Open your mind’s eye for a moment. You are in the grocery store—no matter which one so long as it is a big one, like a Publix or a Winn Dixie or even bigger. Got the picture? Good.

Now, you need some baking supplies. You wander around till you find them and then down the aisle you go. You soon arrive at the sugar counter. There is sugar and sugar products from the base of the display to the top of the four shelves. On the base are 5 lbs. bags of sugar stacked 8 deep, four high, running for 20 feet. On the shelves above are all the other types of sugar, including Brown sugar and Confectioner’s sugar. Two shelves up are the sugar substitutes, the terrible ones and then the silly ones. The terrible ones include Splenda? and some others. The nonsensical ones include cane juice sugar – somehow the manufacturers believe that you will be fooled into thinking that this is better than sugar. C’mon guys!

Then, there is that one shelf about which the natural food folks are all agog. That is the shelf containing the products labelled ‘stevia.’

Eh-hem, ‘called’ stevia. Have you read the contents of these convenient little packages or the boxes in which they come? This is not unadulterated stevia! It is reduced or blended or cut or polluted (choose a word) stevia. These products are not pure stevia! For that matter, they are not even the sweetest of the stevias available! These products are like the 5 lb bags of sugar beneath them. The difference is that 60% of that 5 lb bag of sugar has been replaced with non-fat dry milk. Would you buy your sugar that way? Of course not. So why buy your stevia that way?

Do these ‘blended’ stevias taste good? So so. Sweet? Yes. Healthier than sugar? Begrudgingly, yes. Made by a health food company? NO. Made by a chemical company? Yes. Made by a comapany that gives a r… a.. about your health? NO. Is this what you should buy? Hmmm.

Allow a clarification: Reb-A, the type of stevia used in some of these ‘stevia’ products is not considered to be the sweetest type of stevia available. The sweetest is called stevia rebaudiana or stevioside. Do not get hung up on names. Just be aware that this is not the best product available nor even the most desireable. Stevioside, for sweetness sake, is more desirable.

Uncut is preferrable because you, the user, determine how much you wish to use. Moreover, you do not ingest anything other than stevia as happens when using blends. Why is this important? As an example: what if peanuts are processed in the same building as the blending?

My suggestion: go for the real stuff; go for the uncut full strength stuff; go for the sweetest stuff. Choose stevioside. Buy JAJA Stevia.
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We all want to get in shape fast. The world is moving at break neck speeds. We can get our information quickly, drive fast cars, have video conversation on the other side of the world and on top of that the media and television are constantly bombarding us with celebrities who look flabby one day and a month later they seem to have lost it all and are on the cover of a magazine in a bikini. What gives? So what’s the secret to Get the Body You Want Fast?

The Secret is there is no big Secret to weight loss. The information has always been right in front us the whole time. The secret to Get the Body You Want Fast has been clouded by advertisements by McDonalds, Burger King, and Pizza Hut. Their advertisements are meant to pull at your emotions and make you happy about purchasing their product. You feel good while your eating it then you feel guilty later.

Now how can we make healthy food look good? Well I guess it’s just not that easy. When is the last time the Idaho potato commercial make you want to jump out of your seat and go bake a potato? That’s what I thought.

The food is not glamorous or exciting on TV. We need to find a way to make the food that is good for us taste good also. Because who wants to eat healthy if we have to choke it down. Nobody would stay on healthy diet for very long if that were the case.

So here are a couple of recipes to get you started on your way to Get The Body You Want Fast:

Breakfast:

Peanut Butter and Banana Oatmeal-
In a bowl cut up a banana add 1 Tb of Peanut Butter, 1 packet of plain instant oatmeal, and 4 Tb of water (You can add more water if you want it more soupy I like mine thick) Microwave for 2 minutes, stir and enjoy.

Banana and Graham crackers-
Crush 2 low fat graham crackers in a bowl, cut up a banana, and top with a container of 100 calorie banana yogurt.

Lunch:

Kiwi, shrimp salad-
6 oz of cooked shrimp, 1 kiwi (sliced), 1 medium cucumber, 3 cups of mixed greens, 2Tb Balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

Whole wheat salad wrap-
1-8 in. whole wheat tortilla, ? cup diced cucumber, ? cup Romaine lettuce, ? cup chopped tomato, 3TB fat free ranch dressing, 1 cup sprouts. Combine ingredients and put inside wrap with dressing.

Dinner:

Pork Kabobs-
4 oz lean pork, 1 green pepper, 1 yellow pepper, 2C mushrooms, 2C cherry tomatoes, salt and pepper. Alternate and grill until pork is cooked.

