Okay, I think I have to lower my splenda intake too. This is really hard for me actually - harder than eating right. I love that stuff, I'm a committed splenda user. but I'm REALLY going to try to lower my intake. and not just splenda alone - all those products that have splenda in them - or artificial sweeteners in them - sugar free jello, crystal light, etc.
I don't want to insert chemicals into my body anymore - I'm trying to make a lifestyle change here, and that means losing my dependence on the artificial sweeteners.
It's important to note that it's not JUST about the calories, but it's about what it is you're putting into your body - and although that stuff has zero calories, it ain't good for ya'.
I mean think about it..there has GOT to be something wrong with being able to overindulge with "sugar" to satisfy your sweettooth and have it be CALORIE FREE??? that's some freaky stuff. I don't want that freaky stuff in me.
This going to be hard, but I'm really going to try. I'm just scared of not enjoying things, like my green tea, or my oatmeal..but I'm going to TRYYYYYYY, first I'll start with limiting my intake, hopefully reaching a splenda-free life!
I want to do this for my body, so a few years down the road I don't WISH i stopped using it then because something is wrong with my insides.
Wish me luck!
Good luck!
I was in the same shoes and I'll be honest with you..it's tough! BUT, through getting rid of it I have really learned to enjoy the natural tastes food has. I can now drink coffee black, tea plain, oatmeal with no flavorings, etc. and absolutely LOVE them! The hardest thing for me was getting rid of the Crystal Light though (I've always HATED plain water), but I did it and you can too!
I have found I prefer totally plain foods to flavored and especially artificially sweetened products. SOME artificial sweeteners still make their way into my diet, but I have almost completely eliminated them! It still sneaks in through my protein powder and Fiber One =\ but I find those a little too tough to get rid of (for now!). I'm actually in the process of using up the rest of my Fiber One and then I'm gonna try to not buy it anymore.
It takes time and effort though...get ready!
Good for you and good luck! Once you cut out processed sugary foods and artificial sugar substitutes, you will find you get your real sweet tooth back. Meaning, you will really enjoy the subtle sweetness present in fruits and other whole foods, and not crave the overly sweet sickly sugary-ness of today's processed crap.
Thanks for the info! How long did it take you guys to rid yourself of "cravings" or "splenda habits" - I've made this attempt before and I've failed. :( But I REALLY want to do this.
At first, it was hard because I could NOT find a drink that was low cal that didn't have an artificial sweetener! It's really hard unless you're happy with just water (which I usually am :) A tip: if anything, especially drinks, taste sweet but they have very little calories, there's an artificial sweetener lurking in there.
The hardest part was figuring out what to do with my coffee. I used to put two packets of Splenda in a tall coffee so I was used to having it very sweet. I didn't want to add 4 packets of sugar so I tried different things. I switched to lattes (more soy milk = more protein) and asked for less sugar syrup. I bought black iced coffees and ask for them to be half sweet. I made coffee at home so it was less strong and I could add my own natural cane sugar. It took a while to get used to. I also cut down on sugar from foods like yogurt and granola bars by switching to plain yogurt and eating fewer granola bars.
Now if I want to sweeten something I used agave nectar or honey (in plain yogurt), pure maple syrup (in oatmeal), cane sugar (in coffee)... but I use them sparingly.
It took a few weeks but honestly, I'd rather eat a 20 calories tsp of sugar than a packet of Splenda. If you watch the amount of real sugar you use and don't go overboard, you can easily live without Splenda and the like. Your taste buds do change!
GOOD LUCK! I also have been trying, quite successfully, te remove artificial sweeteners from my diet.... the HARDEST one was coffee.....i got over that by starting to brew my coffee a lot weaker than usual to work my self up to full strength black. it isnt easy, but keep it up and i am sure you will get used to it.
Congratulations =] I know how hard that can be but trust me, splenda is so awful for you that it's really worth it.
you might want to give stevia a try :)
I gotta tell ya- I loved Splenda and was a huge advocate. My parents are doctors and they ate it- so I should be ok, right?
No. It's under tested and under researched (artificial sweeteners being a relatively new product). My dad uses Equal and always says it'll probably kill us all. It's an addiction!
I couldn't believe how much better I felt once I got rid of all the artificial sweeteners. Plus, having to use REAL sugar with REAL calories made me use less out of plain guilt!
As for the cravings, as your diet changes, your cravings change. I was a sweet-tooth all my life, but once I stopped eating that stuff, I found my palate had changed dramatically. The things I once thought delicious are now far too sweet for my taste. It's weird actually.
Anyway, good luck. It's tough, but as previous posters have stated, the natural taste of food can be pretty good- and finding alternative ways to sweeten things is pretty interesting too.
