Agave Nectar: It’s sweeter than you think! (and not in a good way!)

I read this article earlier today, and it got my wheels turning.  As parents, my husband and I are constantly looking for ways to cut sugar and CRAP out of our family’s diet.  I was actually thinking that agave nectar might be a better alternative to sugar.  Now I’m convinced it’s just more hype.  WebMD has a similar article here, and Jonny Bowden doesn't buy into the hype, either (I noticed some info from his article cut and pasted into the first article I cited.).   

Turns out, agave nectar is just like high fructose corn syrup, and in some cases it can even be worse.  The article I cited above (while a bit disorganized) offered quite a bit of explanation around sucrose, fructose, and glucose.  Sucrose is more of the natural state of sugar… pure cane sugar, if you will, and it’s better for you than fructose.  Fructose occurs naturally in fruit and is fine in moderation (about 25 grams a day), but in higher amounts, it is processed through the liver and whatever isn't absorbed (which is most of it), is turned into fat.  Glucose is good.  Our body uses it for everything.  I found these little tidbits of information to be quite enlightening.  It also reconfirmed some points I made in another blog post citing blood vessel inflammation as the leading cause of heart disease (not cholesterol).  I love it when I can connect the dots.

 

Let me be clear.  Agave itself is not the problem.  It’s how it’s processed. 

ANYTHING processed needs to be axed from our diet.  I've known this for a long time, and while we've done a lot to get most of the processed foods out of our cupboards and our fridge, we still have a long way to go.  I think an overhaul is in order, and I need to take that overhaul with me everywhere I go. 

At work, I try to use raw sugar in my tea every morning, and I have an occasional Coke.  I succumb to sugary treats at work far more often than I’d like to admit.  However, it is obvious now that my love of sugar has translated into that flat tire that encircles my waist. 

I need to cut the crap and just live with it.  This needs to be done for me… and for my family.    

What's shakin'? I'm back. Again.

Today I decided to brush the dust off my blog and start talking about crap again.  It’s been too long.  In my defense, work has been crazy busy for like three months straight.  It’s still crazy busy.  However, if I don’t give myself an outlet other than Facebook, that crazy busy is just going to become CRAZY AMY.

What have I been doing, you ask?  I only have like 8 followers, so if you guys want to know, then I’ll tell you.

Working.  A LOT. 

Have I been cutting crap?  Not really.  I’ve been adding crap, but I HAVE lost 6 pounds.  I’ll tell you about that in a few minutes.  What have I added? What have I cut?  Here ya go.

•  My daughter now takes singing lessons.  That’s an add.  My recent pay raise pretty much pays for it. 
• We stopped going to Awana, because my daughter was just NOT getting enough sleep on Wednesday nights.  That’s a cut.  While Megan got a lot out of it, it was complicating bedtime and Thursday morning.  The amount of sleep a 7-year-old gets seems to be pretty important.
• Speaking of my daughter, we’ve decided to homeschool this coming school year.  That decision was a tough road to walk, but we think the benefits will outweigh any detriments.  If you’re the praying type, please keep us in prayer.
• My husband lost his job.  There went the rest of my pay raise.  Now my income is paying for all the necessities, but there is literally nothing left over.  That’s a cut.  Can I just say, though, that I love having him home full time.  It has really removed some of the other stresses from me, even if we are a little strapped for cash at the moment. 
• We started a business.  That’s an add.

And that brings me to that 6 pounds I recently lost.  When I say recently, I mean in the last seven days.  After hounding some people and doing the research, Rob and I decided to try out the ViSalus 90 Day Challenge.  After only a week we’re both seeing results.  Rob also lost 6 pounds.  That energy dip that usually comes mid-afternoon has been non-existent for the past week as well.  Overall, I’m already feeling a little better.  We’re so sold on the product that we’ve decided to become distributors.  Our goal is to replace Rob’s within 60 days.  I’ll let you know how that goes, and in the meantime, if you want to try a sample, let me know.  I’ll USPS you some. 

I'm back!

Goodness!  Has it really been three months since I posted on my blog?  It HAS!  Sorry about that.  I really didn’t have the bandwidth to update my blog since I’ve been so busy with work.  When I was done with work each day, I was pretty much DONE with everything.  I didn’t even want to look at a computer, much less post an entry here.  My poor children got the bare minimum attention, because my brain would literally shut down.  Not good.  My poor husband did his best to weather the storm.  I really do love that man.  He’s far from perfect, but the stuff he puts up with… O.M.G. 

