  I was hiding and stuffing myself until I was sick.  How ridiculous is that?  And, how ridiculous is it that I was upset about this dream?  In the dream I was so sad that I was eating the cookies, but I couldn’t stop myself.  I felt so defeated and depressed, but I didn’t care and I just kept eating them.  In my dream, I knew it was the end of it all.  I knew I had “relapsed” and had failed once again.   I woke up and was a little sad that I had lost all control of myself.  There was no such thing as just having one cookie.  It was a total binge-eating feast.  I had to reassure myself that it was just a dream. 

I think the dream came about because of all the Easter candy around.  I have to share a dirty little secret.  My all-time favorite candies are out at Easter.  Cadbury mini eggs and malted candy coated Robin Eggs are my ultimate weakness.  A bag of either one of those didn’t stand a chance.  They’d be gone in a day.  I was in Wal-Mart the other day and I passed by the Easter candy aisle and saw all those delicious chocolates.  They caught my eye and I thought to myself how addicted I was to those candies.  I remember in years past swearing that I’d start my diet after Easter just so I could eat Robin Eggs and mini eggs.  I would practically gorge myself until I was sick eating those.  I’d stop on my way home from work and would buy a bag.  I’d eat half the bag and would be stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey.  I’d hide the bag in my purse so Joe and the kids didn’t see that I ate half a bag.  This put me in a bad position because then I’d have to eat the rest of the bag myself because I still didn’t want them to know that I ate the other half.  I’d eat the other half the next day or whenever else I’d have a chance.  But, then I’d eat dinner because I felt guilty and didn’t want anyone to know that I had just stuffed my face with chocolates.  Screwed up isn’t even the proper term for this behavior.  This is another clear example of a person who has a true sugar addiction.  This behavior doesn’t match the hard-working, well-educated person that I am.  This behavior matches an addict.  An addict whose choice of drug is sugar, not any of the other drugs what are associated with addiction.  Addicts are ashamed of what they do.  They know it’s wrong to use, but they just can’t stop themselves.  They try to hide it from their loved ones, but it’s near impossible to hide for too long, especially when it’s other drugs.  However, I think it’s pretty easy to hide a sugar addiction.  Heck, I hid it from myself for 22 freaking years.  I didn’t even know that what I was doing was caused by an actual addiction.  I thought I was just a lazy, fat slob that liked candy and carbs a lot. 

I’m so grateful that God answered my prayers.  I just wished I started praying about it years ago.  I pray every day for God to give me the strength to get through another day.  So far, so good.  Our God is an amazing God.  He hasn’t let me down yet, nor has He ever.  

Gluten-free processed foods aren't necessarily the healthier alternative....

I haven’t posted in a week because to be quite frank, I felt like a broken record.  I don’t want to bore people with the same old stuff day in and day out.  I’m going to do a weekly check-in for now on, unless I learn something totally worthwhile and need to share it with you.  I didn’t have much time to read this week, so I didn’t learn anything new as far as research, but I did learn some more about gluten-free foods and what they do to me.  I had a four day weekend because of two snow days.  I’m not ashamed to admit that I literally spent all day Thursday and all day Friday watching the first two seasons of Downton Abbey.  I’m completely addicted to it.  If you like a ton of plot lines, witty humor, and scandalous events, you’ll love it.  I personally also find it spellbinding to see how the aristocrats lived back in the day.  Growing up near Newport, RI and visiting the mansions regularly one of our many hobbies growing up was going to the Breakers, Marble House, Rose-cliffe and more.  There I go, digressing again. 

Here’s a recap of last week.  I ate well, most of the week.  I did not have any sugar or gluten and only a slice of cheese here and there throughout the week.  I say that I ate well most of the week because we splurged on some gluten-free junk food (no sugar was in any of these foods).  On Friday, the snow day, Molly made a homemade lasagna using GF noodles.  I’ve never ever made a lasagna before.  This sucker was the BOMB!  I’m totally bragging, but this daughter of mine is mind boggling.  That kid is so ambitious and nothing gets in her way (besides her smart ass mouth once in a while).  Anyhow, she made the lasagna because it’s her brother’s all time favorite food.  It was excellent, and you’d never have known that the noodles were GF.  They sell them at Walmart in the GF section if you are interested in trying them. 

