Sugar: Is it a Drug?

Did you ever think about sugar? Besides when you’re craving a chocolate bar? Well there are reasons why you have those cravings. Did you know that sugar is in almost everything you eat?

Sugar is not good for you and you should not eat it, I know that I try and avoid it whenever I can. Unless it is from natural food I am eating I try not adding it to anything.

I was reading over at one of my favorite blogs, Paleo Hacks, and I found this article. I was blown away with this information and knew I had to share it with the world. You can click here to read there article, it is worth your time and effort, I promise.

Here is a teeny tiny piece of the sugar-less pie…

“As can be seen, there is a multitude of reasons why soda should be eliminated from the diet. Some studies have shown that intense sweetness is more rewarding than cocaine. Other studies have shown that food addiction is similar to drug addictions. This differs from behavioral addictions like gambling, since in food (and sugar) addiction, there are actually neurochemical changes. The more sugar that you eat, the more downregulated your dopamine receptors become. Besides this scary adaptation, there are other neuronal changes.

This includes: changes in opioid receptor binding, enkephalin mRNA expression and dopamine and acetylcholine release in the nucleus accumbens. Basically, the more sugar that you eat, the more ways your brain changes – for the worse.

Does this sound like a drug exerting its effects? It certainly does to me.

Of course, we must not forget the withdrawal effects of sugar, once the stimulus is taken away. I’m sure we’re all well aware of the “sugar cravings” that ensue, once you decided to go low carb, or after a bad night of sugary eating. The pronounced ‘hangover’-like effect largely comes from fluctuating insulin levels.”

Wow, crazy right! Click here to read the rest of the article.

I also wanted to add this little video, which I found on Paleo Hacks as well. I thought it would be a nice way to wrap up this post and make the final push to read there mind-blowing article.

 

What did you think? Do you think sugar is a drug?

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Let’s face it, you love to snack, well you know what...so do I!

We are programmed to snack.

Society tells you it’s ok in one breath and then in another breath tells you that you have to be skinny. You can’t go anywhere nowadays without being bombarded by food advertisements in addition to skinny models that are plastered all over the place. They tell you to eat something however afterwards they tell you should feel bad about it.

Really...? Is this what our world has come too? Sadly yes.

But you can beat the system and there ‘logic’ by making healthier snaking choices. Wouldn’t you love to snack whenever you want and not feel guilty about it?

Here is the perfect recipe that will fill that ‘snack’ need and also make you feel good about your choice.

Popcorn.

Who doesn’t like Popcorn?

Now wait a minute I am not talking about the greasy, need 5 napkins popcorn that you get at the movie theater. Popcorn is unexpectedly healthy when made at home, this whole grain snack (surprised? Yep its whole grain) can be different every time by adding different scrumptious toppings.

This whole grain might be a great addition to your daily snacks. By making it at home and adding just enough fat, it will in return, add tons of antioxidants to your body. Even adding butter or salt to your home made popcorn won’t bring the fat or sodium levels to register in the credits of the movie theater snack.

Popcorn also will keep you satisfied for longer plus give you an additional 22% of fiber than a person that doesn’t eat popcorn. It’s full of air and low in calories so your brain thinks its eating more than it actually is.

Without any further ado here is a recipe that didn’t even last 20 mins at my house. We even gave some to friends and they couldn’t get enough.

Chocolate-Covered Popcorn Cups

Makes 12 muffin cups

8 oz (1 cup) chopped dark chocolate, 60% or higher

3 cups (750 ML) popped organic popcorn

2/3 cup (160 ML) shelled unsalted pistachios

¼ tsp (1 ML) sea salt

1.      Melt the chocolate in double boiler (I just put a large bowl on top of a pot of simmering water), stirring until melted.

2.      Divide popcorn and pistachios evenly among 12 standard-sized paper-lined muffin cups

3.      Drizzle melted chocolate over popcorn. Make sure you cover with chocolate so that it can seep down into crevices and bind together

4.      Sprinkle tops with sea salt

5.      Place in the fridge to set for about 1 hour

6.      Enjoy!
 

This recipe was found in the lovely Sage Magazine. Natural Living for you and your family. It is full of amazing information and plenty more delightful recipes I look forward to trying and sharing.

