Hello Everyone,
I hope you all had a good St. Patty's Day. I had a fantastic time celebrating on Saturday night, but unfortunately, I was not able to join in the festivities yesterday. I was waiting to test drive my potential new car in the late afternoon, so I had to remain sober while the student keggers raged around me all day. Hopefully, my liver will thank me one day...
I'm lucky enough to be able to order from a natural food co-op in my area, and I get lots of deals on my favourite products, as well as being able to try new ones. Here are a few of the goodies I got this month.
This stuff is absolutely unreal. I like plain almond butter, but it still doesn't hold a candle to peanut butter in my mind. However, when you add cashews to it... un-freakin'-believable! The only problem is that the jar is tiny.
It's pure heaven on apple pie oats...
This is the peanut butter I grew up on. I remember it tasting so much better than other kinds of peanut butter, so I was so excited to get it again.
Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as I remembered it to be. It definitely has a distinctive flavour, and I guess I have gotten so used to regular PB now that this stuff throws me off a bit. Still good, but not as amazing as my childhood memories.
These babies were super good! I actually ordered them by accident, but I'm glad I did. They are gluten free, fairly low in sugar, crunchy, lightly sweet and totally addictive. It's unfortunate that they didn't last long...
This stuff was the winner of the bunch! I absolutely adore So Delicious coconut milk ice cream and they now have stevia-sweetened pints. This has just the right amount of sweetness and tastes just as creamy as full-fat dairy ice cream, probably because it is still fairly high in fat (the good kind!). I don't mind my ice cream being lower in sugar, but when they skimp on the fat, it's just not right ;)
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I am also giving myself a challenge this week. Even though I normally eat a fairly "clean" diet, I am trying not to obsess over it too much or set any rigid rules for myself. However, one thing I really need to improve upon these days is my intake of artificial sweeteners. Sometimes it is just so easy to cave and have a diet coke, then it leads to Sweet N' Low in my tea and when you throw in the odd sucralose-sweetened protein bar, stick of gum or pack of sugar-free pudding cups, it really adds up.
I think a lot of these habits come from the days when I was afraid of anything containing the slightest bit of sugar, or when I would drink diet coke to keep me full and give me energy to get through to my next meal. I know that even if I were still trying to lose weight, these things wouldn't help me and would probably only make me crave sugar more.
I also know that the occasional diet coke or protein supplement won't kill me, but I don't want to be dependent on these things. Starting yesterday, I am going to give up the artificial sweeteners for a week and see how I feel. I am hoping to not crave sugar as much and frankly, I probably won't feel bloated as often. I will still use stevia and other natural sweeteners in moderation, but I even want to curb my intake of those things.
Have a Marvelous Monday!
How does your body react to artificial sweeteners?
Have you ever tried a challenge like this before?
