High Fructose Corn Syrup

High Fructose Corn Syrup is in a lot of foods on the shelves. It is even in things you don't think of as being sweet to the taste. Start reading the ingredients listed on food labels and you will be surprised. A lot of breads have it.

You On a Diet recommends staying away from foods with high fructose corn syrup. The theory is that consuming high fructose corn syrup shuts off the hormones produced by your body to tell itself when it is full. You end up eating more and I think it is also highly addictive.

A lot of companies in the food industry are taking notice. In fact, many have switched back to regular sugar. You can find packaging on some foods that advertise, "No High Fructose Corn Syrup." Many soda companies are making their soda out of cane sugar again. I have heard of new diet trends that are taking notice as well.

Of course there is some controversy. There always is, isn't there? You can understand that corn refiners are not happy about the new trend and bad wrap. In fact there is a movement to change the name from High Fructose Corn Syrup to Corn Sugar. Check out this article that was published in September. Who knew there was a Corn Refiners Association???

The truth is, replacing corn syrup with regular sugar is still SUGAR. We all know that people who have diets high in sugar are at a higher risk for developing diabetes. I choose to stay away from products with high fructose corn syrup because for me it is addictive. In general, R and I have reduced the amount of any type of sugar we consume.

I recommend reading this article by the authors of You On a Diet. It gives a good scientific explanation for how high fructose corn syrup interferes with your body and its processes. I also encourage you to read ingredients on food labels. Let me know what foods you come across that you're surprised to find out have high fructose corn syrup. In fact, go read your ketchup label.

I Have a New Addiction

October 4th is the anniversary of R and I deciding to change our eating habits. The first week was not so bad. R and I were very determined and driven to make a change. The second week found us wanting all the wrong foods we were used to eating, but we persevered and met our weight loss goals.

Throughout the last year I have eaten things like popcorn, veggie chips, granola bars, and trail mix to curb my desire for crunchy snacks. When I did eat chips, it was always the baked kind. Frankly, I think baked chips are boring and have no taste.

Many times I have passed by HEB's Multigrain Baked Pita Chips and thought, "I wonder if I could eat those?" The answer is, "YES!" R and I bought them for the first time a couple of weekends ago to take to a football viewing party. They were a huge hit! They taste wonderful and they are pretty healthy too.

The key to eating these chips is portion control, because you will want to eat the whole bag. I try to put a serving size in a ziploc bag and take only that amount to work for lunch or snacks. They are pretty filling and they have less sodium than most pita chips you find at the store. They're also cholesterol free and have zero grams of saturated fat.

Goodbye baked chips! I have found HEB's Multigrain Baked Pita Chips!!!

Shrimp = Low Fat + High Protein

Since changing our diets in October 2009, R and I have learned that foods low in fat, but high in protein keep you full longer. It takes your body longer to breakdown proteins than carbs. Seafood is generally high in protein and low in fat. I used to think of beef when it came to protein, but now I think of seafood.

We recently purchased frozen cooked shrimp from HEB. The fact that the shrimp is already cleaned and cooked makes it easy to use. All you really have to do is heat it up and add it to any dish. The taste is excellent as well.

The other night R made soup with brown rice, black beans, low sodium chicken stock, onions, bell peppers, garlic and SHRIMP. It was wonderful and I can't wait to eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

While he was out of town last week, I came up with my own little shrimp dish. In a skillet with a little olive oil, I cooked some onions, garlic, red bell pepper, capers, lemon juice, and SHRIMP. Once ready, I added my skillet creation to some whole wheat pasta. It was wonderful and I had the leftovers from it for lunch as well.

You've probably heard that shrimp in high in cholesterol, which is true, but read this article from livestrong.com. It seems that the benefits of shrimp outweigh its cholesterol levels.

Do you have any good shrimp recipes? If so, please share them on this post. Thanks!

A Great Snack

Our favorite snack right now is Kashi's Heart To Heart CerealOat Flakes & Wild Blueberry Clusters. I usually take about 1 cup to work and eat it around 10:00 am. It tastes great dry and it is one of the cheaper cereals that Kashi makes.

I typically eat the same breakfast every morning: whole wheat toast with natural peanut butter and honey and a glass of fortified OJ. However on Saturday mornings, I like to eat Heart To Heart CerealOat Flakes & Wild Blueberry Clusters with almond milk and banana slices. This makes a great breakfast before our Saturday morning jog.

We're on a blueberry kick at our house right now. HEB has some great fresh blueberries from Canada. They are also good on any bowl of cereal and there packed with vitamins and antioxidants. YUM!

Our Grocery List for One Week

• fruit
• salad
• garlic
• onion
• tomatoes
• cucumbers
• bell peppers
• squash
• zucchini
• shrimp
• bread
• natural peanut butter
• dried cranberries
• Italian seasoning
• Kashi cereal
• Kashi granola bars
• canned black beans - no salt added
• chicken stock - no salt added
• tomato sauce - no salt added
• whole wheat pasta
• stewed tomatoes - no salt added
• Yo-Plus Yogurt
• salsa
• veggie chips
• walnuts
• almond milk
• multi - vitamins

Veggie Wraps

Last night for dinner R and I made Veggie Wraps. Check the calorie count on a just the wrap itself with no filler next time. Even spinach ones can have a pretty high calorie count for a bread product. The other thing to look for is the amount of sodium. You'd be surprised how many milligrams of sodium some bread products have.

We could not find a whole wheat wraps at the store, and settled for the HEB brand 100% Whole Wheat Tortillas instead. The night before, R had made a yummy soup (recipe forthcoming). We split a tortilla to soak up the rest of the soup at the bottom of the bowl so we knew they were pretty good.

Here's what I put in my wrap:

• Mustard
• Mixed Lettuce
• Red Bell Pepper (they were cheaper than green ones this week at the store) :)
• Cucumber
• Tomato
• Red Onion
• Feta

YUM! I love feta! The whole wheat tortilla can be very filling due to the high fiber content and it does have some protein. For a side, we had raspberries, blueberries, and grapes. It was a great summer meal.

10 Tips

1. Plan out your meals and snacks for the week and stick to the plan.


2. If you order an entree from a restaurant that is typically cooked in a sauce, ask for it on the side instead and don't use all of it.


3. Use honey instead of sugar.


4. Use shallots to add flavor.


5. If you use salt, use sea salt sparingly.


6. Use olive oil instead of butter.


7. Lemon adds great flavor instead of salt.


8. Ask for your dressing on the side at restaurants and don't use it all.


9. Go easy on the free bread or chips. Limit yourself and don't just eat them mindlessly.


10. If you must have cheese, use mozzarella made with part skim milk.