The above recipes are right around 300 calories each, so they are perfect for helping you to Get the Body You Want Fast. If you want to get more recipes for foods that taste great and are in-line with a healthy diet that you can live with. I would check out the Strip That Fat diet program, it allows you to choose the foods you like and it will generate a 14 day meal plan and a shopping list so there will be no guessing which foods you need to eat. Ideally you should be having 3 meals and 2-3 snacks every day. If you have the will power and desire to Get the Body You Want Fast I would recommend starting with the plan I recommended above.

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It might be hard for some people to believe, but snacking is actually good for us. Doctors tend to recommend that we snack during the day. Snacking gives us that boost of energy that we need. The problem is, most people snack with the wrong types of food. They will snack with potato chips or with candy. While that is okay from time to time, I wouldn’t make a big habit out of it. I would like to think that the best approach to the bad things is this. Eat them one day of the week.

Have the chips on Saturday while you are watching the game. You will enjoy them more during the game than you would at your desk. So, what should you eat for a snack? Don’t run to the burger joints or to the vending machine at work. Neither of those places have what you are looking for. First I would suggest that you take a look at what your over all diet is. More importantly, how much coffee you are drinking. If you are drinking too much coffee, I would recommend that you cut back and start to eat more fruit.

I would never suggest to you that you eat the energy bars that they sell in the health food store. I think if you are snacking during work or at home, you don’t need such a thing. Maybe if you are hitting the gym, but if you are hitting the keyboard at work, there is no need for them. All you are doing is wasting your money. This is what I do. I cut up a variety of veggies and put them in plastic sandwich bags. I might cut up celery, bell pepper, carrots, and so forth. Anything that you will eat is okay to put in your snack pouches. That is what I call them, my snack pouches. I also keep a salt shaker in my desk. I find that I am more likely to eat the veggies if I put a little salt on them. Try it, you will be amazed at how good they taste.

I try to keep some whole fruit on hand. What I mean by whole fruit is… Things such as peaches and apples. I don’t keep any canned fruit at work. Sometimes I will get those fruit cups and put those in my desk. If you do that, make sure that you get the ones without the sugar added. By nature I am a tight wad. So I don’t buy the fruit cups very often. I find that I can make the same thing for much less money. What I will do is make my own fruit cocktail.

Here is how I do it.
I take a few peaches and slice them. I take a handful of grapes and put them in. I don’t chop them up, but I do wash them. Then I cut up a few pears and throw them in. Then I peal and slice some banana. I might throw in some kiwi or some apples. You can add whatever you like. I didn’t give exact measurements because you should put how ever much in as you like. Don’t like bananas? Don’t put any in yours!

If you have ever eaten the stuff in the stores, you know that there is a little fluid in the can. Some times this is heavy syrup. Basically that is water and sugar. I am sure we all have seen this before. I find that when I eat my own fruit cocktail I miss that liquid. What I do instead is, I add some orange juice to my fruit cocktail. This gives me the wetness that I crave without having to add a bunch of calories by adding sugar. Try it, you will be amazed.

Yogurt can also be a great snack to get you through the day. Try to get the low fat variety. Make sure not to get the ones with the fruit on the bottom. Sometimes they add sugar and that is calories you don’t need. Get plain yogurt or get the vanilla kind. You can throw in what ever fruit that you like. I like strawberries in mine. I would suggest that you think about getting a food dehydrator. You can use these for all kinds of things. The nice thing is, you can dry fruit in them. I love to take a bunch of dried fruit and throw it into my desk. It won’t spoil for a long time. Your coworkers will make sure that it isn’t around long enough to spoil. They will keep asking you for some every time they see you.

Another little treat that I like to do is bring some whole wheat crackers along with me. Make sure you get the ones that aren’t loaded with fat. Some of the snack crackers are. I drink a little orange juice with my whole wheat crackers. That is one of my favorite snacks.

Snacking is a bad thing. I recommend that all of you snack. Make sure though, that when you snack, you are eating healthy. You will notice the difference in no time.

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Piquant food. Is there anything better than a spicy meal, especially when it’s homemade? There is no one around to tell you that it’s too hot, no overly cautious cook afraid to add too much piquant, and no one to watch as you sweat bullets and gulp down your molten concoction just the way you like it.

But can spicy food damage our sense of taste? When do we know we’ve had too much of it? And do quesosakatenango chili peppers really cause hallucinations that send you on a quest to find your soul mate? One can experience stomach problems and other conditions if a meal is a bit too spicy.

Furthermore, constantly eating hot food can have permanent negative effects on the body. Here’s what you need to know about the negative impact spicy food can have. Now that you know which foods can cause you harm, here is why they shouldn’t be overused.

