Healthy Foods Do NOT Guarantee Weight-loss!

franny goodrich author pic
by Franny Goodrich

Wait!  Before you call the Food Police on me, hear me out.  Although nobody would argue that eating healthy-foods is wise, it’s not an automatic slam-dunk that doing so will trim your waist, butt and thighs.  If you’re a person – like many – who’s daily diet consists of Chicken Caesar Salads, Tuna Wraps, handfuls of Mixed Nuts or Raisins, then you should also know that these – so called – diet foods, are loaded with calories!

I have said many times, it’s NOT any particular food that makes you fat, it’s the excess calories – regardless of the food-source.  You can get just as fat eating too much lean white chicken, as you can eating too much ice cream n’ hot fudge.  Conversely, you can get just as lean eating the right amount of chocolate-chip cookies, as you can by eating the right amount of fruits n’ vegetables.  This is a weight-loss fundamental that quite frankly too many ignore, or too many fail to understand.

Here’s a way to understand my premise.  At first glance, would you “ever” imagine that you could actually lose weight on this diet?

Breakfast
1 Hot Fudge Sundae -284 calories
1 Small Coffee with Milk and Sugar – 80 calories
Total – 364 calories

Lunch
1 Big Mac – Sandwich – 540 calories
1 Small Diet Coke – 0 calories
Total – 540 calories

Dinner
1 Serving Kraft Macaroni & Cheese – 210 Calories
1 Fudgsicle – 100 calories
1 cup Grape Kool-Aid – 60 calories
Total – 370 calories

Late-night Snack
2 Chocolate Chip Cookies – 260 calories
Small glass Whole Milk – 150 calories
Total – 410

Daily Total: 1,684 calories (Not many, huh?)

The truth is that most people would lose weight – lots of it – if their daily caloric in-take was 1,684 calories.  Obviously, I would never advocate eating this way on a regular basis, however, it illustrates my point that “excess” calories makes us fat, and not any particular types of food.

No matter what you choose to eat on a daily basis, “portion-control” is the best diet-advice.  We should strive to eat a healthy cross-variety of foods in reasonable portions.  When one chooses to indulge in sweet or fatty treats, eating reasonable portions is the key.  The good news is that no-food should be totally off-limits. As they say, “anything and everything in moderation”.  Eat, drink and be merry.