Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Children/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Quick Tips, Seniors/fit, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | (0) Comments
Talking to different people at the gym, church and other places yields insights into what they are struggling with in their battle with lifestyle, weight management and health. One thing that constantly emerges is the fact that people have no idea how many calories they are eating- or drinking. This came up last night when one of the guys at the gym expressed frustration at the fact that even though he was trying to clean up his diet by drinking fruit juices instead of other high sugar, high calorie drinks, that even fruit juices had a huge amount of sugar and calories in them. He actually took the time to read the nutrition label, but most people don’t. For instance, 1 cup of apple juice has 27 grams of sugar and about 120 calories. That puts it in the same league with sodas. No doubt, apple juice is better for you than soda, but if you are trying to lose weight, it still has a lot of calories. A good place to check calorie count is calories-count.com.
Since the average person should be eating about 2000-2500 calories a day, you need to be careful about how many calories you drink. It is pretty easy to drink 500 calories a day without even thinking about it. The sugar in coffee, tea, soda, juices and smoothies all add up fast. In fact smoothies can add 500-800 calories in one shot!
So what do you do? First, read the labels! It won’t take you long before you have a pretty good idea of what is good and bad calorie-wise.
Second, pay attention to the portion size. Most people eat at least 2 portions when they open a bag of chip or reach into the cookie jar. Same with eating out at restaurants… the portion size is always about double what you should be eating. Eat half and take the rest home for another meal.
Third, If you are tempted by the cookie jar, eliminate it. Get rid of the candy dish at home and work. For some people, the only way to control what they eat is to not have it around. This can be tough at work if people are bringing in food and treats to share, but the more you eliminate the source, the easier it will be.
These three tip can help you control your calorie intake. If you do it!
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