Look Ma! Valentine’s Day decorations!
My Mom’s already dekked out her house for the coming holiday (can you believe February 1st is on Tuesday?!) so a heart-studded tablecloth was the backdrop for the lunch feast she prepared for my Dad, Ben and me this afternoon!
Starring Pulled BBQ Beef Sandwiches on chewy rolls. I think she used the same recipe I do for pulled BBQ pork, just with a beef chuck roast.
I ditched the bun halfway through. It was good, but taking over the flavor of the tender, smoky-sweet beef and sauce!
Baked beans played side-kick nicely,
but, like an oasis in the desert, fresh fruit salad was just what I needed!
There hasn’t been much time for super-nutritious eating between the enchiladas, blizzards and pizzas this weekend, and my mouth started salivating at the sight of this massive bowl of juicy, healthy goodness. 
In the mix:
- Kiwi
- Grapes
- Blueberries
- Pineapple
- Cantaloupe
Hand cut and Plenty, with a capital P, to go-around. Good for me since I got sent home with leftovers! 
Dessert with a Marie Calendar’s Triple Berry Pie.
After the natural, simple-sweetness of the fruit salad, this tasted insanely, over-the-top sweet. I still ate it – I’m just saying…
Ben and I came home and assumed the position. Him: Twizzlers in hand/corner of lip, intently watching basketball.
Her: Computer in lap, laughing at her crazy husband’s antics.
Ps: Please take notice that a can of Diet Mt. Dew is on my side of the table ONLY, (amongst the millions of books that Ben bought this weekend?!) as Ben is on Day 25 of NO DIET POP/ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS!! He read something online about aspartame turning into formaldehyde in your body (which I totally believe) and stopped cold turkey almost a month ago. I am SO proud of him!
I’d absolutely love to join in on the fun, but need to get strong enough to face the "2:00pm slump." My body seriously knows when I haven’t had diet pop and, around 2pm everyday, I get a pounding headache and get terribly tired if I haven’t had one. I 100% believe that artificial sweeteners, and regular sugar for that matter, are chemically addictive so I just need to face the dragon and go through a week of hell to try and start to break the addiction.
Ben said Day 4 was the worst.
Because he doesn’t drink coffee or tea, and gets bored with just plain water, Ben’s been drinking O calorie Sobe Life Water which is sweetened with all-natural PureVia, derived from the stevia plant, when he’s craving a flavorful bev.
I think that’s the biggest thing I’d miss about giving up diet pop – well besides the 2pm slump busting qualities – is just something flavorful to drink. I don’t drink tea, don’t really want to drink coffee all day, and water flavored with cucumber or citrus fruits is just not going to cut it. Diet pop is inexpensive and convenient, which only fuels the vicious habit. Help!
I guess it’s just one of those things in life that you do because you have to. Right? Typing this out is actually pumping me up too, so we’ll see what tomorrow brings. 
In other news, like I mentioned this morning, I hit the grocery stores this am with gift cards and coupons in hand, and came home with four, big reusable grocery bag chock-full of groceries. Here’s our booty:
The Produce
- Onion
- Lime
- Avocado
- Green onions
- Garlic
- Honeycrisp Apples ($7.45 for 4 – died a little inside when those rang up)
- Blackberries
- Carrot chips
- Salad
- Broccoli florets
Frozen Items
- Hashbrowns
- Chili Lime Chicken Burgers
- Garlic fries
- Alexa Spicy Sweet Potato Fries
- Organic multigrain cereal
Ok, so I have to show you this separately. They were sampling this frozen Organic Multigrain Cereal at Trader Joe’s this morning and I fell in love. The texture of the cereal – which includes wheat, barley, corn, rye, brown rice, millet, steel cut oats and flaxseed, spiced lightly with agave nectar and sea salt – is super chewy and thick, plus it’s 190 calories and so convenient. 3 minutes in the microwave + a drizzle of maple syrup + nuts + fruit = you’ve got breakfast!
Refrigerated Items
- Deli turkey
- Eggland’s Best Eggs
- English Coastal cheddar cheese
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Sliced cheddar cheese (we love cheddar cheese, apparently…)
- Sliced pepper jack cheese
Pantry Items
- Chicken broth (2 sizes of containers)
- Pretzel bread
- Green chilies
- Chocolate cookies
- Pomegranate Berry Cascade Ice
- Whole wheat burger buns
Total: $37. I had a gift card for Trader Joe’s so I got $20 worth of free groceries there, then I had coupons for a dozen eggs free and free Alexa Sweet Potato Fries at the regular grocery store. Booyah!
