Diet: Are French Fries Really A Vegetable?


The government, nutritionists, doctors, and dietitians implore us to eat 5 servings of vegetables a day. Considering that a serving is only half a cup, a decent-sized side of vegetables and a big salad does it for the day.

But are we eating that consistently?

For the average American child, 25% of their intake of vegetables consists of french fries or potato chips. Adults eat an average of 4 servings of french fries per week. A small (are there any small servings still out there?) serving of french fries carries 187 calories - a bag a day is over 68,000 calories a year, almost 20 pounds of extra weight!

Is it any wonder that 15% of our children are obese and that the percentage is growing all the time?

For all the diet and health information that daily blares from our radios, televisions, and Internet portals, we are drowning in our own fat. We spend half our family food budget on eating out, primarily at fast food outlets, where the true nutritional and caloric values of the offerings require the skill of a Sherlock Holmes to uncover.

Think what it could do for our collective waistlines if we simply deleted french fries from our diet and substituted real, live vegetables (a rare commodity in the fast food industry). We may yet be saved by the lowly green bean.

We can try to get the word out but the U. S. Department of Agriculture has only two million a year to spend on the cause and the food advertisers spend forty billion a year to convince us otherwise.

Oh well, maybe we didn't want to be slim anyway.

Virginia Bola is a licensed psychologist and an admitted diet fanatic. She specializes in therapeutic reframing and the effects of attitudes and motivation on individual goals. The author of The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual, and a free ezine, The Worker's Edge, she recently published a psychologically-based weight control e-workbook, "Diet with an Attitude" which develops mental skills towards the goal of permanent weight control.

She can be reached at http://www.DietWithAnAttitude.com

She provides support and guidance in use of the workbook through her regular blog, http://dietwithanattitude.blogspot.com


MORE RESOURCES:

Southern New England Weightloss Challenge
Eyewitness News, RI - 2 hours ago
Please consider me for the weight loss program. Thanks My name is Holly and I am 29 years old. I've struggled with my weight my entire life. ...


Safest Weight Loss Surgery for Britons Travelling Abroad
PR.com (press release), NY - 1 hour ago
“To have the best chance of successful long term weight loss, patients also need to have on-going support and contact, to help them through the process. ...


A creamy weight-loss aid
Times of India, India - Oct 10, 2008
If you think it’s too yummy to have any place in a real weight-loss diet, think again. Yoghurt – that rich and creamy stuff that’s full of calcium and ...


Canada.com

Body Contouring: Selecting Appropriate Massive Weight Loss ...
Medical News Today (press release), UK - 19 hours ago
The importance of pre-operative screening for patients seeking body contouring after massive weight loss will be assessed in three studies presented at the ...
Technique for perfect twin assets Times of India
all 20 news articles


Burnett completes weight loss challenge
Picayune Item, MS - 3 hours ago
Burnett, a 43 year old procurement specialist, was chosen to participate in the nine month People Magazine weight loss challenge, which has become an annual ...


CBS News

Jump-Start Your Weight Loss Plan This Fall
CBS News, NY - Oct 10, 2008
January may be the traditional time to start a weight loss program, but with kids back in school and routines becoming more structured, fall is the perfect ...


The Maximum Living Weight Loss Challenge update
Palladium-Item, IN - 21 hours ago
I have lost 42 pounds in my weight loss journey. I have started to feel a lot better. I am still working out at Medfit. Sometimes it is a little difficult ...


Olive oil may hold the key to weight loss
Globe and Mail, Canada - Oct 10, 2008
A"good" fat found in abundance in olive oil may provide one of the keys to appetite control and weight loss. Oleic acid, a type of monounsaturated fat, ...


Cherie Blair’s Weight Loss Saga
CareFair.com, Switzerland - Oct 10, 2008
Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, is finding that losing weight is only the beginning of the battle. ...


Taxpayer money fuels Tornillo superintendent's weight loss
KVIA, TX - Oct 10, 2008
By ABC-7 Reporter Marissa Monroy Tornillo, TX -- It's every employee's dream - getting paid by the bosses to lose weight. For one local superintendent, ...

Weight-Loss - Google News

Arcade Games | site map
© copyright NextAge Technologies Ltd @ 2006