Confusing “heart – healthy “or “fat – free “with low – calorie. Reading a food label these days is like reading an encyclopedia; so much information is given, but what really counts? There is a huge amount of confusion about “healthy” versus “lower – calorie” eating. While the first step in any healthy eating plan is to seek out heart – healthy fat, don’t be fooled by product marketing. Do not ignore the advice of your Calgary orthodontist either – if you do decide to eat sugary or starchy foods, make sure you brush your teeth as soon as you can after eating.
“Healthy” claims on food packaging don’t automatically translate to calorie savings. Olive oil is great for your heart, but not for your waistline; both olive oil and butter (artery – clogging fat) have the same calories. Nuts are heart – healthy and protein rich — but just a small handful has 100 calories! Trans fat – free doesn’t’ mean fat – free.
Nowadays it’s all about reading labels to avoid falling into this confusing trap of health versus calories. Portion distortion. None of us is very good at eyeballing portion sizes or at estimating the calories in foods. Studies show we’ re at least 50 percent too low in our “ guesstimates, ” even professionals in the fi eld. While we feel we ’ re doing a reasonable job, the cues to do so — plate size, utensil size, hidden fats, and more — all set us up for failure.
In fact, the average dinner plate in Europe is close to what we use for a salad plate. Our dinner plates are like platters. No wonder standard portions look skimpy! We’ ve got to learn to downsize our portions. Skipping meals. Whether it ’ s to save time or calories, most meal skippers don ’ t pay attention here and don ’ t think it matters.
The most frequent line I hear is: “ I skip meals, but it ’ s not a problem until I get home for dinner. Then, I ’ m eating all night. ” Here’s the bottom line: if we skip a meal, biology kicks in and makes us overly hungry for the next meal. This strategy is doomed to fail.