All of these groceries will be used to create this week’s dinner menus:
Monday: Hot Turkey & Cheese Pretzel Sandwiches
Tuesday: Chicken, Corn & Potato Chowder with Green Chilies (made this tonight while prepping lunches for the week – oooooooooo BOY!)
Wednesday: Chili Lime Chicken Burgers with Guacamole & Garlic Fries
Thursday: Spaghetti Carbonara
Friday: We’ll be in Kentucky. Yeah! Details to come.
FYI – shopping at two stores (Trader Joe’s + regular grocery store) IS annoying, but worth it. Also – they’re right down the road from each other, so it’s not that big of a deal.
Ben and I are still pretty full from lunch, so we are having a "fend for yourself" night, in lieu of a sit down dinner. I’m thinking some English Coastal Cheddar + Honeycrisp Apple slices sounds MY-TEE-FINE right about now.
Have a wonderful week everyone!
~~~~~
Where do you stand on the diet soda/artificial sweeteners debate?
Don’t be afraid to speak up either way!
I gave up my insane caffeine addiction about 2 years ago. I still drink caffeine…I just cut waaaaay back. I NEVER thought I’d be able to give up my Diet Mountain Dew! I truly needed it to function. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that difficult to give it up once I really made an effort. You can read about it here: http://www.lilyshealthpad.com/2009/12/05/how-i-beat-my-caffeine-addiction/
That oatmeal looks so yummy! I can’t wait to try it! I don’t know enough facts to have much of an opinion on artificial sweeteners. We already are trying to avoid artificial colors and flavors, especially for my son’s sake. There are studies linking them to hyperactivity amongst other things. So we try to buy all natural products. I just don’t enough enough about the sweeteners debate, and, like you, I would hate to give it up! I need my diet dew in the afternoons too! I hope Pepsi and Coke come out with all natural diet pop! That would make life much easier!
I used to drink diet sodas allll the time, but now I try to just have half of a 12oz can if I feel like I need it during the day (which is usual). Thank goodness I don’t go over that though. Props to Ben for going strong!!! I don’t think I could do it!
I always try to justify my diet pop drinking by saying “there’s no fat..no calories”… but in reality I wish I could quit drinking it but have horrrrrrible self discipline! Sometimes water or milk etc. just doesn’t cut it when you’re craving something bubbly! And I agree I’ve tried “switching” to flavored waters…it’s just not the same!
Oh, I just tried those Alexia sweet potato fries a few weeks ago – they’re really good!
For the most part I avoid artificial sweeteners, but not because I’ve given a lot of thought to how they affect they your health. I just cannot deal with anything made with aspartame because I get a raging headache. So, I stay away from a lot of diet products because of that – plus I hate the taste. I feel fortunate that I don’t like soda. Not even when I was a kid. I don’t drink coffee either, and I don’t sweeten my tea. When I eat dessert I want it made with real sugar, so yeah, it doesn’t take much effort on my part to avoid artificial sweeteners. I feel bad that I know it’s so hard for a lot of people to avoid. Good luck!
(One suggestion for something flavorful to drink is Perrier mixed with either cranberry, pomegranate, or grapefruit juice.)
Wish my husband would give up the diet sodas, but he is addicted! That must have been a convincing article IBE read. I gave sodas up a few years ago (and still miss them) when we learned they were the cause of my tachycardia (caffeine-induced). Now they think the acid in sodas also might be responsible for osteoporosis–good reasons for all of us to steer clear (as if artificial sweeteners was not enough). Life without caffeine is much calmer, but sometimes it would be very nice to have a jolt!
Artificial sweetners seem to give me headaches. I mentioned this to my Doctor…he said yes, that may very well be the cause of it. We discussed the pros & cons of real sugar & artificial chemical sweetners & decided we will both go for the real! (Stevia was not being sold at that time, so I have no experience w/it). I think fake is a good send for folks w/diabetes…but I’m stickin w/ real sugar. I’m hoping a can or two of Mt.Dew a day will not kill me! Lord knows I ingest alot worse things than sugar on a daily basis! Ha!
My main problem with artificial sweeteners is that they hurt my stomach. That said, I still drink diet soda sometimes. Like you, I just like to have the taste of something besides water sometimes.
I gave up high fructose corn syrup eight years ago (and any products that contain them) and gave up all artificial sweeteners. I only use regular sugar. I don’t care for carbonation so I’ve never gotten into pop. I drink basically water, milk and occasionally tea as my beverages. Boring, yes. I rarely if ever drink alchohol either (just don’t like the taste). Once in a blue moon, I’ll order regular pop with a pizza when I am out but the whole HFCS thing really bugs me. My general rule of thumb on ingredients is this-if I don’t have it in my pantry, it shouldn’t be on the label (meaning in the food).
