Peekaboo Star Lunch from Keeley's clever kitchen.

My name is Keeley and I have a little site called Keeley McGuire Blog. When I started blogging last year, I didn’t really know what direction I was headed – I just knew I needed a creative outlet. I started sharing some crafts, recipes, my love affair with my crockpot, and what I called “silly sandwiches” for my daughter, aka Little Miss.

If you’re a mom looking to spice up your kiddos’ lunches, start simple. Use a cookie cutter on the sandwich! It takes the same amount of effort to cut a sandwich into a fun shape with a cookie cutter as it does to cut it in half. Then, get as clever as you’d like.

Three Little Pigs (get lunch inspiration from your kids' current favorite books!)

Finding out about childhood food allergies

My daughter was diagnosed with a severe peanut allergy just before her first birthday. I first found out about her allergy when her daycare (at that time) provided the kids with peanut butter to use for a craft. I’ll never forget that phone call – that feeling.

Little Miss also began speech therapy at the age of one and half, which eventually lead to an educational ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) diagnosis. My baby, just barely two at that time, was now going to be going to a special needs school, five days a week all day. I was a young mom, handling her allergy and now ASD diagnosis alone. This little girl was my world though. Even though I was scared, tired, and at times felt like a horrible mother, the early intervention was the most amazing thing that could have ever happened!

Daunting task of packing nut-free school lunches

I was very blessed with the fact her very first teacher had a daughter of her own with a peanut allergy, so I was comforted to know she was in good hands. However, I was left with the daunting task of packing school lunches every day for just a wee-tot who was incredibly picky. At that time, she wouldn’t eat sandwiches, most vegetables, the only meat she would touch was a chicken nugget, and I was still learning the ins & outs of her allergy (what foods were okay, what weren’t) so I felt like I had little options. I would cutout small bits of cheese and breads or crackers. Send applesauce or yogurt. That’s about all she would do.

Even though Little Miss was limited in her choice of foods, I came upon so many great products as she continued through school and grew; at first just for myself. I remember trying many of the alternative spreads and not liking any – thinking it was hopeless search. I don’t remember when I first discovered Sunbutter, but for this Mama who was once ADDICTED to peanut butter & honey sandwiches, I was thrilled to have something delicious to use again!

Creative, waste-free lunches

As Little Miss progressed in school, so did her speech, her sensory issues, and even her food palette. As she began to become more open to trying new foods, I was also trying to find ways to make her lunches more fun and not just a boring brown sack every single day. It was my amazingly supportive and wonderful sister who introduced me to bento making – A creative and waste free approach to lunch.

Bento lunches

I remember looking at pictures of true Japanese kyaraben bentos and just being in AWE of the amazing artistic talents some of these mothers had. I was nowhere near that caliber, so I started simple. Making her “silly sandwiches” as I mentioned above – a sandwich shaped like a fish, a monster face, or even cut into the shape of a hand to make her Sunbutter & jelly a little more entertaining.

It then expanded into her fruits and vegetables. I found she was more apt to try something new if I cut it into a fun shape or let her eat it with a toothpick. It was a win/win – I got to have fun making her lunches, she tried new” good for me foods”, AND she didn’t care about not being able to enjoy hot lunch like the rest of the kids because they all thought her “special lunches” were pretty cool.

How Keeley literally says "I Heart You" to her daughter at lunchtime.

Little Miss progresses

Now, her lunches have become the main feature of my blog. I have packed her lunch every single day since she was the age of two. She is now six and this has been her first school year without an IEP – meaning she met all her educational goals thanks to the early intervention, amazing teachers, and her therapists along the way. It’s been so much fun to see how she and her lunches have evolved  – truly the creative outlet Mama always wanted, yet I send her to school knowing that her lunches are safe for her allergy, healthy, and make her feel as special as she is to me.

Do you have other tips for parents of children with food allergies? What’s your story? What works for you? We’d love to hear about it. Comment here or on our SunButter Facebook page.

I’m a big believer that whether or not you eat breakfast in the morning, and what you choose to eat, dictates the quality of your day.

When I was little, I knew it was going to be a good day when I got to be the one to open a brand new jar of peanut butter.

