Fruit Vs Candy

If you knew me, you would know that I have a major sweet tooth. I love sweets of all kinds: chocolates, suckers, mints, hard candy, cookies, cake, cupcakes and so on! As I get older, I feel my body changing in subtle ways. Recently however, I put on a pair of jeans and realized I no longer fit them comfortably. This had me wondering what I was doing wrong. I work out often, eat fairly healthy and drink plenty of water. Then it occurred to me, I was consuming way too much sugar in my diet. So, I started to research the effects of sugar and I learned something new. Sugar isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's what kind of sugar you're digesting. A lot of times, I will go for the candy before the fruit. The last month or two, I have been limiting the amounts of "bad" sugar in my diet. I've swopped my choices and I have noticed a huge difference. Here's why:

Almost all foods can be part of a healthy lifestyle. That is, if you eat them in recommended amounts. Sugars are classified as a carbohydrate. They can be recognized as lactose, fructose and sucrose. The one you want to stay away from is the sucrose. What happens when you eat any type sugar? Your body absorbs it in the blood stream right away. Your body then releases insulin which transports these sugars out of your bloodstream and into your tissues. This is where the sugar is stored as fat and can cause weight gain. White sugar is the most widely used sugar and is added into a lot of the packaged foods we already eat on a daily basis. Most foods with refined sugars are white bread, white rice, white anything. A can of soda/pop alone holds about 8 tsp of sugar. You can imagine then how much sugar is in candy, chocolates, cakes, cookies and cupcakes. The thing is, if you eat the right kind of sugar you have nothing to worry about. If thats not all you're eating!

I've learned to choose fresh fruit for snacks and desserts instead of processed, high-sugar foods. I limit the amount of white sugar I might add to my coffee, cereal or other foods. I choose sugar-free varieties of soft drinks, but limit how much I drink. Water is still the best choice for beverages. I also learned to pay attention to labels on foods I buy at the grocery store and make sure to watch out for how much sugar is added. You would be surprised! Organic food is the safest, but also a lot more expensive. Most importantly, I realized I have to add protein to every meal. This actually burns more calories and helps stabilize your blood sugar.

Anyways, I thought this was interesting and very informative. Now I feel more aware of what I allow myself to snack on, cook or bake. Hope this is helpful and gets you on a more healthier direction as it did for me!

xoxo