The secret to making changes is a little at a time. You’ll figure out what works for you.
The boy is not a water fan, and drinks all kinds of juices/fizzy/shakes. I’ve thankfully never had any beverage addiction (I do drink all of the above, but it’s usually as a social thing, and I don’t drink coffee or tea either). But you won’t regret giving up!
I was just like you. I needed one diet soda just to get past the afternoon sitting in front of a computer all day at work. Since I went raw for January…I just drank herbal teas and kombucha. The tea totally helped me and certain ones were great for rejuvenation and energy. Kombucha had the same effect. BUT…the Kombuch can be expensive so I mostly opted for lemon water and I would keep re-filling my tea mug with water with the tea bag still in it so it didn’t taste quite as plain. Weird…but it worked. After the first week…I didn’t crave Diet Mt. Dew at.all.
I avoid all artificial sweeteners as my bf is allergic to Splenda, I used to be totally addicted to Diet Coke, now I can’t stand the taste of it! It’s a bummer you don’t live in CA, you could get some Kahe – natural sparkling juices sweetened with stevia – the Bing Cherry and Kiwi are my faves!
I love my diet drinks. Hate to admit it, but it’s the truth!! I try to drink it as little as possible, but it is addicting!! Love your weeks dinners, sound awesome!!
When aspartame is hydrolyzed in the body, methanol is produced as a byproduct. In studies with rats this excess of methanol has led to blindness, but in humans the amount produced is so small that the effects would be negligible unless you consumed massive amounts of the product.
Can not wait for the Chili Lime Chicken burgers. Sounds so good! I would miss the fizzyness you get from carbonation if I was to give up dt. soda.
Can’t wait to hear what you will be doing in Kentucky (my neck of the woods)! Hope it is something fun!
What a great deal! I love getting good deals at the supermarket.
I don’t like the way that artificial sweetners taste. I will have an occasional diet soda but I don’t drink it all the time. I try to stay away from those sweetners. They taste really fake to me.
DF hates water too but he drinks Perrier sparkling water to hydrate. I don’t really know if this is any better but I can’t understand his/people’s logic that “its boring”or “I don’t like the way it tastes.” I’ve quit soda and all juices since 8th grade. I ONLY drink water with the obvious occasional wine, juice, etc for special dinners. I drink TJ’s Yogi Superoxidant Green tea in the AM and their Yerba Mate + ginger tea in the afternoon to get me over that slump. Refridgerate it and maybe that might help w/ taste?
How does Ben feel about corn syrup or propylene glycol or polydextrose, corn syrup, palm oil, etc? These are all found in my fave ICE CREAM: http://www.bluebunny.com/Products/d/Premium_Light_Ice_Cream_Peanut_Butter_Fudge
While I try to eat natural and organic when I can afford to, I’m still on the line about this….=\
Its so sad, even Breyer’s and Dreyer’s/Edy’s can’t claim their flavored ice creams are technically “ice cream” b/c of all the stabilizers like tara gum and carageenen, etc. They’re called “Frozen Desserts” instead. =(
Well I can’t post anything on the health effects but I am allergic to any artificial sweetners. Found out when I drank my first diet coke in 9th grade and got the worst migraine of my life. I have had such a difficult time finding products that do not have this in it. All sugar free products use artificial sweetners, so I stick to limited amounts of real sugar in my coffee, and drink water with lime juice or lemon juice. Boring, but works.
I do feel anything made in a chemical plant that they are producing to put in food we eat cannot be good for you.
I cannot stand diet pop. It gives me a headache, so I assume I am sensitive to the artificial sweeteners. I either drink fully-leaded pop or none at all.
I can’t do aspartame. When it first came out, I drank quite a few diet sodas one weekend, and came down with a headache that would not quit for three days. I figured that things sweetened with sugar or unsweetened would be better than messing around with that!
When I am not drinking coffee, water, or skim milk, I LOVE flavored seltzer. I actually bought a carbonator for myself a while ago and it was the best investment ever. You can flavor your own sodas, and most of the time you can control the ingredients in them! Bed Bath and Beyond- check it out!