I lived for that moment where your butter knife first plunges into the creamy, untouched, golden brown peanut butter and adheres decadently to the clean blade. I loved the way it seeped into the nooks and crannies of my warm honey wheat english muffin as it melted and became one with the dough. It was breakfast bliss.

Peanut butter annihilation

Now, starting my day this way would result in an inflammatory nightmare. A peanut buttery breakfast would be a fast track ticket to the E.R., complete with the use of an epi-pen, angry lungs, a radical rash and an embarrassing explanation to an emergency room doc. I like to call it, “peanut butter annihilation”.

Dealing with peanut allergies

Not only did chronic illness turn my life upside down, but it changed the way in which I live it. A significant change in diet is one of the many changes I was forced to make, a change that I surprisingly don’t resent a bit. When I fell ill my immune system took a hit, and while parts of it were suppressed by infection, other parts went autoimmune. My struggle with autoimmunity lead to the development of inappropriate immune responses to certain foods, and I developed more food allergies and sensitivities than I could count on my fingers and toes. One of the most severe allergies was to peanuts.

Peanuts are the most common food allergen amongst the nation today, but it is also the food allergy that is most likely to produce a lethal allergic response. The rate of peanut allergies in children has rapidly increased over the past 15 years, and allergic responses continue to heighten in severity. Allergic children and adults alike now have the potential to react to as little as 1/2000th of a single peanut, making finding “safe” packaged food quite a challenge.

Ick.

SunButter saves the day

After learning of my potential likelihood for a deadly response to my creamy jar of peanut butter, combined with my new knowledge of the moldy nature of peanuts and peanut buttery spreads, it wasn’t hard to give up the treat. Much like my commitment to consuming unprocessed foods and remaining gluten and refined sugar free, it was a lifestyle change that involved more physical benefit than sacrifice.   But, it was a little difficult at first to find something to spice up my healthy daily breakfast and afternoon snacks.

That is, until SunButter saved the day. My favorite ways to eat SunButter: Smothered on Lundberg Wild Rice Cakes, as a delicious dip for Granny Smith Apples, or smoothed into the crevice of Fresh Celery.

I’m convinced that SunButter’s name says it all. The first time I tasted it, I declared that it was sunshine in a jar (a proclamation that may have been slightly influenced by nut butter deprivation). SunButter is an alternative to nut butter, made entirely of ground sunflower seeds. I opt for their Organic, Unsweetened SunButter because the only ingredient in the jar is “Organic Sunflower Seeds.” That’s it.

The fact that SunButter offers an organic spread with no added sugar, chemicals, preservatives, hydrogenated oil, fillers or mystery, is fantastic. But, what’s arguably even more significant about the brand is that they manufacture their products in a gluten and peanut free facility. This means that the product is entirely safe for those who suffer from life threatening peanut allergies.

Food = fuel

I like to think of my food as fuel. I could fill myself up with low grade fuel that’ll likely cause performance problems, clog my filter, or slowly deteriorate the health of my engine. Or, I could fuel myself with premium fuel that aids me in my effort to get where I wish to go and keeps every mechanism of my body running as it should. SunButter is an optimal choice to fill up on because:

1. Sunflower seeds contain more vitamin E than almost any other food. Vitamin E is an anti-inflammatory nutrient, and protects our cells from free radical damage and our body from oxidative stress. It aids in mediating digestive dysfunction and skin conditions, and protects us from developing cardiovascular and digestive disease.

2. Sunflower seeds contain the highest amount of phytosterol when compared to other seeds and nuts. Phytosterol helps lower bad cholestorol while raising the good.

3. Sunflower seeds are a vegan source for the essential vitamins B1, B5 and B6. They are also a strong source of folic acid, which is essential in maintaining neurological health, red blood cell formation and proper liver detoxification.

Thus, SunButter is the perfect way to start the day. Its creaminess and addictive taste also doesn’t hurt.

