Posts Tagged ‘Healthy eating’

Excuses & Meme’s…The Great American Way! Part II

Please read part I posted last week to shed light on what I am about to suggest in this post.  Last week I told you that all of us have meme’s and that they act to impede our fitness and nutrition goals.  Today I would like to give you some simple steps that you can apply to change your current mindset so that you can obtain the lifestyle that you truly deserve.

Step #1:  Acknowledge that you make excuses:

No, you’re not in AA but this first step CANNOT be overlooked. If you do, you will pay the price of failing.  You make excuses…yes you do.  There is absolutely nobody that is exempt from excuse making and you are no exception.  That is ok.  The good news is that you can change your mind once you identify your excuses and memes. 

Step #2: Write down all of your excuses and memes:

This is more of a process.  For the next 30 days I want you to write down all of the excuses and memes that you make to yourself.  See last weeks post for examples.

Step #3: State the opposite:

Once you have written down all of your most annoying excuses and memes you need to write down the exact opposite.  For example if you say, “I am too tired to exercise after work”, write down “Because I am proactive and take responsibility for my life, I will exercise before work to increase my energy level”. 

Step #4: Change your Sub-Conscience Mind: 

Your sub-conscience mind is the part of the brain that stores all of your habits.  It steers the proverbial ship.  This is where the vast majority of all your behaviors are stored and processed.  To change your sub-conscience mind you have to do the following things.

            a. Convince it that it is wrong:  You do this by stating the exact opposite of your memes.  The very moment that a negative or damming thought enters your head you must replace it with the opposite thought…even if you have to say it out loud.

            b. Construct a list of positive affirmations:  On this list could be something like “I am in control of my eating at all times”, or “Exercising daily is just part of who I am”. 

            c. Repeat your list of affirmations daily, morning and night: Do this when you first awake and before you go to sleep.  The goal is to be in a relaxed state where not much will bother you and where your mind can be at ease. 

            d. Be in a state of believing:  When you are repeating your affirmations, do so in a state of positivity and optimism

Step #5: Disarm your alarm system!

When you begin doing these simple steps your brain will tell you that you are crazy and that you are acting weird or like a moron.  This is normal because your brain is still convinced of the validity of your previous mindset of excuses and memes.  Persistence is the key here.  If you persist and repeat your affirmations day after day you will begin to believe the things that you are telling yourself and BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE YOURSELF YOU WILL ACT ON IT!  Yes your behavior will start to change in a way that you never imagined possible.

Step #6:  Realize that you never “Arrive”.

We live in a world of complacency, feeling entitled and laziness.  If you are not constantly reinforcing your sub-conscience mind, rest assured you will slip back into old ways.  Stay focused and realize that you have to be proactive to win the battle.  Things will not magically work out for the best if you are not constantly bathing your mind with the things that you want to accomplish.

Step #7 Action:

This is where it is time to get off your butt and get into action.  You can have the most wonderful meditation sessions of visualizations and imagery known to mankind, but if you don’t move you will never change your behavior.  It is much easier to shed your old excuses when you see yourself doing the opposite of them.  Soon you will be excuse free!

Step #8 Making it Long-Term:

Realize from the get-go that this is about lifestyle change for the long-term!  Never allow any short-sightedness to enter the picture here.  When you are planning your visualizations and affirmations make them long term.  You want to adopt a mindset of permanency.

 Well there you have it my friends!  Properly applied these principles can and will change your lifestyle for the better.  Start applying them today…there is absolutely no room for procrastination here.  Remember…life is good!

Ryan Flint, Lifelong Fitness Certified Personal Trainer and Sports Nutritionist

 I know there seems to be an on-going debate out there these days with health professionals, nutritionists, and the media giving different opinions about whether organic food is worth the slightly higher prices.

But there are a few VERY important aspects of organic food that I rarely see anybody out there talking about.

First, as you know, the main aspect that most people talk about in the organic vs conventional food debate is simply whether the food in question was grown with pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers, and whether that food contains pesticide/herbicide residues on the actual food when you eat it.

And that IS important… I mean, I know I don’t want to be ingesting pesticide residues that are potentially carginogenic or even estrogenic and can possibly increase belly fat (due to the xenoestrogens)… and I’m sure you don’t either!