I used to drink one diet coke or diet dr. pepper every morning. Like Ben, I don’t like coffee or tea so that was a way of getting my morning caffeine. Two weeks ago a quit drinking soda cold turkey and was surprised that I have not missed it much and had no withdrawal symptons. I quit drinking it, not because I drank to much, as I only had one a day, but I decided there wasn’t anything good in it and that I probably shouldn’t be drinking all of those chemicals on such a regular basis. I haven’t looked back. Way to go Ben! Meanwhile, my husband bought me white tea bags. They are a good starter tea (very mild) so maybe I can become a tea drinker: )
I’m not a big fan of the artificial sweetners and stuff, but when it comes to having an occasional soda I do enjoy a nice Diet Dr. Pepper :-/
So I ran one of your interval plans you posted a while back! It was the 5 minute interval climb (where you added .1 mph every 5 minutes, then stayed at that new speed for 5, repeating until you are sprinting at 8). It was a GREAT challenge and when I tried it the first time, my mind won out and I stopped at the 7.5 for one minute. This morning, I did the whole thing (even if I had to hold on to the treadmill for a bit here and there), with my legs flying and my heart pounding! Thanks for the fun ideas for treadmill challenges that make the time fly by! BTW, I’m a Kentucky girl, so I can’t wait to hear why you will be visiting the bluegrass state soon!
The biggest issues I have with artificial sweeteners is they are not naturally processed thus chemically altered (drugs) that try to fool your brain. The problem is your brain excuse the pun “takes it’s sweet time” determining if it has had enough sweets so it keeps craving more until it gets satisfied. Ironic you wind up usually eating more (gaining weight) until the brain eventually gets the message not a good deal if you are trying to loose weight. Like any drug including aspartame, phenylalanine and all those other wonderful drugs you can’t even pronounce they all have unique side effects none are good (something left out of the marketing part of their products). Another issue is sodium (salt) which causes hypertension. Read the labels and decide for yourself if you are not better off to just go back to the basics or untainted foods (unprocessed) & natural sugars. Best thing is to drink sparkling (CO2) flavored water if you get a craving for soda without all the lovely additives.
I try & stay away from artificial sweeteners as much as I can, but I don’t go completely out of my way to avoid them. I weaned myself off pop when I was pregnant, and now I drink it maybe a couple times a month (and even regular pop is too sweet for me–I can never finish a full can!). My husband drinks far more soda than I’d like, although he’s trying to make the switch from that to tea (it’s an on-going process).
Artificial sweeteners scare me. Artificial anything = eek!
I don’t drink regular soda, either. My parents never bought it so I never developed the addiction.
You could buy a soda machine? They’re somewhat expensive at first but seem to be a good investment. There’s no crazy stuff in the syrup and the nutritional info looks much better.
http://www.sodastreamusa.com/
I’m from Kentucky, too. I’m dying to know what you’re doing here!
Can’t stand diet pop. I will enjoy a regular pop once in awhile and try to do caffeine free if possible. I just can’t stand the taste of artificial sweeteners. I keep a water bottle at my desk and try to drink as much as possible.
I don’t drink soda (often, anyway–did share a small one at the movies with the youngest yesterday.) I’m pretty leery of anything “diet” as that translates to not.real.food. I buy “fizzy water” 2 L bottles of unflavored carbonated water, as we still like the fizz. Makes for great wine spritzers or with a bit of juice for flavoring. I try to add honey or brown sugar if sweetener is needed…
Hi Kristin, I love that you were able to find Cascade Ice 2-calorie water at your local grocery store. Is this the first time you’ve tried it? It’s a great alternative if you’re trying to kick caffeine and sugar out of your life, but want to keep the flavor. You can read more about flavors, availability and drink recipes at Facebook.com/CascadeIceWaters. Thanks!
I rarely eat things with artificial sweetners in it. I’ve read articles about how bad it is for you, but as a Canadian, we also have access to Sugar Cane from Cuba – which is nice and pure and doesn’t have all the crap of the high-glucose corn syrup which tends to be the alternative in the States – I highly recommend you get yourself off of it – try making yourself a cold-tea, an iced-tea alternative. Green tea is great for you! you can make a hot greentea with honey or agave syrup and pour over ice
Voila!
I gave up Diet Coke last year for one of my New Years Resolutions. I read a lot about it and its scary some of the stuff they put in there. I’m trying to keep less chemicals out of my body and more real, less processed foods. It was hard to give up, but I pushed through and now never crave Diet Coke anymore.
I used to drink diet pop ALL the time, but after cutting it out for a few weeks- I didn’t even miss it. You can do it!
