The Fight is On

Welcome to yet another edition of ten things wednesday (damn everytime I write that I wish it rhymed...a poet I am not). Anyway, today is a list of eat this or that. I am by no means a qualified expert on what you should or should not eat nutritionally, I can only speak for what I personally prefer and what works for me. The following list are foods that I eat all the time, stacked up against a swap for it.

1. Sugar vs. Artificial Sweetener - Most of the time I choose real sugar. I never roll with artificial sweetner with the exception of Truvia for my coffee. I hate the idea of sweetening my food with chemicals. Plus some of the more popular ones (Sweet N Low, Equal) leave a really nasty metallic after taste. Plus there have been various studies linking fake sugars to lots of not-so-fun sounding diseases. There have been just as many studies contradicting that artificial sweetners cause disease, but with so much conflicting information, why risk it?

2. Full fat cheese vs. Reduced fat cheese - I have said this many times before, one thing I will NEVER go low fat on is dairy. Yes, you are taking in less fat when you eat reduced fat or fat free cheese, but think of all the stuff they add back in to make the cheese taste semi-okay...even though fat free cheese still tastes like a dirty sweat sock to me. Gross.

3. Beef vs. Chicken - Y'all know I'm a meat-loving girl. I LOVE me a big juicy steak. However, beef really is the red headed stepchild in this scenario. It is high in saturated fat (the kind of fat that clogs your arteries), so most of the time I roll with chicken. That being said, if I go out to dinner on a Saturday night, I'm ordering the Prime Rib.

4. Milk Chocolate vs. Dark Chocolate - Yes, dark chocolate is better for you and the blog world is abuzz with the wonders of dark chocolate, but I'm going to be real here. I prefer milk chocolate. Dark chocolate is good, don't get me wrong, but given the choice, I'm going with the milk everytime. The dark chocolate just does not satisfy my sweet tooth at all.

5. Olive Oil vs. Butter - Paula Deen would shudder at this question. I use real butter for baking only, olive oil for everything else. I recently purchased a Misto and love it! No more nonstick spray for me! I use olive oil in all of my cooking.

6. Whole Eggs vs Egg Whites - I have recently started eating egg white omelettes for breakfast, but other than that I only use egg whites for baking recipes that call for it. The yolk of the egg is where all the fat is, but it's also where all the nutrients are. I try to alternate between whole eggs and egg whites when it comes to omelettes. A little yolk never hurt anybody.

7. Soy Milk vs. Almond Milk - As I mentioned in my Dairy Experiment post, I switched from regular milk to soy milk years ago. I was raised on whole milk, but the calorie and fat content are astronomical, so I needed a creamier yet healthier way to gorge on cereal. Enter soy milk. I made the switch from soy to almond after realizing I didn't really need the fortified protein in my diet (I get it from other sources) and that almond milk was even lower in calories and slightly higher in other nutrients. I haven't looked back. Almond milk is delicious. I want to venture into trying to make my own soon.

8. Dried Fruit vs. Whole Fruit - I'm sure you guys already know that dried fruit is just a condensed version of whole fruit and contain all of the same nutrients. The difference is volume. Eating a piece of fruit is satisfying, eating one dried cranberry is not. The majority of the time I choose whole fruit, but there are occasions where dried fruit is more appropriate. For example, I love dried cranberries in my salad or raisins in cookies.

9. Rice vs. Quinoa - Nutritionally speaking, quinoa is the better choice with fewer carbohydrates and more protein. That being said, rice tends to soak up the flavors of food and sauces much better though. I do use quinoa occasionally (most often with my orange glazed tofu) but for the majority of the time, I use brown rice. It tends to be bulkier and has more chew factor, thus making it my go to in terms of grains.

10. Peanut Butter vs. Almond Butter - For anyone who has ever had Justin's maple almond butter, this is no contest. Yes, peanut butter is tasty, but nutritionally, almond butter is a powerhouse. And my pal Justin makes almond butter the king of nut butters, in my opinion.

Which of these foods do you prefer over the other?