By the year 2000, the average American consumed 31 tsp. of added sugar a day. This refers to ALL forms of sugar added in the processing or preparation of foods but not to the sugar that is found naturally in foods such as fruit or milk. Added sugar alone accounted for 496 calories! (Iowa State University, CARD, 2005) Are you average? I suspect you are NOT average or you wouldn’t be reading this article. However, you may be consuming far more sugar than you realize even if you avoid adding sugar to the foods you eat.

Fortunately the year 2000 seems to have been a turning point for Americans and added sugar consumption. Even so, total sugar consumption remains very high. This may be because much of the sugar consumed is not obvious. It is “hidden” sugar. Sugar you are simply not aware you may be eating.

Sugar is just a form of simple carbohydrate. As such it is neither good nor bad. Sugars associated with so-called “empty” calories or more specifically empty carbohydrates offer little food value other than calories (for example, candy and soda pop). Healthy carbohydrates on the other hand, are a good source of dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and possibly antioxidants and other healthy substances we have yet to discover. Does that mean you should forgo eating Halloween candy or sugary desserts? No, but it is a good reason why you are far better off limiting this sugar to small amounts for special occasions.

The 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend limiting added sugar to no more than 8 tsp. per day for the average reference woman eating 2000 calories. That would mean only 6 tsp. a day for 1500 calories or about 5 tsp. for a 1200 calorie diet. Wow! That’s next to impossible. Added sugar is in so many of the foods we eat whether we know it or not.

Image via WikipediaTo put this in perspective, a tsp. of sugar is equivalent to approximately 4 grams. Go grab a box of breakfast cereal from your kitchen and look at the Nutrition Facts panel. Unless you grabbed a box of Fiber One by General Mills, I’ll bet your box of cereal has 5 grams of sugar or more per serving and that’s on the low side. Sugar is added for a good reason, it makes the cereal taste better and we’re more likely to eat it. But if you are watching your calorie intake and doing your best to eat healthy on a low calorie diet, there isn’t much room for the added sweetness.

4 grams of Sugar = Approximately 1 tsp. of Sugar

So what do you need to look out for? The source of most added sugar in the diet of Americans is from soda pop and other soft drinks, candy, dairy desserts such as ice cream, cakes, cookies, pies, and sweetened cereals. I would imagine you are already aware of these.

There are many sources of added sugar, however, that may not be as well known as the ones I just listed. This is the hidden sugar. Energy bars often have a lot of sugar. Nature’s Path Optimum Energy Bar has 19 grams of sugar! Ketchup tastes as good as it does because of the added sugar. A tablespoon of ketchup might have 4 grams of sugar, the equivalent of 1 tsp. Van Camp’s Pork and Beans has 7 grams of sugar in only 1/2 cup. That’s almost 2 tsp of sugar! Many salad dressings, spaghetti sauces, and yogurts, especially fruit-flavored yogurt have a significant amount of added sugar.

If a food product is labeled as sugar-free or no added sugar, it means that no sugar was added during processing. However, foods may contain naturally occurring sugar or a product might be sweetened with a fruit juice concentrate (natural sugar). This is why you want to check the Nutrition Facts and Ingredient Labels when you buy packaged or canned food products. The Nutrition Facts label provides the total amount of sugar but it is not separated into the different kinds of sugar present. For that you will need to take a look at the ingredient label.

Sugar comes in many different forms. Here are some of the most common terms:

Brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, lactose, malt syrup, maltose, molasses, raw sugar, sucrose, syrup, sugar substitutes, and table sugar.

Ultimately, your best bet to avoid eating too much sugar and the unnecessary calories that sugar can provide is to eat whole foods, with little or no processing and added sugar, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes (beans). To get a better sense of how much added sugar you are consuming you might want to take a day or two and read the labels for every canned or packaged food you eat. Hopefully, you won’t be unpleasantly surprised!

Weight Loss Success: Are You Buying the Best Products? Part One

Weight Loss Success: Are you Buying the Best Products? Part Two

Till next time, watch those calories and be sure to eat healthy!

A few weeks ago I heard from Tom Venuto (the most knowledgeable fat loss expert you’ll find ANYWHERE.). He said he had been somewhat quiet during the past year because he had been working hard on a new book, a print or hardcover book!

I own and refer to his ebooks (digital books) quite often, so I’m looking forward to reading his latest book. As someone who struggled with losing belly fat after the birth of my daughter many years ago and then while going through peri-menopause and most recently menopause, I can’t say enough good things about the information he shares. At 54, I wear slim fitting jeans and my 21-year-old daughter has remarked on more than one occasion, “Wow, Mom, you’re in great shape!”. Thanks Tom!

Tom’s new book will be out on January 8th. I will probably be one of the first to buy a copy when it is available. I research and read a LOT about fat loss but I get the sense that he does that and more. So I always learn something new when I read his stuff.

If you are serious about losing fat and you do not yet own a copy of Tom’s ebook Burn the Fat, I highly recommend you get a copy of that now. Trust me you don’t have to be a body builder to benefit from what he shares. (I’m not!) To learn more about the ebook read my review. (I believe he is updating Burn the Fat, so if you buy now you will receive the latest version as well as soon it is available!)

In contrast with Burn the Fat, the new book, The Body Fat Solution: Five Principles for Burning Fat, Building Lean Muscles, Ending EmotionalEating, and Maintaining Your Perfect Weight focuses more on the hidden psychological and emotional roadblocks that sabotage fat loss success than it does on diet or exercise.

If you would like to learn more about this book, I have a copy of the press release for you to read:

From Tom Venuto
Via (Avery Books/Penguin Group)
Re: pre-release announcement

New Hardcover Book By Tom Venuto Reveals the 5 Principles for
Burning Fat, Building Lean Muscles, Ending Emotional Eating and
Maintaining Your Perfect Weight.

http://www.BodyFatSolution.com

By now, we all know that we gain fat when we take in more calories
than we burn. But we’re not always rational creatures when it comes
to food and exercise. Recognizing the emotional and psychological
factors that sabotage success, Tom Venuto’s new Book, The Body Fat Solution (Avery/Penguin Group) hones in on the real causes of body-fat and provides a sound plan to take back control of our bodies and end emotional eating for good.

In The Body Fat Solution, Venuto outlines the five principles that
will retrain your mind and body for automatic success. Determined
to help you keep the fat off for good, Tom shows you how to:

- End emotional eating and stop diet self sabotage
- change your vision through manageable goals for
indomitable confidence
- eat healthy, delicious food almost unconsciously and
shed the pounds effortlessly
- reshape your body through lean muscle training for a strong
core and toned frame
- invite a supportive social network of friends, family, and
mentors to help you achieve your dream for life

Venuto reminds us that calories do count! But The Body Fat Solution
is neither super low carb nor super low fat, and he steers clear of
demonizing entire food groups. Instead, Venuto helps you personalize
an eating plan that takes into account your unique metabolism and
calorie needs. He then presents illustrated workout programs to
maximize the success of the diet plan that are fast and efficient.

Most important, he helps you plan and organize your life so that
you can fully implement your new goals and monitor your progress,
and finally maintain your perfect weight for life.

Tapping into his years of training expertise and personal experience,
Venuto helps readers change their relationship with food, empowers
them to take charge of their lives, and delivers a program that
promises dramatic and permanent results.

——————————————————

His program works. Combine what he teaches with what I share here on this website and you can achieve a weight and figure you’ll be very happy with!

The Body Fat Solution: Five Principles for Burning Fat, Building Lean Muscles, Ending EmotionalEating, and Maintaining Your Perfect Weight