Healthy Baking Substitutes

Just wanted to share these healthy baking tips I found from Picklee .  Coming into baking season soon with fall approaching!


Be sure to check out her great post to see exactly how to make the substitute and what foods they work best in. 

 The measurements are not cup for cup always and there are some baked goods that work better than others.  Just thought you healthy eaters out there would appreciate this!  I have used most of these substitutes but the avocado and the black beans are new ones to me!  Looking forward to trying them out!  For more on sugar substitutes be sure to see my past post The Sweet Stuff Line Up!

Burning calories...

I want to blog about a few misconceptions or questions concerning calories.  Everyone knows you have to burn calories to loose weight, but how much exercise is required burn off last nights pizza?  Are all calories equal?  If I keep my calorie count down it doesn't matter if I eat mainly processed foods right?  NO!

ALL CALORIES ARE NOT EQUAL!!

Your body processes foods differently therefore it REALLY DOES MATTER WHAT you eat, not just the calorie content.  For instance a bag of a processed snack may have the same number of calories as a handful of nuts but there is a difference.  The processed snack will most likely have additives not found in nature like high fructose corn syrup, or chemical sweeteners (see my take on that here) and partially hydrogenated oils as well as added flavor enhancers and food dyes.  You may think that although they are not healthy they don't effect your weight, but that is WRONG.  Chemicals and additives mess with your brain chemistry and saity levels.  That means you will not feel full or satisfied and will continue to eat more waiting for the satisfaction to kick in,or you will eat something else because that snack did not satisfy you.

Unfortunately that is not the only problem with processed foods.  Your body will not process them the same so it slows your metabolism down when there are ingredients like high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils.  Your body doesn't recognize these substances so it slows the system down and more of the food you just ate with these ingredients gets stored as fat!  So to make your body more efficient at burnig fat you need to eat cleaner foods that your body and quickly recognize and process smoothly.  The other reason whole foods are processed and burned easier is that whole foods that have not been processed overcooked or chemically altered are chock full of enzymes that help you digest them!  This means you do not have to be so concerned with the number of fat calories as the source. A handful of almonds will feed your metabolism.  Eat healthy fats!  They keep you fuller longer and good fats can help keep your overall system working smoothly so that your metabolism has a greater chance of working at full speed.

Now that that has been addressed use this handy chart from www.weighttraining.com to help you asses the amount you are burning with your current exercise routine, and what you need to do to be more efficient.

Hope this helps you to get on track for fall fitness!

Want to loose weight? Healthy eating 101

This is the time of year that every magazine cover is plastered with articles about the newest fad diet and loosing 50 lbs over night by eating cookies... But as tempting as they all sound the reality is that they never really work.  Healthy eating works.  It is something you can stick with, it improves the health of you body unlike so many fad diets like Atkins that let you eat as much animal fats and chemicals as you want, and it is a good approach for the whole family so there is no separate meal making.  I am writing this because I love helping people get healthy and loose weight.  I have a Masters in the Science of Natural Health and want to pass on some helpful hints to move you in the right direction. Here are some simple guidelines to help you get and stay on track.

Photo from cooking light

1) The less processed the better - diet foods that are highly processed and make claims like "sugar Free", "zero calories", and "fat free" are not usually good choices as oftentimes chemicals  are replacing those things.

2) SKIP no matter what -High fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils.  You can not trust it just because it says no trans fats you actually have to read the whole label and see if you see it in the list of ingredients.  They can make that claim as long as per serving there is less than 1/2 a gram.  That does not mean it will not effect you.  When your body encounters these and other artificial products it does not know how to process them and so they get turned into fat.

3) Choose the whole food when ever possible - For example eat an orange not just juice.  The whole food provides more vitamins and nutrients, plus fiber and is more filling.  It also insures you are not getting any additives or chemicals as well.

