Aspartame - Part 1 - 01.10.08 - D01P4R3

LIW - 175.4 lbs (12/17/07)
Today's Weight - 179.2 lbs
3.8 OVER LIW

Here is my menu for yesterday. This is what I had:

Breakfast: Coffee and Cream - 1 Scrambled Egg in Butter
Mid Morning Snack: Leftover Chicken and Leftover Broccoli with Melted Cheese and a Dollop of Sour Cream
Lunch: Leftover Atkins Friendly Beef Stroganoff with Shiritaki Noodles
Mid Afternoon Snack: More of the Stroganoff and Noodles
Dinner: Nacho's (just chips and cheese, with a bit of sour cream) and some Refried Beans
Dessert: Some Praline Pecans and one Chocolate Chip Cookie

A total of around 1800 calories divided this way: 116 Fat, 118 Carbs, 89 Protein - After all of that I was surprised to only gain a POUND! I think I may be overestimating my calories, I don't know, but it doesn't feel like I am eating as much as it says I am! ROFL Ok, I "officially" start P4 today!!!

GO HERE AND SIGN UP FOR UPCOMING HCG NEWSLETTER!!! It's coming honest! Just waiting on my partner to put the finishing touches on it!

Let's not forget the HCG BOOK CLUB - join in on the fun! If you haven't signed up for it yet, please do so now. eMail Address Form

Thanks to Ann and Jeannette for filling out the new FAQ Survey! It's a pretty hefty survey, so I might leave it up for awhile. Please go here when you have a chance and fill it out!

Stalls, Gains and Cravings - What to do? P2 Experience Only

Thank you to Pat and Jeannette for more interview questions! I would still like to get some MORE questions from my Sunday's post about interviews, I know I said only until Wednesday, but it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind right??? If you didn't see it could you go here and take a look, thanks!


Aspartame

I don't think there is a more controversial subject to fly around any sort of weight loss forum than the subject of Artificial Sweeteners, I certainly found that out in doing some surfing on the web yesterday. Most often the question comes up, "What is 'such and such', will it stall me and is it safe?" When it comes down to the brass tacks, the decision to use any type or artificial sweetener is an individual one, because quite frankly the effects of using it will be as different and individual as we all are.

It's interesting to read reports of scientific studies being done with various sweeteners on lab animals, and one would have to be a little skeptical of definitive conclusions being drawn from massive dosages of products for a particular size animal, especially when they associate the same conclusions, or the same amounts would do the same damages to a human who might use these sweeteners on occasion.

Be that as it may, I continue to read while surfing, and have experienced myself, adverse reactions to different artificial sweeteners. So, as I mentioned in the first paragraph, results from taking in these sweeteners will change from person to person, and each person must make that determination for themselves.

You could be one of the fortunate ones, you could slip right past ANY reaction to ANY sweetener. My hats off to you! But for MOST of us out there, there is some reaction. There is a range from ending up in the emergency room to just headaches. Even the mildest of symptoms could be a big red flag that your body SHOULDN'T be made to TRY to tolerate their use. These things would include things like a fuzzy head, stomach distress, unexplained cravings, stalls, and quite possibly weight gain.

Let's talk about "stalls" for a moment using artificial sweeteners ... in my research, the general conclusion is that stalls occur more from the 'fillers' used in granulated and powdered forms of sweeteners rather than the liquids. This makes perfect sense as most of the fillers that are used are 'maltodextrin' or 'dextrose' which are both simply 'starches'. With the more research I do, I am finding that these 'fillers' might be the culprit to other adverse effects as well, this would be an interesting theory to test. I for one have only tried to use the powered versions of sweeteners and never the liquid, with the exception of the Stevia. Remember people, that some may not have any reaction whatsoever, either visibly or physically.

My eventual goal using this protocol is to eventually be able to eat "real raw sugar" (or my preference I am sure will be "local honey") and not have to use any of this artificial crud anymore. I would think that would be ALL of our goals yes? So what must we do until that happens? Find the one thing that will do the least amount of damage until then. There are far too many things in this world that are not 'pure' anymore from our drinking water to the very air we breathe.

So then, let's talk about Aspartame - in MY OPINION, one of the WORST artificial sweeteners we can use.

Small description:

Aspartame - better known as Equal and NutriSweet - Interesting that Wikipedia says this about Aspartame: "Aspartame is the methyl ester of the dipeptide of the natural amino acids L-aspartic acid and L-phenylalanine."

Let's define "methyl" - according to the medical dictionary methyl is "The alkyl group, often a univalent radical, CH3, derived from methane" - so in other words it's methane, which we know is an explosive gas that is formed from decomposing organic matter.

Define "ester" - a compound formed from alcohol and acid.

Define "dipeptide" - this is a molecule consisting of two amino acids joined by a bond - so the two amino acids that are joined together are the L-aspartic acid and L-phenylalanine.

So in other words, if I am understanding this correctly, Aspartame is made up of two amino acids bonded together by methane and acid. Hmmmm....and I am EATING THIS???

Because I cannot possibly begin to give you the kind of information that has already been written, I am going to lead you to the research I have done on the subject of Aspartame, and you draw your own conclusions.

One of the first things I came across was an article written by the Aspartame Information Center - WOW! They surely do try to sugar coat it eh? 'Scuse the pun!!!

Aspartame Information

Check this out: "Debunking the Aspartame Myth" - what I like about this site is that it gives alot of factual references for it's conclusions - and pretty much refutes what the above article says:

Debunking the Aspartame Myth

If you haven't watched this yet, it's a MUST when it comes to Aspartame. It about an hour and a half so you have to have time to view it, but it's worth the watch. I have ALWAYS had my feelings about Aspartame and it was ONE THING I made sure my kids NEVER touched, but this movie took it DEEPER, to the point that if I see someone giving their kids something with Aspartame, I say something immediately, I don't care what they think of me. I feel that strongly about it.

Sweet Misery - A Poisoned World

Very comprehensive article written with many facts regarding Aspartame:

The Problem With Aspartame

Also, here is a discussion about Aspartame on a Bulletin Board dealing with "Conspiracy Theories" so read with caution, but it's an interesting discussion none the less - there are four pages:

Why Is Aspartame Still On The Market?

So with all that information, what is your opinion?




On to my commenter's - these are my responses to yesterday's comments:

Mary - I would think that everyone around you just needs to CALM their butt down if you decided you needed to do an egg day! Now if you can't stand yourself, that is another story! ROFL - Thanks for the link you sent me! Lots of useful information there!

Crystal - Hey there STRANGER! Thanks for the visit, and any info you can give me on the sugar subs, I will gladly take it, all in the name of research ya know?

CB - I completely forgot about her knowledge, sad thing tho, she hasn't updated in a while??? She is one of those that are MIA!!!

Becca - You start when you need to start, we are all overlapping at points anyway. It's important to use the schedule that is good for your hubby! I wonder why your post never showed up, who knows about cyberspace sometimes. I am going to find out about cylamates also - it's on my list.

B - Is there ANY non sugar sub your family member doctor recommends? YUP! The egg day worked!

Have a wonderful day peeps!

Biz