I recently watched the documentary Fed Up (available on Netflix) and was alarmed/intrigued/saddened by our Food and Drug Administrations take on sugar- or as some groups have called it-“The White Devil”. I was also AMAZED at the amount of added sugar Americans consume daily- ESPECIALLY kids. As a teacher I see it often…parents pack their kids “healthy” snacks and lunches that are in fact killing them. Every time I see a “100% REAL Fruit Juice” label on juice boxes or fruit snacks I want to scream. Do you know kids as young as 5 are being diagnoses with DIABETES? Granola bars and Go-Gurts and pre-packaged applesauce. I get that life is busy…and as a parent you need things that are easy and quick. As an ADULT we need these things. But how quick will those doctors visits be? How much money will you be spending in treatments and diagnoses in the future? The movie did an excellent job of comparing sugar to cocaine. Its crazy…just watch and see it for yourself. I am pretty sure I have written about this in the past but MAN it hit home again today. Sugar is JUST as addicting as hard core drugs…and many researchers believe it is more powerful and potent than any street drug that exists today.

Most of the books I have read along this journey focus on sugar and its impacts it has on health and weight. And it has not been on purpose…all of the most recent publications around weight and weight loss programs seem to center around sugar intake. Even Weight Watchers changed up their whole problem to deal with the sugar issue head on. When I really started to look at food labels and better understand the 30/10 program, I realized that sugar was everywhere and has hundreds of different aliases. IT IS IN EVERYTHING THAT WAS MADE ON OR BY A MACHINE. Yes it occurs naturally and yes our body does need some sugar to function. Thats why a “calorie is not a calorie”…Fiber in fruit helps bread down and utilize the natural sugars in fruits IF you eat the whole fruit. But the amount that Americans ingest on a daily basis is crazy ridiculous. Research is now showing that salt is not to blame for heart disease and high blood pressure- SUGAR is. http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2015/03/26/sugar-vs-salt-which-has-the-greater-impact-on-your-heart-health/2/#399d974c6e1b

On CNN’s homepage today a headline stopped me in my web-browsing tracks. “Your Starbucks drink may have 25 spoons of sugar in it.” Ummmm…WHAT? I LOVE Starbucks. I think I might work there when I retire. So naturally I wanted to come to my most favorites places defense and call out this nasty article as faulty. But yeah…then I read it and watched the video that accompanied the article. Bottom line: sugar is killing us and the government is allowing its silence to be bought by Big Soda and the whole sugar industry. Everyday I am more and more amazed at the level our government will go to for the protection of American businesses. They want to keep us fat and sick and nearly dead so we continue to seek medical treatments and pay our co-pays because the health care and pharam companies are owned by companies who also are making the food and drinks that are killing us. I am proud to say that since joining 30/10 and becoming “enlightened” I have not had to see any of my doctors outside of annual exams. Food really can be medicine…it is the fountain of youth if we could only know what is really in our food. Well…we kinda can if we make things homemade with love.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/17/news/companies/sugar-coffee-drinks/index.html

I have been SO struggling recently to get back on track. I am down one week and up again the next. My cravings are back BIG TIME and I am having a very hard time saying no. Grady has kinda stalled too and its because we are just not focusing on the plan and sticking to it as we should. So tomorrow I am starting up again. I have 8 paid weeks left and I need to make the most of them. I have to get off the sugar and I have to do it quick. I should have been close to my goal weight by now and it is just not going to happen. So I have to make the most of my 8 remaining weeks and get as far down as I can. That is all there is too it. I have no more days or weeks or years to spare.