High Fructose Corn Syrup
I wanted to take a minute to talk about a sugary substance that is a food additive to a TON of the processed foods we see on grocery shelves in America today. It is high fructose corn syrup, and it has very destructive effects on the blood sugar and on the human body in general by encouraging obesity and weight gain.
Parents should really try to keep their kids away from products sweetened with this sugary substance. It is used in so many foods to sweeten them today because it is a dirt cheap sweetener. My husband and I actually splurged on pancakes yesterday for breakfast, and I looked at the label on my “maple syrup” and found that the first and foremost ingredient in the stuff was high fructose corn syrup. Maple was nowhere to be found.
Is is found in most soft drinks, many other sweetened drinks, cookies, cakes, candies, ice cream and just about every other processed sweet goodie you can think of. It’s addictive too, so it makes the body crave even more sugar when you eat foods that have a lot of it.
It is one of those food additives that is like MSG – very destructive, yet still found everywhere because it is such a cheap, long shelf life additive. If you really want to avoid ingredients like this, you are unfortunately going to have to spend a little more money and read your labels.
The reason I say you’ll have to spend more money is that the brands that are aware of this, and do not have these types of ingredients, actually use “REAL” ingredients that are not as harmful to the human body. They don’t use these frankenfood additives, and they do accordingly have to charge more for their foods because they simply cost more to make.
Makes sense. I know it can be a bit more painful when you get up to the counter to pay, but it’s well worth if for you and your family. And guess what, in the end it all evens out because you and your family aren’t getting the same huge appetite and crazy cravings, so in the end, you’ll likely be eating less and buying less groceries any way.
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Does Everyone Gain Weight in College?
It’s funny that there is an idea out there that you gain weight when you hit college. I personally have seen both this happen, and the complete opposite happen, where some of my girlfriends really thinned down when they went away to college. The funny thing is, it was mostly guys that I knew that gained the famous “freshman fifteen” and then some, the girls seemed to actually lose the weight.
Unfortunately that whole “vaccine for weight loss” thing we reported on a while ago hasn’t materialized, otherwise this freshman weight gain wouldn’t be much of a concern 
At least that was my own experience with the people around me. It’s easy to either gain or lose weight when you leave the nest for the first time. There are so many nerves going on about being away from home, trying to succeed in school, and generally being nervous about never knowing where you’re going or how you’re going to eat that day half the time because you’re broke.
Of course, this is how it was for me, I can’t say that’s how it was for everyone else. I had a job in college too, and it was waiting tables, which kept me in great shape. Not only did the constant cardio of being a server shape me, but I also happened to work out at least five days a week back then. Yeah, I was single and I care way too much about what I looked like to the guys back then, but hey, that really kept me in shape, let me tell you!
I sometimes wonder if I should go back to waiting tables, just for the great shape it kept me in through college! And the tips were nice too, because I always had cash on hand of course!
If you go to college, just make sure you don’t only drink beer, and that your only meals are pizza and cheeseburgers. It’s easy to eat a lot of crap food when you’re in college because there are a ton of restaurants open late tha thave delicious food to cater to drunk college students.
Just staying away from eating late at night will save you a boatload of weight gain! Now if only I can get a handle on my Sunday football pigouts, I’ll be good to go.
BOOKMARK OR SHARE :The “Ruined” Diet Day Mentality and Why It’s Bad
Women (and a lot of men too) tend to think a certain way when they start their day off on a bad foot as far as their diet and eating healthy. Many people say the same thing. “Oh, I already ate horribly today, why not just finish off the day with a cheeseburger and french fries or pizza and call it a day”.
There is a reason the commercial was made about a woman who starts her day off right ( I think it is for a yogurt, or a healthy bowl of cereal), and then makes better food decisions throughout the rest of the day.
Then it shows the counter of that, and the woman starting off with a totally unhealthy breakfast and snacks, and going through the day eating fattening, greasy and fried foods.
It is true that the way we start our day, or even if we ruin it in the middle, our bodies crave “crap” for the rest of the day. I’m definite proof of that, and I have the mentality myself.
However, I noticed when I started to reject that mentality, and get right back on track that same day and eat right, my weight really seemed to either stabilize or come off if that’s what I was trying to do.
Foods like salty, fried fattening foods and sweets that are heavy and fatty in nature are truly addictive. There has been multiple studies that have pointed out that fatty and sugary foods have the same addictive chemical effects on the brain as some addictive drugs. However, part of it is also a state of mind.
You can definitely put yourself back into the right state of mind after eating unhealthily at one meal, and get back in the groove. It’s just that it takes a lot more effort to do it after you’ve indulged because your brain is sort of programmed to crave that kind of food for the rest of the day. When it doesn’t get it, it may still send out those signals, but they will go away.