Nut-free recipes

Here’s some great allergy-friendly, diet abiding SunButter recipe ideas from some fantastic gluten free bloggers that will help spice up breakfast, snacks and dessert:

Dairy Free SunButter Ice Cream

by Elana’s Pantry

Crunchy SunButter Cups

by Diet Dessert and Dogs

SunButter Infused Rice Krispie Squares

by My Real Food Life

SunButter Fudge

by The Fit Cookie

SunButter Bars

by Sketch Free Vegan Eating

They say that “you are what you eat”. Perhaps that makes me Little Miss SunButtershine. And, that’s okay with me.

Sources:

BookOfJoe [http://www.bookofjoe.com/2005/12/behindthemedspe_4.html, BodyEcology [http://bodyecology.com/articles/healthiest_nuts.php], DanMurphyDC [www.danmurphydc.com/Aflatoxin.peanuts.pdf], WHFoods [http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=57], Healing Food Reference [http://www.healingfoodreference.com/sunflower_seeds.html]

In the spirit of holiday cheer-sharing, here is a SunButter coupon. You’ll save $1 on one jar of your favorite SunButter variety.  You also get five of our favorite recipes on handy recipe cards. Friends in Canada, please use this Canadian coupon

(Click to download and print both pages, and then make sure to bring both pages to your retailer)

We’d also like to share our holiday letter version of highlights of SunButter’s year:

Travels

SunButter loves road trips, packed into treats like these apple sunflower wraps.

Safe at school

SunButter skipped off to school with many youngsters—and was part of home-school curriculum for others like this Kansas mom/teacher.

Getting fit

SunButter was part of fitness-minded folks’ lifestyle. We’re proud to help fuel runners, bikers, yoginis and weight-lifters, including people like Chad and Maria.

Starring role

SunButter is a safe, tasty substitute for peanut butter, and many bakers gave us a part in these yummy “Butterfinger” bars

Loss and love

Brittany cleverly mourned the passing of her jar of SunButter. We happily sent her a coupon for a free new love.

Any SunButter tips or happy memories you’d like to share? We treasure your input and stories. And we always welcome your recipes. Happy Holidays!

Save on ink? Print coupon only: U.S. or Canada

I’m not quite sure when the holidays snuck up on me. I was a little late getting out the decorations and ordering the Christmas cards this year. (I also may have a little a lot of last-minute shopping that still needs to get done.) I guess that’s what happens when I’m training for a marathon, running a business, teaching fitness classes, blogging at STUFT Mama and trying to take care of almost-two-year-old twin boys. Hmmm… Go figure.

One thing I did manage to do though this year is create these amazing STUFT SunButter Doughtzel Balls.

Not only are they fun to say, but they’re even more fun to eat.

Oops. Sometimes it’s before they make it to the oven.

I don’t mean to be bossy, but really, you have to make these balls.

Yes, you have to. Otherwise you might end up on the “naughty list.” You don’t want that to happen, do you?

I didn’t think so.

So, you better be good and you better go right ahead and “Deck the Halls” with these balls.

STUFT SunButter Doughtzel Balls

makes 32 balls

1/2 cup light butter spread or margarine

1 cup SunButter

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

3 tablespoons nondairy or low fat milk

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup crushed pretzels

Instructions:

1. Mix light butter spread, SunButter, sugars and vanilla until smooth.

2. Combine the next five ingredients (all the dry ingredients except for the chocolate chips and pretzels) in a separate medium-sized bowl.

3. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture gradually.

4. Add 2-3 tablespoons of nondairy milk to moisten the dough.

5. Stir in the chocolate chips and crushed pretzels.

6. Cover and chill dough for at least 30 minutes.

7. Use cookie scoop (or hands) to form balls and place on cookie sheet.

8. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

9. Let balls sit on the cookie sheet for a couple minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

Notes:

These can be eaten in dough form straight from the refrigerator. (You may have figured that out by the previous picture. I had to try a few just to be sure that I wouldn’t give you bad advice.)

They also freeze quite nicely.

So, when you’re ready to impress (and get on the “nice list”), take some time to make these balls.

They’re worth it (and they just might be the perfect last-minute shopping snack).

Actually, maybe I could get out of the shopping altogether if I just made another batch of balls. They are just that impressive. What do you think?

