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Torte di Chocolate - 232 calories and sugar free |
Health research regarding simple carbohydrates is just too convincing for me to ignore. As a result, I’ve been on many low or reduced carb diets in the past and still try to limit my simple sugar intake. Since eating low-carb is not always easy I’ve had a lot of processed low-carb foods and snacks.
One component common to the vast majority of processed low-carb snacks and desserts are something called sugar alcohols. Most low-carb snacks have a disclaimer about them like “sugar alcohols do not contribute to blood sugar levels” and then omit them from the total carbohydrate count along with fiber. “Hmm, what?!” Sugar alcohols are puzzling to me. What exactly are they? How do our bodies use them? And are they dangerous?
I did thirty minutes of research and this post will relay the essentials of what I learned.
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Pre-order I Can Make You Thin and receive 5% off
The first episode of I Can Make You Thin aired last night on TLC here in the US. The program was popular in the UK although it’s hard to discern how popular due to marketing hype. I was excited about watching it. Beforehand, I didn’t think it would necessarily help me lose weight but I thought it was a great idea and could help a lot of overweight people.
The two hardest parts of eating healthier are focus and motivation. My hope was that this show would give some no-nonsense direction and weekly motivation to people. And although I disagree with some of what was promoted during the program I think it did these two things well.
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Before Lost on Thursday night I tried to make a somewhat-healthy protein no-bake cookie. It didn’t turn out that great but not too bad.
I made 12 and each have something like 120 calories, 8 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber, and 5 grams of sugar. I can’t remember how much fat or remaining carbohydrates but it’s all from oatmeal, all-natural peanut butter, and Smart Balance butter so it’s at least of a good variety.
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“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” - Thomas Edison
If you’re brave enough to regularly set challenging diet and fitness goals for yourself you’re bound to fail at some point. Despite your best efforts you missed your 5K time, your monthly weight loss goal, or your cholesterol level goal.
How people deal with failure is a key difference that distinguishes the successful from the unsuccessful. A lot of people experience a feeling of “I’ll never get it right”, “It is not possible!”, or “It’s not fair!”. A feeling of no control clouds the mind.
I always feel this way initially. I have to give myself some time to wallow in self pity then shake myself and try to take something positive out of the situation. The past is over and the future hasn’t happened, what are you going to do right this moment to mold your future?
In this post I’ll summarize three actions I take whenever I fail that might work for you. These recommendations are clearly not confined to fitness goals and failures, I use them whenever I miss the mark. You should write your responses down and carry them out as systematically as possible — hit the Stand By button on your emotions.
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Everything you do gets you closer or farther from where you want to be.
Nothing is neutral. You are either getting better or you are getting worse. Everything you think, say, and do moves you toward or away from your goal. And taking care of the small things can lead to greater confidence and willpower to achieve your goal.
One of my favorite authors, Larry Winget, put it perfectly:
“When you stop letting things slide and start taking advantage of every moment amazing things happen.”
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There is a very interesting article over on the fantastic GetFitSlowly.com today.
It summarizes a study that looked at 6,000 successful dieters who lost on average 70 pounds and kept it off six years. It’s the only large scale study of it’s kind and I think we can learn a lot from it.
From getfitslowly.com:
The study has identified seven elements that characterize the diet and exercise of these “losers”:
- They eat a low-calorie diet.
- They eat a consistent diet from day-to-day.
- They eat breakfast.
- They’re very physically active.
- They weigh themselves frequently.
- They watch only a limited amount of television.
- They don’t let a small weight gain become any bigger.
Basic stuff but it’s the opposite of what a lot of people promote for weight loss. (more…)
“All men by nature desire knowledge. ”
- Aristotle
It wasn’t until recently that I really grasped what happens to each macronutrient inside the body. The main reason is that most articles that explain how metabolism work are biased toward a particular diet. Low-carb, low-fat, South Beach, even vegetarians put their own spin on how the body works. I didn’t know what to believe. After some selective Googling and piecing together bits of information from Wikipedia I think I’ve deduced what happens to my dinner.
Monday night we were in a hurry and I ate a Smart Ones Ravioli Florentine as I sat down to watch the new “Little People, Big World” — the one that Matt goes to court for a DUI. It has 250 calories, 5 grams of fat, 11 grams of protein, and 40 grams of carbohydrates — 12 of which were sugar. Some of these will be stored as fat and some will be used by the body but each in a different way.
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I hope to have the space and money for a versatile home gym one day. In the meantime, however, I can only plan what would go in my perfect home gym. This article outlines my ideal home gym in all its simplistic grandiose.
My view on fitness training favors simplicity. I think the general theme should favor utility and stay away from clumsy infomercial equipment.
I plan on updating this list when I change my mind but here it is for now.
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