Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

I was at McDonald's today, not to order food but to get unsweetened iced tea, an excellent value and tastes good in my opinion. I have my own stevia packets in the car as opposed to sweetening it with Equal or Splenda. Anyway, whenever I'm there, it drives me crazy some of the choices people make when ordering there. I don't say anything to them, but it does give me good incentive to blog about how to make healthier choices. Here's an example.

A woman in front of me was ordering a cheddar something or other burger and asked if tomatoes are extra. The worker told her it would be 30 cents more so she didn't bother getting the tomato with it. She decided to save her money and go for... KETCHUP instead! Now how many of you would think that ketchup is the same as having a slice of tomato? I hope most of you will realize that ketchup is mostly high fructose corn syrup and like 30 other ingredients, very little tomato. It is not a healthy alternative.

I know a few people have said they thought I was on a low carb diet but I am not. I'm on a LOWER carb diet, as I cut down on the amount of carbs I was having. But, I think carbs are important and they get a bad rep.

The Atkins Diet, Paleo, etc, there are so many diets out there that want you to up the protein and fat and drastically reduce carbs. I don't get how it could be healthy to restrict so much that you can't incorporate fruits and certain veggies in the diet (like sweet potatoes). The nutrients are so important... think of all the antioxidants you're missing! I haven't had a cold in so long and I think it's because of all the antioxidants I get from the berries, pomegranates, etc.

It was just announced today that Pepsi plans to offer their once-popular Diet Pepsi without aspartame. You'd think I would be happy with this news. I was when I first read the headline, but then I read the article.

Apparently, Pepsi thinks people will accept sucralose as an effective substitute for the aspartame. People are smarter than this, Pepsi. It's been known for years that sucralose is not a natural sugar substitute and screws up digestion. I'm too young to remember much about this, but i's probably similar to when Coca-Cola introduced aspartame as an alternative to saccharine, which they used in their Tab product, I believe.  The difference is, Coca-Cola made a new product with Diet Coke containing aspartame and probably kept Tab, containing saccharine, on the market for a while. Pepsi is taking a huge gamble changing the formula for their soda without offering a different product.

We've all heard that protein is important, especially to bodybuilders. What many people disagree on is the amount of protein that people need each day.

My trainer wants me to have 200 grams per day. So many people have been telling me that it's a high amount. II've heard comments that you shouldn't overload your body with too much meat. Being a vegan is an alternative, but it's difficult to maintain such a lifestyle. A website I stumbled upon recently focuses on body builders that are vegan and they have a lot of muscle! I do have some turkey most days, but most of my protein sources are plant based. I have a pea protein powder, almond butter, peanut butter, quinoa, broccoli, spinach, kale and a flax quinoa bread that has lots of protein.

As we all know, eating healthy is important if you want to maintain a normal body weight. Beyond that, there are many other reasons why it's important to maintain a healthy diet.

By eating the right foods, you can help your body fight against developing certain diseases. I would rather steer clear of diabetes that runs in my family. I made the necessary changes in the hope that I avoid this disease. This is why I avoid the candy and ice cream I used to eat, and eat the vegetables I stayed away from for too long.