High Fructose Corn Syrup
Cut as much high fructose corn syrup out of your diet as you possibly can. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is in tons of stuff out there, even stuff labeled as “All Natural”. Don’t be shy, be that guy – the one who stands in the aisle at the market and reads the ingredients before tossing it in the cart. According to Travis Speegle, Author of Stop Dieting!, HFCS is not recognized by your body as sugar, therefore, your brain doesn’t tell you to stop consuming it. Your brain naturally tells you when you’ve had enough sugar, but it doesn’t recognize HFCS, therefore you consume more and more that your body has to store as fat. While sugar isn’t necessarily good for you, at least your brain recognizes it and will tell you when to stop.
Avoid Aspartame
I asked a nutritionist whether HFCS or Aspartame (the calorie-free sweetener) is worse for the human body. He said they’re both terrible for you, but Aspartame is probably even worse. In a nutshell, HFCS will make you fat, but Aspartame is an unnatural chemical that may damage all kinds of organic things in the human body. The research on Aspartame is insufficient, but the research on nicotine in cigarettes was insufficient for a long time, too. Not to say it’s that bad, but experts say it’s pretty bad.
Black Coffee
Settle down, all you sugar-and-creamers. Black coffee is an acquired taste kind of like beer (more on beer later). Once we know more about beer, we tend to step it up by experimenting with more varieties. Different coffee roasts are like different types of beer, like an IPA, Lager or Stout. Give it a couple weeks. Once you sample some different roasts, you’ll embrace the deep, dark delicious flavors of black coffee.
Shop the Outside Aisles at the Market
When you’re at the market, try to avoid the stuff in the center aisles as much as possible. Stuff in boxes is typically preserved with chemicals and unnatural things your body doesn’t know how to use, whereas the stuff around the outside is (more) natural. Veggies, fruits and meats are delicious and will fill you up better than junk in a box.
Drink Good Beer!
Believe it or not, good beer is actually full of healthy ingredients, so when you buy beer, buy the good stuff: typically microbrews. Macro-produced beers typically have a bunch of junk in them while the microbrews and high-end beers typically have wholesome ingredients. Let’s clarify: good beer will still make you fat, but at least good beer has ingredients in it your body can use. You just have to get off the couch and burn them off!