Inspire Me Thin

Something really hit home with me yesterday after reading an article. I wish I bookmarked the link before exiting. But the jist of it is this:

A pound of fat and a pound of muscle do not have the same caloric value. It takes 3500 calories to burn a pound of fat. And about 600 calories to burn a pound of muscle (which shows a bigger loss on the scale). During weight loss, your body doesn’t simply lose 100% fat, there is about a 3 to 1 ratio of fat to muscle loss depending on your diet and training. It’s possible to lose 100% body fat while preserving muscle tissue and it’s possible to lose 50% body fat/50% muscle. It all depends on training and diet.

With that said, let’s say you tracked your progress and burned 4000 additional calories that week. You should be expecting a 1lb loss right? If it’s about a pound, then you’re probably burning mostly body fat. If you’ve lost significantly more than a pound… for example two or three pounds (given you’re not extremely overweight and given your water is pretty stable), then this significant weight loss could be attributed to muscle loss. Especially if you trained harder that week and didn’t up your protein calorie intake.

Yet another reason why the scale is completely useless.

Thinking back on my past weigh ins… there were some weeks where I did have 1.5lb+ losses. I was so happy. But now I understand it was most likely due to some muscle loss rather than 1.5lbs+ of pure body fat. Smaller and consistent weekly losses are better than larger inconsistent losses or jumps in the scale. Lesson learned.

(Source: inspiremethin)

Let’s compare it then. Sorry, this was too big to fit in an ask. Naked has 2 servings per bottle ~16oz (although it’s closer to 15oz). I don’t know anyone who only drinks HALF a bottle of Naked. So we’ll compare it to a 16oz bottle of Pepsi.

• Pepsi: Click here for nutrition info/ingredients list. 16oz contains 200 calories, 40g sodium, 55g carbs, and 55g of added sugars. 15g of potassium, 71g of phosphorus, and caffeine.
• Ingredients: CARBONATED WATER, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CARAMEL COLOR, SUGAR, PHOSPHORIC ACID, CAFFEINE, CITRIC ACID, NATURAL FLAVOR
• That’s like half a meal’s worth of calories and a TON of sugar in a 16oz serving. None of the ingredients spark a red flag. We all know how high fructose corn syrup is derived. But that’s nothing to get our panties ruffled over. Phosphoric acid is corrosive and added so that the soda doesn’t grow mold. But the concentration is a lot lower than it is in drinks such as orange juice and lemonade. The fact that “calcium loss” caused by phosphorus binding to calcium is a bit funny to me that it’s criticized and hyped in soda but not orange juice… Citric acid is natural and is added for flavour, and caffeine is caffeine. kcool
• Basically you’re getting a shitton of sugar dumped into your system and your body has to get rid of it.
• I’m sure a lot of people have seen something like this floating around which scared them into never drinking soda ever again:
  

• I can tell you right off the bat the 20min mark is wrong. Your body doesn’t simply go into
  
  Unless the 55g of carbs cause you to exceed your total glycogen storage capacity. Which is nearly impossible unless you’re eating like 5,000 calories a day. If that’s the case.. then you’re screwed.
• Everything else in that image is attributed tosugar.Doesn’t matter if it’s natural sugar or fake sugar or pink sugar or added sugar or sugar with cotton candy growing off of it.Your body is going to convert it to glucose anywayyyy.And it’s the presence of glucose that is triggering these processes (minus the caffeine bit).
• Now that you know about soda. Moving on.

• Naked Juice (Blue Mountain): Click here for Naked Juice ingredients list.
• Claim 1: “Every ingredient is “natural”. — LOLNO.
  
• Quoting from a Sept 2011 court suit article IDK I googled it
  

  The amounts of synthetic substances added is “substantial” according to the plaintiffs who cite as an example that “there is more Fibersol-2 than … any ingredient derived from blackberries” in Naked Juice’s Blue Machine drink which is labeled as an “all-natural blueberry and blackberry 100 percent Juice Smoothie.”