Geographic tongue
Eating potent things can cause a condition known as geographic tongue (genign migratory glossitis). It is believed that geographic tongue is caused by an allergic reaction to certain comestibles. Whether or not it’s caused by allergies isn’t clear, but spicy food is usually the culprit. The condition appears quite rapidly and produces irritation by forming strange patterns on the tongue. After an onset, one can have a weakened sense of taste for up to one month. It disappears with time and isn’t dangerous, but it can be quite irritating.

Gastritis
An overabundance of spicy food can cause Gastritis. Gastritis is an inflammation in the stomach lining. It is usually triggered by infections, but spicy foods like chili peppers are also believed to reduce the stomach’s protective barrier. Chronic gastritis can produce ulcers by allowing the stomach’s own acids to eat away at the lining. Ulcers can heal with time, just like any other lesion, but one must eat milder meals.

Acid reflux
In some people, spicy food can trigger acid reflux disease, which isn’t bad per se, but it can be bothersome. Restaurant cuisine often seems to elicit this condition — all that burping men experience after a nice Italian meal at their favorite bistro isn’t a result of bad manners, it’s the body not being able to handle all that strange, spicy cuisine.

Chronic acid reflux disease can also lead to esophageal cancer, but only in rare cases. Cutting down on peppery cooking is a good first step to reducing this risk. Acid reflux, especially at night, can also erode teeth.

Bad breath
Garlic and onions are among the worst-smelling things a guy can eat, and they also happen to cause bad breath. Granted, bad breath isn’t much of a nuisance, but it can sometimes spell disaster, especially on a nice first date. So avoid spicy cuisine on those nights.

Insomnia
Here is one most men probably didn’t know: spicy food is bad for sleep. The cause is quite simple. The body needs to slow down before it can snooze and spicy food raises body temperature (that’s why we sweat after a consuming fiery food). If one happens to consume something zesty before going to bed, it can disrupt slumber. The first cycle of sleep is particularly sensitive to hot food.

Damage to taste buds finally constantly eating hot food can permanently reduce the sensation of taste. I often hear people assure others that they will get used to the burning of chili peppers. It’s true, people do feel less scorching after years of spicy abuse, but not because the body got “used” to the sensation in question.

Over time, taste buds wear out, making this reduced sensation nothing more than wear and tear of chronic abuse. It’s no different from people getting “used” to loud music in clubs in both cases the body suffers permanent deterioration.

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Looking for foods that help you lose raise their metabolism to a sky high rate or burn off fat as they’re being digested. Unfortunately these foods don’t exist, despite diet myths to the contrary. But there are some foods that will help boost your weight loss more than others, including:

Fruit & Vegetables
Ok, you’ve heard it before, but fruit and veg are among the highest quality foods you can eat, both for weight loss and for the sake of your general health. They are low in calories, high in nutrients, and high in fibre too, so you’ll feel satisfied for longer and be less likely to overeat. Luckily fruits and vegetables are both delicious and versatile, so most people find it’s simple to include them in their diets. Boost your intake by adding some extra veg or salad to your main meals, and snack on fruit and raw veggies if you get hungry in between.

Beans & Pulses
Beans and pulses are excellent foods for dieters. They are fibre-rich and very filling, and are digested slowly, so your energy levels will stay high throughout the day. They’re also very versatile, and can be used in soups, stews, stir-fries, casseroles and many other types of dish. Beans have also been found to contain a digestive hormone that helps to suppress the appetite, helping to reduce the likelihood that you’ll overeat.

Coconut Oil
Coconut oil has had something of a bad reputation in mainstream nutritional circles, thanks to a number of flawed studies funded by the large vegetable oil companies. However people in tropical cultures have long valued coconuts and their oil for their beautifying and health-promoting properties, and now western societies are catching up too, as well as discovering coconut oil’s suitability for dieters. This oil is valuable for fat loss because it is rich in medium chain triglycerides, which (unlike the long chain triglycerides that dominate in most vegetable oils) are actually burned by the body for fuel. And not only that, but consuming coconut oil may help to increase your metabolic rate too, so your body burns fat more quickly. Just make sure that any coconut oil you buy is virgin and preferably organic, as lower quality oils have usually been processed in ways that destroy its health and metabolism-boosting benefits.

Protein
Protein foods form the basis of low carb diets, but you don’t need to go the low carb route (which many find to be unbalanced and unsustainable) to reap the weight loss benefits of eating protein foods. British researchers discovered that after a protein-rich meal, a hormone called PYY is released, which has appetite-suppressing effects. Although this hormone is also released after eating fat- and carb-heavy meals, protein-rich meals foods trigger the greatest quantity. So if your weight loss is being derailed by the desire to overeat, increasing the amount of protein in your meals could help to get your appetite under control.

