Posts Tagged ‘sugar’
Juice: Is 100% any better?
Posted on: October 21, 2012
“Why does no sugar added grape juice have 160 calories per serving?”
Most juices are highly processed. Despite the 100% claim, lots of people are surprised to find out that some natural juices actually have more sugar than their sugar-added conterparts. A typical “100%” juice can have a nutrition label that looks like this :
Carbohydrates (Sugar) contain 4 calories per gram. At 39 grams, that’s 39×4- which is where you get your 160 calories. And that’s for 8 oz. We all know you don’t just drink a sippy cup of juice when you’re thirsty. Especially considering it’s super sugary, which triggers you to want more.
Juice marketers will hype it up to contain “real fruit juice,” “100% juice,” and “High/All Daily Vitamin C.” Big whoop- you can get your vitamin C from the citric acid added to lots of sugar drinks, too. The process that a fruit goes through to become store juice strips it of fiber, reduces vitamin content (so they add it back in with supplements), and concentrates it into a syrupy solution that is later reconstituted with water.
>>Some motivation: If you have 1 glass of juice a day (being gracious and saying you really only have 8 oz) that is 160 extra simple carbohydrate/sugar calories.
160×7 = 1,120 calories per week. Since 1lb is 3,500 calories, you could lose half a pound a week just by switching juice to flavored water. <<
“If you were to buy a tasty juice from the store that’s actually healthy, what would you recommend?”
Unfortunately, the juices I’ve found that are as good as if you juiced them yourself typically run a bit more expensive- and they won’t exactly cut your calories. The best ways to steer around your juice craving are these:
1. Add water. Or, to be more accurate, add juice to your water. You’d be surprised at how little you need to get a great burst of flavor.
2. Try seltzer mixes. Get the $1-2 store brand flavored water, but watch out for sneaky sweeteners! Get plain, and check diligently for aspartame and sucralose, which can lead to headaches, cancer, and lead you to depend on sugar even more than usual. Add the seltzer to your favorite juice for a nice kick.
3. Freeze some fruit. Ice cube trays work great for fitting a few berries or slices of lime, orange, and lemon. Once frozen, these can be tasty additions to regular or seltzer water. (Or wine if you’re like me and can’t turn down some homemade “sangria.” I try to be fancy and call it that, but it’s really just wine with frozen fruit).
4. Juice your own. This is definitely the most ambitious, but juicing your own fruit ensures that you know exactly what’s in it. Juicing fresh fruit minimizes vitamin loss, and you can add in pulp for extra filling-up-ness, vitamins, and fiber.
Recommendations:
Naked Juice
Carrot juice (surprisingly sweet and lower in calories)
Green juice – various brands. Contains kiwi, and most brands slip in vegetables while remaining tangy and delicious
Low Sodium Tomato or Vegetable Juice
Grapefruit juice – harder to drink a lot, and contains a ton of vitamins
Unconventional fruit juices – acai (thicker, be warned), pomegranate. These aren’t primed by our childhood memories and feel-good commercials, so you are less likely to go overboard.
I think the best way to go is to fruit-or-dilute. Eventually, after stepping it down a notch by adding water, the highly concentrated sugary juice becomes too much for your palate to handle. You end up picking the seltzer with strawberry slices to drink instead.
Other articles on Juices:
Pizza Pizza
Posted on: September 30, 2012
- In: Conditioning | Health Psychology | Nutrition | Psychology | Raw Food | Recipes
- Leave a Comment
According to my Pizza Facts Google search, October is pizza month. So we have a new habit to conquer: STOP EATING PIZZA
I’m just kidding.
If there is a food you absolutely positively will NOT give up- like pizza- then don’t. In the same realm as the rest of this blog: you can’t beat it, make it better.
There are 3 things modern food companies know they can hook us on: sugar, salt, and fat. But pizza itself is not an unhealthy food. It is the stigma of chain restaurants that are giving it a bad rep, adding chemical preservatives, spiking salt and sugar content, using all white flour dough, and feeding you cheap, fatty cheese. Salt and fat, highly preserved and delivered in under an hour. Appetizing?
There are plenty of healthier alternatives:
1. Make it yourself
Making foods from scratch can be rewarding and informative. You know exactly what foods are going in. Seeing the ingredients in their cold state can make you acknowledge exactly what you’re eating- and appreciate it when meal time comes. If you put all the effort in, you won’t want to swallow it down like you might if the delivery boy simply handed it over. (And you could always get in some body-weight exercises while it’s in the oven).
English muffin mini pizzas, bagel pizza, and pita pizzas are smaller-serving alternatives that might satisfy your tomatoey-cheesy-carby craving. You can add plenty of fibrous veggies, like broccoli and zucchini, stack on hearty olives and artichokes, or add flavorful colored peppers. For lean protein to fill you up, add chopped chicken.
Check out whole wheat pita pizza recipes: http://www.wholeliving.com/130959/pita-pizza
2. The thinner the better
If you must go for the boxed version, go for thin crust. Just changing the crust can save you over 100 calories per serving. Save the extra carbs for your side of veggies.
