WAC101 Fed Up

I have finished my ten days of trying different breakfast foods besides Pop-Tarts and my original goal was to see if there were any health benefits or weight benefits.  I am happy to report that... No, I do not see any health or weight benefits.  The only thing that came out of this experiment for me was stress!  This assignment was tough for someone who already knows what does and does not work for their body and isn't trying to lose weight (this was for a college class).   To be honest, I want to report that changing my diet even this little bit had an adverse effect.  My gut got messed up and I started having more frequent headaches.  That is why everyone should know their own bodies and do what is right for them.  I am glad this is over and I can go back to my normal eating habits. Stephanie

Today is day ten of my blog, which is the last day I am writing about my breakfast journey.  And today is a little different because I had some time.  So far, my blog as been all about giving up Pop-Tarts to see if I can start eating something a little healthier in the morning.  As a recap, the reason I go to the Pop-Tarts in the mornings is because I am a busy SAHM that needs to eat something quick and easy in the mornings when I am getting my kids ready for school.  But today I had time to have pancakes... Mickey Mouse pancakes. Because pancakes are high in carbohydrates they can provide enough fuel for someone to get them through their whole day.  (Frey, Malia)  However, you have to be careful in the way that you prepare your pancakes so that they aren't too unhealthy in other ways.  According to an article titled Pancake Nutrition and Health Benefits in VeryWellFit.com if you are trying to eat healthy and having pancakes you will want to try and ma...

 Hello Everyone, If you read my Day 8 blog I mentioned that today I was going to try out oatmeal for breakfast because it was recommended as one of the 13 foods by nutritionists in the Good Housekeeping article titled 13 Healthy Breakfast Foods to Power Up Your Day, According to Nutritionists.  I warmed up my favorite maple and brown sugar packet with some water which only took about a minute and a half.  It took about the same time as my Pop-Tarts.  The only exception is that the oatmeal requires a bowl and a spoon to eat.  So it's quick, but not as easy to eat in the morning.   The ingredients in my oatmeal packet were:  Heathline had an article about the benefits of oatmeal and the biggest takeaway from that article for me was that it is high in fiber.  Fiber is good for gut health, regulating type 2 diabetes, and reducing blood sugars.  To me, all of those things should be good for someone who is trying to maintain a healthy lifestyl...

 Like my title implies, I am running out of ideas for what to do for breakfast.  I realized that eggs are just not practical for a mom like me.  The whole reason I eat Pop-Tarts is because they are fast, easy, and already made for me.  So even though eggs (what I ate yesterday) have all kinds of health benefits and I really enjoy the taste of them they are just not something I can keep up with. So today I just decided to google other options for me.  I put in my search engine "best foods for breakfast" and the first article that popped up was from Good Housekeeping called "13 Healthy Breakfast Foods to Power Up Your Day, According to Nutritionists."  Now that looked promising!  The first line in the article was even... "Here's what to eat for breakfast - beyond scrambled eggs." The 13 healthy food options were: 1. whole grains 2. protein shakes 3. bananas 4. prunes 5. eggs 6. berries 7. seeds 8. oats 9. avacados 10. nuts and nut butter 11. beans and le...

I'm starting to learn that there are so many different things to eat in the morning besides Pop-Tarts.  Granted, I had time to actually make something so I cooked scrambled eggs.  I used to eat eggs all the time when I was trying to get pregnant and when I was exercising a lot and trying to stay in shape.  I really like eggs of all kinds - scrambled, omelet, over medium, hard boiled, or egg salad.  And I've heard that they are good for you in a lot of different ways. According to an article in Very Well Fit titled Egg Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits "[e]ggs are nutrient-dense, which means that they provide a high level of vitamins and minerals relative to the calories they contain."  The article also stated that eating eggs can help you maintain muscle mass because of the amount of protein found in them and that they can stimulate brain power because eggs contain choline.   Frey, Malia, Egg Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits, VeryWellFit.com . Septembe...