That being said, I still love my job.  It has its harrowing moments, but it’s a pretty sweet gig.  We get bagels every morning.  I have awesome benefits; aside from the normal medical, dental, eye stuff, I also get regular training on the company’s dime.  I get to work from home on snowy days… or when I’m sick (shouldn’t be doing that.  I should cut out that crap)… or if I have the cable guy coming over.  I work with brilliant people, and I get to work on way cool stuff to educate present and future generations of students.  Can you say OpenClass?  Have a look.  It’s pretty dang cool.   So even though I’ve had some pretty demanding projects lately, I’m not cutting out my job.  It just isn’t crappy.  Or cut-worthy. 

So how have I cut the crap over the past 3+ months?  Not as much as I’d like.  The Paleo Diet has waxed and waned; Rob is finally on board, though, as he’s reading 4 Hour Body.  We’re going for a BMI test next week.  My quest to weed out my email inbox is still ongoing, but my company gave me an ADDITIONAL, corporate-wide account that had 5000+ emails already waiting for me in it.  I deleted those.  I’ve been weeding out friends and causes and likes on Facebook.  My kids have a box of toys to be donated (or sold at a yard sale), so that’s pretty good.  Recycling efforts were reinforced at Christmas.  I made reusable sandwich wraps for all the nieces and nephews to use in their daily school lunches.  I also tried to wrap as many presents in either recycled paper or reusable bags.  That was cool. 

So, I have been keeping with the spirit of cutting the crap.  I just haven’t been blogging about it or stepping it up as much as I wanted for 2012… at least not so far.  I want to get my reader counts up this year.  I want to write more.  Quite frankly, it’s like therapy to me.  I need it.  And I want to find more ways to cut out the crap from my life.  There is plenty of it!  Help me stay accountable, People! 

The Primal Diet: Day 3

So I started the Primal Diet and have already lost 3 pounds.  I'm sure it's just water weight I'm losing at this point, but it's a start.

I have noticed that I'm much more hungry with this diet.  I'm eating fruits and veggies all day long, and it's as if my body is processing it so fast that I stay constantly hungry.  I'm sure I'll adjust. 

Yesterday at work I completely forgot about being on my diet and did my normal routine.  After I got in, I went straight to the breakroom and got a bagel.  WITH cream cheese.  Only later at lunch did I realize, "Hey! I'm not supposed to be eating bagels or cream cheese!"  I experienced my normal afternoon dip in energy, too. 

Today I stuck to it.  And you know what?  I didn't have that energy dip in the afternoon.  I was actually pretty even energy-wise.  All day. 

Will all of this primal stuff reduce my cholesterol?  I'm hoping.  Even if it doesn't, I'm already seeing small gains just after 3 days.  My neighbor said I looked better, too... my skin was "glowing" she said.  :)  Thanks, Michiko! 

The Primal Diet or Lipitor?

So last week I got the results back from my annual physical.  I'm healthy except for two things: my weight and my cholesterol levels.  Neither of these things are a surprise to me.  I've had high cholesterol since I even started measuring it in my early 20s.  My weight has been a problem for the past 15 years or so.  What did get my goat, though, was that my doctor wants to put me on Lipitor.  It's a statin, and I will likely have to take it for the rest of my life.

If I ever start taking it...

And I don't intend to start.

You're probably scratching your head.  Why would I go against the advice of my doctor?  Surely he has my best interests at heart, right?  Maybe, but I'm not entirely convinced that he does.  In his defense, he has suggested diet and exercise in the past to bring down my cholesterol levels. I haven't really changed either in the past 5 years.  He also refrained from putting me on statins since I wanted to have another child.  Statins can cause birth defects, and neither one of us wanted that.  Now that I'm done with child-bearing, statins would be "safe".

Except they're not.

Why on earth would I want to put anything in my body that could cause birth defects in another human being?  You're scratching your head again.  "I thought you were done having babies," you're saying.  Yes.  But if the chemicals in these drugs can cause damage to a human being - at any stage of development and beyond - why on earth was deemed it safe for ANY non-reproducing human to consume? Money, and the FDA, I suppose.  But I digress.

