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Are you really overeating or just making poor diet choices?

Have you ever had a day when you've eaten until you're certain that you'll experience a weight gain - but don't?  Another day, it's sparse pickings, but you soon notice that the numbers on your weight scales have taken a hike - and in the wrong direction, at that!

What is going on here?  Why is it, when we have a light day of eating, the numbers on our weight scales soar upwards?

It may not be the AMOUNT of food we are eating, but the TYPES of foods we are eating.  It's called "Making Poor Diet Choices" by 'them thar' professionals.  But hey - we're smarter than that!  With just a little adjusting, we can overcome and block weight gain.  

Here is an example of how it happens, and how to change the direction on the scales:

HOW 'IT' HAPPENS: Paula's Typical Diet:  Breakfast - 1 crossiant - no butter, no nothing. One orange juice.  NO mid-morning snack. Water, water.  Lunch - 1 fastfood salad with ranch dressing and grilled chicken; 1 small breadstick, 1 large iced tea.  NO mid-afternoon snack.  Dinner - Chef salad with ranch dressing and 5 wheat crackers. 3 glasses of iced raspberry tea.  NO bedtime snack.

Let's sum up Paula's daily total:  Basically, Paula had 2 rolls and 2 salads all day.  Her total calories for the day?  A whopping 2,745 calories.  How?  The crossiant cost her dearly at 525 calories due to the bakery's recipe.  As a diet note, this tends to be the case with most bakery crossiants and some can go as high as 700+ calories. Talk about flying with the eagles...  The OJ added another 120 calories.

Paula fell into a concealed pothole for lunchtime. The fastfood salad weighed in at 525 calories and the pack of ranch dressing cost her an additional 175 calories.  The breadstick added another 125 calories. She added several packages of sugar to her tea, upping the calories to 200 for a total countdown.  Or should that be count up?

Dinner - again, that tea fixation cost her 600 calories as she enjoyed triple the tea.  That salad?  Another 500 calories plus 175 more for the ranch dressing.  Total recap: 2,745 calories.

Even without beverages, Paula has exceeded her calorie allotment for the day.  It's time to look at Diana's menu....

Breakfast - A serving of one minute Cream of Wheat to which has been added no calorie butter spray and Splenda and 1/2 cup of skim milk.  Diana enjoys the other 1/2 cup of milk with her meal and adds on 1 piece of 45-calorie toast that has been sprayed with Parkay no calorie butter spray, then popped into the toaster.  Total: 250 calories

Mid morning break snack - 2 plums.  Total: 70 calories.

Lunch - 1 cup of vegetable beef soup, 1 wedge of cornbread, 2 cups of fresh green beans topped with Parkay no calorie butter spray, 1 sugar free gelatin topped with light whipped topping. 1 cup of skim milk. Total: 480 calories.

Dinner - 1/2 of an acorn squash cooked in the microwave to which has been added: dash of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, t Tablespoon of sugar free maple syrup and Parkay no calorie butter spray.  Also, 1 rosemary-grilled chicken breast and 1 small baked potato topped with no calorie butter spray, sea salt and cracked pepper.  For dessert - 1 cup of fresh strawberries. Total: 550 calories.

Bedtime snack: 1 cup of skim milk.

Total calories for the day: About 1,430 and Diana is stuffed.

HOW TO CHANGE COURSE: To change the direction of her weight loss scales, Paula should begin learning about calories and food values.  She should seek foods that will stay her with her a long time throughout the day - such as oatmeal.  

Salads are deceptive because we automatically assume they are low in calories.  Anything picked from a field is low in calories, and salads are filled with field-things. BUT, they are also filled with Diet Culprits such as cheese, dressings, croutons, bacon and so forth. Though all of these foods can be healthy additions to the diet, when they are combined all at once, therein lies the weight problem.

And finally, Paula must rethink her beverage routine.  Substituting yellow, pink or blue packets for white PLUS taking a brisk walk each day just might bring about a Diet Solution!  Although....she still needs to add more dairy...more milk...and then......oh well.  We get the picture.  It's all about making wise choices, because we are indeed what we eat.

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