• Let’s look at this list.: APPLE JUICE, BANANA PUREE, BLUEBERRY PUREE, FIBERSOL-2-FIBER (MALTODEXTRIN), BLACKBERRY PUREE, NATURAL FLAVORS, FRUIT AND VEGETABLE JUCIE FOR COLOR, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMOIN C), VITAMIN E (AS ACETATE) NIACINAMIDE (VITAMIN B3), D-CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE (VITAMIN B5), PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), 5 (B12)
• Certainly much longer than Pepsi’s list. Definitely a lot more than just “apples, blueberries, blackberries, and banana”.
• Fibersol 2 Fiber is synthetically made. It is “digestion resistant maltodextrin” fully 90+% resistant to digestion by the human digestive system.Itis a spray-dried powder produced by heat and acid from genetically-modified and non-genetically modified cornstarch. Deemed FDA safe. But far from “natural”
• Many compounds of Niacinamide or niacin have been synthesized, some of which have antivitamin activity. Synthetic niacin is usually made in a process involving formaldehyde and ammonia
• Foods do not naturally contain pantothenic acid. Synthetic D-pantothenate, the active enantiomer is available as a calcium salt.
• The most common form in vitamin pills is USP pyridoxine hydrochloride which is not naturally found in food.
• Cyanocobalamin (the common pharmacological/USP form of vitamin B12). Some synthetic vitamin B12 analogues seem to be compounds to vitamin B12 activity in the body. Synthetic B-12 is made through a fermentation process with the addition of cyanide.
• Of course I nit-picked information. But it’s just to point out that they indeed ARE synthetic and not naturally occurring vitamins. And it should be common knowledge that synthetic vitamins have a much lower absorption rate:
• Proponents of synthetic vitamins might claim natural and synthetic are equally effective; but when it comes to Vitamin E, that natural form is internationally recognized to be more biologically active than the synthetic form. The biological activity is reduced by 50%, even to 70% in synthetic form.Doubt has also been cast on other synthetic vitamins and their biological activity by Isobel Jennings of Cambridge University. “The synthetic vitamins may be identical with naturally occurring substances or closely related. The close relations, althought useful in many ways, pose some problems in that they may have only a fraction, whether large or small, of the biological activity of the natural products … Synthetic vitamins may perform some of the functions of their natural counterparts while being useless for others. But what may be more important is the fact that synthetic vitamins, prepared from chemicals instead of nature, are frequently less active biologically than their natural counterparts, thereby reducing any beneficial effect they may have.” - http://www.nutriteam.com/natural.htm
• I hope there’s no confusion that Naked juice certainly isn’t 100% juice or 100% natural.
• Moving on.
• 16oz (or 15.2 to be more precise) of this particular Naked Juice, which I’ve had before it tastes delicious, has 320 calories. 320 CALORIES. What?! That’s even more calories than soda.
• It has 20g sodium, 700g potassium (ok this is awesome), 76g carbs, and 55g of sugar (the other carbs are fake fiber), and 2g of protein. Not even going to list the vitamins because they’re all fake. LOL. I’m sure you’re getting A TINY BIT of benefit.. but certainly not the 190% as it states on the label.
• But dude…. that’s 55g of sugar that’s being turned into glucose THAT IS GETTING DUMPED IN YOUR BLOOD STREAM. Heck yes it’s comparable to soda. I don’t know how you can say that it isn’t. It’s going to give you the same exact insulin spike, and the same exact crash. Just because the sugar is laced with fancy synthetic vitamins doesn’t mean it’s still not sugar, natural or added doesn’t matter.Your body is going to respond the same way. Are the fake vitamins worth it?
• Let’s look at this chart again…. REMIXED version ;)
  
• As you can see… not much different than soda with the exception of phosphoric acid… but that’s okay. Because ascorbic acid takes care of that!
• “Firstly, vitamin C tends to bind calcium.Secondly, vitamin C has a diuretic action: it increases urine flow” and… “However, the ascorbic acid binds with zinc strongly “…. anddd magnesium is an earth metal which means vitamin C binds to that as well because ascorbic acid tends to bind with metals.
• I think I covered everything.

Yes, this is definitely dramatized (just like the soda part). However, it can’t be denied that Naked juice’s sugar content can be comparable to that of soda. If you don’t watch your calories (370 per bottle) and sugar intake (55g per bottle), you could be well on your way to weight gain, obesity, insulin resistance, and diabetes.

Are these juices “healthy”? I wouldn’t say so. Is there anything wrong with drinking them? Nope. Not unless you want to live under a rock for the rest of your life. In fact, I had a 16oz Dr. Pepper a few days ago. It’s okay. It’s not going to kill you. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be mindful about it.

I know companies spend millions of dollars on marketing campaigns and labels. It’s easy to be deceived. I too believed the propaganda at first, until I did a little digging myself.

I hope this answers your question, anon.

(Source: inspiremethin)

Someone asked me to lay out my weekly shopping.

Typically, I stop by the grocery store 2-3 times a week as longer-term stuff runs out. I don’t have just one designated day for grocery shopping. And this is a good thing because then I scope out the sales! If something is on sale, I buy it even if I don’t need it for another couple of days. It comes out cheaper that way, tbh. Especially for things like meats.

Now prices obviously vary from region to region. Here are my grocery store’s prices as of today. These are the type of items I would be generally keeping my eye out for.

