You Are What You Eat

By Author: Carl Juneau
Total Articles: 3698
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Most foods come with a Nutrition Facts label. The first thing you want to look for is serving size. This means that the numbers shown on the label are for just one portion. If you eat the whole thing ("Servings Per Container"), you need to multiply by how many servings are that container. Food industries show nutrition facts for small portions to trick you into eating what seems a regular serving, but packs a large amount of calories.
For example, 2 crackers contain 60 calories. But you'll eat 1260 calories if you eat the whole bag! (42 crackers). The second most important nutrients to look for are fat, carbohydrates and protein, then vitamins and minerals.
Don't bother with Daily Value Percentages.

Picture this: Bob is eating chocolate cake and Bill is eating soy crisps. If Bob eats one thin slice of chocolate cake, it will total about 150 calories. Bill decides to eat the whole bag that contains 5 servings of since it says the serving size only has 80 calories. Now Bill has eaten nearly 3 times as many calories compared to Bill. In general, it's not so much what you eat, but more of how you control your ...
... portions.

ACTION STEP 4
Take a look at the Nutrition Facts of your two favorite foods. How do they compare? Next, examine the serving size shown on the label and scale it to your actual regular serving. Are you eating more calories than you thought?
ACTION STEP 4 REVISITED
Review every item you usually eat that's home right now. Find out how calorie-rich is your regular serving for each. List the top 3 richest and ask yourself: do you really need to eat that? Next time you go for a serving, take half of your regular portion. Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.