Splenda® Isn't So Wonderful!

No Caloies! FDA approved! Sweet! Made from sugar!

It sounds like a miracle -

the answer to all our weight problems.

OK! Let's start at the top.

A cup of Splenda contains 96 calories and 32 grams of carbohydrates. When a serving of food or beverage contains so little, it can be listed as 0. The fact is, there are so many products containing Splenda® that it is very possible, and even likely, that you could have a cup of Splenda a day. Each packet of Splenda contains 12 mg of sucralose. Calories are not the problem.

The FDA approved it. This does not make me feel unconcerned. FDA approval is based on a review of studies done by the manufacturers and presented ( in the best light, of course, - no negative reporting) to the FDA for review. Every company, manufacturer, and corporation thinks their product is the best and is willing to tell us that. But, is it?

Splenda was discovered in 1976 while scientists were trying to make a better pesticide. The FDA approved it for general use in 1999. There were only 110 limited animal and clinical studies done. What took so long? Usually chemicals in this class are labeled as pesticides, so I guess they had a lot of work to do to get it to pass the standards. Dextrose and maltodextrin have been added since the original studies were done. I have to wonder what kind of regulations there are.

"It tastes like sugar because it's made from sugar".

Sugar is sucrose, Splenda is sucralose. What's the difference?

Sucrose is a natural substance. Sucralose is sucrose that undergoes chemical processes to remove the hydrogen and oxygen and replace them with chlorine. You know, the same stuff we put in the pool that we tell our children not to drink.

It has been suggested that the chloro in Splenda is just like salt. Ha!

Chlorine is dangerous and poisonous to all lifeforms. Chloride, in small quantities, is necessary for human health. Salt is sodium chloride. See the difference?

Sucralose is an additive - not a sugar.

The makers of Splenda also say that the calories cannot be metabolized by the body. The FDA says that 11% to 27% does get metabolized. So, where do we think it goes? It concentrates in the liver, kidneys and gastrointestinal tract!

How much is safe? Short answer - none.

The FDA says 5 mg/kg of body weight per day is safe.

Divide your body weight by 2.2 to change lbs. to kg, then multiply by 5 to get your safe amount.

If you weigh 200 lbs, divide by 2.2 to get 91, multiply by 5 and your safe amount is 455 mg.

Splenda is found in over 4,500 food and beverage products -

many targeted to children. How safe do you think that is?

For a partial list of foods and beverages containing Splenda, please visit our website: RapidWeightLossExpert.com

The Skinny on Fat-Free Creamers

Looking to cut a few calories from your coffee?

Fat-free creamers may not be the way to go.

We all know that whole milk is fattening - but . . . . .

I love Half & Half in my coffee. With that comes 39 calories per ounce. Ouch!

I checked out Fat Free Half & Half and thought, "How can it have no fat if Half & Half is half cream and half milk"? I didn't really like the answer, so I've decided that it's not worth it. Fat Free Half & Half contains skim milk, corn syrup, colorings, trans fats, thickeners and stabilizers - too many chemicals for me - and has 18 calories per ounce. Whole milk has 18 calories per ounce and no chemicals.

Calories per ounce

Whole milk	18
2% milk	15
1% milk	13
Skim milk	11
Half & Half	39

Fat-Free Non Dairy Creamers average about 20 calories per ounce for unflavored and 30 calories per ounce for flavored. The amount of chemicals is staggering - all of which the FDA has put on the GRAS list. (Generally regarded as safe) The FDA may feel that they are generally safe to consume, but I prefer to limit the amount of chemicals I eat. So, all these chemicals may reduce or eliminate the fat but sugars are added, which of course, store as fat. Nice Trick!

Before you choose a creamer based on the pretty label, read the ingredients. You may want to keep it simple and choose a milk product with no chemicals and additives.

For low-calorie recipes and more information, please visit RapidWeightLossExpert.com

Eating on Auto-Pilot

Do you pass a bowl of candy and take one or two?