On Saturday Maggie had a friend sleep over, her first since moving to Virginia.  It was super sweet.  She was going to be here for dinner, so I wanted to get some kid friendly food.  I didn’t want to make the kid never want to come back J  I found some Perdue Select GF chicken tenders.  They were freaking delicious!  I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM even if you or your kids are not GF. 

On Sunday I was super busy around the house and wanted a quick and easy meal to make for dinner.  Molly made a salad and I threw in one of the frozen GF pizza’s I found last week at Costco.  I don’t know what brand it was, but again, it was excellent.  I also had GF toast Sunday morning with my eggs. 

Now that you know what some of the food I ate over the past three days, let me tell you how I felt.  I was a little lethargic during the days.  I also had cravings and seemed to be hungry throughout the days, especially on Saturday and Sunday.  I was a bit “off” and didn’t feel like working out even though the weather was gorgeous.  I did force myself to go for a walk on Saturday and walked 2 miles.  But, that was primarily because Maggie’s friend was coming over and I wanted to take my ankle biting, child biting 10-pound rat for a walk.  He was going to be in solitary confinement while her friend was over.   It took me forever to get motivated yesterday and I worked super slow.  I got hungry about every 2 hours and found myself snacking on various foods (none of which were fruits or veggies).  Instead. I ate almonds (more than I should have), corn chips, veggie sticks, etc…  I ate a lot of processed foods (aside from the almonds.)  It happened again this morning.  For the past 7 weeks I have eaten breakfast by 7 a.m.  I then grab a snack (fruit) at 11 and eat lunch at 12:30.  Well, by 9:30 today I was starving.   I had to eat something and at my plum.  At 11 I ate my apple.  The rest of the day was normal and I didn’t have any crazy cravings and such. 

So, I started wondering why on Earth did I feel sluggish and had these cravings all weekend.  My appetite just seemed off and I kept wanted to shove something else in my mouth.  I wondered if the GF pasta, breading, pizza and bread had something to do with it.  I called my all knowing cousin to find out if GF starch / carb foods break down the same as their non-GF “white” foods (breads, cereals, pasta, etc…).  Turns out they do.  They skyrocket your blood sugar and then you have that inevitable crash a short time later.  It’s an endless cycle and your body keeps telling you to eat more after that crash.  I did additional research online and found a few more sites that verified with what my cousin told me.  Here’s one of the articles that explains this phenomenon. 

http://www.glutenfreeschool.com/2013/04/29/gluten-free-bread/

Here’s another really quick and easy read too:

http://www.glutenfreeschool.com/?s=Gluten+free+bread%3A++why+are+you+still+eating+it

It basically boils down to that I was having some of the same side affects I was having when I was eating refined carbs and sugars.  My cousin said she treats those GF processed carb products like treats that are eaten sparingly.  They are not eaten three days in row L.  Bummer, but now that I learned this about them and PAYED attention to my body this weekend, I won’t be indulging on these products again for a while and if and when I do, I will have them sparingly.  The kids have already been taught this and they understand that those things will be eaten few and far between. 

So, lesson learned.  Not all GF food is created equal.  It can still wreck havoc on a sugar addict’s system and send you back into the downward addiction spiral.  The never ending cravings, the laziness, and the brain fog.  I will stick to my whole foods that God put on this earth for us to eat with the least amount of processing.  This includes fresh fruits, veggies, berries, meats, fish, eggs, nuts, and beans. 

****Pardon me for any errors in this blog.  I’m so ready for bed and don’t have the energy to proofread.  But, I want to post it now for the sake that I don’t know when I’ll have time to do it.********

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This past Thursday’s weigh-in was a success.  I weighed in at 213.6 for a total of 15.2 lbs in 7 weeks.  I’ll be happy to keep up an average of 1.5 lbs lost in a week.   

