Truvia Natural Sweetener

I've been reading about a new natural sweetener called Truvia (also known as Rebiana) that's supposed to be available in stores sometime this fall (you can buy it online and it's supposed to be available in certain stores in NY already). It sounds like it has promise, especially for those of you who do not like the taste of Splenda and are concerned with how Splenda is made along with any after taste. I personally do not have a problem with Splenda, but I find this new Truvia sweetener quite intriguing. I ordered a box this morning, so I haven't tasted it yet, but I will come back and give you an update as soon as I have.

The reviews I've read from people who have tasted it are promising. There's supposedly no after taste like Splenda and no bitter taste like Stevia (even though Truvia does come from the leaves of the Stevia plant, a shrub native to South America). The following is from WebMD....

"Truvia is the first stevia product that isn't labeled a "dietary supplement," the classification that the FDA has, up until now, required of all stevia products because of safety concerns from some, but not all, studies done mainly on animals.

In Cargill and Coca-Cola funded studies, Truvia showed no sign of health problems. For instance, it didn't affect blood pressure in healthy people or blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes. Further tests in rats show no effects on reproduction, fertility, or other health problems. Those studies recently appeared in Food and Chemical Toxicology.

Truvia is being sold as a tabletop sweetener and will be an ingredient in certain Coca-Cola drinks. It's not yet ready for use in baking.

Pepsi is also working on its own stevia sweetener. No head-to-head trials have been done on stevia vs. other no-calorie sweeteners, such as NutraSweet, Splenda, and Sweet'N Low."

The following is from Reuters. You can read the whole story here.

"A box of 40 green and white packets of Truvia will have a suggested retail price of $3.99, which Snyder said is a little more expensive than older, artificial sweeteners, such as saccharin, aspartame and sucralose, which are sold under the respective brand names of Sweet'N Low, NutraSweet and Equal, and Splenda, which is made by Tate & Lyle Plc."

We all know how I enjoy YouTube videos, so I'll leave you with a few videos to watch about Truvia. I can't wait to try it. :)





Don't forget, you can follow me on Twitter. Sometimes I post a couple of lines each day if you want to know what I'm doing. ;)

I've Been Reading

Cool Website

I came across a "How To" video website today called HowCast.com. It's founded by former YouTube and Google employees. The site features 7,500 instructional mini-films with entertaining answers to nagging questions. Some of you may already know about it, but it's new to me, so I'm sharing anyway. :) I was just messing around and came across this video...

Don't forget, you can follow me on Twitter. Sometimes I post a couple of lines each day if you want to know what I'm doing. ;)

Such A Pretty Fat

I ordered this book earlier this week and thought I'd see what else the author had written. In the process, I came across this video on YouTube. I can't wait to get started on the book; it sounds like it's pretty funny. :)

Weigh In Day

This was my first week back to Weight Watchers meetings and I was down 4 pounds this morning. I wanted to stop in and share that with you. I'd love to stay and chat some more, but I want to watch tonight's episode of The Biggest Loser before I go to bed. LOL!

Don't forget, you can follow me on Twitter. Sometimes I post a couple of lines each day if you want to know what I'm doing. ;)

The Biggest Loser

Have you guys been watching The Biggest Loser? Here's a short video of Jillian talking to her group about how to lose a pound and what crash dieting does to your metabolism...

Also, just a reminder... my updates are being posted on Twitter now. You can either scroll down this page you're currently on, look over to the right side of this page, or follow me on Twitter. :)

Follow Me On Twitter

Since I don't have enough time these days to sit down and update my blog, I'm going to try and post short updates from my cell phone through Twitter.com. They probably won't be too interesting, but at least you'll know I'm alive and well. I can text from just about anywhere. :)

The new YMCA finally opened this week on the campus where I work, so I'm hoping to be able to work out at least 3 times a week before start work. I'd rather work out after work, but it's not an option since they close at 10 pm. Tomorrow will be my first day. I'm so out of shape compared to where I was just a couple of years ago. My plan is to walk on the treadmill at least 2 miles, and then get some strength training in. I'll go from there. A few people I work with joined the YMCA as well, so hopefully I'll have someone to work out with most of the time (I'll be more apt to go if I know someone is there waiting for me).

Ok, well once I figure this Twitter thing out, I'll start posting little messages from my phone so you know what I'm up to. Take care!

Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

Back On Track

I just wanted to pop in and let everyone know I'm officially back on track as of today. I'm doing Weight Watchers on my own at home. I don't have time to attend meetings right now with all of the time I spend working.

I also got moved into my new place last month, so things are finally calming down a bit for me now and I feel like I can get into a bit of a routine. The only thing I have to do now is finish my medical terminology class.

Well, I'm off to get ready for work. I'll try and drop in and blog more faithfully. I'm a very busy person these days, so no promises, but I will try. :)

Just Wanted To Let You Know

I've been without an Internet connection since April 3rd or 4th. I have my new Internet set up now, but still can't send outgoing email. I've spent the past two mornings on the phone with tech support, so hopefully they'll get it figured out soon.


I'm still working up in the OR at work and loving the quiet. :) My body has gotten use to using some muscles I haven't used in a while too. LOL! Lots of reaching and bending. If I was skinny I'd probably have ripped abs. :) Well, maybe under all of this fat I've got something going on. LOL!


I'm still watching what I eat. I'm down 7 pounds so far. Everyone who started with me at work is still going strong. One woman who is in her 60's swore up and down that she usually gains 3 pounds the first week she tries to lose weight. She didn't lose anything the first couple of days and I noticed all she was eating was fruit and sweets. I told her I was going to have to kick her butt if she didn't add in some protein each day (don't worry, we talk to each other like this all the time, so she dishes it right back at me). She added the protein and now she's also lost 7 pounds. This is a woman who weighs about 100 pounds less than me. She's kicking butt all by herself. LOL!

I have the weekend off. I've been going non-stop for the past month now and I just feel like I need a break. I've decided tomorrow is going to be a fun day no matter what. I've got the day all planned out. I'm going to Cincinnati to a park that's celebrating earth day, then I'm going to hit some golf balls, then I'm going to go for a walk with Riley. Then at the end of the evening maybe I'll rent a movie and just chill out. Sunday is set aside to work on cookbook orders and get caught up on my email. It's suppose to rain anyway so no big deal.

Well, I'd better get off of here. I'm actually at work typing this. LOL! I got done early tonight and thought I'd get a couple of my tests done on the computer (we have to take tests here). Talk to you all later. :)

Quick Update

Ok, here's a quick update....

Rick is moving out this weekend and I got the job in the O.R.

Two things down and a few more to go. Woo hoo! LOL!

Oh, and I'm getting back on Weight Watchers on Tuesday (I won't be attending meetings).

I'm Still Here

Hey guys (and gals)! I just thought I'd check in and let you know that I'm still around. I've been leading a very busy life these days. Here's a quick run down of what's going on in my life right now...

1) I'm still working on getting back orders caught up with my cookbooks now that the books are in. I have books everywhere right now and not enough hours in the day to get it all done quickly, but I'm doing what I can.

2) I'm still working my 2nd full time job at the hospital. In fact, I'm hoping to start training to work in the O.R. tomorrow and take over for the lady that's leaving at the end of the month. I don't know if it's going to happen yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed because I'd really like to work in the O.R. (I'll give you an update on that if it happens).

3) Rick is moving out during the first two weeks of April. I told him back in January that I'd like to move on. After a little over 3 years together, I made the decision that I want to make some changes in my life and he doesn't really fit into those changes. We've been more like roommates for the past 2 years anyway. For one, I want to get healthy and I can't hang with him because he's extremely unhealthy. We aren't really compatible anyway. Sure, we laugh and have a good time quite a bit, but when it comes to the big picture, we see things differently. On his days off he wants to lay around and watch tv while I want to go out and do stuff; but the biggest deal breaker is I want kids and he doesn't. I just don't see any reason in wasting anymore time. I'm not getting any younger and I certainly don't have the power to make time stand still. Also, another thing is I'd like to live on my own for awhile. I've never really lived out on my own (I was with my ex husband for 10 years and then I met Rick)... I want to see what it's like to have my own space. I figure I'll give it a year and see where things go. The way my life has been changing so rapidly, just about anything can happen in a year. LOL! I'm waiting to hear from the management here at my apartment complex to move from my 2 bedroom apartment into a 1 bedroom apartment. They aren't positive, but they said they could have one available maybe around mid May. I thought about just staying here for another year, but I can save some money by downsizing, and I'd like a fresh start in a new place.