But there’s another another MAJOR aspect of organic vs conventional food that most people are overlooking, and that is:

The impacts of conventional farm chemicals on the SOIL, and how that affects the nutritional composition (quantities of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants in the food)

The harsh chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides used in conventional farming can destroy a large part of the microbial activity in the soils (bacteria and fungi) that help to make soil minerals more available to the plants roots.  Conventional farming degrades this aspect of the soil which results in lower micro-nutrient levels in the plants that you eat.

In organic farming, these harsh chemicals are not used, and the soil is healthier and more biologically active (fungi and bacteria aid the plant roots with uptake of minerals and nutrients), and the plants roots can therefore obtain more nutrition which produces foods with higher micro-nutrient levels.

Also, it’s quite possible that the heavy use of chemical fertilizers, which make crops grow much faster than normal, leads to a shallower root system, that inherently absorbs less micro-nutrients from the soil column compared to organically raised plants that are forced to have deeper, more extensive root systems to obtain all of the nutrients the plant needs.

I think it’s quite easy to see why organic foods can have superior nutrition levels and more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants than conventional foods.

But beware of conflicting “reports” out there on this topic.  Although there is much data on the superior nutrition levels of organic foods, you may also find some data that contradicts these findings in particular studies.

The reason that this happens is that science isn’t perfect, and someone may measure the nutrition levels of a certain type of conventional tomato, for example, compared against a different type of organic tomato, grown in a vastly different geographic area in vastly different soils and climate.  There are dozens, or even hundreds of complications with these types of studies, which is why you can’t always make direct comparisons.

 However, I think with the evidence we talked about in terms of soil quality, nutrient uptake, and also just the pure fact that we don’t want carcinogenic and estrogenic chemicals in our food, it makes it worth it to try to buy organic as much as possible.

Sometimes Local may be MORE important than “Organic”

Here’s another vitally important thing to keep in mind… 

If your choices at the grocery store for the organic food come from half way around the globe (such as organic produce from Chile or New Zealand when you live in North America), then you might want to consider favoring local produce even if it’s not labeled “organic”.

For one reason, many local farm stands may actually have organic produce but simply aren’t legally allowed to label their food “organic” if they haven’t acquired whatever necessary licenses they need for that.  If you ask the farmers, many times you may find out that the local farm produce is in fact organic, or at least close to organic (meaning they use very minimal chemicals compared to a large industrial farm).

Also, local produce that is picked at it’s peak of ripeness, and on your plate in a matter of hours or days, will usually have much higher nutrition levels compared to “organic” produce that was picked halfway around the world well before it was ripe and traveled weeks to make it to your grocery store.

The one caveat to this is frozen produce… sometimes fruits and veggies are picked at their peak of ripeness and frozen rather quickly, even if they were picked halfway around the world.  In this case, organic frozen fruits and vegetables can sometimes be just as nutritious as local produce (although they may carry a bigger petroleum burden than local produce)

So, if I were to give my overall recommendations to save yourself from the inherent health dangers of pesticides and herbicides, while also eating food that contains the highest levels of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, it is this:

1. choose organic over conventional most of the time, when it’s available

2. choose local foods over organic if the organic food came from very long distances away (although frozen organic fruits and vegetables can be just as nutritious as local)

3. Don’t forget that choosing organic also helps to protect the environment from chemical fertilizer and pesticide pollution that can harm ecosystems and your own drinking water supply.

4. Don’t fall for “organic junk foods” — I’ve been seeing this trend lately — Just because crackers, cookies, cakes, and corn chips may be labeled “organic”, doesn’t mean they are healthy… junk food is still junk food!  And these are still overly processed foods that can make you fat!

Remember that forcing change for responsible agriculture starts with your choices as a consumer.  The more we demand responsibly grown and raised foods by choosing those foods in our shopping carts, the more that producers and suppliers will respond to that demand.

Ryan Flint, Lifelong Fitness Certified Personal Trainer and Sports Nutritionist

To many people, “fat” is one of those three-letter words that instills fear of heart disease, obesity, and a lifetime of bad hair days (I’m kidding about that last one… sort of). But one type of fat that has joined the popular crowd of nutrients such as amino acids and dietary fiber, is essential fatty acids.

Essential fatty acids (EFAs), have steadily become the new buzz word in nutrition for several important reasons. The biggest reason is it’s prefix, “essential”. Yes, fats in this category are something your body can not make, but need for survival and to prevent deficiencies. This is in contrast to many other nutrients that your body can actually synthesize, like carbohydrates and some proteins.  As such, EFAs must be obtained by eating certain foods and taking dietary supplements regularly. You can think of them like water or calories; without either of these, your body will not function properly and will eventually suffer ill fates.

