More bad news about fructose – and why only sugar is sugar | Food Identity Theft

More bad news about fructose – and why only sugar is sugar | Food Identity Theft
Another article to read that explains why High Fructose Corn Syrup is NOT sugar, like the makers would have you believe! With an opportunity to sign a petition with your thoughts at the end of the article.

10 Tips for Healthy Frugal Grocery Shopping

As a wife and mother on a budget for over 10 years, I've learned a thing or two about saving money on my family's weekly food budget. Let's face it, when the bills are all due and something needs to give, the grocery budget is the easiest to cut down. So I've compiled a top 10 list of my favorite strategies for saving money at the grocery store, while still eating healthy.

1. NEVER shop hungry!
Going to the grocery store with an empty stomach is a recipe for budget and diet disaster! When you're hungry, you're much more likely to reach for those quick and easy processed snack foods that we all know are not healthy or cheap. So grab a quick, healthy snack before heading to your local grocery store. It will save you both money, and unwanted calories.

2. ALWAYS plan your weekly meals!
Having a plan for your weekly meals means that you'll lessen the chances of ordering in, or heading to the nearest drive through for your family's dinner. If you sit down for a few minutes before you make your shopping list, and plan out what's for dinner each day of the week, you can spend less and provide healthier home cooked meals for you and your family.

3. Make a list!!
I can't stress this one enough! Now that you have your meals planned out, go through your fridge, freezer, cupboards, and pantry to see which ingredients you have, and which ones need to be purchased. Include necessary staples like milk, bread, eggs, and anything else your family uses on a regular basis. It may seem redundant to add things you buy every week to the list, but you just never know what you could overlook adding to your cart if you're distracted or in a hurry.  Making a list will insure you have all the foods you need on hand for the week. Saving you time and money by avoiding last minute dashes to the store for those items that were forgotten.

4. Stick to your list!
Now that you've made your list, STICK TO IT! If you make a thorough list and only buy what's on it, you can avoid making those dreaded impulse buys looming at the end of every isle and surrounding you at the checkout lanes.

5. Shop alone!
We all love our kids and our spouses, but lets face it, they can bring chaos to our grocery shopping trips. They have a knack for getting us to cave in to unhealthy and expensive foods increasing our total at checkout and our waistline at home. Not to mention they can be distracting, causing us to forget items, and keeping us from comparison shopping to get the best prices. So when at all possible, leave the family at home and take your time to shop stress free.

6. Shop the perimeter of the store!
Grocery stores are all pretty much laid out the same way. All of the fresh, healthy, natural, unprocessed, lower cost food are for the most part on the outside walls of the store. Like the produce, meat, fish, bakery, and dairy departments. While all of the processed, unhealthy, high priced foods are in the interior isles. This of course isn't true 100% of the time, and the occasional walk down a center isle can be necessary, but as a general rule it will save you money and provide healthier foods for you and your loved ones.

7. Look up and down before grabbing your item!
Most stores place their highest priced version of a product at eye level. With the hopes we all have blinders on and will grab it because we see it first. But if when you locate the item your looking for you take a quick look above and below your item, you'll probably find cheaper version, that taste just as great.


8. Buy Generic!
I know, this probably isn't going to be a popular one! But often times the generic or store brand versions of your favorite foods have the same ingredients as their higher priced counterparts, and taste the same or at least very similar. Seriously, give them a try! The worst thing that could happen is you find out you don't like the generic and next week you can buy your old favorite brand. BUT, you might find you like the generic every bit as much as the national brand, and you can start saving on those items each week!

9. Coupons!
Most of us don't like to clip a million coupons a week or scour the internet for printables like those Extreme Couponers on TV. I think it's also safe to say that we won't be dumpster diving for your neighbor's discarded coupons to save a dime. However, if you take a minute or two before heading out the door to glance through your newspaper coupon inserts, you just might find a few coupons in there for items already on your list. Saving a buck keeps it in your wallet, and those dollars can add up over time.


10. Use cash!
Swiping that credit or debit card through the machine is WAY easier then doling out our hard earned cash at the check out line. Figure out how much money you need to pay for the items that made your list, with a SMALL buffer for miscalculations. (to avoid that embarrassing moment when we realize we don't have enough money to pay for our items) Paying with cash keeps us from adding things to our cart that didn't make our list, because we simply don't have the money to pay for them. Paying with paper also makes us much more aware of how much money we're spending each week, and less likely to overspend.

One last tip is to shop at your local discount grocery store, such as Aldi. This tip didn't make my top ten because not everyone has a store like this available in their community. While you can't usually utilize your coupons because most of the items they sell are their own store brand, you can still save a lot of money because their prices are much lower then the big box stores. They stock their shelves with the basics, and you might not find everything on your list, but your staples are there and they're cheap! So check them out, you might find that you can shave valuable dollars and cents off of your grocery budget every week on the things you need.

