Sneaky Calories

Did you know that there are 13 calories in 3 cloves of garlic? 100 calories in grapefruit? 461 calories in a 6" - 7" diameter honeydew melon? I wonder if there are calories in the air you breathe when you walk past a pastry shop with freshly baked donuts or a pizza parlour with triple-cheese-and-cheese-baked-into-the-crust-as-if-you-don't-already-have-enough-cholesterol-to-worry-about pizza smells reaching out to tantalize your senses.

I got onto a honeydew melon kick several weeks ago and I happily brought home a melon, set it out to ripen, and cut into it when it was just pefect. I ate half a melon one evening and half the next, feeling quite virtuous that I was getting in my daily servings of fruit and keeping my calories low to boot. I was thinking more in the range of 70 to 100 calories, however, not 230 calories!!! It was then that I realized that calories are in everything I eat. Anytime I open my mouth, I will be inhaling calories (unless I'm breathing, but I'm still not convinced there isn't a calorie count to the air I'm taking in!).

So what? you say. Isn't it better to throw calories out the window and just eat plenty of fruits and veggies and enjoy life? Sure, I agree wholeheartedly. But if you're like about 99.9% of the population, you don't eat just fruits and vegetables. You have to have something on top of, underneath, mixed in, or to the side of those fruits and vegetables. It isn't healthy, anyhow, for the body, if it doesn't have some grains and nuts and variety added in.

There are calories out there and they are determined to sneak in to everything you eat, whether it's healthy or not. Calories aren't the enemy though. It's what type of calories I choose to eat that determines whether my scales will be smiling with me at the end of the week or whether they will groan in pain as I step on them pounds heavier than last. A honeydew melon has 230 calories and a bag of multigrain Sun Chips has 140 calories, but the melon is still the wiser choice.