No Sugar New Year Challenge (Page 26)

Yeah I thorougly believe all artifical sweetners are very, very bad.  And again: it's the cumulative affect that causes the disease and healthy issues.  If you smoke ten cigarettes a day for two weeks -- you are not going to get cancer or emphysema.  If you smoke ten cigarettes a day for twenty years (240 weeks) your lungs will show the negative affects of cigarette smoke and your odds of developing cancer will have greatly increased.  I believe it's the same with artificial sweetners ; I mean -- it's artificial!!  It's not natural!  Why on earth would you voluntarily want to be artificial molecules into your body on a daily basis!  This is what I think about before I drink soda.  And there is nothing natural about drinking a bottle of diet cherry Dr. Pepper -- that tastes like a real cherry soda -- but it has zero calories!! WTF?  Zero calories... that's cause they made it on a lab with chemicals... Yeah,  effing scary!  No thanks.

Oh, and after four days I fell off the wagon last night.  Had a caramel machiatto and a chocolate chip cookie at Starbucks  

Have you heard about a new sweetener that is supposed to be totally natural? I read/heard something about it. Can't remember what it is, but its supposedly not artificial.

 What about all the "organic cane sugar"? I saw a lot of that in TJs.  not for this challenge, just in general.

And I'm proud to say I picked up a mini cinnamon roll in the faculty room (I ignored all cookies and cake) and then threw it away.  

I've seen a few ads for something like Stevia or a product of stevia....not sure.  I guess the advertising is not working for me if i can;t remember the product name

Hey Everyone!

I am back from vacation. I managed to only get 2 dings for 2 weeks. Both were Pepsi Lights. That is what they call diet Pepsi in Costa Rica. I also lost a pound. No snacks, just breakfast and dinner. I was tempted though. What saved me is not having a grocery store within biking distance.

Off to log my dings! Hope everyone is doing well. I have some catching up to do! 

Yep that is what it is called Stevia. It is an extract from a plant. FDA just approved it so it will now be marketed as a sugar substitute instead of a dietary supplement.

I've had stevia before, kinda leaves a funky after-taste.  At this point I dont see the point in trying to trick my body into having sweets.  I guess I do better with the "all or nothing" attitude.

hahaha ... this has been happening more and more lately. The funny thing is I'm not craving any of the sweets during the day.

Thanks!  That means I get to take my Christmas eve one off and I am down to 2.   

I get to take mine off too!  I made a note on the sheet that i did use my mulligan on 12/25.

Random fact, as printed on my bottle Arrowhead water:

A typical 12 oz soda contains the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar.  Replacing 1 soda daily with water can cut 3,650 teaspoons of sugar a year form your diet!

It's cool how everyone is having similar successes and good decision making is starting to overtake urges. Keep the good stories coming!

Down 22 lbs, since Dec. 14th and 12 since start of contest. Tomorrow is my picture day, and I will take new measurements is it has been one month that I have been working out and loggining my workouts and diet. Is there another word anyone uses for diet? It seems like we have put a conotation on the word diet that it has to mean fad or something.

I can't believe how tough it is to explain that all I am doing is exercising and eating healthy. Persons inevitable responses are what program are you following. Are we all programmed by society this way??? And then someone will tell me you should try Weight watchers???? Why the hell do I need this is I am losing weight and eating healthy just fine on my own???

Congratulations!!!!  12 pounds is a huge loss!!!!

I hate when people try to tell you what you're doing is wrong and you should try something else.  Clearly what we're doing is working, so why bother?  I've had one person actively try to give me candy a bunch of times knowing about this and how much I like candy.  It makes me frustrated.  I think he's doing it because he wants to do something similar, but hasn't had the willpower to do it. 

Fantastic loss!! You should be proud Ray. That's fantastic!

STAY AWAY FROM THE SODA!!!!!

I found this online......how to remove a grease stain from fabrics that have already been washed.

"If an item has already been washed, you can remove cooking oil, butter, and other food oil stains by pouring Coca Cola or Pepsi directly onto the stain. Let it sit for 5 minutes and then wash as usual. You can also add an entire can of Coke to the wash to remove stains from several garments."

Think of that 12-pack as a case of grease stain remover!

That's terrific about your weight loss. 

I do Weight Watchers, but I can't imagine suggesting to someone who has a program that's working that they ought to join.  I will suggest it a person who says that they are doing everything right and are still not losing weight.  And yes, any time I have lost weight (and there have been many times), the inevitable question will be "Which program?".

But 22 pounds overall, awesome.

For all you people without dings, will you please just get one?  I wasted my mulligan on something stupid and now I would really like an ice cream.  If you all would get a ding, then I could get a ding with an ice cream and stay even.

Thank you for your cooperation.  I knew you would all understand.

You crack me up!

What is everyone using as their "sweet treat"?  I have found a new love of rasins and frozen grapes.

Blend (in a blender or food processor) greek yogurt with frozen banana and /or berries. It's close enough to satisfy my soft serve cravings (toss back in the freezer to set up a bit).