4) Fat is good! - The good kind that is! Choose nuts, avocados and olive oil, and the healthiest of all coconut oil. (read more on coconut oil here) as well as other cold pressed oils.  Your body needs fat. It helps to moisturize the skin, hair and nails, helps to digest bad fat (yep that is right!), and it helps you feel and stay full.

5) Avoid white flour and sugar (and other simple carbs) as much as possible. Instead opt for whole grain flours and healthier natural sweeteners.  See my post on sugar alternatives at Sweet stuff line up.

6) DO NOT EAT CHEMICAL SUGAR SUBSTITUTES!!! I cannot say this strongly enough!! Sugar ssubstitutes like Splenda the name brand for sucralose, aspartame (in a surprisingly large amount of common grocery store items like yo plait yogurt and crystal light), and saccharine are DEADLY and cause of host of other problems.  One other issue is that they can ACTUALLY MAKE YOU GAIN WEIGHT.  I said it... they can actually make you gain weight because the brain is notified that sweet was received but no calories to go with it and so it searches to rectify that by signaling hunger so that you eat the missing calories.  Strange but true. Go with healthy alternatives.  Again see the article Sweet stuff line up i wrote on this blog for more info on this topic.

7) GET MOVING Weight loss and great health REQUIRE some exercise so get out there and get walking, dancing  join a class with a friend or do what ever you love to do that gets you MOVING! If you need ideas there is a great post baby or otherwise tone up on my blog at Get in shape with this quick effective workout.  I will continue to post links to great workouts.

Remember you are worth the sacrifices you have to make now.  your future will thank you for it!  Now is the time to get started! Make sure and print off a copy of the free Diet and exercise journal on my blog to help you on your way!  Comment with you email or contact me with it and I can send you the 2 on one page version.  I am just a blog newbie and don't know how to load an attachment :) That version works great to have copied and bound at a copy store (binding only costs around a $1!).

Leave a comment with any questions you might have!  I try to get healthy recipes on here as well so hope that helps.  Kristy

The sweet stuff line up..Natural sweeteners and chemical ones to avoid and why

Organic powdered sugar (AKA evaporated cane juice) Agave Nectar, Xylitol, Truvia (a form of Stevia) and raw sugar

We all know sugar is bad for us, so I wanted to go over some other options out there and point out briefly how dangerous some of the common artificial sweeteners out there can be.  As far as healthy options go I just pulled things out of my cupboards and here is what I came up with.

Organic powdered sugar is actually  evaporated cane juice which is one of the least processed forms of sugar.  The reason that is important is that sugar in the whole plant form is sugar cane.  When a food is still in its whole food form it contains all the nutrients and enzymes needed to digest it.  In essence, a sugar closer to its original form will not cause all the destruction and weight gain that processed sugars do.  So this makes this sugar a better choice as it has more of the original nutritive value and is digested more efficiently. As with all forms of sugar less is always best.  You can find it at Trader Joe's, Safeway and other main stream grocers as well as heath food stores.

Agave Nectar is extracted from a plant called blue agave which is best known as the plant that tequila is made from. The health benefit of using agave nectar aside from it having its nutritive component still intact is that it does NOT cause the spike in blood sugar that common white sugar does.  It has roughly the same calories as sugar but is processed differently because of the low glycemic index.  The spike in your blood sugar is what contributes to diabetes, mood swings, the sugar rush and crash.  It is similar in taste and consistency to honey and makes a great substitute for corn syrup in recipes like home made granola bars etc... It is also great as a sweetener for hot drinks, plain yogurt, on pancakes, and anywhere else you might use syrup or honey.  It has become mainstream and now aside from health food stores can be found in many common grocery stores, even Wal-mart.


