onlymythoughts.com

If like me, you’ve been dieting for a long time, I’m sure you probably read that you should avoid empty calories. Empty calories are calories that you consume that have no nutritious value. Examples of empty calories are calories you get when you eat candy or drink soda. A regular soda has about 120 - 150 calories, and it contains no vitamins or nutrients to help fuel your body. A nutrition conscious person would consider these empty calories a waste. They would encourage you to substitute a glass of juice for your soda and a piece of fruit in place of that piece of candy. And that would be good advice. You should avoid empty calories, especially when you are on a diet.

But there is another type of calories that you should avoid, too. I call them wasted calories. Wasted calories, despite whether they are nutritious or not, are calories from foods that do not satisfy your cravings. Everyone cheats on their diet occasionally. And that is okay as long as you get right back on your diet the next day. But make sure the food you allow yourself is worth the calories it will be supplying your body. Let me give you an example of what I am talking about:

Our local fast food restaurant makes a delicious milk shake. Well, I was craving a milkshake last week, so I went and ordered a chocolate one. Only this time, it was not very good. But I drank it anyway. Afterward, I felt sick to my stomach and angry that I had wasted my calories on that shake.

Similar situations have happened recently. I ordered a food that I was craving, and it wasn’t very good. I ate it anyway. Since it was not pleasurable, I consider those foods I ate to be wasted calories.

But I have made up my mind not to do it again. I will not eat wasted calories anymore. If the food is not satisfying, I will not put it into my body. It has to be really good for me to eat it because eating it will delay my achievement of my weight goals. And I will not do that for nothing.

So here are my new dieting rules: Avoid eating empty calories. But if you are going to indulge in empty calories occasionally, make sure you do not eat wasted calories.