What exactly does a statin do, you ask?  According to WebMD, "Statin drugs work by blocking the action of the liver enzyme that is responsible for producing cholesterol." Wait.  It blocks a normally occurring bodily function to prevent it from producing cholesterol?  I thought the problem was with OUTSIDE cholesterol from a poor diet?  So what happens to the cholesterol I consume through said diet?  That's the potentially harmful stuff, right?  Not the cholesterol my body produces.  Somehow that just doesn't make any sense.  Is my body broken to the point that it and it alone produces too much cholesterol?

Hmmm... WebMD goes on to say that statins lower OVERALL cholesterol, even the good stuff that our body needs.  How is that a good thing?  Do the benefits outweigh the risks?  I'm not entirely convinced that they do, given the list of side effects (again, from WebMD):

• headache
• difficulty sleeping
• flushing of the skin
• muscle aches, tenderness, or weakness
• drowsiness/ weakness
• dizziness
• nausea and/or vomiting
• abdominal cramping and/or pain
• bloating and/or gas
• diarrhea
• constipation
• rash

I've also learned from several chiropractors that statins loosen ligaments (not in a good way) and make it next to impossible to get any results from chiropractic treatments.  I need chiropractic treatments.  They help me stay pain free. 
 
Still, my doctor says statins are safe.  He gave me a prescription and a handy-dandy discount card that would make lipitor only cost me $4 for a months supply... for as long as I take it.  What a huge incentive to buy their product!  All I have to do is present the card at time of payment, and no matter what my co-pay is, all I have to pay is $4!  Still, I'm not ready to commit to putting chemicals in my body for the rest of my life.  There has to be an alternative.

So I'm going to actually counter with what I've been trying to do this whole year of cutting the crap: I'm going to drastically change my lifestyle by eating only fresh fruits, veggies, and meat/poultry/fish.  I'll include a daily exercise plan.  A friend recommended the Primal Diet.  It looks very much like what I intended to do, so I'm going to try their 30 day challenge and go from there.  It can't hurt, right?  And it's certainly better than the alternative. 

I now have an incentive, which is to lower my cholesterol, so maybe I'll get off my butt and actually do this.  If after a few months of this lifestyle change I don't see results in my cholesterol counts, then and only then will I consider Lipitor.

Heaven help my family.  This is going to be one bumpy ride.  

Granola Cereal Bars - How one family broke its junk food addiction on Shine

Granola Cereal Bars - How one family broke its junk food addiction on Shine

Now THIS is what I'm talking about! We need to cut out all that crap! I checked out their blog, and they have some pretty interesting takes on things. I'm now a follower. :) Have a look: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/

Don't know if I can pull this off, but this really has been my goal for over a year now. I'm just not as disciplined as these people are. LOL

5 Ways TV Can Hurt Your Health

5 Ways TV Can Hurt Your Health

So, like I've been saying... cut the crap! Get off your butt and go outside. It's summer, for crying out loud!

All that being said, I think it's common sense these days that a sedentary lifestyle makes you gain weight. In turn, weight gain isn't good for you. For people to continue spending money on research to tell us what is common sense is ridiculous. Cut THAT crap out, too, you crazy finance people. That money could be better spent on finding a cure for cancer. Oh wait! That HAS been discovered but big pharmaceutical companies want none of it... wonder why?

Sorry. Soapbox much.

Go outside! It's beautiful!

Eating Bugs? Really?

Check out the blog on the left.  The Diet Blog. The latest post talks about eating bugs as a source of protein.  The blog is well-written, and for the most part, I'm in agreement with the author.  Here's something that bothered me, though... and it's not the author's stance or how the author put it... it's the very idea: "Let me put my Western-ness aside for a minute, however. Because entomologists at the Dutch Wageningen University -- where research is ongoing into how to make insects more palatable -- make a compelling argument for encouraging humans to reconsider meal worms or locusts as a possible protein source."

Check out the highlighted part.  Are scientists trying to put their spin on edible insects now?  Will those little creepy crawlies become "processed", too?  I'm just sayin'.  It makes no sense.  Why do we have to "make things more palatable" through science?  Why can't we just eat things the way God made them and be happy with that? 

Food Rules... READ IT!

Sorry for the delay in entries here.  Not only were we swallowed by all things Christmas, but January has been The Month of Sick.  I would seriously like to cut that crap out.  We've been in a vicious cycle of sharing that simply HAS TO STOP.  We even had to take X to the ER-- turns out he has RSV, a double ear infection, AND he's cutting two molars.

Needless to say, I'm exhausted.