I avoid artificial sweeteners at all costs (I just believe natural is better) and gave up all caffeine while pregnant. After giving it up for nine months I saw no reason to go back to it and do not miss it in the least. I don’t crave pop…not even my beloved Dr. Pepper. Interestingly, I got a horrible headache weaning myself from caffeine and I get a horrible headache if the coffee shop forgets to give me decaf now. Apparently, it’s hard getting off of it and it’s hard getting back on! So, I’ll stay away from it for good. As for the hot cereal from Trader Joe’s: I freakin’ love the stuff. They also offer a two-pack of Maple Brown Sugar Steel Cut Oats that is out-of-this-world good. It’s similar to the hot cereal you just bought, minus the bowl. You can find it in the freezer section too. Hands down, TJ’s has some of the greatest frozen foods around!
I used to drink a lot of Diet Coke. I would have it mostly in the morning then switched to coffee. I think the coffee is better for me. I would still have the 2pm Diet Coke like you and then one day, it just didn’t sound good. I don’t know what happened, I just didn’t want it anymore. I maybe have 2-3 fountain diet cokes now a year. Usually if we go out for lunch and it sounds good with a sandwich. Otherwise I don’t miss it at all.
I wish I could tell you I had an amazing health improvement from going from 3-4 a day to none, but I didn’t. I was less bloated and craved sweets less. I guess that is something. If I crave something I have a flavored mineral water or green tea now in the afternoons.
I gave up my 2-a-day diet coke habit last year. I still drink it on occassion as a “treat”. I could NOT believe the difference it made in the appearance of my belly. So much less bloated. I now drink seltzer water, which I used to hate. It grows on you after awhile. I promise!
Could he have Hansen’s soda? Some of the flavors are GROSS (diet ginger ale and diet root beer) but the diet black cherry and diet pomegranate are great! There’s no aspartame…
When I was still in college I actually did a study for my brain & behavior class (had to be a self-improvement project). What I did for it was cut out soda all together (I was a fiend before that). I had to do a ton of research on the effects of soda (may they be negative or positive), and I remember the whole aspartame/formaldehyde issue being the one thing that made me really disgusted. (I also lost like 15 lb. that semester and the ONLY diet change I made was cutting soda and before that the only soda I drank was diet Mt. Dew with the occasional Pepsi thrown in.) Just sayin’.
My biggest problem with cutting soda was the carbonation… sometimes I just CRAVE it and nothing else carbonated ever suffices for me. So, to this day I don’t drink soda typically but every once in a while I cave and HAVE to have a Pepsi. God I love Pepsi.
Also, I NEED to know how those chile lime chicken burgers are. TELL ME!!!
(Sorry ’bout my novel!)
Here are a few alternatives to diet soda!!
Orange Lacroix water (the berry stuff *sounds* good, but tastes yucky) in our opinion! http://www.lacroixwater.com/
and my favorite Izzie Waters. YUMMMM!!! These are not ‘no calorie” drinks, but so worth it if you need something fizzy.
I <3 the blackberry kind (the pom is my least fav)
http://www.izze.com/
I know you said you don’t like plain seltzer but have you tried flavored? I love Pomeganite Seltzer (Polar Beverages – local to New Englad I think). It’s only a very slight flavor b/c there are no calories and no artificial sweeteners but it’s pretty good. If you can’t find that, try adding a splash of cranberry juice to a plain seltzer. That might be something you’d like
I used to be the same exact way…if I did not have a Diet Pepsi at 2 pm you did not want to be around me. Then about 8 months ago I just quit. At first it was tough but now I don’t miss it. Occasionally I’ll open a can (out of nothing but boredom) and I take two sips and throw it out. If I can get to this point, I know you can too!
[...] Comments « Help! The Great Artificial Sweeteners Debate [...]
I like the oatmeal but hate that it comes in a plastic bowl. That is soooo wasteful…like the new Healthy Choice steamer lunches or anything that comes in a bowl that you literally throw away every day. Even if you recycle it, it’s still a waste — why not use your own bowl? We all have bowls. I don’t get it, TJ’s… normally they are good with that kinda thing.
Artificial sweeteners give me major headache. If I’m craving a soda I go for the full on sugary sweetness of a regular Coca Cola. It’s really rare that I want one so I feel it’s ok every now and then! By the way, we have matching super cute pink dell computers!
I think I have read the same article Ben did…I believe it too. My personal philosophy is nothing in life comes for free, including calories. Artificial sweeteners are a shortcut to getting to drink a beverage “for free” so to speak, as in no calories to contend with. But I believe the human body will pay for that later on, whether in the form of cancer or whatever, something too “good” to be true usually is.