Lesson learned.....don't skip lunch and then think it's safe to go to Dollar Tree

          The past few days have been a whirlwind.  I literally spent the entire weekend working on school work.  Thank goodness my kids love going to school with me.  They get to play on the computers and since they don’t get to do that at home, they are always happy to go to school with me.  We ate great the past 4 days.  It’s been the normal plan of no sugar, no gluten, and lots of fresh wholesome food.  Monday night was hectic and I had a hunkering for a hot dog.   I went to the market and found an Oscar Meyer beef hot dog without any preservatives or nitrates or any kind of sugar added to them.  The kids loved them.  I also found sweet potato fries to go with them.  Since we had the potatoes we skipped out on finding gluten free hot dog buns.  We also had carrots and hummus with it.  It was a “junk” food night J. 

            But, the last two days, I’ve run into a problem trying to fit in lunch at work.  It happened yesterday, but I was able to eat at 3.   Today I was slammed with trying to finish some activities that I was doing with my next class.  I ate my snacks, but didn’t get to eat my lunch.  I couldn’t eat at 3 and by the time I got the kids and delivered one to swim practice and got gas, I was absolutely starving.  So, at 4:30 we stopped in at the dollar store to pick up school supplies and I bought a package of corn chips and dry roasted peanuts.  The kids were hungry too, since they forgot to pack their own snacks for the afternoon.  I typically would have stopped at the market to pick up some fruit, but I made the mistake of going to Dollar Tree instead.  So the kids and I shared the chips and peanuts.  I’m frustrated with myself because I let myself get too hungry.  That’s definitely not a safe place for me.  I have a horrible habit of eating far too much when I’m hungry.  I definitely ate way to many peanuts and corn chips.  So, lesson learned.  I absolutely have to eat my lunch.  I cannot skip a meal because it screws up something inside me.  Puts me in the starvation mode.  This only happened today because I was crammed for time at school and school won.  I definitely won’t let that happen again.   This is the first time in 7 weeks, that I have felt hungry and lost control of my eating.  Peanuts and corn chips were still a better chance than Ding Dongs and Oreos, but I still feel off from eating as much as I did. 

Deciphering nutrition labels and what we aren't being told - A MUST READ ARTICLE FOR ALL!

Do you read the nutrition labels found on food?  I do.  I have for years and years and years.  When I’m not making healthy choices, I ignore the nutrition labels because I don’t care about the calories, the fat, the sodium, or the sugar.  Actually, I think to say that I don’t care is a fallacy.  The reason why I don’t read the labels is because I’m in denial.  I pretend that the amount of those things don’t really have an effect on my body.  I’d think, “Why does it matter?  I’m already fat.  I just gain all the weight back after I lose it anyhow, so why bother reading them anymore?”  I may be the only person out there that feels that way when I’m choosing to not follow a healthy lifestyle or when I’m in the throws of a binge-eating episode.  But, one question has always remained about nutrition labels.  Everything listed on the label has a percentage that reflects what the daily recommended amount is for a standard 2,000 calorie diet which is for an average adult who is in their healthy BMI range and who gets regular exercise.  However, two items do not have a percentage next to them.  Sugar and protein.  Have you ever wondered why, too?  So, I did some research.  I went on the USDA website and researched how to understand nutrition labels.  The site directed me to the Food and Drug Administration website.  Here is what I found. 

Protein:  A %DV is required to be listed if a claim is made for protein, such as “high in protein.”  Otherwise, unless the food is meant for use by infants and children under 4 years old, none is needed.  Current scientific evidence indicates that protein intake is not a public health concern for adults and children over 4 years of age. 

Here is what the USDA says about sugar on nutrition labels.  The site directs you to the Food and Drug Administration website: 

Sugars: No daily reference value has been established for sugars because no recommendations have been made for the total amount to eat in a day. Keep in mind, the sugars listed on the Nutrition Facts label include naturally occurring sugars (like those in fruit and milk) as well as those added to a food or drink. Check the ingredient list for specifics on added sugars.  If you are concerned about your intake of sugars, make sure that added sugars are not listed as one of the first few ingredients.  Other names for added sugars include:  corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, maltose, dextrose, sucrose, honey, and maple sugar.

