When it comes to losing weight and overall health, it’s easy to jump on the bandwagon that consists of people counting calories and cutting food so they don’t exceed their daily requirements. But maybe it’s not as simple as we make it out to be.
Cutting your calorie intake doesn’t always be cutting down your portion size, it’s being aware of the number of calories in the food and realizing if that food is actually healthy for your body. For example, you could be eating a type of peanut butter that contains 100 calories per scoop. So you decide to cut down your scoops, but there could be an even healthier brand of peanut butter that contains the same portion but has 5 fewer grams of fat.
Read on for more examples of foods that will change the way you look at calories.
Almonds vs. Fruit Pastels: Naturally when you look at this photo you’re automatically thinking that almonds are the first choice for most. Both contain the exact same amount of calories, but the almonds contain loads of nutrients and will keep you fuller for long periods of time. But, if you’re someone who has a diet that consists of a ton of healthy foods, you might take the fruit pastels. Why? Maybe you want something that will make you happy, which is a big part of staying healthy.
Milk Chocolate vs. Dark Chocolate: This photo contains 100g of both, but as you can see, the calories for each are different. Most people don’t know but dark chocolate actually contains more calories than milk chocolate. Yes, the calorie intake is higher than milk chocolate, but dark chocolate contains less sugar, more fibre and iron than milk chocolate.
TheFFFeedCrisps vs. Crisps: Both bowls contain 40g of crisps. The bowl on the left contains salt and vinegar, and the bowl on the right is mixed root vegetables. Although the difference between the calories is small, you were probably thinking that the root vegetable bowl would contain fewer calories. This is just to point out that sometimes there isn’t much difference between the product that is deemed the “healthy alternative” and the real thing.
Water vs. Water: Yes we all know that the taste of water can be pretty bland at times unless you’re dehydrated, then it’s the best-tasting thing on the face of this earth. But for those who like their flavoured water, did you ever think for a second that it would contain calories? Well surprise, it does!
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What Twix Considers One Serving vs. Real Life Serving: If you’re someone who’s very mindful of their calories, this is a perfect example of how important it is to read the labels and not what it says in large font. Granted, if you’re buying it, chances are you’re eating the whole thing, but it is still nice to know what that compares to.
White Americano vs. Flat White: Going in there can be very confusing at times. What happened to the old days when people just drank their coffee black? Anyways, for those of you who love Starbucks but also want to lose weight, maybe you should swap out the Flat White Latte with a White Americano, it will save you 250 calories.
Solero Ice cream vs. Magnum Ice cream: If losing immediate weight is the goal, the healthy choice would be Solero would be the best choice. But, if you have a very high-calorie diet and are looking to cut it down, Magnum is still a healthy choice. It just depends on how many calories you need to cut.
A Healthy Breakfast vs. A Guilty Treat: They almost have the same amount of calories, with the digestive biscuits containing more protein and lower in sugar than the Belvitas. Granted the Belvitas have more micronutrients, but it’s not by much!
Fatloss Food vs. Fattening Food: There is no single food that will cause you to gain weight. Consuming more calories than you’re expending on a regular basis will cause you to gain weight. The same goes for weight loss. No single food will cause you to lose weight. Eating fewer calories than you are expending will help you lose weight.
100g of Milk Chocolate vs. 100g of Gluten-free, Wheat-free and Milk-free Chocolate: There has been this conception that “Free From” products transition into weight loss, but as you can see this is not the case. Just because something is gluten-free, doesn’t mean that it has fewer calories than something that does. Always read the label when you’re trying to achieve your fitness goal.
Toast and Butter vs. Toast and Butter: To the naked eye, these essentially look the same, and they are except for one small thing, the calories. The piece of toast on the right contains 96 more calories only because of the amount of butter that has been spread across. Sometimes it’s not what you eat, but just how much of it you consume.
Same Size with Avocado, Cheese, Croutons, and Dressing: Salads are a very beneficial way to pack micronutrients, but as you can see not all salads are as healthy as they may seem. Always be aware of the individual components that come with the meal you are eating and how it will sit in context to the rest of your day. Some ingredients may digest slowly, which will not bold well for your weight loss goals.
All 3 are Smoothies: Those who do not have time in the morning to eat breakfast, or enjoy a nice snack, will have a smoothie, which is perfectly fine. But if weight loss is your goal, being mindful of what you’re putting/getting in your smoothies will make all the difference in the world.
Strawberries vs. Strawberries: Both contain the same amount of grams, but for convenience, dry fruit could be the better option. However, if weight loss is the ultimate goal, fresh strawberries would be the ideal choice.
Tracking Calories vs. Not Tracking Calories: If you guessed that both contain the exact same amount of calories, you would be correct. This just goes to show that you don’t always need to count calories when you’re consuming your food. If you’re mindful and know ahead of time what you need for your diet, it takes away a lot of the stress and allows you to enjoy your meal.
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Choose the Right Beef: Both bowls contain the same amount of food, but the bowl on the left was cooked with light cooking oil and beef with only 5% fat, whereas the bowl on the right used olive oil and beef with 12% fat. Be aware of the micronutrients that are in the ingredients of the food you are cooking, sometimes they’re lacking what you need, which in turn can increase your calorie intake.
