Introduction!

If you don't own one already, get a scale. Like Sabu said, pay attention to serving size. I have a bit of a story for you.

My mom is kind of new to nutrition and fitness and she is kind of ignorant and uneducated on serving sizes and what is normal and what is not. We were comparing the three breads in her kitchen yesterday, I had already read the info on them but I wanted her to make the connection, so I enticed her to look closely. The three breads were white, brown, and some sort of super-healthy enriched whole wheat bread with seeds and everything.

First she looked at the white bread, read that it said 150 calories. To my surprise, and happiness, she said "oh, but for how many? . . . Oh, 2 slices". She then went on to read the brown bread, 160 calories. Then the super bread, "oh! This one is only 100 calories". After a bit of a pause, she said, "wait a minute. . ." And picked up the super bread again, reading it closer she said, "oh, that's for 1 slice". I showed her that sometimes you need to look closer, you may be used to breads that state per 2 slices, then suddenly one manufacturer will change their own serving size.

As I told her, it doesn't mean that the super bread is less healthy, it has more nutrients and vitamins in it, but it also is more energy dense. So these decisions are things you need to make, informed decisions. I went with the white bread because I'm on a deficit, and I showed her how I can make a wholesome breakfast, with turkey, cheese, ham, bread, and salad, for less than 400 calories.