Stevia, Sugar, and Food Documentaries

I still laugh at how I was talking with my girlfriend telling her how I dislike stevia.  She was like, "well if you're doing this diet, you're gonna learn to like it!" lol.  And she was right.

I don't think I'll go back to full sugar use again. Many stevia recipes call for mixing unrefined sugar with stevia for a sweet balance with less calories. Here's a link to Stevia In the Raw's website :www.steviaextractintheraw.com

Yesterday I just bought some liquid vanilla stevia (brand name 'Kal') from SunSplash, a health food store on Reisterstown Road in Baltimore, Maryland. I added it to plain water just to taste it, and it was very good.  This morning I steamed a large organic Red Delicious apple with the vanilla stevia and some cinnamon, and it was wonderful!  I mean, I'd make it again for the whole family--I even slurped up the leftover juice from those apples.  No butter, no sugar, and it was sweet and satisfying ( I had steamed apples with regular stevia in the raw, and it was ok, but not as good). Oh, and in the Harris Teeter Market, I found some natural sugar free ice cream using the natural sweetner, xylitol, called Clemmy's (click the link to find where you can get it near you).  Yes, I had a little taste, and I was pleasantly surprised! I definitely plan to eat that on P3.

I'm finding it almost unbelievable that I've gone this long with no sugar. I wonder if the sugary foods I used to eat will seem too sweet now.  And as picky as I am, I'm so grateful to find a NATURAL sugar free sweetener as opposed to using chemically derived sweeteners.

I'm also noticing how much I'm appreciating my food more--I mean, I relish the taste of a sweet crisp apple or sweet onions.  I used to hear or read fitness guru's say if you're having a craving for sweets, grab some fruit.  I was like, What!?? That is NOT going to work.  But now, I think it just might do the trick at times. Also, I am so not a vegetable eater.  Now, however, I find myself looking forward to more vegetables when I'm done P2, and even though spinach is getting on my nerves, I'm definitely enjoying my vegetables more even now.

I saw some cool documentaries about food lately  (on Netflix), thought I'd share the titles. Check them out:

Food, Inc.
Food Matters
The Beautiful Truth
The Future of Food (haven't seen this one yet, but its in my Que)

We have no choice but to take responsibility for our health.

TTYL