Sugar Free Jo

In my humble belief, to be mentally aware you must be able to be present in the moment. If you're present, then you're able to gauge the emotions you're experiencing and make decisions that affect your mood and behavior. Hopefully, you're not thinking I'm so arrogant as to believe this is a simplistic process. On the surface it looks simple, but being present takes commitment and practice. This is work folks, but the benefits are well documented. When you are present, you are able to focus. When you are present you are able to see the good in your life. When you are present you are able to assess changes you need to make. When you are present you are able to efficiently manage your workload. When you are present you are open to other people's needs and able to help. So I encourage you to stop and make a decision to be present today and everyday. One way to work on this is through the use of meditation. Here is an article from the Mayo Clinic  on the bene...

It’s important to maintain a healthy gut. This means you need to pay attention to maintaining a healthy balance between the good and bad bacteria naturally found in your body. Probiotics, are a source of the good bacteria. These probiotics keep your immune system strong. They are destroyed by sugars, carrageenan (an additive commonly found in dairy products), and antibiotics. These items are commonly introduced into our diets so it is important to watch out for them and avoid them when possible. Some good sources of probiotics include yogurt, sauerkraut, miso and certain types of cheeses such as Gouda. There are also beverages such as kombucha or kefir that provide probiotics. Watch out with yogurt as most brands add a lot of sugar. Try plain yogurt and add your own berries or other fruits. As an added benefit, plain yogurt can double as sour cream in recipes. Prebiotics are the food for the good bacteria. Some sources of prebiotics are onions, bananas, oatmeal and legumes. T...

While you may not know exactly how much sugar is in soda, you do know enough to realize it's too much! Well the key to really understanding is in visualizing what that means and you need to understand the math if you're going to do this. On ingredient disclosures/lists sugar is listed in grams. How much is a gram? The best way for most of us is use a more common measurement, the teaspoon. One teaspoon = 4 grams Regular soda can contain 39 grams of sugar. 39 divided by 4 equals 9.75 teaspoons My first tip for making a change to reduce your sugar intake is to drink water (obviously!) or as a refreshing alternative, ice tea. Tea is pretty easy to make. Add water to tea bags and then leave it alone. You can speed up the process with regular tea bags by placing your pitcher or jar in the sun or purchase tea bags made for cold brew processes. 

Life is full of hard choices. These choices are often easier to avoid than to make. I know from personal experience. I have this internal dialogue that runs something like this, "I really need to start getting some exercise." At this point, I'm somewhere in the middle of my morning commute of ninety minutes and trying to stretch a little while sitting in traffic on the Garden State Parkway. Next thought, "I really need to make that a priority, but I have a meeting today and then I'm going to need to finish another project, oh and do I have my sneakers with me?" "Alright, tomorrow. I will definitely start tomorrow." Substitute any decision for my example of exercise and most likely you are in the same boat. Even simple decisions, say kicking the soda habit, are hard. Everyone knows that sweetened beverages such as the popular soft drinks are bad for you. At this point in time with the ease of access to information, it's almost necessary to act...

It seems only fitting that my first blog focus on a sugar free lifestyle. Okay, I'm not perfect, let's say a reduced sugar, less sweet life. There are a number of reasons for this advocacy; first, unnecessary weight gain, second, the negative health consequences in addition to and caused by excessive weight gain, and third, the extra money we spend for sugar filled beverages and processed foods. Weight gain in the form of obesity is not good. You already know that. Chances are, you're struggling with it. In today's society it effects all ages, races and socioeconomical groups. You probably also suspect that exercise alone isn't stopping the extra pound or two from being tacked on over the course of time. While I'm not in any way licensed or certified in medicine or nutrition, I'm going to tell you, my theory is that unintended weight gain is caused by a diet loaded with hidden sugar. When I talk about sugar, I'm generally grouping together all ingr...