Take Responsibility For What You Put In Your Body

"10 Weight-loss Myths That Can Ruin Your Diet"

From Webster:

Diet
1 a : food and drink regularly provided or consumed b : habitual nourishment c : the kind and amount of food prescribed for a person or animal for a special reason d : a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight diet>

Notice that the last of those definitions is the one to which most people would think I was referring. The mind-set you have to get yourself into is that of the very first definition. Diet is regular; habitual. The suggestions in the above MSNBC Health & Fitness article are meant to influence your diet lifestyle, and are not a short-term regimen to look good for the summer.

Helpful hint: A family tradition of ours is to order one dessert after dinner out at a restaurant. We ask for a spoon or fork for everyone at the table and each person has a bite or two. A taste of a very rich dessert is a nice way to end a meal without feeling stuffed.

This is a GREAT website that shows nutritional information for many, many restaurants:

http://www.dietfacts.com/fastfood.asp

I was planning on showing the nutritional info for a slice of Cheesecake Factory cheesecake, but this is the company's official statement:

"Thank you for your interest in The Cheesecake Factory. Because we change our recipes and menu often, we do not currently have nutrition information for our menu selections.

Sincerely,
Guest Services for The Cheesecake Factory Restaurants, Inc."

This is what I found after a little research:

Main Menu Item (Per Slice)

Low Carb Cheesecake (made w/Splenda) (420 cal/38 g fat/12 g fiber/35 g carb) Original Cheesecake (640 cal/45 g fat/54 g carb)
White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle (910 cal/61 g fat/81 g carb)
Vanilla Bean Cheesecake (870 cal/62 g fat/69 g carb) Dulce de Leche Caramel Cheesecake (1010 cal/71 g fat/84 g carb)
Keylime Cheesecake (710 cal/49 g fat/64 g carb)
Brownie Sundae Cheesecake (960 cal/62 g fat/96 g carb)
Fresh Banana Cream Cheesecake (860 cal/61 g fat/70 g carb)

The most decadent cheesecakes would account for almost half of the recommended calories one should consume in a day in just one slice. The USDA recommended total daily fat intake is 65 grams! You could spend half your calories, and more than an entire day's fat allowance on ONE SLICE of Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. I hope this requires no more explanation.