http://www.care2.com/greenliving/high-f … bully.html

The question is, how DO you avoid high fructose corn syrup? It's in practically everything!

And how do you kick your addiction of all those sweetened, carbonated beverages that have this stuff, in spades?

It's really not hard to avoid HFCS, and it's NOT in everything. It is in many things, but those "things" are all processed foods! You need to stop purchasing processed foods. When you purchase items such as bread, you should purchase it from a co-op, local bakery, or some place that actually makes "real" bread. Another example, peanut butter. Peanut butter is actually healthy for you, but if you purchase most big brand PB they include HFCS/oils/sugar/etc. I personally purchase Teddie. Here is a list of the ingredients: roasted peanuts. Overall better quality food is more expensive, but it's worth every penny. Not everything is more expensive though. Teddy PB costs $2.89 or so at my co-op. As for carbonated beverages, I don't even recall how many years it has been since I drank any of that crap. I suggest avoiding those unnaturally sweetened products like the plague! Need something sweet to drink? Buy real juice, or better yet buy a juice maker.

I will always fail to understand why anyone would ever buy peanut butter with sugar in it (unless it's Reece's or something). Natural peanut butter (with salt) is soooooooooo much better tasting.

I stock up on the Throwback Pepsi & Mountain Dew and Heritage Dr. Pepper whenever they sell it.  Stuff tastes WAY better than the normal products.

Cook. I know what goes in my food, and HFCS is not an ingredient I stock in my kitchen.

I can't tell you because I've never experienced such an addiction. I drank plenty of soda like an average American kid, but when I grew up I found it too sweet for my taste. Even fruit juice needs to be diluted for me to drink it. I prefer water, and when I eat out, my drink is free. My recommendation to you is to quit cold turkey if you're truly concerned.

Man up, boy. Quit that shit cold turkey. I haven't touched soft drinks, fast food or sweetened coffee in ages and I can't even begin to articulate how much better off I am for it.

Yeah. At some point, sugary sodas just started tasting BAD. Most store-sold "fruit juices", too. However, I do like the fizzy feel of carbonated beverages, and might actually be addicted to that! I put too much money into seltzer/carbonated water.

Do you want your abdominal muscles to be clearly defined? That's certainly possible (for anyone) and it involves changing your expectations of taste and purpose behind eating. My philosophy of eating is that it's for maintenance of the mind and the body. And I firmly believe that pleasure must always be paid for (not talking about money). If you want to drink soda and eat good tasting foods, then you pay for it with possible distension of the stomach and lower energy levels. It always feels good to eat good tasting food, but you might not look very good or be capable of walking up a flight of stairs.

I have found it very beneficial to change my way of thinking. The purpose of food is to make the body look good, the mind feel good, and to provide high energy levels long after the food has been ingested. This can be accomplished by going through pain in the eating process, by eating foods that are not very satisfying. The healthier your meal is, the less fun and interesting it will be, but the benefits to your appearance and energy levels are well worth it.

As a general rule, never drink anything marketed as an "energy drink". They typically have bloated levels of B-vitamins, which simply turn your urine very yellow. You get to piss your money away, as well as get as much sugar (or more) than soda. Rather, eat 3 or 4 hard-boiled eggs. It takes more time to eat and prepare them, nor do they taste very good, but the energy they provide is far superior to any soft drinks, coffee, 5-hour energy, etc.

You should look for foods that are high in fat and protein, such as almonds, yogurt, milk, eggs. Carbs should come primarily from vegetables, fruits and wheat bread. Fat does not make you fat. It's unfortunate that a healthy energy source (fat) has the same name as the excess weight we carry (fat). They are different and easily confused. Simple carbohydrates should terrify you, such as soda, candy, ice cream.

In summary, I avoid high fructose corn syrup because I like to have a six-pack and I like to be able to not get tired at my job. I see people in their early twenties that are horribly out of shape. I should not be running circles around people 10 years younger than myself, but I can easily do that.

I looked at a lot of foods with sugar in them and found very little HFCS (though I saw some just plain "corn syrup"). This includes candy bars and ice cream and stuff.

Maybe it's just luck...

While you're right to prioritize "eating to live" over "living to eat", I don't think it's accurate that eating healthy has to be the sacrifice you make it out to be.

Yeah, I don't get what he's saying. Healthy food most often also tastes good.  The kinds of things he listed, eggs, unflavored natural jogurt, almonds, yum! But with the articial flavorings and all kinds of combinations of aromas and additives in processed foods, those might taste "good" without actually being good for you - and often they just taste bad.

I think much of what Jodo said about eating is correct. However, I eat a very clean diet and I think that healthy foods (rich protein such as chicken and salmon as well as veggies and healthy fats such as olive oil) taste great!

Also, the notion of showing your abs. Well, that's really dependent upon your body fat. You need around 10% body fat to really start having defined abs. If you're thinking really defined such as a bodybuilder you really need to drop your body fat percentage to a point which is unhealthy. Just as there is a body image problem for girls (this notion of being thin with big boobs in a Barbie-like manner) there is also a body image problem for guys (gotta have huge muscles and always ripped). Most studies I read show that this is unhealthy. Especially considering all the supplements muscle-heads take (most by the way ironically include ingredients such as sucralose, which is basically a known carcinogen). Anyway, you have to keep in mind that having nice-defined muscles is generally a good thing, it's only one part of the being healthy equation. You can certainly be a bodybuilder and not be healthy.