Jennifer is a work-at-home mother of two. Her son has eczema, allergies, and asthma, and her daughter has mild eczema. She blogs about her family’s journey to itch-free, sneeze-free, wheeze-free days at It’s an Itchy Little World. She is the founder of The Eczema Company.

Oodles of fun with eczema & allergies

When most new moms are found cooing over their newborn’s deliciously smooth skin, instead I was questioning why my baby’s skin was not “soft as a baby’s you-know-what” and was slightly dry. When parents are usually caught up in the excitement of tummy time and baby’s first smiles and laughs, my husband and I were too, but we were also pondering our baby’s eczema diagnosis.

Fast forward three years and my son’s little body was 90% covered in what looked like severe burns. Conventional medical treatments and moisturizers had not worked for him, nor had we any luck with natural therapies. Wondering if food could be the culprit, we eliminated several foods from our son’s diet and within days his body started healing. It was nothing short of miraculous! After years of mistrials, frustrations, and many sleepless nights, I cried, but this time with happy tears.

WANTED: Foods guilty of reeking havoc in young boy. Reward if found.

The following foods were tried and found guilty of tormenting my son every day since birth (and possibly in-utero): dairy, soy, gluten, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, tomato, red peppers, corn, strawberry, and cantaloupe. Although only walnuts and hazelnuts appeared positive in allergy tests, we also consider the other foods to be true allergies as he breaks out in hives, develops severe eczema, and gets uncontrollably itchy when he makes contact with or ingests any of them. Some even cause wheezing and coughing.

Can I download food labels to Kindle for my reading pleasure?

At first the diet changes seemed horribly restrictive and just so difficult, but after much research I realized it wasn’t so bad. I studied food labels diligently. I think my first few times to the grocery store took several hours each!  It turns out dairy, soy, and gluten are in so many overly processed foods these days. So, Tristan’s allergies forced us to remove processed foods from our life and to really focus on simple, basic ingredients and foods that are packed full of wholesome goodness.

Seedy, nutty love

I’m thankful we don’t have to avoid peanuts, although they are not a mainstay in our house anyway. I focus on ensuring my son has a balanced diet since we’ve had to eliminate many foods, so he eats a lot of other nuts and seeds for various nutrients. Sunflower seeds are a great alternative to peanuts, or in our case – addition. They are packed full of nutrients like vitamin E and zinc, which are great for the skin and essential in our case.

Our love-eat relationship with butters

How did we find SunButter?  To be honest, we started with another sunflower seed butter, but when I considered switching to SunButter this label-reading queen discovered the other product had less than half the amount of fiber, while all the other nutrient levels were about the same. Switching was a no brainer. I wish determining my son’s eczema triggers had been as easy!

We love nut and seed butters in our house. Right now we have SunButter, pumpkin seed butter, peanut butter, and almond butter (just for my husband and I). Having a variety of different types makes it more interesting. Peanut butter got a bad rap because most the commercial brands were so loaded with junk. SunButter is great as it has very few ingredients and they are all natural. The other butters we buy contain only the roasted nuts/seeds and sometimes a tiny bit of salt – that’s all. We spread nut/seed butters on crackers, rice cakes, apples, and celery.  We make banana-nut butter sandwiches. I make muffins and cookies with different butters and there are some drool-worthy Asian dishes I prepare with them as well. I fondly remember the Thai Chicken Noodles with SunButter I made over the weekend. Yum!

Yes, I’m a bit of a health nut (pun intended), but it didn’t use to be that way. My son’s food allergies have sort of forced a healthier diet upon us and I’ve taken full advantage of it. It’s a requirement for my son, but a benefit for our whole family.

Families across the world are constantly learning to live life to the fullest while dealing with food allergies.

Meet Laura.

Laura’s a full-time working professional. She’s also mom to two sweet girls, Macy (9) and Nya (7).

Younger sister Nya has a severe peanut allergy.

Laura and her husband discovered Nya’s peanut allergy when she was only 11 months old. (Unfortunately, the daycare didn’t read Lisa’s advice to avoid peanuts until age two.) Fortunately, the initial reaction was only mild—resulting in a rash. Nya was then diagnosed with a level one peanut allergy.

Their family made some adjustments, but for the most part, life proceeded as normal. Big sister Macy could still eat her beloved PB+J sandwiches alongside Nya, as long as she didn’t share.