I also want to share this link to remarkable website, Paleo Hacks, I visit on a regular basis. I found this post the other day and thought I would share it with you. So head over there and help yourself with beating the cravings!

 

As always, thank you so much for visiting and I hope you see you again soon.

Did you try the recipe? Tell me what you thought of it…

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New Art!

So lately I have been immersing myself with art, and anything and everything to make art.

Mod podge, gesso and my hair drier = love

I have recently taken the plunge to take an online course. I was doing the Strathmore workshops, so much fun! But I wanted MORE!!

There is a wonderfully creative lady that I follow her every post! Her name is Christy Tomlinson and I am just in love with her art! She has so many workshops and I have always wanted to take one but something always stops me. Money mostly I suppose, but I am an excuse maker, so that probably has a lot to do with it as well.

But when she announced this new workshop, I knew that I just had, HAD to take it. She was giving a discount for early registrations and we had a little extra this month. GST=♥ So I went for it! I am so exited for it, I cannot wait.

I will explain more about the class another day but for today I wanted to show you some of the things that have been keeping me up at night! ……seriously sometimes till 1 am!!

Hope you enjoy :)

Love this painting, it is for sale, $30.00 Canadian

If you are afraid to do somthing just do it, and you wont be any more♥

This is an 8x10 Canvus, love it. SOLD

This is a journal page, i love this bird can you tell..?

Journal page, Sheep!

This is a journal page too. The saying is from the news paper, more on that later♥

Don’t forget to smile!

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Cool Whip Diet

Don’t forget to smile!

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You know you’re a blogger when…

           I was going through my photos and organizing some of them…and I knew that I just had to share some of them with you…

However, I was reading one of my favorite blogs tonight {LMM} and I found this post I totally fell in love with it.

It’s about all the things that make ME, or anyone else who blogs, a blogger. So I thought that I would share my photos with you as I write out my list. The photos probably won’t make sense with what lam saying, but hope you enjoy them all the same.

You know you’re a blogger when…

You always ask yourself “will this make a good blog post?” before you do anything.

You know you’re a blogger when…

You talk about your “internet friends” to your boyfriend more than your real friends.

You know you’re a blogger when…

As soon as you get home you log on to blogger and check if you have comments.

You know you’re a blogger when…

You feel bad about missing a day.

You know you’re a blogger when…

You have photo folders filled with random photos that, you may or may not have, taken just because you thought one of your followers would like it.

You know you’re a blogger when…

You feel the need to take Photos of everything you eat.

You know you’re a blogger when…

You would never dream of stopping.

Don’t forget to smile!

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I needed to share

I found this artical and i just had to share it. The internet is often used for bad things, as you can tell by what happened to this boy. But it is also a great tool. For bloggers or friends trying to stay in touch! Check it out it is amazing!!

Boy in England has a Newmarket teen and the Internet to thank for his life

by Monica Bugajski
A 14-year-old girl in Newmarket knew a cry for help when she heard one and managed to save a 16-year-old boy's life all the way in England.

For thousands, the Internet has become a place to form friendships with people that they may never meet in person. For others, it is a place to torment those they won't ever have to see. Though all 14-year-old Paige Dayal knew about Luke was his name, she was particularly unsettled by the comments on his Tumblr account one night and decided she had to reach out a helping hand.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Tumblr, it's a blogging platform that allows users to share photos, audio, video, and any opinions they may have. Tumblr users can follow one another and comment on each other's posts. Paige had 600 followers on her Tumblr account, and Luke was one of them.

On February 7, a despondent Luke made a post in which he said that he didn't have any friends and that everyone hated him. His blog was bombarded by hate comments telling him that he was worthless and that he should end his life.