Here is the link to their page that you can find this information on:  http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/LabelingNutrition/ucm274593.htm

I find this alarming because of what we knowing about sugar.  Sugar has no nutritional value, especially those those that are added to anything.  Naturally occurring sugar in fruits are a different story.  It’s the added sugars that the public need to be cautious of.  When sugar is processed in the body, the pancreas releases insulin (a hormone) and the insulin stores sugar as fat.  Our body needs some sugar, but it doesn’t need it from added sugar.  We can get what we need from natural foods.  Fructose, found in fruit, is  different also because whole fruit is filled with a rich mixture of fiber, vitamins and minerals that help our bodies process the fructose differently.

So, I continued to do more research and found that the World Health Organization has made a recommendation.  In March 2014, WHO dropped their daily sugar intake recommendation from 10 percent of your daily calorie intake to 5 percent.  The American Heart Association uses the WHO recommendations and they state that women should have no more than 6 teaspoons of sugar per day and men no more than 9 teaspoons of sugar per day.  Preschoolers shouldn’t consume more than 4 teaspoons per day.  Children between the ages of 4 – 8 shouldn’t consume more than 3 teaspoons per day.  (In order to accommodate all the nutritional requirements for this age group, there are fewer calories available for discretionary allowances like sugar.)  This information I obtained from the Family Education website in an article titled:  Are We Too Sweet? Our kids’ Addiction to Sugar by Lindsay Hutton.  It’s an excellent article and is a must read if you want to know more about sugar addiction in children. 

So, how do you figure out how to convert grams of sugar found on nutrition labels to teaspoons?  It’s quite simple.  4 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon of sugar.  So, it’s recommended that women not consume more than 24 grams of sugar and men shouldn’t consume more than 36 grams per day.  Preschoolers shouldn’t have more than 16 grams per day and children between 4 and 8 shouldn’t have more than 12 grams. 

So, because I care about my friends, family, and children I went to the market last night and started looking at some food labels of popular foods.  I wanted to show just how much sugar in terms of teaspoons are in prepackaged foods.  Here are some of the sugar values converted to teaspoons.

Smart Candy Sour Gummy Flavored fruit snacks:  8 g sugar = 2 tsp sugar.  The ingredients were:  glucose syrup, sugar, water, citric acid, sodium citrate, and pectin

(Before realizing that added sugar was toxic and how it was essentially causing most of our health problems, I would have bought these snacks for my kids.  Very smart advertising, lots of fancy health claims)

Capri Sun Roarin’ Waters:  8 grams sugar = 2 tsp sugar.  Ingredients: water, high-fructose corn syrup, sucralose.  (I use to buy these too, because, heck it’s just flavored water, right?!  wrong!)

Honest Kids juice boxes:  9 grams sugar = 2 ¼ tsp sugar  (100% natural juice doesn’t contain all of the richness in fiber, nutrients, vitamins and minerals that a real apple, or an orange, or whatever other fruit it is.  Just stick to real fruit.  Your body processes the real fruit over the juice from the fruit better and more efficiently.)

Good 2 Grow 100% juice:  25 grams sugar = 6 ¼ tsp sugar.  Ingredients:  concentrated apple, pear, and grape juice and water.  Serving size = 8 fluid ounces.  (Say what!!!!!!  Sure that’s good 2 grow all right!  Maybe around my kids’ waistlines!)

Arizona Green Tea single serve box:  12 grams sugar = 3 tsp sugar

Hi-C Juice pouch:  22 grams sugar = 5 ½ tsp sugar (Contains High-fructose corn syrup, and syrup)

Honey Maid Graham Crackers:  8 grams sugar = 2 tsp sugar  (But, I thought graham crackers were a great afternoon snack for my kids.  Considering my 8 year old is only supposed to get 3 tsp of sugar a day, I realize these weren’t the healthier choice)

V-Fusion Refreshers:  24 grams sugar = 6 tsp  (But it’s V8!)

Del Monte Diced Peaches individual serving cups:  5 grams sugar = 1 ¼ tsp sugar Ingredients: natural flavors, monk fruit concentrate, ascorbic acid, and citric acid.

