Diets and Discipline: Empty Calories
| This is an entry in the Diets and Discipline series. You can find more information at the series’ main page.
This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3) |
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We’ve already talked about what calories are, and we know that they’re bad. But what are ‘empty calories’? It sounds like they might be calories with no fat, or calories that don’t make you fat, right? What does empty mean?
I like indulgences much more than I like diets, so I don’t talk much about calories of any kind. But, I will tell you that you’ll hear the word ‘empty calories’ from the same people who like to criticize the food you eat. (Hint: they aren’t a good thing.)
Before You Listen to the Recording
Think about the food you eat. Think about the food you ate so far today, or that you plan to eat today. Then think about your favorite foods. You’re going to want to think about a few foods when you listen to the recording.
Now start the recording.
After You Listen to the Recording
Okay. How many of the foods that you thought of before you started the recording are ‘only empty calories?’ I know that the alcohol I like so much—beer, wine, whiskey—is nothing but empty calories. But I try to only indulge on the weekend, and I figure it doesn’t matter.
Not everyone uses phrases like ‘empty calories.’ Are you the kind of person who thinks about things like this? How would you use the phrase: to describe the food you eat, or describe the food a friend (or acquaintance) eats?
