How-we-doing Humpday

It's that time again.  Time to be glad about one less step toward a healthier me.

Condiments. 

I was raised on salt, pepper, syrup, and jam.  Dips and toppings were the spice of life as a child.  In high school I'd eat packets of sugar at a time...by themselves.  In the school lunch line, I got ranch dressing...for my cheese pizza and fries. 

Once I moved out and started exploring supermarkets, I discovered options that had not existed in my childhood home.  Mango, papaya, guava...these were not the "apple" and "pear" I grew up with.  Once I had my first set of twins, I realized they were eating these things I've never tried in BABY FOOD! 

I have a strict rule of "If I don't try it, my kids don't try it!"  I tried my breast milk and baby formula, so why not tropical fruits?  Right!  It makes sense to try something on its own the first time...so you know what it tastes like...what to add.  I realized these new things were yummy without additions.  No added flavors.  No added sugars.  Just ripened fruits.  Perfect.

After I tried a few new foods with nothing else, I started trying familiar foods all alone.  What a difference!  Fresh fruits and vegetables taste unique and delicious as they are.  There is no need to add salt to your watermelon (I know it's good, right) or caramel to your apples or sugar to your strawberries.  Salad dressing masks all the natural flavor of the produce.  These foods are perfect little packets of nutrients without messy, less-nutritive add-ons. 

Spare the calories.  Spare the sugar.  Spare the money. 

Pat on the Back

Do not let the last post fool you.  I do have bad habits.  But, I have made some positive changes.  Those positive changes are progress that I need to acknowledge, no matter how small they seem to be. 

Sugar.  I have eliminated white sugar from my coffee; rather, I switched to Agave Nectar.  It is true, you use less nectar than white sugar.  The taste is not as strong as honey - at least not the Agave in the Raw.  I'm sure the darker nectar is more intense.

Chocolate.  We all need a little chocolate.  It stimulates parts of my brain that otherwise seek out far worse substances.  It is a lesser evil.  I like dark chocolate, but lately I've only had milk chocolate around to nibble on.  I've gotten very good at portion control by eating only one or two rectangles off of a Hershey's bar or by eating only one little chocolate out of an Advent calendar.  Hershey's are approximately 17.5 calories per rectangle on a standard size bar; the Advent chocolates are about 15 calories each.