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Colorful Foods With Healthy Benefits

Weight Loss: Adding color to the diet adds interest and is more appealing to the eyes and tummy.

The color red sparks visions of so many tasty and healthy foods that can assist in peeling off those unwanted pounds. Here is our short list in no particular order:

Tomatoes - packed with a healthy dose of lycopene, a powerful antioxidant which combats free radicals. And tomatoes are so versatile. Scoop out the seeds and pack your tomato with skim-based cottage cheese or light tuna salad. Of if you like chicken, that works well too.

Beets - try pickling them with a bit of vinegar and Splenda. Delicious and so low in calories. Beets will also help rid the body of water weight gain caused by excessive sodium intake.

Apples - a small apple contains about 80 calories and is bulked with fiber which will help keep you feeling full for a long while to come. Apples also help rid the body of water weight gain.

Keep a sharp Diet Eye out for these diet culprits:

- Mayo: White globs of no-nothing nutrition and a plethora of cholesterol mgs. One Tablespoon of regular Mayo contains 60 calories 3.51 carb grams and 4 mgs of cholesterol. Take note that its commonly used freely rather than measured out, with individuals consuming three times or more Mayo at one sitting, thus tripling calories and cholesterol mgs.

Fast food Mayo adds significant calories to menu entrees. McDonald's Big 'N Tasty burger without Mayo contains 419 calories, about 20 grams of total fat, 38 total carbs and 68 mgs of cholesterol. With Mayo the Big 'N Tasty contains 524 calories, about 32 total fat grams, 38.50 carb grams and 77 mgs of cholesterol. The addition of Mayo adds 105 calories. For that you can enjoy 2 cups of delicious whole strawberries or 2 cups of any variety of melon - with calories left over, enough calories to add a couple of apricots or a fresh plum.

As to Mayo calories and fat grams, when cups of Mayo are added to recipes the counts increase. One cup of regular Mayo contains 916 calories, 56 carb grams, 78.5 total fat grams and 61 mgs of cholesterol. When making potato salad, slaw or macaroni it's best to use a reduced fat version of your favorite Mayo.

A better diet choice would be to choose a dab of sunshine (mustard) over Mayo - a very smart 'Diet Move'. However, where light and reduced fat and even fat free products are involved, many times the calorie and fat content are definitely worth the trade off, especially if they taste yum.

- Salad Dressings:  We all seem to like to visit 'the Ranch' these days and its fully stocked with calories and fat grams. Gun belts have to be a little larger when we over-indulge at the Ranch.

- Butter: It's yellow, it's beautiful and it's mined with fat grams and fat calories. After all, butter and margarine are pure fat. One cup of butter contains 1,628 calories, 184 total fat grams, 488 mg of cholesterol, and 116 grams of the total fat grams are in the form of saturated fat. When it comes to the yellow sunshine, it's best for your good health to opt for light  or fat reduced margarine.

- Cream Cheese: White and can be used for stuffing healthy vegetables. Unfortunately, when we eat these delectables we're also stuffing our bodies with lots of fat grams and calories. Seriously, I don't like the taste of reduced fat cream cheese, and particularly fat free cream cheese. So I shop for whipped cream cheese which contains less fat grams and calories.

- Sour Cream : Another food in our white section. Although reduced fat and zero fat sour creams will save calories and fat grams, I don't like the taste of this diet dairy product either. Full-blown sour cream contains 40 calories whereas regular contains only 20 calories more - a total of 60 calories. I go for the gold and measure out my serving size so that I won't fall Diet Overboard.

- Spice-up Your Diet: Experiment with seasonings, extracts, as well as vinegar, fresh fruits and clear broths. With a little effort, you just may create a Diet Sensation.

Diet Tip: Grape Nuts cereal substitute well for real nuts in most recipes for lower fat gram content.