Now for my cut the crap stuff.  For those of you who don't know, I work for Pearson (specifically eCollege).  Pearson is literally one of the biggest publishers on the planet (heard of Penguin, Anyone?).  As a company, we try to strive for excellence in every area, and this year we're promoting health on a larger scale than before.  When I say health, I mean the health of every individual.  As a gift, each employee received a copy of “Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual,” by Michael Pollan.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to cut the crap.  It literally breaks through all the mumbo jumbo out there and says - in a nutshell - what I've been promoting in this blog: CUT THE CRAP.  Get rid of the preservative-laden foods and eat what's natural.  

Now that we're already two months into our New Year, I need to get off my butt and practice what I preach.  For starters, my children are eating fruits as snacks.  I have a huge basket on my table that I try to keep filled with bananas, oranges, apples, and anything else I can find.  Second, I'm converting to 100% real juice when quenching our family's thirst.  Drink mixes are usually full of aspartame (which btw causes cancer) and don't taste as good anyway.  We have very little preservative laden foods in our cupboards, but I do have a LOT of canned veggies.  Frozen veggies are quickly filling up our freezers, too.  


With all of that, I think we're off to a good start for our New Year.  Let me know what you all are doing to cut the crap out of your lives! 

To have or not to have...

I keep looking at the bottom of my empty tea cup and keep contemplating whether or not I want more.  I have a plethora of tea in my cubbie here at work, and thanks to my wonderful Sri Lankan teammates, I have the really good stuff: Uva, Dimbula, Meda Watte…  I can drink whatever I’m in the mood for at any given time.  My question is this: do I really need another cup?  All the extra caffeine probably wouldn’t be a good idea, despite my lack of sleep last night.

Some have told me that I should cut caffeine out of my diet altogether.  My only caffeine intake is a daily cup of tea, and no matter how you spin it, tea is NOT crap.  I will not cut it.  J  However, I can keep my intake to a minimum.  

Dilemma solved.  I will not have another cup.    

Over a MONTH! BUT there are good things to report... good things...

WTH is wrong with me?  I've been writing on the side, and perhaps this has satiated my need to update my blog.  Perhaps I should start a "writing" blog like my friend and colleague Brett.  Then maybe I would be inspired and motivated to keep a running tab on this blog as well.  Or that could backfire... and this blog would become obsolete for me...

Since last I posted, I have lost 5 pounds.  Not much for a month of better eating, but it is good.  My husband has lost more than 20lbs, and that's a very good thing!  My family and I continue to eat more healthy foods, and I'm certain that's having a positive effect on our well being. 

We've started taking advantage of a program called Helping Hands in our neighborhood.  For $55 a week, we get to fill up a grocery cart with food and household items.  It's been an interesting journey since foods are never the same.  You get what you get.  It has saved us a tremendous amount of money on groceries, however, and since our budget has been tight, this has been a good thing.  We've gotten a lot of produce from this place, and since it has been necessary to eat it quickly, our meals have had less preservatives!  We continue to cut the crap!

My best friend Jenna and I have decided that together we're going to eat as fresh as possible.  I know that was the initial goal postulated in this blog, but I haven't had anyone to actually do that with.  My hubby isn't for it... and sometimes fast is easier when you have kids.  I wish I had more time to prepare fresh meals for my children... they deserve that... but working 45+ hours each week doesn't leave much time for that.  So... Jenna and I are going to hold each other accountable as much as possible.  I hope it works!

Home projects are going well, too.  As I posted before, we picked up some patio furniture from the curb and Rob started spray painting them to give them a new life.  Again, we're cutting stuff from the landfills AND we're saving money.  Can't beat that!  I'm hoping to post pictures of our recycled bistro set soon.  Nothing fancy, but it serves its purpose!  We (meaning mostly ROB) put some steps in our backyard.  For those of you who haven't seen our yard, it is severely sloped and terraced.  We have one section that -- for lack of a better word -- is a slope that leads to the uppermost portion of our yard.  It was nothing but dirt... so we installed railroad ties and are in the process of filling those in with river rock.  It looks great, and the whole project cost only $50!  The river rock was free on Craigslist, and the railroad ties were given to us by our friends who no longer needed them!  We paid for rebar and garden tarp.  Cutting the crap has never been so cheap.  It's been hard work, but as I said, it looks GREAT!

I also promised some opinions and comments on said opinions... when I posted the question "What would you do to cut the crap?"... I'll get to those next time, and I hope next time is sooner than a month from now.  Those were silly and interesting and deserve a little more time than I have to go over them right now. 