Paige read the post and comments, and after Luke stopped posting, she had an irksome feeling that he was perhaps going to do something drastic. Only knowing that Luke lived in England, Paige called the police and the RCMP. When they said they couldn't help, she did some online sleuthing and found Luke's town. She was able to contact the central police in the Bath region, who arrived at Luke's house just in time. The 16-year-old boy had swallowed 36 pills and had to be rushed to the emergency room.

Had Paige not acted on her concern, Luke may not have made it through the night, and though it isn't the first of its kind, the incident reminds us that people really can affect one another's lives, regardless of the platform through which they interact.

Paige's mother believes the most important lesson here is that "one person can make a difference" in someone's life, and she's absolutely right. The Internet just allows that impact to happen quicker and from anywhere and everywhere. Though it seems amazing that Paige was able to hear Luke's cry for help all the way across the ocean, she was very much a part of his world. Every time he got on his computer, he had access to her thoughts and posts, and she to his. So it seems natural that she should step in when he needed help, the only thing is, she was the only one who actually did something. Yes, others offered support. For all the negative comments he got, Luke received hundreds of encouraging ones. But Paige is unique in that she had the sense to take her support offline and into the real world. She can honestly say that she played a key role in saving this boys life.

Though Luke is doing better, he knows he has a rough journey to recovery ahead. On his Tumblr he posted, "I am so grateful to the girl in Canada who rang the police. Seriously I LOVE YOU," and those who love him are grateful as well.

[Source: The Star]

Don’t forget to smile!

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I finally did it!

I finally put my hand out and you know what happened…I was grabbed and embraced. I finally took the plunge that I have needed for some time now, I went to church.

This may sound silly to some people but I have recently, with some help from blogger friends, have decided to accept Christ into my heart. I didn’t grow up with anything remotely close to religion in my life, so when I told my hubby that I wanted to take this step he was set back a little. But he has been very supportive and understanding with the whole thing. However being new at all this I got side tracked and lost focus a few times, and he has always been the one to ask me if I have read my passage that day. What a hero I have.

Needless to say I have been putting of going to church for some time, only for the fact that I don’t want to go by myself. I had not stepped foot in a church since I used to go to youth group when I was still in high school.

So one day I go and pick up my honey from work, he turns to me and this is the convo we had…

Him: “So this Sunday you have a date with Zach’s mom?” {Zach is my honeys best friend}

Me: “Oh really”

Him: “You’re going to church! I was talking to her today and told her that you had been wanting to go to church and had been too scared to go by yourself. So she told me, to tell you that you have a date.”

Isn’t he the sweetest!

So on Sunday I went to church and it was the most amazing service EVER! I almost cried the whole time.

SIDE NOTE: I don’t know much about the bible, I know the basic. Adam & eve…and well that pretty much sums it up. I have watched movies, but let’s just say my knowledge is nil.

So after we were done singing {always been my favourite part} the guest speaker comes up and starts talking. And reading John 9, a man is born blind. I love how he explained it all and I could have cried.

“I was blind and now I see”

“Why this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes”

“I came into this world, that those who do not see may see”

And the way he described this part Ohh here comes the tears!

It was amazing and life changing. Since I have been going I have been reading my bible every night and listening to more Christian music just because I love singing. It is the way I communicate with him, some of its even educational :)

So thanks to wonderful friends here and in the blogging community I love so much, I have been able to be embraced with more love then I could have imagined, and I just love it.

I do you have any music that you like to listen to? I only know two right now that I am listening to. Tell me your favorites so I can try them out! I have a playlist on my ipod called Lovin my GOD, and I would love to fill it up. Let me know in the comments I would love to know!!!

Don’t forget to smile!

These are the lovely ladies that have helped me with every step that I have taken. Check out their blogs I know you will love them as much as I do♥

 

ALSO....My Church also videos their sermons, here is the video if you want to watch it♥

January 29th 2012 - Special Guests:Teen Challenge, with Rev. Steve Paulson from Moose Jaw Church of God on Vimeo.

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New!

New – adjective

different, inexperienced, strange, unfamiliar, unique, unknown

Many new things have happened to me the last few days. It has been a week of learning and experiencing and just plain growing.

