It's Still An Oreo...

The Oreo Cookie...such a simple cookie. Everyone knows it, everyone has tried it, most everyone loves it. So what part does it play in a healthy nutrition plan or if you are trying to lose weight, where does it fit in?

Well first of all, let's look at the ingredients. It's made of the finest - sugar, enriched flour, high oleic canola oil, high fructose corn syrup and cornstarch - these are just the first five ingredients.

Serving size - 3 cookies
Calories 160
Fat 7g
Carb 25g
Protein 1g

Not a good choice if you are trying to eat healthy. OH, but I got the REDUCED FAT oreos, a client says...okay, let's look at the ingredients. Still made of the finest - sugar, enriched flour, high oleic canola oil, high frustrose corn syrup and fructose - followed by cornstarch.

Serving size - 3 cookies
Calories 150
Fat 4.5g
Carb 27g
Protein 1g

The package says 30% reduced fat. Wow. You save 10 whole calories. Fat is reduced from 7g to 4.5g. Doesn't tell you that carb goes from 25g to 27g.

OH AGAIN, I only buy the 100 calorie packs of oreos, another client says...okay, let's look at the ingredients. STILL made of - enriched flour, sugar, high oleic canola oil, high fructose corn syrup and cocoa.

Serving size 1 pack
Calories 100
Fat 2g
Carb 19g
Protein 1g

Okay, here is where I'm going to vary. Shock and awe. IT'S STILL AN OREO. It's still a cookie, made out of sugar, enriched flour and other sugars. Not good for you. What does it do to your body? Two words for women -- HORMONES AND METABOLISM. Messes you up.

Many times when I am working with a client and doing a nutritonal analysis, there are little things like this, an oreo cookie packet here or there. You don't want to eat the REAL one because it's "bad for you", so you go with the REDUCED fat oreo so it's somehow "better for you". Then you go with the 100 CALORIE pack because that's even better for you, right? WRONG!

IT'S STILL AN OREO COOKIE! Look at the ingredients. They are practically the same, regardless of how the product is "marketed" to appear to be healthier. You may think that you are saving your body from the bad original oreo, but I'm telling you, you're not. It still has the same ingredients and it will still do the same thing to your body, which when you are trying to lose weight, is not help you at all. Keeps you from making progress.

So what does this mean? Will you EVER get to eat an oreo again? Well, that's up to you. As a former oreo bratpack, I haven't had one in years, can't remember the last one. Do I miss them? Hmmm, no, not really. It took a while to get to that point, but no, I don't miss them. I know what the ingredients do to my body - my metabolism and my hormones - including depression, fat gain, puffy feeling, low energy, madness. And I know what it's like to go without them for a while and I LOVE that feeling - positive energy, lean stomach all the time, strong, happiness. That's what I want to help my clients feel.

It's not just about the oreo cookie, but about any food in your nutrition plan that is filled with these unhealthy, unnatural ingredients. Replace with natural, healthy foods - fresh fruit and veggies, healthy carbs, lean proteins. Stay away from the packaged foods that I call poison. I went to the store to look up these ratios on oreo cookies and Ethan was with me, my 12 year old son. I was trying to explain to him the difference as I wrote down the ratios, telling him about "marketing" and making good decisions and how it's so easy to be misled, and then when I am done, he asks me "Are we getting some oreos?" UGH....no, we didn't get any oreos!!!

Stay strong and make healthy choices!

Sandi