It’s this
time of year I hear many people talk about those healthy resolutions they’re
embarking for the next 12 months. For most people, they’re asking of themselves
major tasks that set them up to fail.
I’m luckily already pretty healthy, at my ideal weight, I don’t drink soda or juices, I cut wheat years ago and I already work out regularly. That being said, I have two things that I always have to focus on to make sure I keep myself as I exist today: Wheat and fructose.
Neither wheat nor sugar is our friend. Wheat has been proven to do a number of things to our body, from inflammation to stomach problems that can both lead to major medical issues. Fructose, likewise, causes more damage than we probably know. If you’re constantly sick or have a lower immune system, sugar is possibly propelling your illness. Fructose also may be making you crave more food in general and more sugary items, neither of which can lead to much good.
Wheat Replacements
Let’s take wheat first and look at how I’ll be trimming that from my diet. I’ve been gluten-free for the majority of the past three years. I do fall off the wagon, and I do just get back on the next day. Beer has historically been my wheat weakness – agghh.
How I trim wheat from my diet:
- I eat (and love!) Ezekiel bread. It’s healthy, a sprouted grain, and so filling one slice of this bread with a bit of almond butter is my typical breakfast.
- Sweet potato chips are also one of my staples instead of potato chips. In keeping with the blood type diet, sweet potatoes are friendly for my system vs. potato; so I also love to eat sweet potato chips. My favorite brand for those is Food Should Taste Good.
- Rice chips are also preferred over corn chips. I don’t do well with a lot of corn in my diet, so switching to rice chips has been a good friend for when I need tortilla chips for my salsa treats.
- Rice pasta is also a new staple instead of pasta derived with wheat. There are lots of good brands for this alternative.
- Quinoa is one of my favorite side dishes. You can do so many things with this whole grain it’s simple and easy to find something you’ll enjoy.
- Sorghum-based beer is what I do when I have a beer craving. I have tested a few varieties and surprisingly, the version from Anheuser-Busch is so far my winner.
Trimming sugar, for me, is more about eating natural foods and staying away from anything processed, like things that come in boxes and pre packaged. Ways I plan to make sure less sugar is coming into my world for 2013 is to stick to some of these stapes:
- Fresh fruits and vegetables and mainly either raw or roasted. Yes, I know fruit is full of sugar, but I’m viewing this as natural and not the processed kind, so I’m going with it. Bananas and apples are my raw staples here; sweet potatoes, zucchini and carrots are my roasted favorites.
- When I have a chocolate crave a nice spot of dark chocolate typically works. Dark chocolate has less sugar and is better for you than other versions of chocolate.
- Making sure I drink lots of water is actually one way I’m trimming sugar. This probably sounds odd, but for me, when I crave something sugary I’m finding I’m really just dehydrated or thirsty and it’s not really for want of candy.