Worsening peanut allergies

When Nya retested for peanut allergies this fall, she received some bad news: she was now a level six. The worst, most allergic level. That’s news no kid, no parent, no person wants to hear.

Changing the entire family’s lifestyle

Mom, dad, Macy and Nya were forced to make some lifestyle changes. Being cautious didn’t stop at simply eliminating peanuts and peanut butter. Laura explains, “The most random foods can even contain peanuts as filler. We found it in sorbet! Who would’ve thought?”

And it doesn’t stop at food. In Nya’s case, shampoo even caused a reaction. In the teeny tiny print, peanuts were listed somewhere around the 25^th ingredient. Hand lotions, soaps—it’s everywhere. Reading labels is mandatory for those with life-threatening food allergies.

Being an advocate for your child

Kim touched on the importance of being an advocate for your peanut-allergic child. Laura agrees: it takes a strong person. Sometimes you have to be feisty on behalf of your child.

When Nya started going to the afterschool program, Laura realized that the college-aged volunteers knew nothing about EpiPens. “When I showed it to one of the guys, his reaction was ‘wow, that’s so cool.’” Laura explained that, no, it’s really not all that cool. Having to use an EpiPen is to be avoided at all costs.

Laura was concerned about this utter lack of understanding, and she decided to do something about it. She contacted the school, voiced her concern and requested the school nurse spend a couple of days educating the college volunteers. Her advocacy worked—the school did exactly that. “Sometimes a little feistiness is necessary.”

Learning constantly

Laura is learning as she goes. She educates herself by asking lots of questions, checking Internet sources, and consulting friends who are also dealing with peanut allergies. “Now that we’re readjusting our lifestyle, we’re learning even more. It’s a process, but we’ll get there.”

Has your child’s peanut allergy progressed to a higher level? How did your family deal with the change in lifestyle? We’d love to hear your advice. 

Who better to taste test cookies than a group of Girl Scouts?

(Aspiring) Girl Scouts | The first-grade girls of Daisy Troop #25162

First: Mixing up the peanut butter blossoms

We mixed up two separate batches of peanut butter blossoms. Can you tell the difference in the dough?

First photo is the “traditional” peanut butter blossoms recipe from Cooks.com. We used Skippy Peanut Butter, Natural variety.

Second photo is the Sun Blossoms recipe. We used SunButter Creamy, because its ingredients align more closely to the peanut butter, which does include sugar and salt. If you use SunButter Organic Unsweetened , consider adding 1 or 2 tsp. of sugar and ¼ – ½ tsp. salt.

For both, we used Brach’s Stars solid milk chocolate candies.*

Dough taste test

By this time, the middle-school girls were home from school. All aspiring athletes and health conscious, they eat 1) raw vegetables, 2) fresh fruits, 3) bottled water and 4) pepperoni pizza (!). But they did try the dough. Apparently they also eat sunflower seeds, because all preferred the Sun Blossom dough.

Advantage: SunButter

To the oven

Forming the cookies, rolling them in sugar, baking them and adding the chocolate candy stars was identical. They required the same amount of time to bake and cool.

Advantage: Tie

First dibs

As the first batches came out of the oven, the fifth-grade boys followed their noses from the bus to the kitchen. They inhale everything so quickly I can’t imagine the flavors have time to skim their taste buds. Yet they noticed these were different versions. I engineered a blind taste test of Sun Blossoms vs. peanut butter blossoms. They all preferred the peanut butter version (although they each ate a few more of both).

Advantage: Peanut butter

Comments:

“Oh, cool, then Josh could have these. He can’t have peanut butter and has to sit at the nut-free table at school for lunch.”

“I like the SunButter ones better without the chocolate.”

Troop taste test

Another blind taste test with the Girl Scouts had opinions galore. Three girls preferred the Sun Blossoms, two preferred the peanut butter blossoms, and the other five just kept trying another to try and decide which ones they liked best.

Advantage: Tie

We’d love to hear your SunButter® reviews—in recipes or solo. What variety works for you and your family? And of course we always love new recipes, especially holiday creations from your kitchen.