But what is it about EFAs that makes them so, well, essential? And, what happens without them? Finally, how can we get them in our diets and what are their benefits? Continue reading to learn everything you need to know about this special class of nutrients.

All About Essential Fatty Acids

EFAs fall within the category of dietary fat. In foods, fat is actually a structure made up of several different types of fatty acids attached to a compound called glycerol. This whole unit together is known as a triglyceride, pictured below:

A triglyceride basically looks like the capital letter “E”, and each arm of the “E” is a fatty acid. These fatty acid “arms” are chains of carbon molecules linked together in varying lengths, and with different amount of attachments (or bonds) between each carbon. Chains with only single attachments are known as saturated fatty acids (SFAs), those with one double attachment are known as monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), and those with two to six double attachments are called polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).
EFAs are a type of PUFA; they have one or more double bonds, and they‘re further categorized into one of two classes: Omega-6 or Omega-3.  The omega-6s are named because their first double bond is six carbons from one end, where omega-3s have their first double attachment three carbons away.

The essentiality of two of these omega fats, linoleic acid (LA, an omega-6), and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, an omega-3) is because humans, and all vertebrates for that matter, do not have the enzymes to make them from other fats in the diet. Plants, however, do have these special enzymes and are one of the main dietary sources for us. Humans can also get them from eating animals that have consumed these plants and have now accumulated them in their body fat stores.

As you can see from the table above, there are many ways to get omega-6 EFAs into your diet. However, obtaining omega-3s is a bit more difficult. To make matters worse, consuming too few omega-3s compared to omega-6s has been associated with higher rates of inflammatory diseases like heart disease, diabetes, arthritis , cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. It has been suggested by some experts that humans should ideally consume no more than a 6:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids, with lower levels recommended for certain conditions.

Finding The Right Omega Balance

Starting in the 1900s, the North American dietary fat consumption drastically changed. With new industrial processes and a greater demand for food to feed a rapidly growing population, we shifted from eating fats in their natural state to those in packages and pre-prepared forms. We also became highly scared of saturated fats, like those in butter and tropical oils, and so turned to margarines and refined vegetable oils.

Fatty fish also became less popular because we thought fat was deadly, so we choose less-nutritious white fishes and low-fat versions of poultry and meat (and, of course, we had to cover them in breading and high-sugar sauces). Finally, because we were eating so much beef and chicken, these animals had to fed grain-based diets instead of naturally grazing on grass – there was not just enough pasture to keep up.  

 All of these food changes has lead our current population to have a diet heavily-based on omega-6 fats, with very few omega-3s. The margarines, fish, beef, pork and poultry we eat now are all dominant in omega-6 linoleic acid (LA). In turn our dietary ratio of omega-6 to 3s is much different than our healthier ancestors: it’s been estimated that we currently eat an omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of 15-20:1, compared to 1:1 many years ago (when heart disease was not the #1 killer at such young ages).

During evolution, omega-3 fatty acids were found in most all foods consumed: meat, wild plants, eggs, fish, nuts and berries. But now the picture has changed and our health has suffered. True, other factors come into play, like lack of physical activity and excessive sugar intake, but dietary fat imbalance plays an important role.

The problem with excessive omega-6 fats is that in the body are many:
•    Omega-6 LA competes with the normal metabolism of omega-3 ALA to EPA and DHA, so that much less can be made in the body through the normal omega-3 pathway.

•    Omega-6s drastically reduce incorporation of omega-3 EPA and DHA into cell membranes when they are consumed in the diet (normally, EPA and DHA would be placed into membranes).

•    Omega-6 fats in the body are highly susceptible to free-radical attack and produce compounds such as oxidized LDL cholesterol which contribute to atherosclerosis.

•    When consumed as part of a normal diet, omega-6 ALA is converted to pro-inflammatory products (prostaglandins, thromboxanes, leukotrienes) which contribute to plaque formation on arteries, allergic responses, increased blood pressure, and tumor growth. Omega-3s have the opposite effect:

 Basically, many current common diseases can be linked back to excess omega-6s in our food supply, which leads to chronic inflammation. The solution then is to reduce our intake of these fats and increase our intake of omega-3s. But remember: a balance is important  and some omega-6s are still essential.