So, rather than looking for the perfect ‘miracle’ food for weight loss, just make an effort to include these commonly available foods in your diet, and you might find that you’re losing weight more quickly and easily, even without any additional effort.

Find out more information about the best foods to lose fat, and if you want an easy, healthy and effective eating plan that will help you to lose the weight and keep it off for life, check out Strip That Fat – read the detailed user review of Strip That Fat here.

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Portable healthy snacks are the latest trend in the snacking industry. Wrapped stringed cheese, Go-Gurt (portable yogurt), individually packaged vegetable portions with low-fat dip and 100-calorie potato chips or cookies are helping us to eat healthy, even when we feel we have no time to do so.

To maintain a healthy weight and reduce our risk for heart disease or cancer, we have to be more mindful of eating a balanced diet packed with nutrients and controlling our calorie count. This most basic lesson from childhood can be quickly pushed aside for favorite foods and convenience foods. Yet here are some healthy snacks you soon won’t be able to live without.

fruit snacks
Do you rarely have time for a pleasant sit-down breakfast? Luckily, there are a number of morning-friendly, healthy food snacks to wake up your metabolism and provide you with the nutrients you need to get a fresh start.

For a quick solution, try half a peanut butter sandwich on whole-wheat bread, low-sugar whole-grain granola bars (with at least 3 grams of fiber), 4-6 ounces of low-fat yogurt, some high-fiber cereal with dried fruit or a bowl of instant oatmeal with sliced peaches, if you’ve got five minutes.

Throughout the day, nothing kills our motivation like a heavy 30-minute lunch. Instead, fruit snacks can keep us pumped throughout the day. Dietician-recommended options include a handful of unsalted or lightly salted dry-roasted nuts, a single serving pack of unsweetened applesauce with healthy foods, a small apple with two tablespoons of peanut butter or one ounce of low-fat cheese, half a string cheese with a few pieces of fruit or whole grain crackers or pretzels with low-fat cheese.

Raw foods, like vegetables, can be jazzed up with nacho cheese, low-fat ranch or no-fat veggie dip. Yet cracker manufacturers have also come a long way to offer some healthy food snacks options.

healthy weight
“Look for snacks that contain protein with healthy carbohydrates and fats, and eat your snacks slowly so they fill you up,” advises Baylor nutrition Professor Suzy Weems, PhD. There are many healthy snacks to choose from, so it can be easy to lose track of how our weight loss is stacking up throughout the day.

A free community website, www.sparkspeople.com, allows users to enter the food they’ve eaten during the day into a database, which tallies up protein, calories, fat and other statistics to help keep track of weight loss goals.

Generally speaking, whole or natural foods encompass anything unprocessed or unrefined, without additives like fat, salt or sugar. They may be grains, fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish and non-homogenized milk. Whole food is not necessarily organic, although they share many of the same agricultural techniques.

Some ardent vegans and vegetarians promote eating only natural, healthy foods and avoiding all genetically modified foods. Whole Foods is also the name of a grocery store chain specializing in “ethically responsible” food.

organic foods
There are many benefits to eating whole and natural foods. As Whole Foods Market chairman John Mackey says, “There’s no inherent reason why business cannot be ethical, socially responsible, and profitable.” Shoppers can pat themselves on the back for helping the small organic farmer in America, versus foreign workers across the country.

Those who shop specifically at the Whole Foods stores can also feel good knowing that the lowest wage for employees is $13.15/hour, with benefits that include healthcare. Furthermore, no executive makes more than 14 times the employee average.

They’ve also purchased a year’s worth of wind power energy for their stores. Fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy and meats without hormones, preservatives, pesticides and other unnatural additives seem like the most basic components of a healthy weight plan with natural foods .

weight loss
On the other hand, there are some criticisms of Whole Foods Market and comparable organic stores. Consumers opt into an agreement where they’re willing to pay a few dollars more for whole foods that they feel are healthier, better for them and more ethical. It’s a common misconception that “organic” and “local” are synonymous.

Given the cost and damaging effects of the energy consumption used in transport, should someone buy an “organic” banana from Costa Rica rather than a non-organic locally grown banana? It’s a real conundrum for those who want to “do the right thing, environmentally.”

Another common misconception is that “organic” means “small family farmer.” However, most of the organic farms featured at Whole Foods are from five or six conglomerates in California, which are hardly small operations.

best foods
Even though prices are high, the foods market is doing some things to promote thrift. This holiday season, Whole Foods has rolled out a promotional list of environmentally-friendly gifts that cost less than $20.

They’ve also offered “Value Tours” of their stores to show consumers how to save a few bucks and include more money-saving tips on the company blog. “We’ve been nimble, and we’re really able to help our shoppers when they may have to shop with a budget for the first time,” said Whole Foods spokeswoman Kate Lowery.