Watch out for killer condiments!

I know I keep trying to pound home the point of counting your calories…blah, blah blah, right! Well you’ve got to trust me on this, at least for a while. Reading product nutritional labels and looking up restaurant food’s before you eat them is going to teach you how to properly estimate the calories you are taking in. There are great sites out there like http://www.fitday.com/ or http://www.calorieking.com/ which have all of the basic food as well as most of the major brands and restaurants.

One of the reasons people like Weight Watchers so much is because there is “NO COUNTING CALORIES”, but really what they have done is make counting calories easier for you by assigning a point value.

I have found the key to a successful diet is planning. Take 5 minutes in the morning or before you go to bed to plan what you are going to eat in the coming day. This plan will help keep you on track.

One of the big derailers to your diet can be uncounted condiments. Those sneaky little things can really hurt you.

Ketchup
Serving Size: 1 tbsp
Calories 15
Fat 0g / Carbs 4g / Protein 0g

Mayonnaise
Serving Size: 1 tbsp
Calories 90
Fat 10 / Sat Fat 1.5 / Cabrs 0g / Protein 0g

A-1 Sauce
Serving Size: 1 tbsp
Calories 15g
Fat 0g / Carbs 3g / Protein 0g

Butter
Serving Size: 1 tbsp
Calories 101
Fat 11.5g / Sat Fat 5.8g / Carbs 0g / Protein 0.1g

Bleu Cheese Dressing
Serving Size: 1 tbsp
Calories: 60
Fat 6g / Sat Fat 1.25g / Carbs 1g / Protein 0.5g

Ranch Dressing
Serving Size: 1 tbsp
Calories: 70
Fat 7g / Sat Fat 1.25g / Carbs 1g / Protein 0.5g

BBQ Sause
Serving Size: 1 tbsp
Calories: 19
Fat 0.05g / Sat Fat 0g / Carbs 4.5g / Protein 0.1g

Now as you look through this list you may be thinking that these really don’t look all that bad. Note that the serving size for each of these is only 1 tbsp. When was the last time you only had 1 tbsp of ranch dressing on your salad? Have you ever measured? Well if you haven’t you should.

The problem isn’t just one of these condiments, its not accounting for how quickly they add up during the day. When you have butter for breakfast, mayo for lunch along with ranch dressing and BBQ sauce for dinner you have added close to 300 calories to your diet that you may not be accounting for.

Now sure there are low calorie and low fat substitutes for a lot of these, but you need to realize that the majority of restaurants aren’t using these low calorie products.

So next time you order that salad for lunch, ask for the dressing on the side and use it sparingly. The problem is that our American diet has dulled our taste buds over the years. We fill need to add extra flavor to everything. If you slowly start you cut these products out of your diet, eventually you won’t miss them.

Side note: Today was the first time I have completely cut out sweetners from my coffee. I did it slowly over the past couple of weeks and I didn't miss it.

Kekick's Credo of the day
#3.
Think carefully before making any offers, commitments or promises, no matter how seemingly trivial. These are all contracts and they must be honored. These also include self-resolutions.

#4.
Real regrets only come from not doing your best. All else is out of your control. You're measured by results only. Trade excuses and "trying" for results, and expect half-hearted results from half-hearted efforts. Do more than is expected of you. Life's easy when you live it the hard way... and hard if you try to live it the easy way.