Do you finish the food on your child's plate?

Do you pick up a prepackaged something when you get the newspaper?

Do you munch on pretzels while you watch TV?

Do you need a soda in your cup holder to drive?

All of this is eating on auto-pilot. We're not really hungry, but it's a habit we've gotten into. A lot of it we learned during childhood. Finish your food, other children are starving. It's a sin to waste food. If you don't eat it, I'll have to throw it away. Let's get some snacks and watch TV together. Let's stop and get a snack for the road.

Unfortunately, these habits continue into adulthood and we pass them onto our children.

If there is food left on the plate - throw it away. Do yourself and your children a favor. If you don't eat more than you need, you actually save money. You don't need to pay for diets, exercise equipment, gym memberships, larger clothes, etc. You also learn to put less on your plate.

Get the paper delivered. Stay out of the convenience stores! It's too easy to pick things up there. You don't need coffee, soda or a snack to drive - you need a car key!

Snacking while watching TV is so ingrained in us that it is hard to change. Instead of grabbing pretzels or other bagged snacks - make your own. Air-popped popcorn with a teaspoon of Parmesan cheese is a great alternative. Make your own flavored water - add a lemon, lime or orange slice.

Take your diet off auto-pilot and start enjoying what you eat!

A Food Diary Will Help You Lose Weight!

How can a food diary help you lose weight?

It seems like a lot of work and nobody wants to share their diary with anyone else.

There are a lot of free downloadable food diaries on the net but all you really need is a pen and a notebook. Some diaries get very involved asking the day and date, what time you eat and drink, what you eat and drink, how much you eat and drink, how many calories, how much fat, protein, carbohydrates, etc, how did you feel when you ate or drank, where were you when you ate and drank, and on and on and on.

A simple diary is just the date and day of the week, approximate time and place, how much of what you eat and drink. List everything - even water. At the end of each day, look it over and see where your calories are coming from and how much water you drink. Water is extremely important - it helps flush impurities from our bodies and hydrates our organs so that they can function better.

At the end of the week, look over the whole week. Start to make changes such as - I'll carry snacks with me instead of grabbing anything because I'm hungry. I'll only have one mocha frappacino instead of three each day. I'll carry my own lo-cal salad dressing instead of using the high calorie dressing at the diner.

Even small changes make a difference. Of course, eating at home with less processed foods is a good idea. Low calorie, low fat recipes can be found at RapidWeightLossExpert.com.

And you don't have to show your diary to anyone - just be honest with yourself!

Does a Low Fat, Low Carb Diet Work?

Does a Low Fat, Low Carb Diet Work?

Maybe. It depends.

In theory, it works. In reality, not usually.

Why?

Many of us don’t know how many calories we burn each day during our normal routine. To find out approximately how many calories you burn, please visit the Energy Calculator. This information will give you an idea of how many calories you should be eating to gain, maintain or lose weight.

Very often we underestimate the calories in our food and drinks.

Yes, drinks have calories.

We don’t count the calories in salad dressings, snacks, oils used for cooking, butter on the bread, and so on.

For this exercise, let’s assume that you consume 2,000 calories a day and burn 2,000 calories a day. You maintain weight. If you burn more than 2,000 calories but eat 2,000 calories, you will lose weight. You must burn an extra 3,500 calories for each pound you want to lose.

The kinds of calories you eat really matters.

An average of 30% of our calories should come from fats, 15% from proteins and 55% from carbs. Less than 10% of our fats should be from unsaturated fats except for omega-3 fish oils.

Each gram of fat is 9 calories, each gram of protein is 4 calories and each gram of carbohydrates is 4 calories.

A 2,000 calorie a day diet should be 600 calories from fat, 300 from protein, 1100 from carbs.

Based on my recipe for Stovetop Chicken and Rice at 265 calories per serving, there will be 54 calories from fat in the recipe.