*As always, if you’re avoiding peanuts, pay close attention to the chocolate used in your recipe. Brach’s Chocolate Stars contain a cautionary label warning of the possibility of cross contamination, rendering them unsafe for those with peanut allergies. In this situation, Hershey Kisses would be the safe, peanut-free choice.

She also cooks and bakes nut-free—and blogs! Just in time for holiday baking, here’s a guest post from Kristin, blogger at STUFT Mama. Here, she shares her race experience and gives us two yummy SunButter recipes. Kristin, we are thankful for you.

Hello! I’m Kristin. I’m the busy mom of toddler twin boys behind the healthy lifestyle blog STUFT Mama. I had the pleasure of writing a guest post earlier this year on SunButter Smoothies, and I’m so excited for another opportunity to share some more healthy treats.

Before I get to all the SunButter yumminess, I just have to say thank you to all our friends at SunButter for their support in a special race earlier this month. I pushed my two 30-pound boys 13.1 miles in San Diego’s Silver Strand Half Marathon to raise money for a very special deaf little girl.

We were truly honored to run with SunButter as one of our sponsors. It was with their help that we were able to get an amazing young girl one step closer to getting the gift of hearing.

If you want to read more about our race and her touching story check out our Race for Amelia.

To our fabulous SunButter friends, we can’t thank you enough for joining us on our journey.

Let’s talk treats now, shall we?

This time of year it’s always a little more difficult to stay on track with healthy eating. As a marathon runner and fitness professional (not to mention a busy mom who needs her energy), I try to find satisfying, healthy alternatives for sweet indulgences. I find that if I have delicious healthy goodies I can make at home, it’s that much easier to resist those high calorie treats (that just happen to be everywhere this time of year).

I don’t know about you, but I love cookies. To be a more specific, I love huge, freshly baked, nut butter cookies.

You do too? That’s what I figured.

This cookie is my “go-to” recipe when I’m craving something sweet, but want to keep my eating on track. It also makes the perfect afternoon snack for my twins. I learned the hard way that it is not a good idea to make one for only myself (when toddlers are watching, anyway). Luckily it’s so easy to put together, making two at a time is a breeze.

STUFT SunButter Oatmeal Cookie

• 1/3 cup oats
• 1 Tablespoon whole wheat flour
• 1 Tablespoon SunButter
• 1 Tablespoon applesauce
• 1 Tablespoon nondairy or low fat milk (I use almond or soy milk)
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla
• 1-2 packets no calorie sweetener (or 2-3 teaspoons regular sugar)
• Cinnamon to taste (optional)

Directions:

• Combine all ingredients together in small bowl.

• Form into large cookie on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Note: For a little twist, you can also add chopped apples, dried cranberries or chocolate chips.

Wait. There’s more. I have another treat up my sleeve (or in my mouth).

I have a little soft spot for chocolate. Don’t we all?

Anything that has nut butter and chocolate together is just plain heavenly. SunButter + chocolate = pretty much the best combination ever.

Yes? YES.

This masterpiece is my not-so-guilty pleasure once the day is over and I can finally sit down for a couple of minutes to myself. It’s easy to put together and can be stored in the freezer for that special (hopefully quiet) moment.

Mama’s Special SunButter Cup

• 1 Baker’s chocolate square or 30 grams of chocolate chips (I like to use semi-sweet)
• 1 Tablespoon SunButter

Directions:

• Place chocolate in microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Continue to microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring each time until chocolate is melted.
• Form two chocolate circles on wax paper.

• Let chocolate set in freezer for 10-15 minutes.
• Put SunButter on top of one chocolate circle.
• Place other chocolate disc on top to form “cup.”
• Put cup back in freezer for at least 30 minutes. (The longer it sits in the freezer, the better because the SunButter will harden.)

All you have to do now is find the perfect time to enjoy your sweet SunButter cup moment.

Oops. Looks like my “moment” happened a little earlier than planned today. I just couldn’t help myself.

