Viewing: Tips, Tricks, Info & News

Peter Jennings Reporting: How to Get Fat Without Really Trying (video)

The following show is 43 minutes long. Peter Jennings investigates America’s obesity epidemic. It’s a wonder how some of the people interviewed in this video can sleep at night!

This video contains a big picture overview of the food and agriculture industry. It also features Rick Berman from the Center for Consumer Freedom. He’s been mentioned before on the SBS blog here and here.

Posted on Feb 23, 2010 : Comments: (0)

It Doesn’t Go Away, But You Can Handle It

I went to a workshop yesterday. It was held at the host’s house, in the living room. As a courtesy, there was tea, coffee, and cookies in the dining room. They had several types of sweeteners for the tea including honey, brown sugar, agave syrup, and Stevia powder. There was also a plate with peanut butter Girl Scout cookies sitting just beside the teapot. And I wanted some.

Every time I went past the dining room I noticed the cookies. There were eight (I think) to begin and I watched them slowly dwindle down to one. I took the last one, gave it to Gwenn, and vicariously enjoyed it through her.

After being off sugar for a long time you will know better than to “just have one” because one turns into one more the next day. And then two the day after that. And then it’s all over!

So while your sweet cravings never completely go away, they certainly diminish and often remain dormant. When they do come out they’re not as strong as when you’re whole body craves sugar and it’s easy to stay on track.

One bite at a time.

Posted on Feb 22, 2010 : Comments: (1)

Aspartame Is Now AminoSweet

You might know Aspartame as Equal, NutraSweet, Canderel, Spoonful, and Equal-Measure. But you might not know that it has been rebranded as AminoSweet.

There are many controversies over the safety of Aspartame and if you check the AminoSweet link above you will see that they find the need to defend their product on their website. In fact, it almost seems their whole marketing relies on the defense of Aspartame. In the FAQ section it says:

What is the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) for AminoSweet?
The average daily intake that is acceptable for aspartame has been set at 40mg per kg of bodyweight.

Do what you want, but I am going to continue to avoid all of these artificial sweeteners!

Check out the following links:

How Aspartame Became Legal - The Timeline

Aspartame rebranded as ‘AminoSweet’

Posted on Feb 16, 2010 : Comments: (0)

Dr. Oz Break Your Sugar Addiction Sham

     

 
This bit makes for good television but it will not work. It takes 5 minutes for Dr. Oz to explain how to get off sugar in just four weeks! From the advice he gives, I can tell he’s never struggled with chronic sugar consumption/addiction. First of all, he advises Charmel (spelling?) to “be smart about it” and to go ahead and add a one teaspoon of sugar to her morning cereal during her first week. During the first week you should not be adding sugar to anything! He also labels the first week “detox week”. It should be called detox month.

He goes on to week two and explains that she should eliminate hidden sugar from her house. (My guess is that she’s gonna need to throw out half of her kitchen.) What is she supposed to eat during that time?

Week three is supposedly where it “gets fun.” NOT! He waits three weeks to begin introducing alternative sweeteners. He introduces Agave and Stevia which he says is not the same as sugar, it’s just a replacement. And then suddenly you’re into week four.

Week four is the last week in his 28 day program. This is the week where you, “take your taste buds and trick them a little bit.” He then asks how many sugars Charmel puts in her coffee. She says, “five.” He’s stunned! Stunned? He then advises her to replace sugary tastes with spicy tastes and says, “...that might be enough.”

Finally he holds her hand and confides that she is possibly his most challenging subject and that she is teaching her son to eat sugar as well. He also makes her feel GUILTY about it!

This makes me angry. Why? Because he’s setting her up to fail! What is she supposed to eat during week two after she threw out everything in her kitchen? How about for the next two weeks? Why does he make her feel bad about it? She already feels badly enough and now he’s outing her on national television and making her feel ashamed. Bad move.

Here’s my prediction. Four weeks will pass and Charmel will be magically “cured” of her sugar addiction. She’ll claim she did well. They’ll have video updates showing her doing the steps. She’ll say it was hard but she made it happen. The audience will clap and they’ll all think they can do it as well. Then reality will set in for her and the television viewers. They won’t be able to sustain it.

I don’t meant to be all gloom and doom, but when has this kind of thing ever worked? Four weeks to mad riches! Four weeks to massive weight loss! Just four weeks to gain confidence and reduce awkwardness!

It doesn’t happen like that. Don’t believe Dr. Oz. It’s not that Charmel can’t do well in four weeks. It’s that as simple as the plan is, it is flawed and unsustainable. Getting off sugar takes time and skill. Sugar-free eating is a skill that you are either taught or that you have to teach yourself. As with any skill, a four week program gives you a clue as to how to pursue a sense of mastery in that discipline. I’d say eating a sugar-free diet is as difficult as going vegetarian. It’s as tricky as learning how to cook foreign cuisine 365 days a year. It’s like training for a marathon or a boxing match. Four weeks just ain’t enough.

