Monday, March 23, 2009

Things Aren't As Good For You As You Think - Guest Blog

Howdy! My name is Hungry and I'm going to be a part time contributor to EAT (hopefully) and this is going to be my first blog! As someone how has lost nearly eighty pounds since I began my lifestyle change (I refuse to call it a diet. Because diets end and weight is re-gained and health is re-compromised. This is a lifestyle change that I hope to upkeep for the rest of my life.) I feel that I'm at least somewhat qualified to give a couple of tips here and there whenever the situation calls for it. And over the past week I've had a couple of things dawn on me that I felt the need to share with the general populace. The general theme of these things that have dawned on me is that some things are nowhere near as good for us as we think they are.

Let's start with the saccarine substitute known as splenda. First and foremost, splenda is fake. Plain and simple. It's not REAL sugar. While it is MADE from real sugar, it's so synthesized that it isn't as healthy for you as people think. In fact, splenda was originally created when scientists were trying to come up with a new form of insecticide. And we put this stuff in our Coffee? Yeuch. As far as health, splenda can definitely be viewed as a real detriment. In terms of weight and caloric content, splenda isn't as devoid of calories as you think. According to one website, “One cup of Splenda contains 96 calories and 32 grams of carbohydrates, which is substantial for people with diabetes but unnoticed due to the label claiming that it's a no calorie sweetener.” Government regulations allow for anything containing less then five calories per gram to be advertised as zero calories. Splenda has 3.3 calories per gram, a not insignificant amount. Besides these two facts, there is also the issue of blood sugar levels. Your body processes real sugar along with insulin in order to regulate your blood sugar levels. Without real sugar, your insulin levels are going to be thrown out of whack because your body reacts to the splenda without processing it as real sugar. For these three reasons, I would suggest that if you're going to have a coffee, drink it black.

Also, Subway is perhaps one of the most misleading foods on the market. Yeah, sure, Jarrad lost 430984350934850439502974392874 pounds on the “subway” diet, but he did it eating six inch veggie subs with no cheese or sauce three times a day. Your double stuffed turkey with southwest sauce isn't healthy for you just because it's on whole wheat bread! In fact, wholewheat bread is only better for you if you live an active lifestyle, because it's a slower burn and you have more opportunities to work it off. It in fact has a higher caloric content then whitebread. A six inch whole wheat bread from subway has approx 190 calories. Multiply that times two, plus the sauce, plus the meat, and your twelve inch subway sandwich is bordering on 1,000 calories. Yeesh. Next time you go for fastfood, try and find somewhere that offers a salad alternative (go light on the dressing!) or better yet, bring a lunch from home. The second the preparation of your meals is out of your hands, the higher the likelihood your lunch isn't going to be so friendly to your waistline.

Last but not least, at least from my perspective, is meat balls. My mother is a HUGE fan of making meatballs (i'm sure this isn't the case in all homes, but bare with me, this is going somewhere) and over the course of the years those heavy beef meat balls were starting to take their toll on my waistline (i'm now a size 32, but when i started I was a 44). A huge change that anyone can make to their lifestyle is the following: any meal you formerly had with ground beef (meatballs, chilli, meatsauce, slooop joe's, hamburgers, etc) should be swapped out with ground turkey! It's leaner, cleaner and meaner! But seriously, turkey has way less fat, calories and is just as tasty! (Not all turkey is a better sub for it's counterparts though! Turkey Bacon is downright awful for you, laden with salts and chemicals!) I highly recommend the turkey swap for anyone looking to cut a few calories here and there.

That's it for now! Hope you found my tips helpful! - Hungry

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