Month: February 2016

Welcome to Mindful Monday – Healthy Living! Each week I try to examine new or sometimes old things about myself on my journey to becoming healthier. I have found that being mindful encompasses the act of being watchful, aware, wary, heedful, alert, careful, or attentive, in whatever area in my life I feel it applies to, as I attempt to live in the present. Come and join me on my journey. You never know what you will learn about yourself.

…to all of you who have left comments and cheered me on and are interested in accompanying me on this journey to healthy living! Together, we can offer support and ideas to make this road to “healthy,” a fun journey!

My hope is that you will all visit the posts of everyone who participated last week. You can find their blog links and comments on last week’s post HERE. Stop by and say hello! You just might make someone’s day!

THE DIET SODA DILEMMA

Welcome to another week of Mindful Monday – Healthy Living! Today I want to address a subject from last week that got a lot of attention – diet sodas.

The CON:

There are virtually thousands of blogs and websites that state that diet soda is bad for you. To be fair there is mounting evidence that drinking REGULAR soda is much more harmful than drinking diet sodas. This is something that you must weigh out for yourself. Of all the sites dedicated to stating the case against drinking diet soda,

Of all the sites dedicated to stating the case against drinking diet soda, Prevention shares the best explanations. Click here to read the article, “8 Things That Happen When You Finally Stop Drinking Diet Soda,” by
JORDAN DAVIDSON.

The PRO:

I decided to take one of my favorites (Diet Fresca) and show you what the can says the ingredients are. Here is a link to the Diet Fresca website where you can see what the company states the ingredients are. I have listed them here so that you can click on the ingredient links to find out just what some of those ingredients are. Make sure to scroll to find the ingredient you are looking for.

INGREDIENTS FROM COCACOLAPRODUCTFACTS.COM

Carbonated Water, Citric Acid, Concentrated Grapefruit Juice, Potassium Citrate, Aspartame, Potassium Sorbate (To Protect Taste), Acacia Gum, Acesulfame Potassium, Natural Flavors, Glycerol Ester Of Rosin, Potassium Benzoate AndCalcium Disodium Edta (To Protect Taste), Carob Bean Gum.

Whenever I talk about healthy issues I always try to use websites that are tried and true. One of them, The Mayo Clinic, is always a great source to begin your research.

When Dr. Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D. was posed with the question:

“I drink diet soda every day. Could this be harmful?” she stated:

“Drinking a reasonable amount of diet soda a day, such as a can or two, isn’t likely to hurt you. The artificial sweeteners and other chemicals currently used in diet soda are safe for most people, and there’s no credible evidence that these ingredients cause cancer.

Some types of diet soda are even fortified with vitamins and minerals. But diet soda isn’t a health drink or a silver bullet for weight loss.

Although switching from regular soda to diet soda may save you calories, it’s not yet clear if it’s effective for preventing obesity and related health problems in the long term.

Healthier low-calorie choices abound, including water, skim milk, and unsweetened tea or coffee.”

After hours of research, I have reached the conclusion that MODERATION is still the best suggestion. Most successful diet strategies and plans, like Weight Watchers, say there is nothing wrong with a couple sodas a day. I like to have one after a hard day of blogging. These days, that diet soda becomes my “cocktail” of choice, leaving a nice glass of wine for the weekends. I think that is the best way to address this issue. Do what you feel is right and consult your physician if you are really concerned about the issue.

Image Credit: Heavy.com

Heavy.com (click the link to read the article) shares a study that came out of Colorado:

“A new study about to be published in June’s issue of Obesity was released with the title ‘Diet Beverages Help People Lose Weight.’ The clinical study, performed at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Health and Wellness Center, tested 303 people over 12 weeks. All the people in the study got weight loss help and coaching over the course of the three months, but only one group was allowed to drink diet drinks. The other control group was only allowed to drink water and no diet soda.

However, to be allowed into the study, you had to already drink diet beverages on a regular basis. So the people in the water, or ‘control’ group were, in fact, giving up diet soda and starting a weight loss coaching plan at the same time.”

WHAT ABOUT ASPARTAME?

Image Credit: Healthresearchfunding.org

Still confused? You are not alone. You must do what you think is the best thing for you and your body. Talk to your own doctor and see what they have to say about diet sodas and foods with aspartame named as an ingredient.

Personally, I like Stevia. I know there are some diet sodas that contain this sweetener. Here is an overview of what Stevia is:

Image credit: Healthresearchfunding.org

Huffpost Healthy Living
has a great article to read about Stevia called, “7 Things You Didn’t Know About Stevia.”

With all of the healthy living concerns we have today about the foods and drinks that we are ingesting it is always best to do some investigative work on your own. There is always that little voice in the back of my brain asking if “they” are really telling us the truth. The answer is clear: MODERATION.

Image credit: PictureQuotes.com

HOW DID I DO ON MY HEALTHY GOALS LAST WEEK?

Wow! All I can say is WOW! It was a stressful and busy week. We bought a new vehicle and our kitchen was torn apart while our contractors finished the last items that needed to be completed in my kitchen. The tile backsplash turned out beautifully! The sink and faucet are completely done. I am so happy to have this work done at last.

The result of all this work? I gained two pounds. I had to face the truth and I knew it wasn’t going to be good! I could not eat properly all week. The stove was torn out and in the middle of the room for much of the week. What a mess. I was never so glad to have everything done finally!

You know what? I am not discouraged. I just started all over yesterday logging my food and making wise food choices. I made a huge pot of vegetable soup and a salad. I had a 4 oz piece of salmon and a salad last night. It tasted so wonderful! That is the key. Don’t give up. Not all weeks will be a success. That is alright. Just keep plugging along.

Because of stress, I have had to come to grips with my blogging. My writing time on my novel is at a premium. I have started a production schedule and have decided to trim some of the things that are just to time consuming. I will still visit each and every one of your blogs that comments and supports me. We are on a journey and it is only with the help and support from each other that we will succeed.

So here is my mantra for the week. I found this image on Facebook. It fits me to a tee! J

I did manage to walk 6.39 miles this week. That is an increase from last week. My plan for this week is to just keep moving forward. Logging my food, drinking more liquids, and getting more exercise. That is just the way this journey goes.

How about you? What are your healthy living goals for the week?

Have a wonderful week! If you would like to join me in your own healthy living journey, please do. Use whatever program works for you. You do not even have to follow a program if you don’t want to. The whole idea is to start thinking about ways that you can become healthier and fit. This includes going gluten-free, fat-free, lactose-free, starting an exercise program, or even a new way of eating such as becoming a vegetarian. If it has to do with becoming healthy, write about it!

TOGETHER!

Remember, this is not a challenge.  Each of us has different goals that we wish to attain. This is an offering of support and a place where my online community can come to participate in attaining a healthy lifestyle.  If you would like to join in with your own Mindful Monday – Healthy Living goals you can do so in the comments, or on a separate post of your own making.  If you want to link back to my post, please feel free to do so, however, it is not necessary. Each week I will include a link to the previous week’s post where readers can find your links and comments from the previous week. My main aim here is to give and get support to become more mindful of my journey to healthy living.

Thanks for being part of my fabulous journey to a healthy lifestyle. Don’t forget to share your journey. ❤ No matter what your goals are in becoming more healthy, together we can do it!