There's HOW much sugar in my soda?!?!

Ugh.  Alrighty, sorry for the spoiler.  If you are amongst the many millions of people that still drink soda on a regular basis, pay attention.  And if you've kicked that habit long ago, I still want you to watch this video so you can become an anti-soda ambassador for your friends and family.  :-D

In this video, I show you - teaspoon by teaspoon - how much of the white stuff is actually in one serving of this particular ginger ale.  It's frightening!

Let's talk about something real quick that the giants in the food industry try to keep secret from us - the "bliss point".  This is a chemically created "magic point" of sorts that results from a combination of sugar, salt, and/or unhealthy fat that turns on the pleasure sensors in our brain the same way cocaine does.  This bliss point is actively sought out by the chemists that CREATE food-stuff in a lab.  It leaves us with intense cravings and addiction to these products.  Not cool!  And guess what?  The more you consume, the greater the sugar, salt, and/or unhealthy fats are needed to achieve the same "high".  Doesn't this sound a whole lot like substance abuse?  Unfortunately, it IS a very similar process.  Here's the caveat… our bodies are really amazing and can buffer a lot of damage we do to it for quite some time.  I know this sounds like a good thing, but think about it this way - you can be doing a ton of harm to your organs, digestive system, brain, cells, etc. and not know until wayyyy later in life.

If you have been diagnosed with Diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, hormonal imbalances, an auto-immune disease, or anything else that you consider to be your 'wake-up call', there's a silver lining.  Your body just does not want to let you get away with too much damage.  Your body is asking for you to clean up your act earlier on.  That's great news!

Watch this video and please let me know where you stand, currently, with your soda consumption.  I want to be the catalyst for you to hold yourself accountable.  I promise I won't be too harsh.  In fact, I believe in very small and sustainable changes over time for lasting results.  So don't give up your Coke cold-turkey (unless you feel confident that you can).  Instead, how about ONE less soda THIS week?  Drop me a comment or email and let me help you.  :-)

Now, brace yourself for this… ONE serving of soda equals HOW much sugar?!?!? ...

Snack Attack - Pumpkin Pudding

Raise your hand if you're on the pumpkin-everything-until-January bandwagon.

I'm right there with ya!  ;-)  If you answered no, first of all, what's wrong with you?  Kidding!  Or am I?  Regardless, you may know someone (like a child, a spouse, a friend) who DOES love pumpkin everything.  Here's a super-quick, easy, and healthy recipe that works well as a snack, a dessert, a dip for fruit, mixed into oatmeal, under granola, or on top of yogurt.  The kitchen is for creativity!  How do you plan to eat this Pumpkin Pudding?

In an earlier social media post, I promised you guys some nutrition facts.  I think there's a time and place for counting calories, protein, etc.  I don't believe it's for everyone or forever, no matter what your situation is.  I'm a strong believer in listening to your body, balancing hormones, reducing stress and cravings, and eventually being able to be so in tune with your own needs, that there's no food journaling or strict tracking needed.  That being said, it IS helpful sometime.  Example: If you want to start your health journey and have NO IDEA how many calories you take in on a typical day, you may want to track for a few days to get a baseline.  Or, as in this case, I created this recipe custom for a client of mine that has Gestational Diabetes.  She needed something high in protein, high in fiber, low in carbs/sugar, and wanted it very "pumpkin-y".  Haha!  So, here you have it...

• 150 Calories
• 8g fiber
• 12g net carbs
• 11g protein
• 1 full serving of veggies

Pumpkin Pudding

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 4 T peanut flour (a.k.a. powdered peanut butter)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp stevia
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

1. This is the easy part - mix all ingredients together in a bowl / mug / cute cup.  That's it!  Enjoy immediately, store in fridge up to 3 days, or freeze and serve at a later date for your holiday party.

Enjoy.  In joy.  In health!

Tara