1. C 1 hour 18 minutes– One 20-ounce cola has 250 calories. Soda is the biggest single source of calories in the U.S. diet. We drink more than 49 gallons of the stuff per person per year, research shows.
2. D On the Border Chicken Fiesta Salad- This chicken salad weighs in at 1,140 calories, 190 more than the meal with the second-most calories, the Baja Fresh Burrito Ultimo. (The burger and the pizza have 780 and 760 calories respectively.) To avoid the salad fat trap, Ashley Koff, RD, a FITNESS advisory board member and nutrition consultant, suggests these tips: 1. Choose mostly veggies. 2. Avoid the edible bowl (a taco shell can add 370 calories and 21 grams of fat). 3. Pick just two of these fats: dressing (avoid high-fat options like ranch), avocado, nuts, and cheese. 4. Keep the protein — turkey, chicken, tuna, beans — to the size of your palm.
3. D 1 cup– Although most yogurts come in 6-ounce containers, one serving is actually 1 cup, or 8 ounces. The trick to choosing a healthy kind is to watch the sugar content and the add-ons. Even plain vanilla yogurt can have 30 grams of sugar (or more) per serving. Instead, choose plain nonfat or low-fat yogurt and mix in fruit or honey to sweeten it. Another good choice? Nonfat Greek-style yogurt, which has more protein than the regular variety, says Susan Bowerman, RD, assistant director of the University of California at Los Angeles Center for Human Nutrition.
4. A 9 inches- Although some now measure 12 inches or more, a dinner plate should be the size of a salad plate. Seriously. A bigger plate means bigger portions, which make it easy to overeat without realizing it, says Barbara Rolls, PhD, a professor of nutritional sciences at Pennsylvania State University. At restaurants, a good guideline is to eat half of what you’re served, or to leave three generous bites of everything — except the veggies.
5. B An oat-bran muffin- One oat-bran muffin has 454 calories and 12 grams of fat. Even worse, some store-bought muffins are high in trans fats, which are as bad for your waistline as they are for your heart. In a study of overweight women, for every 1 percent of calories they ate from trans fats they gained 2.3 pounds. Even if a food is labeled “trans-fat free,” by law it can contain up to 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving, and those grams add up quickly. If the label says “partially hydrogenated,” stay away.
6. B A 1-ounce bag of vegetable chips- Just 14 veggie chips have 150 calories and 9 grams of fat — and no, they don’t count as a serving of vegetables. “They’re potato chips in disguise,” says Madelyn Fernstrom, PhD, a FITNESS advisory board member and the director of the UPMC Weight Management Center in Pittsburgh. “Because people think they’re healthy, they’re more likely to polish off the whole bag.”
7. C The size of your index finger- Cheese is a great source of calcium, which researchers at Rutgers University found can help women maintain bone mass while dieting. “As long as you keep portion sizes in check, you don’t have to choose low-fat or fat-free. Eat the type you enjoy most,” Koff says.
8. C About 2,000- If you work out three or more times a week for at least 30 minutes, you should consume about 17 calories per pound to maintain your weight. “If you’re looking to shed pounds, you need to cut about 500 calories a day, and you can’t do it with exercise alone,” Fernstrom says. Those who are most successful at keeping weight off do so by eating less, according to researchers at the University of Alabama. Your best bet: Take in 250 fewer calories daily and burn 250 more with exercise.
9. C 200- Most of us consume 458 calories a day from beverages, more than twice what we should, according to research. Only 10 percent of your daily calories should come from drinks, which equals about 2 cups of skim milk and 1/2 cup of a sugary beverage. The rest should be water, coffee, or tea. “The problem is, people don’t really pay attention to the number of calories they’re sipping,” Bowerman says. It can be tricky: Many bottled drinks look like a single serving but actually contain two or more. Read the label before you pour.
10. B 5- That’s more than two-thirds of your daily intake, and you’ve only had breakfast! Since most bagels are made from refined carbs — yep, usually even the wheat ones — you’ll be hungry again soon after eating one. Spread a tablespoon of peanut butter (about the size of your thumb) on your bagel, Fernstrom says. “The protein will increase the time it
takes for your body to process the bagel, so you’ll be energized and satisfied for longer.”
11. A The size of the palm of your hand- One serving of meat is 2 to 3 ounces, or about the size of your palm. However, the calories and fat in a serving can vary widely depending on the type of meat and the cut. The leanest cuts are beef tenderloin (185 calories and 9 grams of fat), top sirloin (180 calories and 8 grams of fat), and pork tenderloin (171 calories and 7 grams of fat).
12. C 7- You can eat dessert every day (even if you’re on a diet!), as long as you keep the portion sizes in check. “Depriving yourself will only make you crave it more,” Fernstrom says. That doesn’t mean you should dig into a piece of cake every night, however, or the calories will pile on fast. A few smart choices: fruits and berries with toasted oats, a small piece of dark chocolate, or a scoop of low-fat ice cream (about the size of a tennis ball).
13. C They’re about the same- Surprise! “Some turkey burgers contain ground meat from all parts of the bird, which includes the high-calorie, high-fat dark meat and skin,” Fernstrom says. When making a turkey burger at home, choose lean, all-white meat, which is similar in fat and calorie content to a 95 percent lean hamburger (140 calories and 5 grams of fat), says Lisa Young, PhD, RD, a FITNESS advisory board member and author of The Portion Teller.
14. B 17 minutes- Running at 6 miles per hour (10-minute-mile pace), it would take you 17 minutes to work it off. Energy bars are convenient when you need a boost pre- or post-workout or as a quick snack to get you through an afternoon slump, but some contain added sugar, “making them more like vitamin- and protein-fortified candy bars,” Bowerman says. Look for bars that have at least 7 to 8 grams of protein, 2 or more grams of fiber, and less than 180 calories. If you need something smaller and can’t limit yourself to just half an energy bar, try the new mini bars from Clif and Luna, which come in popular flavors like chocolate and clock in at 100 calories or fewer.
15. D 2 servings- It takes just an ounce of uncooked pasta to make one serving. (To see what an ounce looks like, open a standard 8-ounce box of noodles and measure out eight equal portions. Each one is 1 ounce.) “Pasta servings have gotten way out of control, especially in restaurants, where a meal is actually six servings,” Young says. The rule: A serving of cooked pasta should be about the size of your fist. If that seems too tiny, throw in some steamed broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, or spinach.
Onramp to Health 