Irish ~ It is ironic. Artificial sweeteners are a toy. People use them thinking, no calories but what they are using them in still have calories. I also don't think our bodies like us trying to trick them and the end result is our bodies show us who is the boss.

I have never heard of Agave but I will look and see if I can find it. I think what happened with the Stevia is I used as much as I would artificial sweetener, I used the dry form of Stevia. I have the feeling I used to much and I never tried it again.

I found some really yummy sounding hummus recipes. I probably won't have time until next week to do the shopping to get what I need but it sounds easy enough. I have 4 different recipes.

What I realized today is I could easily eliminate meat from my diet if only my body would agree. I love all the Morning Star products, hummus, and dairy. I also like fish but I don't eat it very often. I bought hard soy once and put BBQ sauce on it and it was SOOOO yummy. DH wouldn't even try it. The sad news is I usually lose really well on meat, veggie and fruit plan with limited starch that comes in its natural form like brown rice, sweet potatoes or even white.

Lara- I was a vegetarian for 3 years, I found I gorged on breads and pastas, I also had problems absorbing vitamin B12 and iron from veggies so I got weak and my hands went numb all the time. I miss being vegetarian but I do lose weight alot easier the same way you do. I do however eat mostly chicken and tuna...my consumption of red meat is limited to abou tone time every 2 weeks and its usually a sprinkle of bacon on a caesar salad or a fat free bologna slice :P

I'm totally with you on the no artificial sweeteners thing. I've been very interested in food and where it comes from and how it affects our health and the planet since long before I started this weight loss mission. I firmly believe that less processed is almost universally better. (We grow a lot of our own veggies and keep laying hens and buy a half a cow at a time from local farmers, etc...) And artificial sweeteners are about as processed as it gets -- they don't even really start OUT as food!

I'm a big fan of both honey and agave. I use stevia now and then, and I agree, it can taste bitter if you use too much. I'll often put a single drop in, say, a whole pot of tea. It's really very potent and sweet. I also sometimes use dates or other dried fruit, chopped and soaked, to sweeten and add consistency to baked goods. My girlfriend can't tolerate refined sugar OR artificial sweeteners, so we get creative. She makes these amazing almond coconut date bars. Not low calorie, really, but definitely low sugar and no refined sugar.

Lara -- yeah, if you want your hummus fat free you'd have to cut out both the tahini and the olive oil. I imagine it's still really tasty without them, but I generally add a little because they're good fats and I like the texture.

Happy Friday everyone!

Irish ~ For the most part I eat chicken and turkey. I am not a big fan of red mean and have it only about once a month at most. This from a person about 7 years ago thought the only meat was hamburger. LOL! Now its turkey burger and the lean kind to boot. I have even developed my own Charizo (Mexican sausage) recipe and found some good recipes for turkey sausage.

I also have trouble with the B's and Iron and take extra all the time to make sure some gets into my system. WOW, that would be just a little scary what happened to you.

You probably think like I do, being vegetarian means being healthy and no problems with weight but it really isn't true. I have watched many vegetarians, some vegans even struggle to keep their weight in check.

Vegetarian would never work with my DH. He is a red meat freak and if he doesn't get enough protein he starts eating everything in sight and will even say I NEED MORE MEAT! Its absolutely crazy but its true.

Lara -- I don't know how concerned you are about pesticides, but FYI all that morningstar stuff is made from "Roundup Ready" soybeans. (Soy that's been genetically modified to be able to grow even when exposed to heavy doses of pesticide.)

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php...dy_Controversy

I eat them sometimes too. They're easy and tasty. But I thought I'd just pass this along.

Coldbrightday ~ I had no idea. Is Boca the same way?

Yeah, unfortunately. Here's a short, non-exhaustive list of some common foods with genetically modified ingredients. (For me personally, the genetic modification is a less pressing concern that the fact that they were modified with the express purpose of using more pesticides. So take it all with a grain of salt.)

http://pirg.org/ge/GE.asp?id2=4772&id3=ge&

Generally, I prefer plant based foods that make no effort to pretend to be meat. Tofu and tempeh are kind of in the middle ground, and I like them alright, but I don't eat them frequently. I just eat lots of veggies and nuts and beans. (Along with my eggs and cheese and meat, of course. I'm all about the "farmhouse diet" as long as the portions are under control!)

I have a great hummus recipe that doesn't use tahini, and is still pretty delicious. It's basically a combination of two recipes: one for chickpea salad, and one for hummus. I put them together and then blended it up. Proportions are up to you, but the ingredients are chickpeas, onion, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, cumin, coriander, black pepper, red pepper flakes (go light on these or your mouth will be burning), and rosemary. Just put them all in a food processor and blend - delicious!

