It's a sugar-(full)free life for me

A few months ago my Mom told me about the Fed Up movie--have you heard about it? It is basically a documentary that talks about the food industry and how much added sugar Americans consume on a daily basis. Watch the trailer here:

Along with the movie, producers Katie Couric and Laurie David created the Fed Up Challenge. In order to complete the challenge you have to eat on a no-sugar added diet for 10 days. Unfortunately I have a HUGE sweet tooth. This becomes an issue with my T1 very easily. I am trying to get better at saying no to sweets...but if someone is offering dark chocolate covered pretzels, I am taking them.

I read about the challenge and thought I could definitely do it. I should not be eating added sugar any day of my life, so I could at least go 10 days, right? It was more difficult than I thought! I think I am going to try this challenge again...starting tomorrow.

Read about the challenge and the rules here.

This challenged really helped me become better at reading labels. At the grocery store, I typically look at 4 parts of a nutrition label: Carbohydrates, Fiber, Sugar and Sodium. I look at how many grams of each are in the product. However, now I am better at looking at the actual ingredients listed. Katie Couric explains that a food label may show that it is low in sugar, but in the ingredients you can find all of the dangerous sugar chemicals that have been added. At the top of this post is a list of all the names for sugar. Watch out for these + if you see it listed, do NOT buy it.

Products you should stay away from that are not obvious include:

• crackers
• Nutrition bars/granola bars
• bread
• pasta
• sauces/condiments/dressings
• alcohol

Challenge yourself to complete this and WATCH the movie! It has some great information and is truly shocking.

The DiaBlogger

Travel Snacks

Today I am starting my journey back to Kansas to see my family and friends for the holidays. Unfortunately, I waited too long to get a flight home so I am taking the Amtrak. I have taken the Amtrak before to Milwaukee from Chicago and it was a fabulous experience (that trip was an hour and a half). My trip from Chicago to Kansas City will take about 12 hours because I have a long stop in St. Louis.

My only opportunities to eat from 9am-9pm will be from food on the train cart (soda, crackers, candy, etc.) or at the Amtrak station in St. Louis. I am really looking forward to getting home with a good attitude...so that means good blood sugars all day. This triggered a day of finding healthy snacks that will keep my blood sugar balanced, keep me full, but also not take up a lot of room--I am taking A LOT back home.

Here is what I decided to pack:

-WATER: obviously water is key for all of us. The water offered on the train is in small bottles and is extremely overpriced so I made sure to bring a lot of my own.

-Tomatoes: I bought a small box of cherry tomatoes, simply washed them and put them in a Ziplock bag.

-Celery: and I brought a lot of celery. We all know that consuming celery actually helps you burn calories because the amount of effort it takes for your mouth to crunch up celery burns more calories than the calories you are digesting from the celery itself. This snack is always a winner in my book. I bought a bag of celery that I washed, cut, and put in Ziplock bags.

-Carrots: a small bag of pre-washed baby carrots were perfect for this trip. Plus we could always use some help with our eyesight, right?

-Craisins: these are easily packaged and are a good alternative to raisins because they have less sugar.

-Nuts: these are my salty snack. If I don't bring any, I know I would definitely be hitting up the chips on the snack cart. Plus they are a good source of protein.

-Apples: a healthy snack that fills me up and is easy to dispose of. I brought 3 Honeycrisp Apples. To me, these are the equivalent of eating a spoonful of sugar. I am hoping that these sweet treats with help away me from my chocolate cravings on the train.

-Oranges: I just brought one, but oranges are great for traveling because the thick peel keeps the actual inside of the fruit clean and sanitary so you can throw one in any bag and not have to worry too much about it. Cuties are a must if you are traveling with T1 kids.

-Cliff Bars: of course I brought my favorite kind, Blueberry. This is my snack with the most dense amount of carbs/sugar so it will be my lifeline during a plunging low blood sugar. Of course I have a small tube of frosting as well!

-Sandwich: as a main meal to make SURE I stay full, I went to the grocery store Deli and had a sandwich made and packaged for me to bring with me. I will probably eat 1/2 for lunch and 1/2 for dinner..unless I get too excited at lunch.


My trip is a little extreme because I will be traveling for 12 hours, however, all of the snack options are good for any kind of traveling or even going out for the day. Nobody wants to be the person to hold up a travel day because you are unprepared. bringing snacks that are prepackaged, easy to Carb-Count and also easy to carry around are key when it comes to traveling.


Have a safe holiday and keep that 70-140!!

By the Way, here were my menu choices. Thanks for aiding obesity and inconsistent blood sugars Amtrak. We appreciate it, truly. 👎👎👎