Make an Exchange

Appetizer
So you're absolutely dying for some chocolate, but your new diet forbids it? You should kick that diet to the curb, and forbid yourself from LESS foods. There are really very few horrible foods, so nearly anything can be enjoyed in moderation.

Instead of worrying about what you can't have, you should take a small amount of whatever you're craving, calculate the calories, and agree to do something that will work those calories off. Read on for some examples...

Main Course
In exchange for some of these yummy snacks, you could spend 30 minutes doing the adjacent activity to cancel out the calories. This makes healthy living much more palatable, don't you think?

1 handful of baked chips (about 20 chips): 120 calories
Grocery Shopping: Burn 119 calories

3 fun-size 3 Musketeers bars: 190 calories
Mowing the lawn manually: Burn 187 calories

1 cup air-popped popcorn: Only 30 calories!
Watching a movie: Burn 31 calories

3 mini-chocolate-chip cookies: 90 calories
Playing frisbee: 102 calories

Source of calorie counts: Health magazine

Dessert
Exchanging your favorite foods for physical activity is a pretty simple concept, but sometimes it can be difficult to find out how many calories are burned during different activities. Whenever I want to check up on activity calories, I visit the Calorie Burner on Prevention's website.

It is the perfect tool for making calorie exchanges because it tells you how many calories you could burn doing different exercises AND regular household tasks. It takes your weight into consideration, so it's more accurate than regular charts, and it even lets you know what you can eat in exchange for the calories you burned.

Here's an example:
I wanted to know how many calories I burn in 30 minutes of sweeping the floor, and here's what it told me...

"You burned 82.44 calories, or the equivalent of:
5-oz. red wineor
1 tbsp. mayonnaise
1 oz. beef pastramior
2 small chocolate chip cookies
1 banana

You can burn 164.82 calories, if you extend the activity duration to 60 minutes."

How great is that? Give it try, and let me know what you think.

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.