
A new marketing campaign from the
New York Department of Health has one message: “Read ’em before you eat ’em.” The Health Department is trying to help New Yorkers use the calorie posting rules to their advantage when it comes to making smart food decisions. The advertisements are being posted in 20 percent of the
subway cars and I'd be interested to see if the ad campaign really has any effect on anyone. Though I do like that they picked food items that some folks consider healthy like a large apple bran muffin and the chicken burrito.

With so many people trying to lose weight, counting calories seems to be on everybody's mind. Some people keep
food journals or
measure out their portions to monitor their calorie intake. Others follow a
dietitian's strict food plan, and some people just guesstimate the amount of calories they eat in daily.

There's nothing wrong with knocking back a few cocktails at your
Memorial Day festivities, but don't let those empty calories destroy your efforts to
eat healthy. Here are five smart solutions for cutting down on cocktail calories.
- Dilute your juice.

If you spend a lot of time eating out, then be realistic about how many calories you think you're consuming. MSNBC reported on a recent study that found we all tend to
underestimate how many calories we're eating when eating out — by 93 percent!
If you're eating something that seems like it is healthy, like a whole grain bagel with a thin layer of veggie cream cheese, then it probably is.