Wow, You gave me so much information that I'll have to keep coming back to what you said in order to remember it all. I will not try to do too much at once. That was really good advice. I think I need to see some weight loss at this calorie level before I try to mess with the food combinations. I have only lost a few pounds in the past 2 weeks but, I haven't really put my all into it because I'm still reading and researching. As to the starches, I have a horrible problem with pasta and bread. When I start eating them I can't stop, and when I do, I'm hungry again in an hour or so. I want to eliminate them, but my DH won't have it. So, I have to just be strong and say no. I really can't even have a little. I seem to be O.K. with whole wheat but my husband won't eat that so I have to keep both squishy white bread and whole wheat. In weak moments, guess which one I get out! Thankyou for the idea to use fruit as my meal desserts. That way I will at least get 3 in. And I'm trying to eat 2 vegies for supper, a vegie for lunch and when I have an egg for breakfast, I throw vegies in there. It's probably still not enough but it's better than the 1 lonely vegie I used to eat each day for supper. Well, I'll be on again tomorrow to keep tabs on everyone. You all are doing so well, I'm proud to be a part of this group. I need all the inspiration I can get Jackie

I make my own hummus as well! I usually cook my own garbanzos, but I do it in the crockpot so it takes no effort. I usually cook 2lbs at a time and freeze them in 1.5-2 cup increments (the equivalent of 1 can I think.)

My recipe doesn't have olive oil in it either. I use equivalent of 1 can of garbanzos (drained reserving liquid), 4-6 cloves of garlic, 1-2T of lemon juice, salt to taste, and 1/4 cup of tahini. I also sometimes add a pinch of cayenne. Yum!

hello everyone hope you all had a great weekend!!!

Truly frightening! Monsanto is pure EVIL!

Ok, this blows my mind. So the reality is it is hard to get away from GE products. I mean its possible but not without a lot of work and research. This is crazy and we wonder why people are getting sick.

I wish I didn't like the taste of meat but I was raised on it and that was the high light of the meal when I was growing up. So I like the soy products that taste like meat unfortunately. ARG! Not that I don't like plan soy but I just can't see me eating it very often.

Jackie ~ Your welcome and please do come back often. My family likes the whole wheat breads but not the pasta. For pasta I buy the Boritella (SP?). Taste like regular pasta but doesn't raise the blood sugars as much. Portion control is key and if you can't stop at a little maybe it is just better to avoid it for a while. I used to have the same problems but now I measure and just tell myself that is it but it has taken a while to get where I am.

What is everyones thoughts on Luna bars and Tea Cakes. I bought some and tried them and they are SOOOOOO good. I had DH and 2 year old GS try them and both liked them. DH flipped when he saw that they were for woman but I told him I am sure there is nothing in there that would hurt him but I would buy some Clif bars for him to try. I used them for some on the go snacks this weekend. Reading the labels they seemed very healthy.

I think I am having withdrawals from eliminating the artificial sweeteners. I started using honey but today I found a page that listed alternative natural sweeteners. I thought it was interesting and thought I would share it with all of you. http://www.holisticmed.com/sweet/ The reason I was out search was because I have been having headaches every since I stopped using the Splenda and was just curious on whether I was kinda detoxing and sure enough, I probably am because I was a heavy user. So I will have to ride this out.

Well I better get going for now and talk to you all in a bit. I have some things I need to get done.

Today I am looking into yogurt. I think its a very healthy food and want it in my diet but when I say that the Yoplait Light Fat Free Fruit. I got to looking at the label and I don't really feel that it was the best choice now. I was going by the "Best Life" label but I think when its gone I will just buy plain or vanilla flavor fat free. The reason, I don't like High Frutose Corn Syrup. Like I said, I am trying to find the healthiest version of everything that crosses my lips. I have seen some really wonderful ways to sweeten it.

I'm not a big fan of the regular Clif bars or the Luna bars -- partially because they're pretty highly processed (why use soy protein isolate? why not just eat something with protein in it? etc.) and partly because I just don't particularly like the taste. I do really really love the Clif Nectar bars (especially the chocolate) and Larabars. They're nothing but dried fruit (usually mostly dates), nuts, and spices or cacao. There's something so refreshing about an ingredient list that's only 3 or 4 items long, all of which are actual foods.

As for yogurt, I mostly do plain and then add whatever I feel like -- granola, or raisins, or a little honey or molasses. The great thing about plain yogurt is that it's good with savory flavors too -- I'll put a dollop in a bowl of squash soup, or on top of a curry dish, etc.


Grammy -- I'm so glad there are so many of us here learning about really healthy foods, not just how best to drop the pounds. It's so much better long term, and more interesting too! I'm always learning new things. And I'm so with you on the high fructose corn syrup. If I was only allowed to make one stipulation about my diet, and otherwise eat whatever somebody else chose for me, no HFCS would be it, I think...