#matchstickchallenge

Is it Healthy?

I continually walk aimlessly around grocery stores, pick up a product, read the label and wonder; so, is it healthy? Today I look at a product that I thought was a God sent, the 100 calorie packs.

When the 100 calorie packs of my favorite yet forbidden snacks hit the shelves I was thrilled. Finally I can enjoy Chips Ahoy cookies and for a mere 100 calories. At only a hundred calories it must be healthy right? Maybe not. Last year after adding on a few pounds I started following the Weight Watchers Points Plus system. I have to say I was a fan of this program because it teaches portion control and how to enjoy foods you love in moderation. Anyway, on the system a Nabisco 100 calorie pack of Chips Ahoy cookies was 3 points. I was shocked. How could I have a whole cup of cottage cheese with fruit or a 100 calorie pack for the same amount of “points”? Needless to say I stopped eating these 100 imposters and opted for whole foods. Since then I have focused my diet on more whole foods like fruits and veggies, whole grains, and healthy fats. Let’s look into this 100 calorie mystery.

Stats:

Calories (per pack):100

Fat: 3 g

Saturated Fat: .5

Carbs: 18g

Fiber: less than 1g

Sugar: 7g

Protein: 1g

Ingredients: (not all listed): unbleached enriched flour, sugar, dextrose, soy lecithin, vanillin, artificial flavors

Fooducate also gives it a C-. Although it does not list Trans fat on the label it is suspected that this product does in fact contain trans fat.

Okay so I'm glad I can post this today and I really have been thinking about this one for a while.

So. Is it really healthy?

Special K Cereal Bars Special K Cereal Bars and Special K Cereal are constantly marketed as foods essential for weightloss and specifically marketed at women who want to 'fit in their jeans by the weekend' or whatever. The Special K website says (and I quote) "we’re here to inspire you to live a healthy lifestyle with foods that you can feel really good about". Yeah... Really...

So the calories look great at first glance... 88 calories, that's great! But wait. 9g sugar. Nine grams of sugar. That is 10% of your GDA. For a tiny little bar that weighs like less than a paperclip, that's an awful lot of sugar. I wonder where this sugar comes from? Lets look at the ingredients and find out. Kellogg's Special K Cereal (45%) (Rice, Wheat {Wholewheat, Wheat Flour}, Sugar, Wheat Gluten, Skimmed Milk Powder,Defatted Wheatgerm, Salt, Barley Malt Flavouring, Vitamin C, Niacin, Iron, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin (B2), Thiamin (B1), Folic Acid ,Vitamin B12) So hang on, you call your cereal bar a 'Special K' bar and the bar is less than half 'Special K'!? Oh and the third ingredient is sugar... That must make it sweet. Hang on, nope, more sugar coming up. We also have: Glucose Syrup ,Cranberry Fruit Pieces (12%)(Cranberries, Pineapple Syrup, Pineapple Juice Concentrate) ,Fructose ,Dextrose ,Oh look, more Sugar,Vegetable Oil ,Humectant (Sorbitol, Glycerol) ,Skimmed Milk Powder, Milk Whey Powder ,Flavourings ,Citric Acid ,Calcium Carbonate Isn't that added to oil drilling liquids!? ,Lactose (from Milk) ,Emulsifier (Soy Lecithin) ,Antioxidant (E320)

Long story short: There's a lot of stuff in there that you wouldn't find in your kitchen cupboard.

So what about the alternative?

Keeping on the berry theme we have this amazing 'cereal' bar that I found in the 'healthy' section at Tesco. I say 'cereal' because they don't really contain cereal unless you count oats in that.

Nakd Berry Cheeky Bars Oh these are beautiful! They pride themselves on being real food with 'no curious additives' and they certainly deliver on that one.