Xylitol was really exciting to find because not only is it not detrimental to the teeth it actually helps PREVENT tooth decay.  It is a natural sweetener in a crystallized form much like raw sugar in texture that is made in the body and found in certain plants and fruits like raspberries.  The cool thing about xylitol is that it's molecules have 5 carbon atoms as opposed to the regular 6 that other sweeteners such as sorbitol, fructose and glucose have.  What this means is that most bacteria and yeast in the mouth are unable to use it.  So decay, thrush, and other related maladies are kept at bay.  It is just as sweet as white sugar but has 40% less calories!!


Stevia or other brands of stevia like Truvia are excellent choices for those wanting to lose weight as it is completely calorie free and unlike splenda or other chemically altered sweeteners it is  ALL NATURAL.  Stevia is a plant and it comes in the powder form or liquid, but be careful as it can easily been overdone as it is 30 times sweeter than sugar. If you use too much it can have a slightly bitter aftertase.  It is not a great option for baking because of the lack of bulk compared to traditional sugar.  If used for cooking or baking using recipes specific to stevia is a good idea.  Stevia is highly recommended for diabetics as no insulin is needed to break it down and so the blood sugar is not affected.  It is best used in hot and cold drinks, to sweeten oatmeal, yogurt, or fruit.  Try it in all kinds of foods.  There are no side effects.


Honey is another all natural sweetener that is a better choice than traditional sugar.  It has amazing healing qualities fighting infection and inflammation, aids with tissue regrowth and avoiding scarring as well as being good for diarrhea,  indigestion, stomach ulcers and gastroenteritis. Granted some of those are topical treatments but all in all honey is a wonderful alternative to white processed sugar.  Again processed sugars are handled in the body different from unprocessed or minimally processed sugars as the enzymes and nutrients needed to digest it are already present as opposed to being stripped.  This allows the body to process them more efficiently leaving less to be processed as fat.


Raw sugar is only marginally better than white sugar and as such should be used sparingly.  It has the same calorie content and is just a slightly less processed form of sugar.  It is what white sugar is made from before the molasses has been stripped from it.  It is only on here because even sugar (as bad as it really is for your whole system) is still light years ahead of the chemical sweeteners so many people mistakenly use to improve their health.  


BEWARE of reduced sugar and sugar free processed foods.  MANY new foods are making it to the supermarket shelf filled with SPLENDA the name brand for sucralose a dangerous non food that has been chemically altered to look closer to a pesticide than a food.  In fact that is how it was discovered in 1976 by British scientists who were trying to develop a new pesticide and came up with this.  Unfortunately it has now become the latest craze.  Many of you have heard that  the Splenda molecule is comprised of sucrose (sugar) and while that is true they fail to mention that three of the hydroxyl groups in the molecule have been replaced by three chlorine atoms which makes this compound much more like a pesticide with all its deleterious effects than a sugar.


 Another chemical sweetener that has been making it back onto shelves in a big way is aspartame a known toxin and carcinogen.  I was shocked by this as most people are now aware of how dangerous this is.  However you will find aspartame in lots of sweetened reduced sugar or sugar free yogurts like YOPLAIT, sugar free or reduced calorie drinks like crystal light, and other sugar free drinks and other common, name brand sugar free products.  READ labels and try to buy organic products or those that you have thoroughly checked out first.  


If you are addicted to your artificially sweetened drinks and foods and can't be bothered to give it up thinking you are at least losing weight think about this...from ABC good morning America


"Calorie-conscious consumers who opt for diet sodas may gain more weight than if they drank sugary drinks because of artificial sweeteners contained in the diet sodas, according to a new study.A Purdue University study released Sunday in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience reported that rats on diets containing the artificial sweetener saccharin gained more weight than rats given sugary food, casting doubt on the benefits of low-calorie sweeteners."There's something about diet foods that changes your metabolic limit, your brain chemistry," said ABC News' medical contributor Dr. Marie Savard.Though Savard said more research needs to be done to uncover more information, the study does hint at the idea that the sweeteners alter a person's metabolism. Savard said another recent study, which included more than 18,000 people, found healthy adults who consumed at least one diet drink a day could increase their chance for weight gain."