Hello Everyone, Since I'm not doing this ten-day challenge the traditional way of removing certain food items from my diet and seeing what happens.  My challenge for myself is still to remove chocolate pop-tarts and see what it does.  I still plan on writing about the results (my weight loss - if any - and any healthy side effects) in my last blog entry.  Today I wanted to research how eating healthy, and what in particular can help with women's hormones,  Hormone balancing can be such a positive or negative thing for women from our period cycles, skin care, fertility, and energy levels.  According to an article in EatingWell.com, our hormones can also affect our weight and possibly lead to diabetes if left unchecked or problems with getting pregnant since our bodies are meant to get a certain number of calories. The EatingWell article cited many different foods for balancing hormones.  Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower are great sources ...

 Day 5 - Not Really Trying, And Here's Why     I had more donuts this morning.  And they weren't even good donuts.  I ate them because I was busy and had to do a lot of stuff to do after dropping my son off at school and they were easy to get to.  It may seem like I am not trying, or not taking this assignment seriously, or unhealthy.  And I might be a little of the latter (unhealthy).  But I do try and I do take my assignments seriously.  However, a little bit about me is that I am pushing forty years old and am a disabled vet with health issues.  I know what works for my body and what doesn't at my age.  So while I am not proud of my stale donut choice this morning it was the best I could do.

Day four was just two Keurig cups of coffee.  I drink my coffee with a splash of half and half.  I must admit that I am addicted to my morning cup of joe.  If I go without it I get a headache.  However, I read an article from 2022 in the Daily Mail that said there are health benefits to drinking coffee in the morning.  Some benefits are boosting alertness, promoting gut health, and protecting your heart.  So today wasn't such an unhealthy day for me.  Yay! Works Cited Dowden, Angela, How Your Daily Coffee Habits Boost Your Health . DailyMail.com, 22 May 2022. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-10637663/The-body-benefits-drinking-coffee-one-cup-day-six.html

It was a Dunkin Donuts kind of day.  What can I say, I am a mom on the go in the morning.  Maybe giving up a junk food item in the morning wasn't such a good idea.  Today I went to Dunkin Donuts after dropping off my boys at school.  I ate two chocolate frosted with sprinkles donuts.  Since I didn't make these donuts myself I included a list of ingredients in them per the official website.  What is nice about technology these days is that pretty much every restaurant or fast food joint will have their menu and food items listed with their ingredients and calories.  This can be extremely beneficial for someone that is trying to stay healthy or calorie count. Ingredients for Sprinkle Donuts Donuts, Dunkin Donuts , https://www.dunkindonuts.com/en?gclid=Cj0KCQjwxuCnBhDLARIsAB-cq1rizbr0BOh1zHGeeEkY8ybQXBaQ9EQWETbpzOP6bQrnr_0CyIh9neoaAqgrEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 I'm on day two of my "No Pop-Tarts" challenge and instead of eating chocolate Pop-Tarts for breakfast, I went for eggo waffles instead.  The main reason I chose this as my breakfast option was because it was in the house.  I'll be honest and say that I did not choose this because I thought it was healthier.  My breakfast was two homestyle waffles with syrup.  I'm starting to think that I am prone to breakfast foods that are easy for on-the-go.   According to the Kellogg website for Eggo Waffles, these frozen waffles became a household staple in the 1970s by the Dorsa family from San Jose, California.  It was two brothers who came up with the idea of an easier waffle mix that eventually turned into a frozen waffle for every household to enjoy.  According to the Eggo Waffle website, Eggo Waffles holds the title for bestselling frozen waffles in North America. So far, this has had no impact on my health.  Nor do I think it is helping me to...

 Hello Everyone, My name is Stephanie.  I am embarking on a food journey for the next ten days where I will be giving up Pop-Tarts.  My goal is to see 1. if I can even do it since they are my go-to breakfast item and 2. if I can lose any weight by giving up this sugary treat of mine.  Why did I pick Pop-Tarts to give up?  According to an article in the American Council on Science and Health titled Are Pop-Tarts Food? they broke down the ingredients of these treats and concluded that they aren't necessarily made up of anything healthy for you.  So I think I can do a better job of starting my day with healthier food options than something that doesn't contain anything good for my body. I hope to encourage anyone reading my blog to see if they can give up any indulgent treat too and see what it does for them.  https://www.poptarts.com/en_US/products/new.html Works Cited Bloom, Josh.  "Are Pop-Tarts Food?"  American Council on Science and Health,...