Remember: Not eating sugar is a skill that requires practice. 

Charmel’s best bet for getting off sugar is if she repeats the prescribed four week cycle for an entire year. Television does’t have the time for that but thank goodness we in the real world do.

Posted on Jan 28, 2010 : Comments: (11)

High-Fructose Corn Syrup Video

This video addresses High Fructose Corn Syrup and makes mention of the HFCS commercials.

Posted on Jan 15, 2010 : Comments: (2)

Sugar: The Bitter Truth Video

My friend Mary referred me to the following video. It is a talk by Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology. He argues that too much fructose and not enough fiber is a cause for concern. He discusses obesity, Gatorade, and hypertension. He explains the history of cheap foods, why exercise is important, how natural fructose always appears with fiber in nature, why six month olds are getting fat, and also addresses an alcohol/sugar connection.

Posted on Jan 13, 2010 : Comments: (0)

Physically Addictive Foods Video

Neal Barnard MD discusses the science behind food addictions. There’s a lot of information in this video and it leans toward promoting a non-animal food diet. No matter how you feel about eating animals, this video has lots of food and health information worth hearing about.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Posted on Jan 06, 2010 : Comments: (0)

SBS News and Goals for 2010

Happy New Year! There is so much to tell you. Here it is…

The Forum Is Back!

There was a forum on the site back in 2007/2008. It’s now back and working once again! Registration is free. When you login you will be logged in site-wide. That means you won’t have to enter in your name and email address when you comment on a post! You can add topics in the forum as well as write to other members to discuss anything you want. You can also make a profile. Your email is not visible to anyone. My hope is that we can all communicate to share knowledge, ideas, links and resources.

Dietary Goals for 2010

Meat

I have never been a big meat eater. I’ve always considered myself “almost a vegetarian” except that, you know, I ate chicken and sometimes had a hot dog or hamburger. Mostly I didn’t commit to not eating meat because I wanted to be free to eat whatever I want. And I am free to choose. However, after having done lots of research this year into where my food is coming from, I decided to try a no-meat diet for one year and see how it feels. This is my choice based on the things I’ve learned.

Gwenn and I rarely go out to eat. For some reason though, we found ourselves out more this year than in years past. One thing we noticed was that restaurant food is super-salty, especially at places that specialize in drinks. Another thing we noticed was how lousy we’d feel after eating meat (while out). This happened to us so many times, in fact, that we figured it was something to do with how the restaurants were cooking it. So we stopped ordering meat. Then we noticed the same thing at home and so we started to remove the meat from our food there as well. We always felt better after a meatless meal.

Bread

I still eat bread. However, in 2010, I am only going to eat Dave’s Killer Bread: Powerseed (sweetened with fruit juice) or Vita Bee bread (sweetened with honey and available at Fred Meyer). I will avoid all other breads. Until now, I’ve eaten bagels from time-to-time and white bread such as French or Italian dinner breads. At home it will be nothing but Powerseed and/or Vita Bee and out I’ll avoid bread when possible.

Without meat and white bread, I will not be going out for hamburgers in 2010. It wasn’t something I did all the time, but I definitely ate a few in 2009. Thing is, I’d always get fries to go with it and of course that included some Ketchup. Ketchup contains High Fructose Corn Syrup and I justified eating it by saying it was just a little bit. Hmmm…

Since 2005 I have managed to cut out all of my trigger foods and reduce sweets to only natural or specialty foods. Still, I’d go out for a burger here or there. (How can that be? Because I stopped being sweet instead of attempting to quit sugar forever. To stop being sweet is not an all or nothing kind of thing. It has taken me several years to be in a place where I can give up even more “comfort foods” and attempt a more challenging diet.) I can finally admit to myself that I was after the sugar in the meat, bun, fries, and Ketchup.

Goodbye Sweet Meat

On New Year’s Eve, Gwenn and I went out to eat. She got a chicken burger and I ordered a cheeseburger. (She’s going vegetarian as well. Doing it together certainly makes it easier!) We both felt really full afterwards. Thirsty too. This is going to be a challenging year!

Eating smeat

I Hope This Site Helps You

StopBeingSweet.com was created to help keep me honest while I attempted to quit sugar for a year. People offered such positive feedback that I wrote a book. Book sales help to offset some of the time I put into this site. My goal is more to help people who are addicted to sugar and have no idea how to stop eat junk food than it is to take on the role of “Sugar Police” or “Mr. Anti-Sugar.” I don’t go around smacking cookies from people’s mouths.

If you are going to stop being sweet this year, remember that eating healthy is a skill, a full-time pursuit, and something that you get better at by practicing. You’ll make mistakes and you might even mess up really badly, but you can always start again and get right back on track. Since it’s the first week of a new year, now is a great time to make a resolution. Best of luck to you in 2010, whatever your endeavors!

Posted on Jan 04, 2010 : Comments: (5)

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