BodyMedia FIT Armband....My Honest Opinion.

A couple of years ago, I was at my wits end with my weight. I was finished having babies after being blessed with three beautiful children. Each pregnancy pushed my weight up past my "highest" point more then the last. I was fat, unhealthy, tired, and depressed. I desperately wanted to do it right this time. So I set out on the web to find my "cure". I didn't want a quick fix, or some stimulant filled miracle pill, I wanted to be fit and healthy....not just slim.

That's when I found the BodyMedia FIT website!! Which is the same company that makes the arm bands used on the hit TV show "The Biggest Loser". Could this be it, I wondered as I read on about the products and services they offered. With each paragraph I read, I grew more and more excited about the possibilities! Their site is filled with studies, scientific research and explanations, video tutorials, testimonials, and straight forward easy to understand information about their products.

I was definitely convinced.....I had to try this out, so I placed my order. Once I received my box I used the armband and the activity manager religiously. Tracking my steps, my activity levels, my sleep quality, my daily caloric intake and expenditures, all the while I was shedding my excess weight. Wearing the armband made me very conscious about the food I was eating and the amount of exercise I was getting. It actually became a game to see how well I could follow my calorie and activity goals each and every day.

I was thrilled that the weight was coming off and it wasn't difficult. There was no starvation dieting, no off limit foods, no insane workout schedule, and I was still shedding the pounds. The secret is simple, calories in, calories out. With this system you know what your caloric intake is because you track it easily online. You also know how many calories you're burning because the armband keeps track for you. So as long as you burn more calories then you eat each day, you'll lose weight.

It's been two years since I started using BodyMedia FIT, and to date I've lost about 70 lbs. At my lowest weight I had lost over 80 lbs! Which may not seem like a lot for two years, but I have to be honest and say that I faltered a few times. I would be really good about wearing the band, and tracking my foods for a while, and then I would fall out of the habit of wearing it and back into bad eating and a more sedentary lifestyle. Which made me gain back some of the weight that I had worked so hard to lose.

Being over weight is a daily battle, but when using BodyMedia FIT, it can be won. I've dusted off my armband, and I'm happy to say that I'm back on track. It's been about a week and a half and I've already lost 6 lbs. I had forgotten just how easy it is to drop the weight while utilizing the band and the online tracking software. This time I plan on taking my weight loss all the way to the finish line, and I know that with BodyMedia FIT on my side I'll get there!

With BodyMedia FIT, you can take control and achieve your weight loss goals!

The Health Benefits Of Water

 Author: Jim Plummer

There are several health benefits of water, and your body needs an adequate supply of water in order to function properly.

The human body is anywhere from 55% to 78% water depending on age, gender and amount of body fat, and water is essential to human life. Water forms the basis for all fluids in the body, such as blood and digestive juices, and it's the catalyst in all metabolic functions throughout the body.

Your body is dynamic and always changing, and this is especially true with regard to water in your body. You lose water routinely when your body performs normal functions such as breathing, sweating and eliminating waste. In a typical day, you need to consume a substantial amount of water to replace this routine loss.

Here are the primary health benefits of water:

*Drinking an adequate amount of water prevents dehydration.
*Water removes toxins and waste products from the body.
*Water carries nutrients to the cells of the body.
*Water regulates vitamin and mineral metabolism.
*Water is a natural appetite suppressant.
*Water helps the body metabolize stored fat.
*Water enhances digestion and helps prevent constipation.
*Drinking more water can often reduce joint pain and back pain.

The first benefit is especially important because mild to moderate dehydration is actually a very common problem. Mild to moderate dehydration can cause fatigue, muscle weakness, poor concentration, headaches and dizziness. Many people who suffer from one or more of these ailments have no idea that dehydration is the cause, and that getting relief is as simple as consuming more water.

It's commonly said that you should drink eight glasses of water a day to stay healthy, but this is just a general rule. The amount can vary widely from person to person depending on factors such as age, physical condition, activity level and climate. If you drink enough water so you rarely feel thirsty (by the time you become thirsty it's possible to already be slightly dehydrated) and you produce urine that's clear or light yellow, your water intake is most likely adequate.

You also need to make sure that the water you drink is as clean as possible. This is why I recommend drinking filtered water instead of tap water or bottled water. Tap water often contains lead and trace amounts of toxins, and there's also the risk of bacterial contamination. Bottled water is less strictly regulated than tap water. Companies that sell bottled water do not have to divulge to consumers the water's source, how the water has been purified, and what chemical pollutants the water may contain. Also, all plastic bottles leach plastic byproducts, like phthalates and BPA, into the water. Using a water filter is the only way to ensure that the water you drink is clean and contaminant-free.

In conclusion, don't underestimate the health benefits of water. Drinking plenty of good, clean water is an easy and effective way to boost your health.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/wellness-articles/the-health-benefits-of-water-1553088.html