• Quaker quick oats - 10oz (the big one) x $4.89
  —this typically lasts me about 4 weeks. Sometimes longer.
  —I prefer to wait until this is on sale for like $4.00 or cheaper
  —$1.22/week
• Fresh strawberries (on sale) x 2 / $5.00
  —one box lasts me 5-7 days.
  —$2.50/week if I was tight on cash and could only buy one box
• Broccoli (on sale) - $0.99/lb x $1.31
  —2 large heads (1.32lbs)
  —lasts me 2-3 meals
• Cucumber 1/$.88 x $1.76
  —2pc really really big ones.
  —lasts me 5-7 days
• Spinach (on sale) 2/$5.00
  —Typically only buy 1 bag because it lasts me all week, sometimes even longer. And I only buy it when it’s on sale. Otherwise no.
  —$2.50/week
• Corn (on sale) 4/$2.00 
  —I don’t typically buy this. But it’s in season and cheap! Would be a great veggie/snack substitute.
• 5lb bag potatoes - $3.99
  —I don’t typically buy this either. Rarely eat potatoes. If I do, then I’ll buy one individually wrapped Sweet Potato for $1.50. But just throwing this in there because it’s pretty cheap.
• Bag yellow onions (~15+ onions per bag) - $2.99
  —Don’t typically buy this either. But just throwing it in there. I think individual yellow onions are like… less than $1.00 per pound.
  —I consume about 2-3 onions per week
  —$0.60/week
• Ground turkey extra lean- $6.50/1.3lbs
  —I only buy this when it’s on sale for $5.00
• Chicken/Beef - 4/$20.00
  —My grocery store has this special, 4 for $20.
  —For the week $5.00, but I usually buy two and freeze them because the selection doesn’t last long!
  —$5.00-$10.00/week
• Peanut butter (large) - $8.49
  —A big tub lasts me about 2-3 months. And I try to buy it on sale when it’s closer to $6.00.
  —$1.06/week
• 16oz pearled barley - $1.49
  —Don’t typically buy this, but that’s a good deal! Barley is delicious.
• 12oz buckwheat - $3.99 
  —I live off of this. It’s a bit pricey. But lasts me a ~3 weeks.
  —$1.33/week
• 16oz lentils - $1.59
  —Don’t typically buy this, but it’s a good deal. Lentils are good too.
• 19oz black beans (canned) - 1.59
  —I can’t cook dry beans. So I have to buy the canned kind LOLOL.
  —Typically look out for when this goes on sale for $0.89-$1.00
  —1 can lasts me a week. I don’t eat much beans. And lately I haven’t been eating them at all.
• Gallon of milk - $3.95 (1/2: $2.29)
  —Usually drink an entire gallon of milk in 10 days. So there’s some overlap.
• Butter - $3.00
  —Wait for this to go on sale for $3.00 or $2.50. I don’t use a lot of butter. So the four sticks last me a really really really really REALLY long time because I only use a tiny bit per meal.
• Eggs (18) - $3.19 Eggs (12) - $2.19
  —usually wait for these to go on sale for $2.50
  —lasts me 2-3 weeks.. depending on how often I make eggs
• Egg whites (32oz) - $5.99, 16oz (on sale right now!!) 2/$5.00
  —Ehhh, trying to stay away from these. But if it’s on sale I’ll buy it.
• Chobani (large) - $5.99 or $1.00 per individual
  —This varies for me. A large chobani lasts me 3-4 servings.
  —I buy sometimes. Sometimes I just buy one individual.
• Apples - $1.79/lb
  —This is probably the only produce that racks up my bill! Apples are expensive. The cheapest ones I sometimes find are ~1.29 or 0.99 near work.
  —But yeah…. $4.12 for 5 apples.
• Green peppers - < $1.79/lb
  —Usually buy 4 med/large ones
  —$2.50/week

So this week I need to buy:

Milk (3.95) + strawberries (5.00) + broccoli (1.31) + cucumber (1.76) + green peppers (2.50) + spinach (2.50) + chicken (5.00) + apples (4.12) = ~$27.00 Throw in some buckwheat because I ran out (some barley or brown rice if I wanted it to come half cheaper) and a chobani yogurt and I’m up to ~$32.00 + $1.00-1.50 tax.

+/- $10.00 depending on the week and what longer-term items I run out of

An example meal day this week:

Breakfast (oats, strawberries, brown sugar*, cinnamon*, milk, coffee, multi-vitamin)
Lunch (egg omelet, chicken strips (or deli meat if available*), ketchup*, onion, green pepper, cucumber, spinach, buckwheat (or egg whites*), butter)
Snack (apple + peanut butter)
Dinner (chicken, buckwheat, brocolli, cucumber, bbq sauce*, butter)
Snack(iced milk chocolate, milk + chocolate mix*, or chobani + strawberries)

= ~1700 calories. ~50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fat.

*Some things are simply 1-time purchases that last meforeverrrrrr.

IDK….. it works out for me. And even I consider my grocery store to be overpriced. But I do my best to look out for sales, and get by with what I have. If something is ridiculously priced, I simply go a week or two without it and alter my meals. No big deal. I hope this helps put things in a new perspective for you. :))

(Source: inspiremethin)