Advertised as “Yellow cling peaches in water.  Artificially sweetened.  No sugar added”  (Not bad, and a better choice than juice.  However, I’m not sold on monk fruit yet.  It sky rocket’s a diabetic’s blood sugar, so it’s doing that to everyone.  I’ll pass and not take my chances)

Apple and Eve 100% juice – no sugar added:  30 grams sugar = 7 ½ tsp sugar  (Are you freaking kidding me?!!!!  I honestly use to buy this all the time for my guys.  This is what I always packed in their lunches.  This is crazy!)

Are you surprised by any of these numbers?  I was when I found out what the daily recommended allowance was for children and adults.

Okay, so let me just put this out there.  This is what a typical day of meals use to look like in my house.  All of these teaspoon counts are based off a single serving.  I’ll tell you though that we’d fill our bowls with cereal.  We wouldn’t measure it out.  We didn’t measure much of anything out.  But for the sake of this example, I’m going to pretend that we only ate a serving for each food item listed below.  And, this is for all of us because on any given day, any one of us in our house may have had an identical meal.

Breakfast:              Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal  10 grams = 2.5 teaspoons

                        1% milk  12.7 grams = 3 teaspoons

                        2^nd glass of milk to wash down the cereal = 3 teaspoons

A.M. Snack:            Rice krispy treat :  8 grams = 2 teaspoons

                        Adam and Eve juice box to wash down the rice krispy treat = 7.5 tsp.

Lunch:                        Peanut butter and jelly sandwich (potato bread) = 4.75 tsp.

                        bag of BBQ potato chips  =  .5 tsp

                        cup of mandarin oranges in jello  = 5.5 teaspoons

                        Adam and Eve juice box  = 7.5 teaspoons

                        package of fruit snacks for dessert = 2.5 teaspoons

Afternoon Snack:            banana  = 3.5 teaspoons

                                    glass of milk  = 3 teaspoons

Dinner:            Spaghetti with Hunts tomato sauce = 1.8 teaspoons (But, remember

refined carbs like pasta break down in the body and are processed j            ust like sugar.  Insulin stores refined carbs as fat.)

                        Italian sausage = 0 teaspoons

                        garlic bread = .25 teaspoons (But, remember what I said about

spaghetti)

                        glass of milk  = 3 teaspoons

At Practice:               20 oz. bottle of Gatorade = 8.75 teaspoons

Evening Snack:            Weight Watchers Peanut Butter Cup Sundae = 3.25 teaspoons

The total amount of teaspoons of sugar for this day would be:  62.3 teaspoons of sugar!  There are 120 teaspoons of sugar in 1 pound!!!  So, on any typical day of the week, I or my family, would consume a ½ pound of sugar.  And, remember WHO recommends we only get 6 teaspoons of sugar per day for women, 9 teaspoons of sugar for men, 3 teaspoons of sugar for kids 4 – 8 and 4 teaspoons of sugar for preschoolers.  Can you just imagine if the FDA required food companies to put the percentage of sugar on nutrition labels.  I’d bet it start to wake up a hell of a lot of people, especially parents to young children. 

Well, now I know exactly why I have been fat for so long.  Now, I know why my daughters have always carried around so much extra weight in their waists.  Fat from sugar typically is stored around the mid-section of people.  Now, I know why my husband has a “beer” belly even though he doesn’t drink. 

I’m so thankful to my mom and my cousin and some very smart friends who have been telling me about the dangers of sugar all these years.  But, I’m most thankful to God for knocking me on my thick skull enough to awaken my mind to this addiction. 

I encourage all of you who read this to keep a food diary of a typical day or a week.   Don’t go crazy with reading and documenting every part of the nutrition label.  Just write down what you or your kids ate for a day.  Ignore the portion size if that’s what you typically do.  At the end of the week or the day, look up the grams of sugar for each of the items.  Divide the grams by 4 to get the number of teaspoons, then add up all your numbers.  Compare it to the recommended daily allowance.  Will you be just as horrified as I was?  

connectivity issues :(

I am having an issue with my Internet and have an article written for today, but I can't upload it.  It's about the reading nutrition labels and the percentages of  Daily Allowances recommended by the USDA.  I think it's very helpful for friends and family.  Hopefully I can get the issues worked out asap.