Food  and When is Enough

On a recent family trip, my husband purchased a bag of Twizzlers to snack on while driving.  As he was munching on one I asked, “do you know how many calories are in 1 Twizzler?”  His answer, “15”.  My response, “not even close.”

Food Preparation

For this trip, I purposely packed foods so that we would have “options” as we traveled for a few days.  As you might guess, this mostly included foods that would provide nutrition and fiber –  chicken salad, chicken chunks, shredded cheese, salad with greens and veggies, bananas, peanut butter, bread, pita chips, hummus and muffins.  We were able to have snacks and meals whenever the need arose, while enjoying a few select restaurant meals as we desired.

Food  Choices

Here’s the thing…if you are on the road, you are limited in your food choices.  You may be forced to eat things that you don’t really even want because you are hungry and this is what is available.  Bringing your own foods gives you more control so that you can eat things that you like, whenever you want.  You can snack or have a meal.  When you eat out you will have more restaurant and food options and can even splurge since your diet has been mostly healthy.  The result is that you will likely feel better and more in control.  

Let’s get back to the Twizzler.  My point to my husband (and kids) was that for the same amount of calories in 3 Twizzlers, (1 has 110 calories), you could have eaten a cheeseburger!  When you think about the overall satisfaction (and fullness) from 3 Twizzlers vs a cheeseburger there’s no comparison.  This is not to say never eat Twizzlers, but to be aware of calories vs satiety.

Food Consumption

We eat for many reasons – nutrition, hunger, pleasure, etc.

Awareness of calories and satisfaction is critical if our goal is to maintain a healthy weight.  Eating for pleasure is totally acceptable, but to stay healthy 85% of your foods should provide nutrition and fiber, not just calories.  Using this as a guide will allow you to have more energy, better health, a balanced blood sugar, a healthy gut in addition to the occasional enjoyment of fun foods, like Twizzlers.