What Is The Ideal Omega-6 To Omega-3 Ratio?
In today’s society, it’s practically impossible to get a 1:1 ratio of omega-6s to 3s as we did in the past. Also, EFA experts do not recommend we strive for this since we have more of a requirement for omega-6s than we do 3s, and not all omega-6s are bad. Thus, for disease prevention and optimal body processes, a 6:1 ratio, or somewhat less, is ideal. Therefore, in a typical diet containing about 60 grams of total fat and 20 grams of PUFA,  you’d  aim for at least 4 grams of omega-3s, which you can easily get from food and supplements.

Making Omega-3 Fatty Acids
When people consume LA or ALA these fatty acids can be converted to other important omega-6 and omega-3s in the body, but this doesn’t always occur effectively.  Omega-6 LA is often easily transformed to omega-6s known as gamma-linoleic acid (GLA) and arachidonic acid (AA). GLA is considered a good fat to have in our bodies, but AA is mostly not – it depends on the situation you’re looking at though.

The most important conversion process for our health and well-being is the creation of special omega-3 fats known as EPA (eicosapentanoic acid) and DHA (docosahexanoic acid) from ALA.  High levels of EPA and DHA in our cells is very beneficial for lowering our risk of diseases, preventing cancer, avoiding depression and correcting attention deficit disorders.  Also, DHA is very important for visual acuity and development of the brain. Unfortunately, for most humans, the conversion of ALA to EPA and DHA is not an efficient process. It has been estimated that  only 5-10% of ALA is converted to EPA and 2-5% is converted to DHA; considering how little ALA is in the diet to begin with, this is barely anything at all. Part of the reason minimal ALA is converted to EPA and DHA is that the body prefers to burn it as a fuel – studies with humans have shown that as much as 34% ALA is breathed off as CO2 (via metabolism). Thus, for optimal intake of EPA and DHA we should aim to eat these food sources regularly instead on relying on our body to make them for us:

Significant Sources of EPA and DHA
•    Cold water fatty fish (salmon, trout, sardine, mackerel, herring)
•    Shellfish (shrimp, mussels)
•    Marine algae
•    Krill

And technically, since EPA and DHA can be made in the body from ALA, they’re not essential. But since we are very limited in what we are able to synthesize and these fats are an important part of healthy cell membrane functioning, they are crucial for everyone.

How Do We Know EFAs Are So Essential?
If either LA or ALA are missing in the diet because a person chooses to eat a fat-free diet or they select fats that are low in one or the other, the health of body cells deteriorates, and deficiency symptoms develop. Historically, rats that were fed fat-free diets failed to reproduce, grow normally, or remain healthy. At first, these issues were thought to be due to Vitamin E deficiency (a fat-soluble vitamin), but where then discovered to be due to lack of omega-6 fat. In humans, signs of omega-6 LA deficiency include dermatitis, poor wound healing, loss of hair, and infertility. Thankfully, all of these outcomes are reversible.
No distinct disease occurs in humans when omega-3 ALA is missing in the diet, but, as mentioned, these fatty acids are required for proper vision and central nervous system development and functioning.  They also compete with pro-inflammatory products of omega-6 mediators in the body and produce an anti-inflammatory state in the body.  Finally, people who consume plentiful omega-3s from seafood and flax have been observed to have reductions in body fat and increases in the ability to use carbohydrate as a fuel (improved insulin sensitivity); we’ll explore more of these benefits in Part II.
Overall, omega-3s are fats that everyone should include in their diets right now;  they’re one fat you shouldn’t be afraid of, but rather, should seek out for optimal health.

This is from the eat clean website (www.eatcleanmag.com).  Please check them out for further recipes and meal planning…they are great!

One thing has always amazed me with the pushers of fad diets.  They all claim to have found a break-through, a real-deal quick fix, or my personal favorite…the ONLY way to lose weight quickly!  If all of these claims are true then we must be idiots to believe them.  That would mean that we would have to blindly accept the facts of any given fad diet and completely disregard all of the sound principles of nutrition science that have been handed to us long ago before any of these non-sense diets ever came into existence.

As you know, I am an avid advocate of long term lifestyle change because I believe that it is the only way to accomplish long-term success.  Don’t believe me?  Well I am excited to share with you some statistics that may change your mind.  My hope in doing so is that you might start to look at these fad diets in a different light than you have in the past.