Hi, my name is Vainglory. Well, my real name isn’t Vainglory, or else my parents would have some explaining to do. It’s actually my online name so I can mask my identity. But you can see me in a recent photo:

That’s me on my 30^th birthday. A dapper young man posing in a guest room turned weight room. I’m not ready to share my real name here because my best friend in the world doesn’t know who that is in the picture above. We spent an entire summer living together when we were teenagers. He was a witness when I got married. Yet, he wouldn’t recognize that person on the street. Why? Because the last time he saw me, I looked like this:

I haven’t released my real name because I want to spread my story and inspire others. I also want to surprise my best friend, who I haven’t seen since early 2010. By then, I had just become too large to travel and he had kids so didn’t travel, either. We communicate solely over the Internet and by phone. It’s going to be amazing when I see him for the first time, likely in January 2012.

 “Before” weight: 538 lbs.

Officially, my highest known weight was 538 pounds. That was in March of 2010. I decided it was time to do something about it. I was addicted to sugar-loaded foods. So I adjusted my eating and began restricting my carbohydrate intake. I also began to take my fitness seriously: I started lifting weights regularly.

I learned early on that part of the trick to losing weight was not eating too little or too much. I needed to find the sweet spot where I would lose weight without feeling like I was starving. For me, that was around 2,400 calories a day. So when I looked online for advice on filling gaps in my caloric intake, lots of people suggested a spoonful of peanut butter. I was always a little wary of that advice, because all of the peanut butter I had access to locally had too much sugar in it.

SunButter in a paleo diet

Around that time, I was transitioning to a dietary regimen that was gaining popularity in the fitness community: the “paleo diet.” It made a lot of sense to me, and it allowed me to keep my carbohydrate intake down. The idea was that early man had it right in their diet choices, before humans started processing foods. The important thing of note is that the diet basically said legumes were a no-no and because peanuts are a member of the legume family, I had to stop eating peanut butter.

That’s where SunButter came in. I spotted it when I was walking through Harris Teeter with my wife one day, and was surprised when I peeked at the nutritional information. It only had three grams of net carbs. Plus, I love sunflower seeds. So we bought a jar of organic SunButter , which has no sugar or salt: it’s just sunflower seeds.

SunButter smoothies

It was incredibly tasty and similar enough to peanut butter that I could use it in my post-workout protein shakes. Protein powder tastes decent, but when you add something with a creamier texture, the taste really pops. My favorite protein shake: 8 ounces of almond milk, a scoop of protein powder, a serving of SunButter and a couple of ice cubes, blended together.

There are a lot of people out there just like me, trying to correct their health mistakes, and SunButter fits into the equation perfectly. It should be a staple of low-carb/paleo and smart eating lifestyles.

I now weigh half what I did when I started.

As of my November 2 weigh-in, I officially have lost half my original weight. I’m now 269 pounds, and I wrote a more in-depth post on the reddit board.

Low carb diet, paleo diet resources

Plenty of resources exist on low carb/paleo eating lifestyles. I’ve found these most helpful, accurate and supportive:

• Mark’s Daily Apple, a blog with practical tips, recipes and success stories
• Jimmy Moore’s Livin La Vida Low Carb , a spirited blog that also includes info on how to start a low carb lifestyle
• Robb Wolf’s podcasts and blog include timely info on nutrition, metabolism, exercise, meal plans and more
• Angelo Coppola’s podcasts and blog, with other very timely updates, product and food information

Thank you for indulging me and thanks, SunButter, for making my post-workout shakes a lot better for me. If you’re interested in more of my ramblings, my full story, my diet and exercise information, plus progress pictures, visit my website . Of course I also wouldn’t hate it if you helped spread my story. I’m trying to help as many people as possible.

You just did, Vainglory. You just did.

What better way to have fun than to crank up the volume, put on your dancing shoes and jam out to a happy tune?

Presenting… SunButter Rock! Brought to you by SunBuddy & the Sunflowers. Kids, this one’s for you. (Parents, if you find yourself bee-boppin’ along, have no shame. This kind of peanut-free fun is for everyone.)

Click play to turn up the fun!

Care to sing-a-long? Get the words.

Blend your voice with SunBuddy’s: Download MP3

Or go it alone, karaoke-style: Download karaoke MP3

(Right-click on each song to save it to your computer)

We just have one final question: can we get a hip hip hooray?