WhatyourweightlostIQ

What's Your Weight-Loss IQ?

1. If you ate a chocolate bar (250 calories) and a bag of chips (160 calories) three times a week and didn't increase your physical activity, how long would it take you to gain one pound?

a. 3 days b. 1 week c. 10 days d. 3 weeks

2. You have a stack of pancakes with maple syrup (about 740 calories) for brunch on Sunday. How much exercise will you need to work it off?

a. 2 1/2 hours in aerobics class b. 3 1/2 hours brisk walking c. 3 1/2 hours bicycling d. Any one of the above

3. Which burns the most calories?

a. An hour of housework b. An hour of brisk walking c. An hour of bowling d. An hour of mowing the lawn

4. On the label of a typical bottle of salad dressing, it says one serving contains 130 calories and 13 g of fat. How much is one serving?.

a. 1 tablespoon b. 2 tablespoons c. 1/4 cup d. 1/3 cup

5. The difference in calories between 1 ounce of baked potato chips and 1 ounce of the regular deep-fried kind is:

a. 10 calories b. 20 calories c. 30 calories d. 40 calories

6. Even if you're dieting, you should still stick to the USDA Food Guide Pyramid's recommendation for grain foods: six to eleven servings per day. Which is an example of a serving of grain?

a. 1/2 slice of toast b. 1/2 hamburger bun c. 1 cup cooked rice d. 6 large crackers

7. Most women need about two 3-ounce servings of protein a day. One serving of lean meat, poultry or fish is about the same size as:

a. your hand b. a deck of cards c. a half-dollar coin d. a paperback book

Answers

1. d. Calories don't turn into pounds quite as fast as people think. It takes 3,500 extra calories to gain one pound, meaning today's chocolate bar isn't going to be tomorrow's lumpy thigh. So don't feel doomed if you've had an extra helping of pie, but don't get lulled into a false sense of security, either.

2. d. It takes a let less time to take calories in than to burn them off, a fact to he aware of when you eat something like a mile-high stack of pancakes.

3. d. Mowing the lawn (manually) burns roughly 300 calories an hour. Brisk walking comes in second (220 calories an hour); bowling, third (165 calories an hour); and housework fourth (135 calories an hour).

4. b. One serving of salad dressing is only 2 tablespoons--so drizzle, don't drown, your greens.

5. d. This is one product that lives up to its lower-fat advertising. Even forty calories can make some difference over time, and so can the gap between fat counts: The fried chips have 11 grams fat, the baked, 2 grams.

6. b. One half of a hamburger bun (or bagel or English muffin) is equal to one serving. One piece of toast (not 1/2 slice), 1/2 cup cooked rice (not one cup) and 3 to 4 large crackers (not 6) are also equal to one serving.

7. b. Keep your protein portions about the size of a deck of cards and you'll be in good shape.

How did you do?

7 correct answers: You're a diet pro. 6 to 3 correct answers: You're off to a good start, but you still may need to be vigilant, lest you start adding pounds. 2 to 0 correct answers: You still need to do some diet drills. Try a good book, such as The American Dietetic Association's Complete Food & Nutrition Guide (Chronimed Publishing, 1996).