At this time of year a lot of people are keeping track of the calories they are eating and trying to balance them against the calories they burn. The goal of course is to create the right calorie imbalance to burn body fat, become lighter and/or leaner and to look and feel better and improve health.  Seems simple enough, right? However, university researchers have determined that one problem that can derail the progress is that people tend to underestimate the calories they consume as well as overestimate their daily activity thus contributing to the failure to achieve their goals.

Now there seems to be a new factor that can serve as a roadblock and this time it isn’t the fault of people but some of the food they are eating.  According to a new study published in the January issue of the Journal of the American Dietetics Association many reduced calorie restaurant foods and frozen meals purchased from a supermarket under represent the number of calories per serving by an average of 18% and 8%. Geez, now we have to deal with that!

The take away here is to limit the reliance on these types of foods as part of your calorie control efforts to no more than once a day and to rely more on whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, lean dairy, meats and seafood, cereals, breads, etc.  Anyway, This is for the best as one of your goals should be to modify the way you eat to incorporate more whole and self-prepared foods into a sustainable healthier lifestyle.   -   Stay Fit!

Dr Wildman is the author of The Nutritionist: Food, Nutrition & Optimal Health and creator of TheNutritionDr.com.