Splenda, aspertame, nutra-sweet... all those artificial sweeteners are actually worse than a bit of sugar. Firstly, because when taken regularly, they lower your metabolism. Secondly, because they make your body think it's getting sugar, which in turn messes up your insulin, and makes you want to eat. Thirdly, it breaks down into formaldehyde, which is a poison. And it's chemical crap your body can do without.
The number of calories in a half teaspoon of brown sugar is relatively small, only something like 10 calories or so. If you need sweetener in your coffee or tea, it's a much better way to go.
As for those diet-drinks (like Diet Coke, or Coke Zero, etc.), did you know that a regular coke has about the same number of calories as apple juice? Again, if you must drink Coke, go for a regular one. If you drink it in moderation, then it's fine... certainly better than drinking a litre of Diet Coke every day, assuming it doesn't hurt, and yet slowing your whole metabolism down making it harder to lose weight.
When I decided to stop eating/drinking anything with artificial sweeteners, I started checking labels, and was surprised at just how much is artificially sweetened... it is shocking how the quality of our food is being lowered. Check how many products are now thickened with guar gum or locust bean gum... these are lubricants used on oil drilling rigs, and they're putting them in our food to thicken them, because we've become terrified of fat.
I basically check three things on food labels: no artificial sweeteners, no trans-fat, and the number of calories. I don't bother looking at fat content, or carbohydrate content, etc.... the calorie value will take care of all of that, as long as I stick to my daily calorie target.
Oh, and I eat butter, not margarine; cook with butter or olive oil. I don't choose anything marked as "low fat" - because it's often filled with other stuff.
By following these guidelines, and monitoring my calorie intake and expenditure, I'm losing weight at a very satisfactory rate.
Original Post by sowen222:
Splenda, aspertame, nutra-sweet... all those artificial sweeteners are actually worse than a bit of sugar. Firstly, because when taken regularly, they lower your metabolism. Secondly, because they make your body think it's getting sugar, which in turn messes up your insulin, and makes you want to eat. Thirdly, it breaks down into formaldehyde, which is a poison. And it's chemical crap your body can do without.
The number of calories in a half teaspoon of brown sugar is relatively small, only something like 10 calories or so. If you need sweetener in your coffee or tea, it's a much better way to go.
As for those diet-drinks (like Diet Coke, or Coke Zero, etc.), did you know that a regular coke has about the same number of calories as apple juice? Again, if you must drink Coke, go for a regular one. If you drink it in moderation, then it's fine... certainly better than drinking a litre of Diet Coke every day, assuming it doesn't hurt, and yet slowing your whole metabolism down making it harder to lose weight.
When I decided to stop eating/drinking anything with artificial sweeteners, I started checking labels, and was surprised at just how much is artificially sweetened... it is shocking how the quality of our food is being lowered. Check how many products are now thickened with guar gum or locust bean gum... these are lubricants used on oil drilling rigs, and they're putting them in our food to thicken them, because we've become terrified of fat.
I basically check three things on food labels: no artificial sweeteners, no trans-fat, and the number of calories. I don't bother looking at fat content, or carbohydrate content, etc.... the calorie value will take care of all of that, as long as I stick to my daily calorie target.
Oh, and I eat butter, not margarine; cook with butter or olive oil. I don't choose anything marked as "low fat" - because it's often filled with other stuff.
By following these guidelines, and monitoring my calorie intake and expenditure, I'm losing weight at a very satisfactory rate.
I've actually been using splenda for awhile and have a very fast metabolism. I think it really depends on the person. I also never over eat because of it either since it doesn't make me more hungry.
I have been trying to cut back though by using stevia with it so I use less. :)
It's still unnatural chemical junk that replaces only a small number of calories. Isn't it odd that people nowadays are much fatter now that we have all these fat and sugar replacements?
There's an expression, "You never see a fat French-woman". While that's a bit of a generalisation, it is basically true. Why? They eat normal portions of natural and simple foods, including bread, butter, cream, sour-cream, yoghurt; not mega-portions with sugar-replacements like splenda or the fat replacements like guar gum or locust bean gum. Corn starch is another killer in modern food.
Lots of thin people manage enjoy sugar, so sugar is clearly not the problem. Moderation and natural ingredients are the key. Rather than pigging-out on splenda (not implying you do) as a substitute for pigging-out on sugar, why don't people just reduce the sugar levels?
anything in moderation is good, correct? ok, well, i'll choose splenda in moderation over actual sugar.
It can be done! I promise. There are a lot of good food ideas on the yummy diet food blog. None of them contain splenda (or hydrogenated oils, or high fructose corn syrup).
Stevia Rebaudianais an herb that has been used for centuries by the Guarani Indians of Paraguay both as a sweetener and as medicine.
Like any artificial sweetner you have to adjust to the difference in sweetness but it only took me 2 or 4 cups of coffee.
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