A new focus for me - Experiment 626.

[TnRobin]

Well guys I am back, but this time I am going to try something new. This time the "Weight" will not be an issue.

In the past, I would suffer internal struggles with myself over image. There is the person that I wanted to be so I could be "Socially Acceptable." I was tired of being a 2nd class citizen because I was not a size 5. But then there was the struggle of being angry over caring about what strangers think. How much I weigh does not change the person I am. My true friends will loved me regardless of my weight. I have come to accept myself for the person that am I. God loves me for who I am - not what I look like.

Now with that behind me, I have to look inside, rather than on the outside. Are my insides pretty. Am I healthy. I don't have high blood pressure. My cholestoral is acceptable. So I could argue (and have) that weight really has nothing to do with health. But this I do know - I don't have the energy that I use to. I can't do the things I use to do.

Thus after all that tirade, my decision is to shift focus on my eating habits from one of "looking good" to "feeling good." I am not going to do another "diet." I am going to try to remove all non-food items from my diet. I believe that eating all this bio-chemical poly-synthesize food supplements have cause much of my woes. By eliminating two things from my diet, I really believe I can make an change in how I feel. These two things are Partially Hydrogenated Oils and High Fructose Corn Syrup. Most people recognize the PHO as Trans Fat. Also you Atkins people will recognize HFCS for its wonderful ability to be converted to glucose more rapidly than sugar.

This task is not going to be easy as these two products are in almost all processed food in some form. But there in lies where I believe my endevors will pay off. I will have to be in control of what goes into my mouth and not rely on what some corporation has decided what should go in my mouth based on its cost structure and current marketing ploys. The things that should go in my mouth are those things that were intended to nurish me, not some poly-synthesize item that was meant to replace a needed nutrient.

I don't say that people should do this. This is just what I am going to try. It is my experiement 626, I guess. I will let you know how it goes.

 

[Princess Michelle]

Darn, I thought this was going to be a thread about Stitch!

Good luck to you Robin! I think your new outlook is a wonderful one.

 

[SetzKitten]

These two things are Partially Hydrogenated Oils and High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Good luck to you. These two ingredients are in EVERYTHING. We make a conscious effort to avoid all foods that have them, which means avoiding almost everything that is prepackaged. I cook all the time, bake bread from scratch and make all desserts at home. I don't think we've had prepackaged anything in the house for years. If you stick to this, you really will feel the difference. PM me if you want to know what brands I do buy.

 

[TnRobin]

One thing I have been told, but haven't read the label yet is that Lays Classic Chip (and only Classic Chips) have no Partially Hydrogentated Oil. All other potato chips are loaded with this. Also you will not believe all the stuff that has the High Fructose Corn Syrup - My yogurt has this stuff and my whole wheat bread.

I have also found that McDonalds' website will tell what has this stuff and what doesn't - Buns, English Muffins, Crackers, are no-no. But the bagel are okay. I am pleased to see that the Paul Newman Dressing are PHO and HFCS free - except the Cobb Dressing.

I

 

[SetzKitten]

For cereal, we buy Life or Frosted Mini-wheats, anything made by Kashi is delicious (cereal, crackers), Breyers ice cream is good, too. I buy Nature's Own bread when I don't make my own, sometimes Eziekel's. Delmonte ketchup is the only one I've found without HFCS, and Annie's barbeque sauce. On the rare occasion that we drink soda, we get the Wild Oat's brand. It's not too expensive and it has no HFCS. Other than these few products, we cook from scratch.

 

[TnRobin]

Thanks for the info on Nature's Own - that was a big concern of mine. I am not sure I could make sandwich bread on my own. Also we just had a Wild Oats megastore open in our city. I think that will help.

 

[MelanieC]

Hi Robin,

Welcome back! That sounds like a very smart way to approach a healthy living WOL!

I also try to not eat anything with Hydrogenated Oils in them. Luckily it's much easier to do now, than it was years ago. So many items now are made without it and unnatural products. I try to buy as many "all natural" products as I can. You would be amazed at what alternatives there are out there. I love to shop at Whole foods, and wish there were more stores like this.

More and more chips are being made without hydrogenated oils. You have to look at the packages. Lay's makes a whole like of Natural chips and most of the Lays that are not called Naturals are becoming all naturals. The scoop chips are now all natural.
If you see something that is all-natural it will not have hydrogenated oils in it.