Awesomeness of Amy'tude: Bye-Bye Cokes, Hello Stevia!

I lost 20 lbs!!!

Yep, 20 whole pounds and it's all thanks to my new diet. I'm on the 'No Coke Diet'. Well, I guess it's more of the 'I'm Not Gonna Drink 5 Cokes A Day Diet'. In 2 and a half months, I've only had 14 cokes and the weight has dropped off.

A few months ago, a couple of coworkers shared some really good soda facts with me. The thing that got me was that if you drink ONE soda a day for a week, you'll have gained 1 pound at the end of the week. I did some of my own research and decided that a pound a week OR MORE was definitely not worth the sodas I was consuming.

I can honestly say that I had a coke problem. Seriously.

All soda is extremely bad for you, and most people don't know that diet sodas or sodas with any kind of artificial sweetener are worse than a regular coke. Aspartame decomposes into formaldehyde, methyl alcohol, formic acid, diketopiperazine and other toxins and we're fatter because aspartame suppresses seratonin and makes us crave carbohydrates. Always look at what you're buying- if the ingredients include Aspartame, Sucralose or Saccharine, DON'T BUY IT! Please note that Sucralose is totally different than Sucrose (table sugar). Check out this article on Diet Coke and Aspartame. Pretty scary.

We're always told two sides of a story and who really knows what to believe but me personally... I think I'll believe that the natural sweetener is safer than one made with chemicals. What about you?

No worries though! Please look into this awesome sweetener called Stevia. It's a natural sweetener and is way cool. I've been using it for quite a while now and have decided there's no good reason to use anything else. The two kinds I use are SweetLeaf and Stevia in the Raw.

SweetLeaf is awesome and is loaded with fiber!!!!! I highly recommend it.

Sweetleaf® Sweetener™ Facts:

Stevia extract comes from the leaves of the Stevia plant
Sweetleaf® Sweetener™ is the only all-natural, zero-calorie sweetener with a zero glycemic index
Quality leaves are 30 times sweeter than sugar in their unprocessed form
Pure glycosides that are extracted from the Stevia leaves are 250 to 400 times sweeter than sugar
Contains no chemicals like sucralose or aspartame (found in other name-brand artificial sweeteners)
The only Stevia sweetener to acquire GRAS status (FDA designation for substances determined to be safe in foods by competent scientific research)
Sweetleaf® Sweetener™ is pure from plant to packet – the process used to concentrate the sweet components uses nothing but purified water – no chemicals, additives, enzymes or anything artificial.

Common Worldwide Uses:

Sweetener in soft drinks, beverages, desserts, sauces, yogurt, ice cream, cereals, toothpaste, mouthwash and baked goods
Any recipe that calls for sugar or sugar substitute

Sweetleaf® Sweetener™ products include:

Where to find Sweetleaf® Sweetener™: