Foods Without High Fructose Corn Syrup

As always, I am fighting against the impact of High Fructose Corn Syrup in our food. If you haven't visited HighFructoseFighter.com you may want to take a minute to learn about why you want to avoid HFCS. Below is a list of foods that do not have High Fructose Corn Syrup...Yea! Vote with your dollars and fight High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Baking and Cooking Ingredients:
•Betty Crocker 7-Layer Bar(mix)
•Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate Brownie mix
•Betty Crocker cake icing
•Bisquick

Beverages
•Northland Cranberry Juice
•China Cola
•Dr.Pepper(original formula)
•Jones Soda (recently announced that they were going back to real sugar)
•Goose Island soda (Root Beer, Orange Soda)
•Calistoga Juice Squeeze
•Simply Orange juice products
•Simply Lemonade
•Tropicana OJ
•Nestle NesQuik Chocolate Milk Mix
•Nestle "Abuelita" Chocolate Syrup (Hispanic Section)
•R.W. Knudsen Recharge (sports drink)
•Fuze Drinks
•TeaZazz
•Vivi Smart Soda

Bread
•Pepperidge Farms whole grain honey oat
•Nature's Own Sugar Free 100% Whole Grain bread link
•Nature's Own -Honey 7 Grain link
•Nature's Own 100% whole wheat link
•Martins Potato breads and rolls
Thomas's Low Carb English Muffins
•Thomas Hearty Grain Honey Wheat English Muffins (?)
•Nature's Own -Healthline SugarFree Wholewheat
•Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted grain breads (in freezer section)
•Francisco International Extra Sour Dough bread (the regular Sour Dough does contain hfcs)
•Pepperidge Farm Honey Wheatberry
•Milton's Wheat and Multi-grain bread
•Bagels from a local Jewish bakery
•Kirkland brand (Costco) multigrain bread
•Sara Lee Cinnamon Raisin
•Pepperidge Farm whole grain bagel
•Matthew's All Natural Bread
•Amana Multi Grain Bread
•Country Hearth 12-Grain Bread
•Earth Grains 100% Natural 7-Grain Bread
•Orrow Wheat Light 100% Whole Wheat
•Rays New York Bagels
•Whole Foods store brand hot dog and hamburger buns (they are whole wheat)
•FlatOut Bread
•Alternative Bagel --- sweat wheat

Breakfast Cereals
•Post Grape-Nuts
•Life Cereal/Cinnamon Life
•Quaker Oatmeal
•Cheerios
•Most cereals labeled "Organic"
•Kashi Go Lean (original and Crunch)
•Barabara's Puffins
•Chex Cereals (Wheat, Rice and Corn)
•Kroger Apple Dapples
•Post Honey Bunches of Oats
•Great Value fruit and cream instant oatmeal
•Mom's Best Natural Cereals (all varieties) link

Breakfast Pasteries / Waffles / Bars
•Eggo Nutrigrain Blueberry
•Kashi Go Lean and Heart to Heart Waffles
•The TLC granola bars, by Kashi, all are HFCS free
•Bisquick Mix

Candy
•Lindt Lindor truffles (balls)
•Cost Plus World Market has a lot of imported candy from Germany
•Kellogg's Yogos Bits

Condiments
•Heinz organic tomato ketchup
•French's Worcestershire
•Farman's pickle relish
•Mt. Olive Hamburger dill chips
•Annie's Natural Organic Ketchup
•Frenchs Honey Dijon Mustard
•Woeber Sweet And Spicy Mustard
•Consorzio Bbq Sauce Organic Original
•Whole Foods 365 Ketchup (both regular and Organic)
•Kroger coctail sauce

Cookies and Cakes
•Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies -- plain and the new chocolate
•Kedem Tea Biscuits (reg. and chocolate) --- found in the Kosher section
•Paul Newman sandwich cookies
•Kashi line of cookies
•Back to Nature peanut butter sandwich cookies
•Destrooper Almond Thins Cookie
•Destrooper Butter Crisp Cookies
•Keebler Pecan Sandies Cookies
•Keebler Simply Sandies Cookies
•Lu Le Petit Beurre Cookies
•Lu Scottish Recipe Shortbread
•Mi-Del Snaps Ginger
•Newmans Wheat Free Fig Newton Cookies
•Newmans Own Ginger Os Ginger N Creme Cookies
NewmanS Own Alphabet Cookies
•Pepperidge Farms Butter Chessman Cookies
•Pepperidge Farm 100% Natural Varieties

Chocolate
•Cadbury - Most Varieties
•Hershey's Symphony
•Hershey's 100 Calorie Wafer Bar
•Hershey Skor Candy Bar
•Hershey Special Dark Candy Bar
•Dove - Most varieties
•Reeses Peanut Butter Cups
•Most Imported (Europe) and Organic chocolate

