A huge advantage to losing 35 pounds and being dead-on the “ideal” weight for my age and size is that I can eat bread again. Not that avoiding it did any good for as I fastidiously avoided any starchy carb I watched my weight steadily climb from 175 to 200 over a 5-year period. I was running and exercising as well, yet still my girth grew.
And now I know why: Diet Coke, or more precisely ANYTHING with Nutrasweet (Aspartame) or Splenda (Sucralose). You can see a photo of me from that period and note the “aspartame puff” as I call it. I attribute much of my weight loss from this elimination of all diet drinks. These artificial sweeteners make you GAIN weight by slowing your metabolism and reducing your brain’s secretion of seratonin.
PLEASE, for YOUR health, and anyone you care about—QUIT ALL DIET DRINKS AND Aspartame and Sucralose specifically. They also affect your neurology, decrease your energy level, create learning disorders for youth and cause cancer. [Please refer to my blog article for a detailed history of aspartame
http://peacecow.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_peacecow_archive.html].
I went cold turkey on not only aspartame, but also all meats—chicken, beef, pork (I still eat fish, but very sparingly)—and anything with hydrogenated oils, like basic peanut butter, margarine, crackers AND I limited my total calories to under 2000 a day.
I re-discovered whole, natural foods like nuts and grains and veggies and fruits as well as new-fangled choices like soy bologna, vegenaise, tempeh and tofu. And I mustered up all the courage I could to actually buy…BREAD! Wow—I was really living on the edge now—whole loaves of BREAD, on my counter and in my fridge.
Now I don’t get ordinary bread. Whole wheat, or spelt only. And I bought a new toaster, a spiffy Cuisinart 2-slot toaster--$39.99, with a digital dial, I couldn’t wait to have my first toast in many a year.
But it was quite by accident that I discovered the IDEAL toast, which for me is crunchy and nearly black. It was night and I was hungry so I plopped a couple of slices in and set it at level 8. But I fell asleep. So the next morning I saw the toast and instead of throwing it away I wondered what would happen if I re-toasted it at a lower setting, 2. Now I always keep a couple of slices "in the holster" ready for the second go-round.
Wow—that wonderful browned-bread aroma filled the house; only freshly ground Starbucks coffee smells better than that! The toast was perfect. I eat one slice at a time, slathered thickly with vegenaise, mustard and the soy bologna—my newest, bestest buddy!
And now I know why: Diet Coke, or more precisely ANYTHING with Nutrasweet (Aspartame) or Splenda (Sucralose). You can see a photo of me from that period and note the “aspartame puff” as I call it. I attribute much of my weight loss from this elimination of all diet drinks. These artificial sweeteners make you GAIN weight by slowing your metabolism and reducing your brain’s secretion of seratonin.
PLEASE, for YOUR health, and anyone you care about—QUIT ALL DIET DRINKS AND Aspartame and Sucralose specifically. They also affect your neurology, decrease your energy level, create learning disorders for youth and cause cancer. [Please refer to my blog article for a detailed history of aspartame
http://peacecow.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_peacecow_archive.html].
I went cold turkey on not only aspartame, but also all meats—chicken, beef, pork (I still eat fish, but very sparingly)—and anything with hydrogenated oils, like basic peanut butter, margarine, crackers AND I limited my total calories to under 2000 a day.
I re-discovered whole, natural foods like nuts and grains and veggies and fruits as well as new-fangled choices like soy bologna, vegenaise, tempeh and tofu. And I mustered up all the courage I could to actually buy…BREAD! Wow—I was really living on the edge now—whole loaves of BREAD, on my counter and in my fridge.
Now I don’t get ordinary bread. Whole wheat, or spelt only. And I bought a new toaster, a spiffy Cuisinart 2-slot toaster--$39.99, with a digital dial, I couldn’t wait to have my first toast in many a year.
But it was quite by accident that I discovered the IDEAL toast, which for me is crunchy and nearly black. It was night and I was hungry so I plopped a couple of slices in and set it at level 8. But I fell asleep. So the next morning I saw the toast and instead of throwing it away I wondered what would happen if I re-toasted it at a lower setting, 2. Now I always keep a couple of slices "in the holster" ready for the second go-round.
Wow—that wonderful browned-bread aroma filled the house; only freshly ground Starbucks coffee smells better than that! The toast was perfect. I eat one slice at a time, slathered thickly with vegenaise, mustard and the soy bologna—my newest, bestest buddy!
Crunch, crunch, crunch…ah-h-h-h!
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