Definition of Fad Diet:

This is somewhat of a subjective term, but this is an accurate definition.  Fad Diets are aimed at rapid weight loss and disregard where the weight comes from (i.e., muscle, water, fat).  Fad Diets usually have a time line associated with them and are highly restrictive in nature.  They usually focus on the inclusion or exclusion of macronutrients (CHO/Pro/Fat).  Fad Diets are usually hypo-caloric (low calorie) and focus on certain foods that they deem “good” or “bad”.

Statistical Facts:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)  estimate that at any given time two-thirds of all American adults are on a diet to either lose weight or prevent weight gain. Of those, 29 percent are men and 44 percent women. Yet only 5 percent of these dieters will be successful at keeping the weight that they lost off.

Guess what that means my friends?  That means that a whopping 95% of fad diets fail in the long run!  That is hardly a formula for success!  Even more discouraging is the fact that the human body thoroughly despises gaining and losing weight in a cyclical fashion!  The body prefers to be in a state of balance or homeostasis, and yo-yo dieting has been proven to pull the body squarely out of that balanced state.  The result is a fluctuation of hormonal levels, cholesterol levels, vitamin and mineral balances and so forth.
A staggering 66% of Americans are either overweight or obese…this is after all of the diets having been tried and failed!  I have a simple question for all of us Americans.  When will we learn that weight loss and lifestyle change is NOT found in a pill, surgery, funky and faddish diets, or fat-burning shots? 

A wise man once said, “Anything worth having will require a significant sacrifice of time, hard work, and determination”.  I could not agree more my friends.  You may be asking yourself, “Well how do I know how to spot the fad diets”.  I personally think that common sense will take you a long way in this arena, but in the following will give you some valuable tips that you can use.

Putting your “Diets” under the “Diet Microscope”

1- Does the diet promote rapid weight loss? 

Remember that the American College of Sports Medicine advocates weight loss of 1-2 lbs per week.  The fact that we think this is “too slow” is an indication of our lack of understanding of true and healthy weight loss.

2-Does it exclude one macro-nutrient or promotes the excessive consumption of another?  

In other words, if your diet is telling you to only consume protein and fat then the red flag should be raised.  Remember that the body prefers a balance of carbs, protein, and fat.  A healthy ratio is around 50% carbohydrate, 30% protein, and 20% fat.

3- Does the diet eliminate food groups?

The grapefruit diet is a perfect example of this, only advocating the consumption of grapefruit and other select foods.  Remember that this is no hand and conclusive scientific data to back up any of these silly diets.

4-Are they “lifestyle sustainable”?

If you can’t imagine doing your “diet” for the rest of your life, then run for the hills!  Remember that the ultimate goal of any nutritional regimen should be long-term and enjoyable.  Healthy eating can accomplish weight loss, weight maintenance and healthy weight gain if you are creative and proactive in your approach.

5- Does it advertize weight loss without exercise?

Thank goodness this gimmick is fading a little, but it is still out there.  If you ever hear this rest assured that the diet being advertized is bogus.  The fact that they are advertizing this indicates that the product probably is taking weight loss from either muscle or water with only a minimum amount coming from fat…certainly a recipe for long-term disaster!

6- Does the diet restrict calories less than 1200 for women and 1500 for men?

Remember that muscle is an intricate part of the human metabolism…the more of it present on the human body, the more

7-Does the diet require additional supplements or sponsored company foods or pills?

Typically these companies will try to gain your trust and excitement through emotion-based advertizing.  They want to get as much $ squeezed out of you as possible and if that means selling you expensive (and most of the time worthless) supplements to give you a placebo effect then so be it!  Be vigilant and aware of these gimmicky-like techniques.

My Suggestions

My suggestion is simple.  Stay true to time tested healthy eating principles such as eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, and with the correct balance of carbs, protein, and fat.  Be consistent and you will eventually find yourself if a lifestyle sustaining habit that will serve you for the rest of your life.  I know that is simple, and there is more to it, but suffice it to say that if you learn the basics and stay true to them you will make it much further that you ever would with all if the non-sense that is out there.  Trying to re-invent the wheel with fad diets only serves to plunge that wheel deeper and deeper into an unhealthy and cumbersome lifestyle that will ultimately leave you fatter, more out of shape and more discouraged than you started. 

