FOOD AND WEIGHT
As described earlier in this chapter, the harder you work, the more food you need, just as a motor car consumes more petrol when going fast or going uphill. The work or energy that can be obtained from food is measured in calories. Some foods contain far more calories than others. One excellent calorie guide is How to Lose Weight Wisely, a booklet distributed by the National Heart Foundation of Australia. It can be obtained free of charge from the Foundation’s head office, Box 691, P.O., Canberra City, A.C.T., 2601, and from branch offices in each capital city.
Certain starchy vegetables have a high calorie value. They include baked and canned beans, green and canned corn, fresh peas, lima beans, potatoes, and rice. Also, fruit prepared with added sugar may be high in calories.
The following vegetables are intermediate between the low and high calorie ones: beetroot, carrots, canned green peas, onions, parsnips, pumpkin, squash, and turnips.
Among fruit, too, there are those that are high calorie: canned apricots, bananas, cherries, nectarines, pears, and plums. The following fruit are especially fattening: dates, figs, raisins, dried peaches, prunes, and apricots. The intermediate fruit include apples, blackberries, fresh grapes, fresh pears, and raspberries.
The person who ‘eats nothing’ and gains weight is undoubtedly concentrating on fattening foods. Some of these high-calorie foods are:
Butter, oleomargarine, cream
Oils and salad dressings
Lards and all foods fried in deep fat
Sweets, sugar, jelly, jam
Ice cream, malted milk, sodas
Bread, plain and sweet biscuits, cakes, pastries, rice, noodles, macaroni,
spaghetti Fat meats and gravies Potatoes
Corn, peas, beans (except string beans), figs, dates, and other dried fruit
Nuts and olives Chocolate and cocoa
On the other hand, the person who eats all the time and does not gain weight is apt to be selecting the less fattening, low-calorie foods, such as the ones given in the list that follows.
Lean meats and eggs
Skim milk and cottage cheese (most other cheeses are not low in calories)
Asparagus, string beans, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, eggplant, zucchini, endive, lettuce, mushrooms, pickles, radishes, sauerkraut, spinach, tomatoes
Blackberries, currants, gooseberries, grapefruit, rock-melon, oranges, fresh peaches, fresh pineapple, strawberries, watermelon
Not everyone can gain or lose weight simply by substituting some high calorie for some low calorie foods or vice versa. You may be eating so much or so little that this would have almost no effect on your total calorie intake.
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