Find this necklace here



New toy! The Gypsy for my cricut machine and I am trying to learn how to use it. I have been trying to figure it out for a day or so now and getting the updates and stuff but I just haven’t had time to play with it yet.

New days! I have started going back to the gym and man does it feel good. Zumba today and loving it more than ever! I had stopped for while; I was so focused on getting my license that’s all I was doing in my spare time and the gym kind of feel behind. But I am going back to 3 times a week again, and it feels nice. Well my legs would not agree with this statement however but I know my brain does ;)

New meaning! To date night, the other night was date night with me and my loving boyfriend. And everything was going according to plan. I mad supper and cleaned the house. We finished eating supper, Cashew Chicken, and were watching a movie. Half was though the movie the power goes out! So now its 8:30 and there is no power. We could hear the sirens from our apartment and decided to go and check it out. So we hopped in the car, and just a few blocks down there were fire fighters and SASK Power. So we decided to keep driving around, even though it was pouring out. I got some cool pictures.

New makeup and hair products! (was in serious need of restocking) I was in need of new colours to mix it up a bit. I got this one colour it reminds me of a mermaids tail, kind of shinny greeny blue, sooo nice! I also got some new mascara because I needed it bad.

New scratches on my car L Skylar was out last night and got into an accident (He is ok) 3 thousand dollars in damage. But we have to wait and see what the adjuster has to say and go from there. I’ll keep you posted.

New painting! For my craft room. I bought it at a store that I had never been into before and I was walking by and I saw that they were having a closing out sale. Well as soon as I spotted the 70% off sign I was already though the door. As soon as I laid eyes on this painting I knew I HAD to have it. Guess what I paid for it…you will never guess. $5.00 Needless to say I was happy to take it off there hands.

New Teachings! I have been working with another wonderful Friend of mine, Sasha over at Lemonade Makin Mama! She has been teaching me all the things I need for my journey. She has been sort of bible Study though email. And it is wonderful, she spells it out just perfectly so I understand every word.

New music! for my IPod. Francesca Battistelli and Meredith Andrews.

New Bible! From my wonderful friend Becky over at Farm Girl Paints! She sent me a wonderful care package full of fun stuff. The Daily Reading Bible, which includes date on which things to read on which days, great for a first time bible reader like myself. God’s Wisdom for your Life: 1,000 key Scriptures. As well as a lovely card.

Thats what is new in my life how about you?

Tell me whats new with you!

Don’t forget to smile!

68. gifts that mean the world

69. re-inventing date night

70. the word SALE

71. subway for supper

72. my wonderful Zumba instructor

73. the way my body feels after a work out

74. my cats ability to sleep in some of the positions he does

75. quality time

76. teck friends that get you all of the coolest gadgets

77. Noah B’s laugh

78. having a friend that could be your twin

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New Painting

Today has been a day full of surprises for me! First I got to sleep in, then I checked my blog and had a beautiful comment that brought me to tears, and then I got inspired to finish a painting that I have been working on for over two months.

Surprises are good, I love them.

Recently I have come to the conclusion that I am ready to let the lord in to my heart and I have been struggling at where to start. There are so many questions I have and so many things I want to learn. I was reading the book of Romans the other day online (because I don’t own a bible yet) and I was having trouble understanding it. So I opened it up again today with the audio and read along. And for some reason it all made sense, I think that I was not really ready to read it the other day and that I was meant to read it today. Because I got to Romans 5 and got the eager to paint, so I closed everything on my computer and pulled out my paint. While I was painting the wording on I realized that what I wanted to write would not fit, so I got angry and pushed everything to the side and opened my computer. I read this post from a blog I am new to and have completely fallen in love with, Lemonade Makin Mama. And it was like she was talking to me, starring at me and giving me this advice herself. I have been focusing on all the things that are wrong in my life right now and not focusing on the little things that mean the most. I have been shaking my cup and only bad things have been coming out. As I sit here in my craft room and look around at all the beautiful things I have and how lucky I am to have this space all to myself. It makes me feel selfish for even thinking bad things about my life. I have a loving boy friend that gives me everything I need and more, a loving family that I don’t call as much as I should and still loves me. I finished my painting and it couldn’t have turned out better! I am very pleased with the way it turned out, so thank you for your advice.