Crackers
•Annies - Cheddar cheese bunnies and honey graham bunnies
•Wasa Crisp Breads (all varieties)
•Atheno's baked pita chips
•Stacey's Naked Pita bread chips
•Dare Vinta Crackers
•Triscuits
•Great Value (Walmart's brand) cracked wheat rounds
•Stone Ground (the white square crackers from Canada)

Dairy
•Brown Cow vanilla yogurt
•Southern Home Nonfat Plain Yogurt
•Dannon Plain Yogurt*
•Mountain High Yogurt
•Dannon All Natural Vanilla Yogurt
•Dannon All Natural Coffee Yogurt
•Horizon Organic Fat Free Yogurt
•Nancys Reduced Fat Plain
•Nancy's Whole Milk Honey Yogurt
•Stoneyfield Farm Yobaby Yogurt

Fruits and Vegetables - Canned
•Motts Natural (No Sugar Added)Apple Sauce
•Most no sugar added packed fruit (check labels)

Granola Bars
•Nature Valley Roasted Nut Crunch bars
•Kashi Bars
•Odwalla Bars

Ice Cream
•Breyers - All Natural Coffee
•Breyers - All Natural Cherry Vanilla
•Breyers - All Natural Mint Chocolate Chip
•Luigi Italian Ice

Jam, Jelly, Syrup, Spreads
•Skippy Peanut Butter
•Costco makes an organic peanut butter
•Whole Foods brand peanut butter
•Karo Dark (with Blue label)
•Karo Brown Sugar syrup
•Hero Jams (from Swizterland)
•Darbo Jams (from Austria)
•Whole foods brand (365) strawberry jam
•Sarabeth Jam
•Smuckers organic grapy jelly
•Safeway "O" Organics Maple Syrup
•Harry and David Ancho sweet chili peper spread

Pastries
•Ask Local Bakeries

Salad Dressings
•Great Value (WalMart) Zesty Italian Dressing
•Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise
•HIdden Valley Ranch Old Fash.Buttermilk
•Blue Plate Mayonnaise
•Ken's Sweet Vidalia Onion dressing
•Annie's Naturals organic papaya poppyseed salad dressing.
•Annie's Naturals Goddess Dressing
•Brianna's Homemade Blush Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
•Drew's Salad Dressings
•Most Neumann's varieties
•Kraft Honey Dijon Vinaigreette, dressing & marinade
•Kraft Balsamic Vinaigreette, dressing & marinade

Sauces
•Barilla Pesto
•Ken's Steak House Honey Teriyaki Marinade
•Kikkoman Soy Sauce
•Soy Vey Very Very Teriyaki
•Bullseye BBQ sauce Original

Snacks
•Frito's corn chips
•Natural Cheetos

Soups
•Annie's Organic Soups

High Fructose Corn Syrup

You may be wondering what is fructose? What is the problem with HF? And how does it affect my health? Fructose is the Sweetener found in fruit; however, when it is taken out of the fruit and added to glucose to make table sugar, HfC syrup, and hundreds of other varieties, it is altered because it no longer has the pulp and fiber to keep it stable, digestible, and safe. When Fructose is stripped from the fruit it becomes a carbohydrate which is metabolized like a poison to the liver. It is metabolized like ethanol, which is alcohol without the buzz. Walk in a public place and look at the people you see and count how many look like they have beer bellies. Well 68% of Americans do and it’s not from beer. So what can we do? First become aware, read labels and ingredients, begin replacing processed foods with fresh foods, start changing your pallet to appreciate natural sweetness. Next, let the food industry know you don’t want sweet, you want healthy. Lastly, be an advocate for your friends and loved ones, educate them about the Health risks including: hypertension, diabetes, obesity, addiction, metabolic syndrome and heart disease. Join me in the high fructose fight. Check out highfructosefighter.com

Weight is About More than Just Eating

I often hear, “I need to get in control of my eating,” from new clients who have struggled with their weight for years. Usually, after a couple of weeks of working together, the client discovers that overeating is actually just a symptom of, “I need to get in control of my life.” Food and health seem to follow the pattern of all other areas of our lives, or better said, food and health seem to follow how we respond to all other areas of our lives.
With the complexity of life what can we do to respond better? What can we do to encourage a healthy lifestyle?

1. Eliminate Negative Mind Chatter: Often referred to as “Mindful Living.” Notice what you are saying to yourself day in and day out. If your thoughts are negative you will look for something to soothe and comfort. Food can be a quick pick me up with a really quick plummet.

2. Maintain Relationships: Keep your relationships healthy and strong. We need real connections that stimulate us emotionally and intellectually.

3. Success: We all need to feel successful. Make goals to ensure you are always progressing. Having a bad day? Make those goals real small and then build on each success.

4. Journal: I hate to even say this because we often envision the boring journal assignment from school. You can journal on a napkin while at lunch. The point is the connection between the tangible process of writing and verbalizing your words engages you emotionally in a new way and problems and feelings become clear.