3. Load it with veggies
1. As a topping- Saute’ up some veggies (peppers, onions, artichokes, mushrooms, olives, diced tomatoes, broccoli, spinach) and add them on. Adds vitamins, antioxidants, flavor, and a fill-factor that will allow you to stop when you’re full.
2. As a side- Don’t trust yourself to just eat pizza. We are a society trained to say “pizza and breadsticks,” so make sure you have healthy sides to compliment your new healthy pizza. Pepper slices, carrots, and grapes will compliment the hot pizza with a cold crunch and leave you satisfied and guilt-free.
There are so many alternatives- Greek, Tomato-Basil-Mozzarella, Chipotle chicken– pizza CAN be a healthy meal with the right tweaks. Challenge yourself to try nutrition-loaded versions that supplement your health.
The Dilemma:
After a 5am gym appointment, why on earth did I come to work and want a cookie? (Or 2?)
It might have to do with the fact that
1. It was THERE
2. I was tired. My previous conditioning was that when I felt tired, I would react by eating. Especially carbohydrates… simple carbohydrates. Aka the ‘s’ word.
3. It’s sugar.. sweet, tempting, and so willing to jump right in and wreak havoc on your insides.
The Analysis:
So here’s my thought process when trying to recondition myself and stop an undesirable behavior.
1. Do I really want this? (Am I being present?) This is the hardest thing to determine. There are a wide variety of factors that cause you to reach for food to ingest that is detrimental to your body.
2. Is this part of my cycles? Be sure to track your physical and emotional cycles. These cycles include emotions, stressed, tired, or overwhelmed; transitions; disruptions in daily rhythms and routines; hormonal (i.e. time of month). Knowing your cycles and finding cues to remind yourself in moments of weakness is key; it is the first step in mastering your behavior.
3. What part of me wants this- my body, my mind, or my spirit?
A. BODY: Truly hungry- experiencing hunger pains, fatigue/sense of passing out, lack of energy due to low fuel source
B. MIND: Mental dialogue is saying you “SHOULD” eat. Maybe after a workout, or you “haven’t had enough” today. This type of urge is spurred by outside influences- like an article you read or something you heard. You hear your inner chatter giving you reasons and excuses.
C.SPIRIT: Something is missing, and you’re trying to fill a void. What you really want may be peace. Maybe you have something else you want to accomplish.
D. EGO: Deep down there is a part of you that wants to stay stuck in your same cycle of habits. That part of you wants to stay conditioned because it’s easy- it’s not fulfilling, or joyful, but it’s easy and it doesn’t take a lot of discipline, self-awareness, or critical thought. This part of you justifies that you “deserve” it, but doesn’t take into account your goals for becoming your highest self.
4. How will I feel after? Will I feel pleasure, more energetic, guilty, out of control? A typical cycle may be: pleasure at first, then a sense of being out of control, then guilty, then later experiencing a sugar crash. You may convince yourself you can eat just one, but your body may get primed and want more junky “food.”
5. How will I feel if I take the opposite/higher action that is in line with my values and goals? Disciplined, clean, healthy, guilt-free, free from conditioning, one step closer to my goals.
6. More importantly! Assuming I am not actually physically hungry, and I don’t want to struggle with this anymore…
What can I do to make this better for myself the next time around? How can I replace this behavior with a better one that lines up with my goals– how can I recondition myself?
This is an opportunity to choose a new behavior. Many suggestions include choosing a better food– but we’re going to take it to the next level, push our discipline, and use this for growth. Challenge yourself to choose an action that has nothing to do with eating or nutrition. Instead, use this as an opportunity to make progress in another realm of your life. Meditation, Yoga, stretching, doing pushups, squats, lunges, pullups, reading, prayer, writing, studying, finishing tasks and tackling things you procrastinate on, playing a musical instrument, and catering to your relationships can all help channel your energy into something more productive. Any activity that you see in line with your highest self is a fruitful endeavors that will give you a sense of accomplishment, and help you to fade out the unwanted behavior.
Slowly but surely, by choosing new behaviors in your minor day-to-day struggles, you will makeover your lifestyle to align with your goals.
The Facts:
Just to pound it home, sugar is not the solution.
Current emotional constructs surrounding sugar are as follows: happy happy joy joy, smiling children, colorful foods.. the media has hyped up high-sugar content foods because they are CHEAP and they are ADDICTING.
Sodas, candy, and other packaged confections are a cocktail of chemicals and highly processed “food stuff.” White sugar adds calories, while non-calorie sweeteners make chemical changes in the brain resulting in desire for more sweet foods at the most innocent, and migraines and cancer at its most heinous. Just because they are in foods doesn’t mean they’re innocent: Aspartame was rejected multiple times before finally getting slight approval, and that’s only because the person trying to pass it got into the organization.
Nutritional life is much easier when you steer clear of sugary foods, and the habits and influences that had you eating them in the first place.
Suggested Readings:
Skinny Bitch – Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin
Food Rules – Michael Pollan
http://www.womens-wellbeing-and-mental-health.com/Premenstrual-Cravings.html
Headstrong Health: The Psychology of Getting Fit 