Fats, carbohydrates and proteins are all necessary for the body to function properly. Cutting out or severely limiting one group is not healthy.

The best way to lose weight would be to eat less calories but keep the percentages intact and exercise.

For more information please visit our website: RapidWeightLossExpert.com

Can Stress Make You Fat? YES!!!!

Now more than ever, we are under constant stress – things to do at home, children, work. We worry about our jobs, the economy and paying the bills. You would think that we would worry ourselves thin but that doesn’t happen. We decide to eat better and get some exercise but we don’t lose weight and may even gain more.

What’s going on?

One reason is stress. Cortisol is the body’s natural stress hormone. When we're under stress, our body’s produce this hormone to help us deal with it. Cortisol regulates blood pressure and insulin levels, regulates the way carbohydrates are metabolized, and temporarily increases energy, immune response and memory. BUT, too much Cortisol is harmful to our body.

Too much Cortisol weakens our bones and muscles, decreases immune response, slows cell regeneration, hinders digestion, slows metabolism, causes stomach disorders and weight gain - especially around the abdomen.

Stress can also cause nervous energy and emotional eating. We start looking for snacks and fast foods. We crave sugars, salts and fats. Ice cream sundae or yogurt? Chocolate or fruit? We make bad food choices when we are stressed. The foods we choose are typically not good for us and we may even eat more than we normally would.

Because we are trying desperately to juggle everything, we don’t find time to exercise. We’re exhausted. We’re couch potatoes. We lead sedentary lives. We sit in our cars, we sit at work, and we sit at home. We don’t burn off the calories and we don’t strengthen and tone our muscles.

What can we do about stress?

1. Relax

Sounds easy, doesn’t it. Learn some relaxation techniques. Deep breathing, yoga, biofeedback, music, meditation, hot bath and laughter are good for you. If you are stuck in traffic, instead of banging the steering wheel, put on some music that makes you happy, notice what’s around you or breathe deeply.

2. Exercise

Simple yoga, stretching, rebounding, walking, dancing – just move. You will find that these exercises will not only tone your body and burn calories, but will help you sleep better.

3. Restful sleep

When you finally lay yourself down, don’t go over everything that went wrong that day or go over the list of things to do tomorrow. Breathe deeply, stretch and let the day go.

4. Diet

Plan healthy snacks and keep them available. Eat at home. Try out new recipes that include low fat and high fiber. Sit at the table to eat.

And sometimes you just need to UNPLUG.

Turn off the cell phone, computer and TV.

Visit our website at: RapidWeightLossExpert.com.

Is the Nutritional Information Provided by Restaurants Accurate?

I thought about this when I was adding some nutritional information for restaurants to our website: RapidWeightLossExpert.com, so I had to do some research.

The nutritional information provided by restaurants is somewhat accurate. The information provided by fast food chains is usually more accurate that sit down restaurants.

How can this be?

Fast food chains strictly control the portion sizes of the foods they sell. Most of the menu items are pre-packaged into serving sizes. When dining at a sit down restaurant, the portion size and even the preparation of menu items is not pre-packaged, therefore, the portion may be larger or there may be more calories added in preparation through oil, butter, etc.

Many of the fast food chain menu items are within 10% of the stated information. This means that a menu item stating 100 calories may actually be 90 to 110 calories. Some of the items on those menus may be grossly underestimated. A little common sense will help you choose. A double bacon cheese burger with blue cheese and mayonnaise isn’t really 500 calories.

So, what’s the point of posting the Nutritional Information?

Well, it’s required by law to help the consumer make good choices. Use the information as a guideline when choosing from the menu. Understand that the information may be wrong. There may be 10% or more calories in those foods than is on the Nutritional Chart. While there are occasionally less calories, I wouldn’t count on it.

Also, the FDA allows food manufacturers a 20% margin of error in determining the accuracy of nutritional information found on the product label of food we buy at the supermarket.

http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocuments/FoodLabelingNutrition/ucm063113.htm