I have been living with my eyes closed. I have recently read about this book called One Thousand Gifts and I can’t wait to read it! I have put it on my wish list on the Chapter’s website and I am hoping to be able to get it soon. I believe that when He thinks I am ready to read it I will receive it. But until then I am continuing my list, with Becky, and look forward to reading it one day.

Don’t forget to smile!



16.Finding new friends

17.Random thoughts of kindness that means a lot

18.Unexpected gifts

19.Clean blankets

20.The smell of your house when you finish baking cookies

21.Friends that text me every day, just to say hi

22.Finishing a long overdue painting

23.Finding inspiration from unexpected places

24.Organized shelves in my craft room

25.Being able to be wrapped with love when my honey hugs me

26.Country music

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So the list begins!

Faith
is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.

Dr. Martine Luther king JR

So the list begins! A list of Gifts, little things that you might miss on a day to day basis but would miss if they were gone. Gifts that God has given us, I need to remember the small things and rejoice in the many pleasures of this world. I am hoping that it will help me look past all the troubles of this world and see the good. I cannot how ever take all the credit for this wonderful idea it was Becky’s idea. Without her blog I would undoubtedly lose my way. She is doing a list as well, join us and remind yourself to see the little things in life.

Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew

Gifts

1.       The smell of rain

2.       The feel of sand between your toes as water rushes towards you

3.       Finding lost treasures when going through old boxes

4.       The feeling of laundry fresh out of the dryer

5.       An ice cold glass of water with a lemon wedge on a hot day

6.       The love in a hug from an old friend

7.       The tears on your mothers face when you surprise her

8.       First snow fall

9.       A good Quote

10.   The smell of paint as it squeezes out of the tube

 

Don’t forget to smile!

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Save me from this road I'm on

It's so easy to get lost inside
a problem that seems so big at the time
it's like a river that’s so wide
it swallows you whole
While you sit around thinking about what you can't change
and worrying about all the wrong things
time's flying by
moving so fast

Empty; I have this vast feeling of emptiness in my soul recently. It’s like a part of me is missing, and I need to find it. I have read this book that tells you everything that you think will come to you. Think bad and bad will come; the universe doesn’t know that it’s bad; it sends you anything you are thinking. For example: I hope the car doesn’t break down, all the universe hears is: I hope the car breaks down.

You need to send out as well as think good things and good things will follow. But it’s so hard to think good thoughts when bad things are happing. It’s so hard to keep your chin up when you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I haven’t painted anything in over a month; I have had my camera out but haven’t really used it. This emptiness is starting to consume me. Starting to get into my head and devour me alive. So how do I come back from this? How do I start to see the light at the end of the tunnel again?

I need is a divan intervention! I need to be showered with his love and be consumed by it. I want to be filled with love and a fullness I have never felt before. I read about the things unconditional love can do, I read about it all the time, but have never felt it for my own. I have tried but I don’t know how to do this. I can’t do this on my own any more.

Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel

I haven’t done this before so I don’t know if I am doing it right. All I can do is pray and hope that someone hears me and will help guide me though. I listened to a song yesterday when reading my favourite blog, which made me want that feeling so much. I want to be the tree that’s bends beneath the weight of His wind and mercy. I need to be saved from this road I am on, I need help more now than I have ever known…

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Make your day a little brighter!!

with Katie from

COLOR ME KATIE

When i have run out of ideas or are just having a bad day, i always look to Katie for the anwers. Her blog is so fun and i just cant get enough. I know i have posted about her before, so if you havent checked her blog out yet, what are you waiting for?

I want to do everything, try anything that she has done, just because it looks so fun!!

This is her!!

and some of the wonderful things she has done...

Get going!!!....I am headed right now :)

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