You just have to be patient and realize that this is a typical process. It’s almost like going through a withdrawal phase. You have to add some willpower to it and really try to resist the urge to splurge.
You will be amazed that if you can get into the habit, it will impact your waistline like nothing else. Skinny people typically have this habit, even if they don’t know it or actively try to do it.
They just may have a natural affinity to get back on track and they may naturally crave good eats after indulging in foods that make them feel crappy. Your appetite gets fueled for fatty, greasy and sugary foods when it gets a taste of them in other words.
Emulate the skinny people in your life in this way, and in a few months, you will realize the positive impact it has on your weight goals.
BOOKMARK OR SHARE :Even Our Pets Need Diets in America?
I would venture to say that we are one of the only countries that are so obsessed with dieting that we even put our poor pets on diet routines. Maybe I’m wrong, but I sure do see a lot of specialty pet foods for obese dogs and cats lately, that it got my mind spinning about how much emphasis we put on a slim waistline in the US.
Not only that, but in reality many of our pets suffer from the same over eating that many of us Americans do. We put food out, and unless our pets have an incredible sense of self restriction, they usually are gonna go for it whenever they can, and get that food while they can.
It’s the nature of the beast, and it applies not only to animals, but their more sophisticated cousin, us. We are by nature hunters and gatherers, but we also are programmed to eat food whenever it is available, and eat as much as we can when it is, since originally, food was was not as available all the time as it is now.
So, we as humans have to self regulate when it comes to food intake. Hence, the popularity of hunger controlling pills, appetite suppressant patches and more. We don’t have the old “scarcity” variable in our favor when it comes to limiting our food intake. We are much like the kings and queens of the old days, we have unlimited food supply.
That’s why many kings and queens back then were fat! Peasants didn’t have constant easy access to food, but kings and queens and other royalty did, and hence, fatness was actually attractive because it was a sign of prosperity! Oh, how times have changed.
Being thin, toned and ripped is now a sign of prosperity, because those people are the ones that can afford the exercise programs, cellulite treatments, and healthier, wholesome foods that come with affluence.
When it comes to animals, I have found that cats tend to have a better sense of appetite control than man’s best friend, dog. Cats can definitely be fat, and those are the ones that have probably been fed too many table scraps or fattening wet foods, but cats that are only fed dry food, and are left to their own devices with a full bowl all the time, I’ve found, tend to not overeat.
Girl cats definitely have more of a tendency toward being “fat cats”, which may be due to hormones.
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What is Orthorexia? Is It Like Anorexia?
Eating a healthy diet is so important and so many articles have been written to remind us of that fact. While eating a healthier diet is vital, it seems that some individuals have taken that idea to such excess that it becomes an obsession and then it becomes unhealthy.
The term, orhtorexia, refers to an eating disorder characterized by a zealous obsession with eating only healthy foods. Orhtorexia is actually a type of mental disorder because the fixation becomes so intense with healthy eating. The term is not yet recognized medically and it originated with a Colorado doctor named Steven Bratman.
He draws a parallel between orthorexia and other eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa. If the obsession with eating only healthy foods becomes too extreme, the result of this mental disorder can be severe malnutrition or, worse yet, death.
A low self esteem is at the root of orthorexia nervosa and the individual does lots of self induced guilt and blaming when they crave what they see as unhealthy forbidden foods. The problem with orthorexia nervosa can occur when the individual’s dietary restrictions become so severe that they are simply not consuming enough calories and balanced foods to remain healthy.
It may start with a restriction of fats at first, then avoidance of preservatives, food additives and then, all animal products. While trying to lower one’s fat is commendable, the diet may progress to strictly raw foods. Often, there is not enough calories or protein in this kind of severely restricted diet to meet the person’s nutritional needs.
The underlying motivation, at first, is sound. The person with orthorexia nervosa wants to eat only what is natural, pure and healthy. It is a question of degree and those with orthorexia have taken the concept past the boundary of logic. The chief difference between orthorexia and anorexia is the motivation that starts the disorder.
An anorexic is motivated by the desire to be thin and takes that idea to a fixation and unhealthy degree and an orthorexic does the same thing, only with healthy foods. Both disorders can lead to disastrous health results with malnutrition as the outcome.
Orhorexia nervosa has not yet been recognized officially by the American Psychiatric Association as a mental disorder. People with orthorexia, just as people with anorexia, show signs and symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder.
Signs that an individual suffers from orthorexia would be the healthy diet is socially isolating, thinking about healthy foods more than 3 hours per day, quality of life is diminishing as a result of healthy diet and excessive guilt or anxiety occurring when going off of healthy diet. Emaciation of an individual also indicates their healthy diet has gone too extreme.
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