Ingredients are: Raw Dates 37%,Oats 26% ,Raw Raisins 12% ,Raw Peanuts 9% ,Apple Juice 8% ,Raw Raspberries 2% ,Raw Almonds 2% ,Raw Walnuts 2% ,Raw Strawberries 2%

That looks pretty damn good to me and all for 100 calories. Only ten more than the Special K bar and WAY more nutritious! Oh and way more satisfying and delicious, I had one today and they are goooood :D

And the moral of this story is:

(we've heard it a billion times) ALWAYS READ THE LABEL

do not trust the packaging

There are a few things that I am trying to improve about myself.

 I'm going to work a being a better cook with a bigger variety of dishes. This is also important because my roommate is going to need a special diet soon and I want to help in in every way I can.

I want to be more proactive when it comes to cleaning, for example, once dinner is done, the dishes go in the dishwasher and not stacked in the sink for days.

+ Read more this year! Shoot for 10 books, ones that will make you think, laugh, cry and smile. I bought a lot of good ones from the book sale at the library this past season, time to pick one up and let the page turning begin!

+ Speaking of smiles, do more of it. Positive thinking and surrounding yourself with people that will always make you do so. Surrounding myself with my boyfriend, my family, my boyfriend's family and all of my lovely friends helping. 

+ Gym-keep on trucking! So many people making the resolution to lose weight, but I don’t want you to think of it like that, I want you to think of it as building a healthier life style so that you can live longer and make many more resolutions of progress in the future. You’ve been going 4-6 times a week since you’ve signed up! Before you know it, you’ll be toned and have hit that goal you set for yourself and your next step will be to maintain and inspire.

+ Friendships, try to rekindle those that are important to you which may have dwindled this past year and there is always room for new ones! Already making plans with old friends to meet up and catch up. I'm also making plans to hang out with some new friends and meet some of their own gang. 

+ Less spending more crafting. Save that money and create things! Work on your sewing, knitting and designing skills. You’ll not only save money for bigger and better things but you’ll have pieces of your own that you’ll be so proud and happy to wear knowing that every thought and stitch that went into it was all you!

+ Adventure more often. We get stuck in day to day routines, especially with a full time job. Take some time, even just on one of your days off and go somewhere. You can turn any trip into an adventure, even if it’s just to a park or Target. Picnics, nature walks, people-watching, rolling around in snow/leaves/sand…any of that for even just a day can make you feel more alive than ever.

+ Rember that Nikon D70s you have? USE IT! I want to start taking more pictures. I was so into photography a few years ago and I have a really nice camera, I need to put it to use. I want to start bringing it everywhere I go. New York on Jan. 20th with Tom is going to be the first of many photo adventures.

+ Keep blogging. Time to go forth and make that fashion blog that people have been encouraging you to do. This will be fun and it’ll also combine with the above resolution.

+Spread love and kindness. Everyone around you is dealing with something in their lives. Spread your love and kindness to all, even those who can’t put their current troubles behind them in order to give another stranger a smile. It could change someone’s entire day. I’ve done this many of times and when people let me know that I’ve done so, it’s the best feeling in the world.

My lifestyle, of course, is not exactly what I want it to be like. So here are a few of the things I'd like to change, to work towards- basically, my goals.

1. I want to get home earlier from school so I have time to work out. Lately, I've been home late and have used it as an excuse to not work out.

2. I want to start taking progress pictures, so I can watch my muscles grow.

3. I want to drink two cups of water each morning as soon as I wake up- I usually don't start drinking water until I get to school.

My goal? Lose 35 lbs by August.

My plan?

1. Keep a food journal (myfitnesspal)

2. Workout 5-6 days / week. Mix of strength and cardio (cardio at least 2ce a week)

3. No soda!

4. Drink water throughout the day.

Time to make some goals.

I really want to improve my running.

Right now I'm working towards running 5k.

To accomplish this I've lengthened my 2k run to a 4k, I'm running/walking it for now.

Once I'm able to run all of it I know that the 5k will be cake.

of things I want to change :

I want to find the wild part of me that I left somewhere ...

I want to stop over thinking that often

I want to stop blaming myself for sometimes being just a human

I want to easily stay away from easy distractions and create my own

I want to push myself more to talk and see people who matter

I want to be more creative

I want to learn how to let go