I was onto Chapter 2: How to Break the Addiction - Step 5: Re-Stocking when the sub-topic Condiments came up. It went on to list the sugar content of many popular store-bought sauces. Then suddenly it hit me... I raced into the kitchen, swung opened the fridge door and grabbed the bottles of Hot Chilli Sauce, Lite Mayo and Fat-Free French Dressing that were smiling back at me.
As i scanned down the Nutrition Information Panel, my face turned to disgust...
FYI, i am one of those people who like to
1. I grab 'lite or fat-free' dressings on auto-pilot
2. I've never really taken much notice of the sugar content.. yeah yeah spank me now ;-)
3. I don't make my own dressings... call me LAZY
And here is what i discovered per tablespoon (20g) of each dressing:
Hot Chilli Sauce - 8g Sugar
Fat-Free French Dressing - 3.5g Sugar
Lite Mayo - 5.5g Sugar
OMG! ... I generally used 1 tbsp of each for my lunch which = 17g Sugar + i will use 1 tbsp of Hot Chilli Sauce most nights with my dinner.( i like it hot ;-) )That means i am ingesting a whopping 25g Sugar/day just on condiments alone! Holy Shit!
Just to put this sugar consumption into perspective:
1 day = 25g sugar
1 Week = 125g Sugar (I used 5 days, as i have been fasting and/or eating out for some lunch/dinner meals)
1 Year = 6.5 kg Sugar (14.3lbs.... Amy, i did the conversion just for you!)
6.5kg Sugar = 26000 CALORIES
1kg (2.2lbs) of Fat = 9000 Calories
so hyperthetically speaking, if all 26000 calories were not burnt off and stored as fat, that would equate to 2.9kg (6.4lbs) FAT GAIN over the course of a year!
Pretty scary stuff hey!
So no prizes for guessing where those sauce bottles went! I then drove off to the supermarket and bought the following:
Cholula Hot Sauce and Whole Egg Mayo. Both have negligible amounts of sugar per serve. Yes i realise Whole Egg Mayo has more fat and more calories than the 'lite' stuff, BUT it also contains an ingredient list that i can understand. And because it is not laced with ginormous amounts of sugar it packs a wicked punch of flavour in a small amount.. And because it is not watered down, i only need to use half as much. So for roughly the same amount of calories that i would consume using the other 3 sauces, i automatically remove an extra 25g Sugar/day and a massive Insulin Spike from my nutrition plan. In doing so will not only bring me one step closer to breaking my addiction to 'sweet poison' but will bring me one step closer to being LEAN for LIFE!
How much hidden 'sweet poison' are you consuming?
Good call Chelle... cutting out that stuff will really get your ml's moving I think! Sugar is the devil!
ReplyDeleteFresh lemon, herbs, real chilli's etc are what I use in salads. Found some sugar free sweet chilli sauce at coles which is nice but I dont like too much of that stuff.
Also, low carb sweet and sour sauce from healthy life aint bad.
Everything in a jar or package has added sugar, its rediculous! Even jarred garlic!
Beetroot, chilli, ginger... the list goes oooonnnnn.
Good call, I reckon you'll notice a massive difference cutting out the dressings and mayo :)
Girl. I need to read that book, and I, like you, have been guilty of slathering on lo-fat or FAT-FREE-FRENCH (OMG, we are so alike!) without thinking of what they do to balance the lower fat, it is always sugar and sodium. I'm realizing how badly- Physically- I feel when I eat a lot of sugar too. Gotta start watching this too- because life is too short to have stomach aches or a stomach that is so big it makes my head ache! LOL
ReplyDeleteAli - i think my body is at the stage now where if i want to get even leaner (without adding cardio, cutting carbs etc) i will have to start fine-tuning my food choices ie. watch sugar content!
ReplyDeleteI know sugar throws your appetite control system completely outta whack. Today was my first day of lunch without the sugary sauces, I had no cravings at all after i finished my meal and i'm assuming that was because there wasn't a massive insulin spike!.... and i'm wondering if my 'mindless snacking' habit had something to do with the excess sugar circulating through my blood!?
Kelly girl, its definitely worth a read, total eye opener to what is REALLY in the foods we eat. Being a SUGARHOLIC sucks big time, so i must keep reminding myself that a few seconds of pleasure is NOT worth it! COme 2011 i WILL NOT be 'trying to' get into shape anymore, i WILL have my sexy bi-atch body and i WILL be in MAINTAINANCE!!!.... you are my chicago sister ;-)
ReplyDelete