4) I have a really good friend at work who wants to lose weight. We've already decided that we're going to get back on track April 1st (I haven't been doing so well, but luckily I haven't gained any weight back due to all of the walking I do at work each night). They're building a really nice YMCA on the hospital campus that opens in August and we've already decided to join along with a few other co-workers. I think it will be fun to meet up before work or on our days off and work out together. We aren't going to wait until the YMCA opens to start working out though. We've already made plans to start walking on our days off and our goal is to do a couple of 10k's by this summer. I can't wait. I really miss participating in 10k's like I use to before I gained my weight back.

5) I'm taking a medical terminology class at the hospital. It will take me awhile to get through it because I don't have a lot of extra time to dedicate to it (it's a self paced class on the hospital computers) but I'll get it done eventually. Once I finish it, it should open some doors for a better job at the hospital if I choose to do so.

As you can see, I'm making a lot of changes right now, but I feel like they're changes for the better. I feel like I'm finally taking control over my life and I feel really positive and excited about everything. I just hope everything works out the way I have it all played out in my head. LOL! We all know things don't always go as planned, but I have to at least give it a try. :)

Well I'm heading for bed so I can get up early to work on getting out some cookbook orders tomorrow before I head to the hospital. I'm hoping once I'm back on track come April 1st that I'll be able to dedicate a little more time to this blog. I have some products I need to review (one of them is a CD for exercising). Talk to you soon!

Happy New Year!

I was told I need to get over here and blog before people forget about me, so here I am. :) I think about blogging everyday, but I'm not able to do it from work (which is where I usually am). Even when I have a day off (like today), I still have to work here at the computer, so there really is no such thing as a day off for me anymore. It's all good though. I'm slowly adjusting to my job at the hospital. Not that the job itself has really changed, but I think I have. I had a bit of a melt down at work one night a couple of weeks ago and was ready to just walk out. Honestly, the only thing keeping me there is the insurance and the hopes of moving on to bigger and better things in the near future.

Anyway, since my melt down (or as most would call it, my "boo hoo sob session") I don't stress out over anything at work anymore. It's just not worth it to me. I think my problem before was that I just cared too much about it, I felt like it was my responsibility to make sure EVERYTHING in the hospital got done, and I let people's attitudes wear off on me. I'll be honest, I've never worked at a place with so many attitudes and lack of caring before. A lot of the people just sit around and bitch about having to work (well duh, aren't we there to actually work?) and the gossiping is unlike anything I've experienced before.

After my little melt down, I just made the conscious decision to be as happy as I can be, try to avoid the negative people, and just go to work, do my job and come home (which is all I ever really wanted to begin with, but I allowed myself to get wrapped up in all of it). I've also given myself permission to slow down. I was going at warp speed trying to get as much cleaned as possible to try and keep up with the demand, I was skipping breaks because I felt like I didn't have time to take them, and I was getting burned out. Now, I just go at a steady pace. I still don't always get to take both of my 15 minute breaks each night, but I'm working on it. I'm just one person, and I do the best that I can do. My new view on everything has really helped me get through it.

Now onto what you'd probably rather hear about... my weight loss. The good news is, I did end 2007 lighter than I started it (30 pounds to be exact). Even through all of my changes and stress during the last 3-4 months of the year, I managed to not gain everything back (though I did lose and gain the same 8 pounds over and over). Looking at my weigh in sheet (I weighed daily except for the few weeks when my scale was broken), I pretty much floated between the same 5 numbers (only hitting the higher end of those 5 numbers towards the end of the year when I was eating all sorts of junk and not really tracking my food intake).

I started my weight loss journey over on January 1st (like most people) and I'm doing really well so far. I decided not to make any new year's resolutions this year. I never stick to them anyway, so why set myself up for disappointment? I'd rather just focus on doing my best. It's all I have. I really feel like this is going to be another year of changes for me. I seem to have so much going on, and nothing is really stable in my life anymore. My goal is to just try and adjust to whatever comes along. I'm not a person who accepts change easily, so it's all a learning process just like weight loss.

Well, that's pretty much it for now. I need to get some laundry done and get cookbook orders filled, then head to the grocery store later so I have food for the week. I can't promise when I'll have a chance to come back and blog again, but I'll try my best to make it sometime soon.

PS, for anyone who started a gym membership recently, or those of you who already had one... this article is pretty interesting... 10 Things Your Gym Won't Tell You.

TTYL and Happy New Year, New You!!!