Making Smarter Food Choices for Weight Loss Results

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The choices that we make each and every day build and support the numbers on our weight scales. When we make food choices that contain a lot of fat grams, calories and sugar content which far exceed our required daily caloric needs, we know that the numbers on our scales will go up, up, up and away in our blown-up Diet Balloon.

Keeping the Sweet Sugar Fairy, the Fabulous Fat Boy and those Curvy Calories in check is indeed a balancing act. At times, we end up dropping something on our little Diet Head along the 'weigh' and our hopes and dreams for weight loss suddenly gets placed on the old back burner. You know the one; it doesn't have a flame. No burning desire to lose weight - all our weight loss aspirations up in smoke. Bummer, but it does indeed happen.

And just as suddenly, something really groovy will crop up - like a high school reunion, or a family gathering containing several relatives who would just love to see our new blown-up bods, and we find ourselves kicking ourselves where the Diet Sun doesn't shine over not following through with our weight loss plan.

Then there are times when we're just not in the mood to diet. We may have too many things going on in our lives - or simply not enough money in the budget to purchase those healthier foods that keep going up, up, up and away at the local market.

We may be in the middle of an emotional crisis - a mother-in-law meltdown, or dealing with a boss wearing stiletto heels, cracking a very leathery whip. Ouch. With so many personal hurdles to deal with, it's next to impossible to keep our focus on our diets.

It's so much easier to grab a snack cake or a cookie for snack time - which adds comfort to our open-wounds, and perfectly suits our mood. It's so much more convenient to grab a bag of burgers on the way home, especially enjoying the chocolate shake or malt that was purchased as an afterthought. And it's so much easier to grab a bag of chips for snack time rather than gnawing on a cardboard-like object labeled 'rice cake'.

The great news is that even when you're not in the Diet Mood, or when you don't have the time to diet, or even when your world is turned upside-down, you can quickly make better choices at home, at work, when dining out, when you're on the go, and at snack time. As a quick example, before dragging that family-sized bag of chips from the pantry, pause a few seconds to measure-out a serving. Eat slowly.

For an enhanced example, even our fast-food calories can be greatly reduced by making smarter food choices.

Here are other crazy-good methods for reducing the caloric and dietary fat values and which can assist in losing those unwanted fat pounds:

Food Choice	Better Food Choice	Best Food Choice
Mayo	Light Mayo	Mustard or Spicy Mustard
Regular Cheeseburger	Small Cheeseburger	Small Hamburger with whole grain bun
Cream Cheese	Light Cream Cheese	Whipped Cream Cheese*
Butter	Margarine	Light Margarine or whipped margarine*
Peanut Butter	Fat Reduced Peanut Butter	Whipped Peanut Butter*
Whole Milk	1% or 2% Milk	Fat Free or Skim Milk
Hot Dog, the works!	Plain Hot Dog with Mustard	Hot Dog with whole grain bun, 1 serving of hot dog sauce, chopped onions mustard, relish, sprinkle of cheese and a light frank
Large French Fries + Ketchup	Small French Fries + Ketchup	Small Baked Potato + 1 serving whipped margarine
Orange Juice, Sweetened	Orange Juice, Unsweetened	1 large orange
Yogurt, regular whole milk	Yogurt, light skim	Yogurt, light, low fat, zero sugar added
Soda, regular	Diet Soda	Water - zero calories!
Coffee or Tea with fancy cream	Coffee/Tea plain	Water - zero calories!
Cocoa, whole milk base	Cocoa, 2% milk base	Cocoa, skim milk base
Chili, canned, no beans	Chili with beans	Chili, reduced fat with beans
Cheese, shredded	Light Cheese, shredded	Skim Cheese, shredded OR use 1/2 the amount of regular cheese
Sunflower or Corn Oil	Canola Oil	Olive Oil
Potato Chips, 1 serving + dip	Light Potato Chips, 1 serving + dip	Light Potato Chips, 1 serving
Ranch Dip	Light Vinegar & Oil	Bean Dip OR Light Salad Dressings
Pancakes, Syrup, Butter	Pancakes, Sugar Free Syrup	English Muffin + 1 serving of fruit preserves
Omelet with Cheese	Scrambled Egg	Poached Egg OR Boiled Egg
Buttered Popcorn, Lotsa Salt!	Light Buttered Popcorn, Reduced Sodium	Hot Air Popcorn lightly salted
Giant Candy Bar	Regular Candy Bar	Mini-Candy Bar, snack size
Ice Cream, 1 cup	Ice Cream 1/2 cup	Light Ice Cream, skim OR Frozen Yogurt, skim OR Sherbet

* In most instances, whipped foods contain less calories than their 'solid or regular' counterparts. No need to sacrifice flavor! Example: good old butter contains 102 calories per Tablespoon in its solid form. Whipped butter contains 67 calories per tablespoon.

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