Now don’t get me wrong , Â being aware of how many calories you consume in a day is important… but what really matters is the quality of those calories, not always and just the amount of calories. For example, someone is better off eating a 2000 calorie diet made up of true healthy foods as opposed to a 1000 calorie diet of junk. Though one diet has significantly less calories, it does not possess anything to promote health or weight loss.

As a Scottsdale personal trainer, I see people be fooled by “healthy foods” all the time but really they are eating junk. for example, Lean Pockets are packaged as healthy, but really they are not. They are heavy laden with salt. You’d think this would be a smart dinner option, but in fact, this product will slow down your weight loss goals BIG with all its “imitation” ingredients. Did you know so many “healthy” energy bars are packed with just as much sugar as a soda? Id personally rather enjoy a soda.

So remember,  calories aren’t always the real and only enemy. How much sugar and salt are you taking in? So look beyond the calories and really look at the labels… the ingredients on labels are listed in order of dominance in the product. So, if the first ingredient listed is high fructose corn syrup, then that is the most used ingredient in the product.

Be aware, pay attention and don’t get lost in the numbers. Quantity of calories is important, but lets take a closer look at the quality of calories we are putting into our bodies.