EASTER Cracked

Easter Cracked Wide Open!

Even the most well-behaved bunnies might find themselves eyeing the ears or tail of an Easter rabbit, sneaking a chocolate or two, or treating themselves to a hot cross bun!

Easter has special significance for many and is a fun time of the year with the easter bunny on the loose hiding all the eggs for easter hunts.

These so-called treats are essentially bunny kryptonite, designed to entice our unsuspecting taste buds and then wreak havoc on your body (if consumed in excess) with sugar, fat, and artificial ingredients.

It only happens once a year, so it's important to make smart choices and not overindulge while we enjoy the Easter fun.

Here's why, and I assure you I'm not trying to spoil the fun - just trying to keep you informed and in good health!

If you're inclined to indulge in Eggs, Chocolate, or Buns they are not all created equal.

Read the labels, think small and NOT daily.

• 1 SMALL egg often marketed as children’s Easter eggs is one of the lightest ones at 105gms. This teeny 105gms of chocolate will chock up a hefty 555-600 calories depending on the type of chocolate (dark, milk, or white), 32 grams of fat, and 57 grams of sugar/carbs = 14 tsp of SUGAR.

You could eat 22 carrots (Easter Bunnies favourite) or 6 apples for the same calories which will give you lots of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants plus great fibre!

To burn off the calories you'll have to jog for 3 hours to stop it ending up where we don't want it. You better start hopping or jogging now in preparation!!

• 1 SQUARE of Cadbury Chocolate = 3.5 tsp SUGAR

• 1 HOT CROSS BUN contains around 40 grams of sugar/carbohydrates = 10 tsp of SUGAR/total carbs

If you're tempted, these are the lower end of the bunch:

• 1 small hollow egg (20g) = 2.5 tsp SUGAR

• 1 SQUARE of Cadbury Chocolate = 3.5 tsp SUGAR

• 1-2 x mini solid Easter eggs = 4-8 tsp SUGAR

• Cadbury’s Crème Egg = 7 tsp SUGAR

•  1 x medium Hot Cross Bun (65g) = 9 tsp SUGAR

  
  

Ladies Beware:

The larger, more luxurious eggs marketed as gifts for women are a great way to fatten her up. Easter-egg gold. E.g. large Cadbury’s Roses egg is 300gms, and a tidy 56gms sugar/carbs = 12.5 tsp SUGAR and 106gms of fat – around twice the daily SUGAR and fat allowance for someone who is trying to keep healthily.

For around the same amount of calories, you could eat:

• a bowl of whole grain cereal with milk and a banana for breakfast, a full Sunday lunch of roast lamb, small potato, and vegetables, and still have room for some fruit salad, Plus meat, chicken or fish and salad for dinner.

This is what's inside!

• White Sugar (aka bunny crack)...remember 4gms of SUGAR/Total Carbs = 1 tsp

  eg Cadbury’s Crème Egg 28gms sugar/carbs divided by 4 = 7 tsp SUGAR/Carbs

• Processed Fat (the stuff that makes your tail jiggle)...if you eat too much!

• Processed Milk (because every bunny needs a little moo juice)

• White Flour (the fluffy stuff that makes you poof)...flour and water make glue, so a sluggish gutt might be on the cards

• Artificial Flavorings (no real flavors just fake ones)...it's the side effects that'll make your ears prick up

• Artificial Colours (because bunnies love a fake rainbow)...chemicals that aren't good for you

• Preservatives (keeping your treats as fresh as a bad bunny's attitude)...it's the side effects that bite you

• Emulsifiers (the glue that holds it together and sticks to your butt—literally)

  
  

Simply put, there's almost no nutritional benefit, just lots of empty calories and chemicals.

Just a gentle and thoughtful warning!

Consuming too many of these delicious Easter treats can result in an increase:

• weight gain

• heart and liver issues

• insulin resistance, prediabetes and Diabetes type 2

•  bowel problems

• let’s not forget, the sugar can fuel cancer and weaken your immunity

Tips for Enjoying Easter While Keeping Things Minimal:

• If you choose to eat Easter eggs, don't eat 10 on the same day. 1 is more than enough.

• Choose smaller eggs and don’t eat them all at once just because they're small.

• Celebrate Easter foods on one day only – it’s the pre Easter sneaky treats and the post Easter eggs on sale that can do you in.

• Swap chocolate hot cross buns for regular hot cross buns or just don't buy them – freeze and bring out every now and then. You are about to eat 10+ tsp of SUGAR/total carbs.

• Once Easter is over, throw the leftovers away, don't give them away unless you want to fatten up your unsuspecting friends and create an acceleration of their health problems with the excess sugar and calories. Best to just throw it into the bin and make the bin fat and sick rather than inflict the fat, sugar, additives and calories on others.

• Tell your friends you are going sugar free for Easter.

• Balance your Easter treats with lots of healthy REAL LIVE food.

• You can have your chocolate and eat it too – just a different kind. Dark chocolate in small amounts in preference to light milk chocolate.

• Only buy what you need: Don’t shop with your eyes and end up with too many in the pantry at home. Write a list of people you need to buy eggs for (then ask yourself what their weight and health is like at the moment…do you need to add to their demise) and stick to it. Don’t include your own name on this list!

• Keep in mind the idea that a large Easter egg could amount to a whole day’s intake of food. You wouldn’t sit down to a second breakfast, second lunch, second dinner and dessert, would you?

• Be more active to burn off the extra EGGS-STRAVIGANCE.

CHOOSE WISELY

Have a Happy and Healthy Easter