My lovely wife forwarded this to me last night and it was too good to not pass on to you. I wanted to add the following pictures which are selection from that post which is at http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-200-calories-look-like.htm. These pictures help you visualize the importance of knowing how many calories are in the foods you eat. For more on this check out my prior posts: Why You Can’t Be Trusted and Test Your Knowledge which explain how uninformed most people are regarding their caloric intake.
I think the best way to proceed with looking at these pictures is to ask yourself how full you would be after eating what’s on each plate. It’s all about choices. All of these choices provide 200 calories but if you choose the items that won’t fill you up you’ll end up going for another 2oo or more calories somewhere else. While calories in and calories out is to a great extent an accounting exercise, if you choose the right foods, the same number of calories will make you feel fuller and help you lose weight. Now on with the show:
Whole Milk
333 ml = 200 Calories
Blueberry Muffin
72 grams = 200 Calories
Fast Food Chicken Sandwich
72 grams = 200 Calories
Glazed Doughnut
52 grams = 200 Calories
French Sandwich Roll
72 grams = 200 Calories
Sesame Seed Bagel
70 grams = 200 Calories
Snickers Chocolate Bar
41 grams = 200 Calories
Avocado
125 grams = 200 Calories
Butter
28 grams = 200 Calories
Cheetos
38 grams = 200 Calories
Coca Cola
496 ml = 200 Calories
Cooked Pasta
145 grams = 200 Calories
Doritos
41 grams = 200 Calories
Eggs
150 grams = 200 Calories
Fiber One Cereal
100 grams = 200 Calories
Fast Food French Fries
73 grams = 200 Calories
Hershey Kisses
36 grams = 200 Calories
Honeydew Melon
553 grams = 200 Calories
Hot Dogs
66 grams = 200 Calories
Lowfat Strawberry Yogurt
196 grams = 200 Calories
M&M Candy
40 grams = 200 Calories
Marshmallow Treat
40 grams = 200 Calories
Medium Cheddar Cheese
51 grams = 200 Calories
Salted Mixed Nuts
33 grams = 200 Calories
Salted Pretzels
52 grams = 200 Calories
Salted Saltines Crackers
50 grams = 200 Calories
Sliced Smoked Turkey
204 grams = 200 Calories
Wheat Dinner Rolls
66 grams = 200 Calories
The Weight Loss Counter Revolution 
Reblogged this on One Regular Guy Writing about Food, Exercise and Living Longer and commented:
I think the best way to proceed with looking at these pictures is to ask yourself how full you would be after eating what’s on each plate. It’s all about choices.
Still another useful blog post! Here is a fantastic word of advice regarding weight loss: If you are planning to lose weight, exercise must be implemented along with your diet change. Losing weight requires that you burn more calories than you consume. Exercising helps lose weight faster because it burns more calories. Jogging and biking are fun ways to exercise and both activities burn a lot of calories. Resistance training will help tone your overall physique.
Agreed. Thanks!
Regarding exercise, I think it is important to remember not only that you need to exercise to lose weight. You also need to continue to exercise to remain healthy. Unfortunately, too many folks start working out, lose weight and then quit, like the job is done. The job of weight control and good health is never done. You need to include exercise into your daily life for weight control as well as overall good health.
I couldn’t agree more. Exercise is for both health and weight loss. Skinny people should exercise regularly as well.
Thanks