So that's the post for now.  I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend! 

Day 14

We’re not doing so well cutting the crap as a family. It’s hard if one person wants to eat more healthy and the rest of the family just isn’t feeling it. For instance, last night Rob made some wonderful beef stew in the crock pot. The house smelled so delicious when I got home from work that I was instantly hungry… and I stayed that way until dinner. The stew was absolutely mouthwatering – even if Rob was not happy with the level of meat tenderness – and I had seconds because I couldn’t help myself. All the ingredients were fresh, so that was good. What is bad about this, you ask? Well nothing at all. It was what we had for dessert. Rob made pudding… chocolate and butterscotch. It was oh so yummy and oh so bad for us, but I couldn’t resist… it was chocolate after all.

I’m not doing very well with chocolate. I simply cannot – and will not – bring myself to cut it from my diet. Chocolate haunts me everywhere, and I’m beginning to feel like an addict. I’ve been all over the house looking for “stashes”, too. I even raided Megan’s candy cauldron (the place where all candies go.). AND then there’s all the tempting candy at the check-out when I’m getting groceries. Somewhere a little voice tells me I need a Kit Kat or a Snickers, and then I’m done for. I’m pitiful and pathetic, really.

Cut the Crap Days 6 and 7

I’ve lost more days. I need to write more than this… because I liken this blog to a pressure relief valve. If I don’t write, the pressure builds. What kind of pressure, you ask? ALL kinds of pressure. Writing makes that all easier to deal with.

As a side note, I’m not sure if it’s the eating better or the writing, but I seem to have much more clarity recently. I have a focus I didn’t have before. Don’t know what that means, but I’m embracing it.

So… How did I cut the crap these past few days? Well, my family and I are eating better. For desert the other night we had fresh mangoes. For dinner we had homemade turkey burgers will real cheese. In fact, the bread on which we placed said burger patties was the only thing that wasn’t “fresh”. Store-bought bread usually lasts longer than the bread I make in the bread machine at home… and I rarely bake in the summer.

AND that brings me to my next idea. Should I bake my own bread every few days? I love homemade bread, but I’m not sure how much time I really have for this. The ingredients are simple, and the recipe is easy for basic white bread. This would get rid of the preservatives, most certainly. AND it would taste better… but I estimate I’d have to bake at least twice a week. If not more.

Now I’m off to eat steak and potatoes for lunch. Not too shabby, eh?

Cut The Crap - Day 1

I was inspired by the movie Julie and Julia to write this blog. I know that’s fairly unoriginal, and I apologize for that. Still, like most people who need to write, I’ll take inspiration anywhere I can get it. This blog will chronicle a journey, and I hope to write something – even if it’s drivel – every day.

My first idea was to chronicle my family’s move from processed, preservative-laden foods (i.e. CRAP) to a simple, healthy diet of fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats. I think I’ll still do that, but given that my husband lost his job last week, I might also chronicle how we’re cutting other extraneous crap from our lives... you know… in order to make ends meet without putting us on the street.

So here’s a little background (and I’ll try to keep it short).

• My husband and I have been married for nearly 15 years. I weighed 125 when we got married. Rob weighed 215. We now weigh 170 and 285, respectively. As you can see, 15 years have really packed on the pounds.
• We have two beautiful children, aged 5 years and 9 months. Our kiddos are healthy and thriving without any weight issues. I chalk that up to high metabolism and an active lifestyle for them… at least for the 5 year old. J
• Rob wants to go back to school, and he was actually hoping to drop to part time before the work-rug was pulled from under his feet.
• Without telling you how much I make, our mortgage = one of my paychecks each month. I only get two.
• We have no credit cards. We have no daily Starbucks habit. We aren’t overpaying for cable/internet/phone (my company reimburses me $50/mo for my internet anyway). I have a Crackberry that I use for work, and even though I’m not currently being reimbursed for that, it really does help my productivity. We already have cheap car insurance, AND we have no car payment (YAY!).

So now we’re at this crossroads. I wanted to get rid of all the “non fresh” food in our cupboards and fridge and then start with “fresh” stuff. But, given the money situation, I’m not sure that’s a wise move. We’ll be eating what’s in the cupboards and the fridge, and replace all of that with fresh, more natural foods as we go. And what about other things? What can I actually cut that will make the one-income calamity more easy to weather?

Do you guys have any ideas? Suggestions?