Be good to yourselves and remember that life is good!

I am always being asked about “healthy dessert recipes” so here you have one!  I got this out of the Clean Eating Magazine.  www.eatcleanmag.com I hope you enjoy!

I have personally tried these little babies and love them!  I think you will as well…please let me know!

The following is a list that you can use as a nutritional checklist.  If you can answer yes to these questions you will find yourself on the fast track to success.  If you find yourself at a plateau, oftentimes you will find yourself negligent in one or more of these areas.  These principles are based on long term lifestyle change and I promise you that if you apply them and are able to answer “yes” to all of these on a CONSISTENT basis, you WILL succeed!  Best of Luck!

1- Am I within my calorie range on a daily basis?

This is extremely important.  Most people get frustrated because they fail to lose/gain/maintain weight even when they are making healthy choices.  The problem is that the body can get quite particular and even 300-500 calories in either direction can make all of the difference.  Log on to www .fitday.com to enter your calories and find out if you are indeed within your range.

2-Am I eating 5-6 SMALLER meals spaced out every 2-3 hours?

Remember that the reason behind this one is to activate your metabolism and supercharge it!  You can eat the same amount of calories but only in 3 square meals and you will NOT lose the weight that you would with 5-6 smaller meals spaced out every 2-3 hours.  Why?  Because your blood sugar levels stay much more steady when eating the smaller more frequent meals.  Never neglect this principle.

3-Are my Macronutrients (Carbs, Pro, Fat) in Balance?

Remember that the body prefers a balance of these sources.  You should be around 50% Carbohydrate, 30% Protein, and 20% Fat, unless otherwise directed by your trainer.  This pertains to each individual meal and to your total daily intake.

4-Am I Consuming Moderate to Low Glycemic Carbohydrates?

This is by far the most overlooked nutritional aspect that can have a huge impact.  Please refer to the book, The New Glucose Revolution, The Complete Authoritative Guide to the Glycemic Index for further insights and understanding on this topic.  It is essential to gain a complete and thorough understanding on this topic so that you can reap the benefits of eating moderate to low glycemic carbohydrates.

5- Am I consuming adequate Fruits and Vegetables on a Daily basis?

The body demands nutrients, fiber, antioxidants that are found in fruits and vegetables.  Don’t like veggies?  Get over it and get used to them because they are the life blood of good nutrition and you cannot consider yourself truly healthy until you are getting at least 3 servings (3-5) of veggies a day and 2 servings (2-4) of fruit.

6- Am I eating Breakfast?

This is an absolute must!  I know that many of you struggle with this one…if you do start small and work up to a moderate meal.  This sets your body’s metabolism into motion for the day and ensures that you keep your blood sugar levels in check.

7-Is my sugar/treat intake low?

Nobody is telling you that you can never have a treat, but if you do so earlier in the day and make sure that you keep your portion size small.  Your total daily sugar intake should never be more than 10% and lower is much better.  Sugar is a death nail when it comes to weight loss.

8-Is my fat intake low? 

Remember that you should never be over 20% in the fat category and of that 20%, no more than 10% (and much lower if possible) should come from saturated (animal) fat.

In my next post I will do a Non-Nutritional checklist that will work hand in hand with this one.

Life is good!

Hey all!  This one is for the more technical Chef’s out there!  Hope you like this one…it’s a little different but really good and it comes from the Eat Clean Magazine.

INGREDIENTS:  

Hello All!

I am really happy to make this post!  I have just about EVERYBODY always asking me, Griff how can I satisfy my sweet tooth?  The answer is two-fold:  1- You have to redefine what “sweet” is.  If you are used to eating sugar and junk food everyday, then the following recipes may not do it for you for the first little while, BUT your taste buds WILL begin to adapt and appreciate a sweet treat as posted.  Give it some time and be patient!  Don’t judge it and throw it out upon your first bite.  Your taste buds really do change with time…give it a try and you will become a believer!  Eventually the sweet treats and junk food that you may enjoy now will become less and less appealing and you will love it when I continue to give you cool recipes like these…your welcome!

2-Remeber that these sweet healthy treat should also be consumed with moderation.  Sometimes people think that to “satisfy” their sweet tooth means to become full to the brim!  No matter how healthy the treat is it will still catch up to you if consumed in excess.

Well there you have it my friends!  Your feedback is always greatly appreciated!  Life is good!

Griff