I’ve heard people say, “this one candy bar…” (insert whatever high calorie and unhealthy edible craving of yours: chips, cookie, margarita, soda, restaurant meal) “…won’t make me fat,” or, “won’t kill me.” Stop kidding yourself. That treat will cause your weight to creep up, unless you are reducing some other food to compensate for those extra calories.
Most people won’t eat one cookie, or a rack of ribs, or dine out, just once a year. These fattening foods are eaten a few times a month, on weekends, or even, every day, so it’s no wonder that excess pounds keep piling on.
What you read on a nutrition label is only an estimate, and, the calories are usually higher than what’s stated in the nutrition section. In fact, labels all permitted to be inaccurate in their calorie count by 20% (1). What’s worse is that no one is policing these food companies (1). That means that they can list whatever amount of calories and carbs on a package to make you think it’s a low calorie food to get you to buy it, and to get you to eat more of it.
In 2013, the New York Times had food scientists analyze several foods from popular restaurants. One of the most shocking, was the tofu sandwich which claimed to contain a mere 228 calories, but it contained a whopping 548 calories, that’s an error of 320 calories. It’s no wonder people are getting fatter from packaged foods, and restaurant meals (1).
To compound matters, sugar causes inflammation, and flavorings cause imbalances in gut health, which, in turn, makes it even harder to lose weight. I’m not saying that you can never go out to eat, or go out to get a freshly made donut, but, keep in mind that those calories do matter, and the accumulation of those fattening foods are what’s causing us to gain weight and get fat.
Source: Barone, Janine. “Can you trust calorie counts?” Berkley University of California Wellness. https://www.berkeleywellness.com/healthy-eating/nutrition/article/can-you-trust-calorie-counts#:~:text=The%20FDA%20allows%20food%20companies,calories%20or%20anything%20in%20between. Sept. 30 2016.