5. Manage Stress: “Manage” is the key word. If you don’t have a process for managing stress eating can easily become your default. Choose how you will manage stress, find the one thing that helps you consistently and make it your stress manager.

Make your healthy lifestyle about life not food. The shift will give you great results!

Memorial Day mind chatter

Next week is Memorial Day, where we honor those who have carved the way, creating the road for the present generation. For many people, Memorial Day is a sad, morbid holiday, which focuses on death and the dead. But for me, Memorial Day is a celebration of hard work and sacrifice – not only of our service men, but all those before us who made our personal lives better. Another reason I love Memorial Day is it kicks off summer! Yea, finally the end of short days and bad weather and the promise of sunny, carefree days of summer.

It is also the beginning of fewer layers of clothing, lots of parties, and the realization that perhaps you are not too happy with what has become of your physique over the winter. So, let’s make a choice. What is your mind chatter going to be? I’m a slob; I can’t go anywhere; I can’t enjoy the fun activities of summer because of my body; I’ve done it again! Or is it going to be: Yea, fresh fruit, in season vegetables, lots of fun movement, and social gatherings that feed me emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Choose the latter; it will make all the difference in your ability to be healthy. Negative mind chatter will always lead you to the quick fix – food. Positive mind chatter will always lead you to healthy choices and a happier life.

This Memorial Day, make a choice. Choose to focus on celebrating life, great sacrifice, and a great life. Kick off the summer with positive mind chatter, focusing on good food, friends, family, and good health!

Endless Cravings

It was a lovely Halloween with all of the candy and treats, which could tempt anyone during the entire month of October. For me, it wasn't any of those dastardly treats that got under my skin or into my stomach, it was my mother's homemade chili, rolls, homemade sugar and pumpkin cookies, and even doughnuts (which I don't particularly like) that sent me reeling into the big black hole of bingeing on Halloween night. I reminded myself, before heading to my mother's party, that food is not love, that I can choose what I eat, that if I stay away from sugar I will be able to hold to my healthy goals only to last – hmmm let me think – two minutes before I was devouring the cookies and moving on to everything else with vim and vigor.

I left my mother's party with a stomachache and that gnawing negative mind chatter, "I always do this; I have no discipline; what is wrong with me?" It reminds me of the doomed King Sisyphus from Greek mythology who was punished by being cursed to roll a huge boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, repeatedly for eternity. In my most dramatic self talk, I repeated, "Will this always be my battle? Can't I just eat one and be done when I am at my mom's? Will this ever end?"

My first response was that I will always be fighting my mother's cheese, butter, cream and sugar. But my more educated and calm response was that no, I know what it takes to change neural pathways in my brain. This change is hard business, but it is achievable. We must commit to the process, the time, the patience and the endurance, whether it is a day, a month, a year, or even many years.

Neural pathways in our brain, which are linked to cravings and comfort, are like ruts in the brain. It takes lots of driving over them, grading them, and filling them in to create new pathways. It took years to create the old ruts and, although with conscious effort it can be shorter, it takes a lot of hard work to change them. Sometimes we give up and consider ourselves "doomed" simply because we don't realize how long it really takes. We feel defeated and give up. Well, I'm here to tell you, don't give up! Just keep going. If you haven't reached the transformation, it doesn't mean your efforts have gone to waste. Those efforts are smoothing out those ruts, and if your neural signals do get stuck in part of those old grooves, learn from it quickly. Get right back to the task of changing your responses and neural pathways.

It can be done. I know it, because I work on it daily. Is it easy? Actually, once you truly understand cravings and what is causing them, it is easier. When you understand what is happening physically in your mind and body, it is easier not to beat yourself up emotionally and to stay your course. Keep pushing the rock up the hill, and you will be surprised when one day it just lands in a nice grassy area and never budges again. Keep going; you can do it!

Emotional Eating

My clients ask me all the time about emotional eating. Fortunately, that's my specialty. So, I tell them to think about the current movie out, He's Just Not That Into You. In this movie, we see one of the female characters upset, sitting at home in front of the television, and what is she doing? Eating ice cream for solace! Many of my clients, who are female, find comfort in eating to console themselves. Because women are nurturers, they have realized that nourishment offers solace and comfort. Certainly, young mothers have learned that feeding a crying baby will cause the baby to be comforted and happy. This wiring of the female brain to nurture makes turning to food the natural way to find solace for any emotional distress we may encounter. It's natural, but can be very unhealthy if done often or to extreme.

My company, Totell (see www.TotellWellness.com) has a program that pinpoints the physiological needs our bodies have and why we turn to certain foods to meet those needs. Scientifically, our bodies desire certain hormones to bring balance (i.e., comfort). My program teaches the individual how to discern what is needed physiologically and how to obtain those needed hormones without turning to harmful, weight-increasing comfort foods.