If you can swap mayo for mustard, you can change your life. You think I’m kidding? I’m not. Keep reading.
You make ~200 food choices every day. (Journal of Environment and Behavior, Jan. 2007)
👍 Here’s the good news: the food choices that you make on any given day don’t really matter that much. (Relax and eat some freaking birthday cake, bro.)
👎 Here’s the harsh reality: the food choices that you recreate daily will determine your long term results. (Everyday is somebody’s birthday, and you can’t celebrate them all with cake.)
Over time, certain choices become habits.
“First we make our habits, then our habits make us.”
John Dryden
When played out over months and years, your tiny habits can yield big changes.
Here’s how changing your condiments can change your life.
Just because I care about you, I made this infographic to show you the Calories in different condiments. Here are my favorite condiments, ranked from highest to lowest on the Calorie scale:
And here’s an example to illustrator how your condiment habits can change your life:
🥪 Frank and Suzy eat sandwiches for lunch, Monday though Friday, for an entire year. Frank puts mayo on his sandwich. Suzy puts mustard on hers.
Buckle your seatbelts. Here comes some math.
- (50g of mayo) x (5 days) x (52 weeks) = 91,000 Calories for Frank
- (50g of mustard) x (5 days) x (52 weeks) = 3,250 Calories for Suzy
- (91,000 Calories for Frank) – (3,250 Calories for Suzy) = 87,750 Calories saved
- (87,750 Calories saved) / (3,500 Calories in 1lb of body-fat) = 25lbs of body-fat saved
That’s right. This simple condiment swap could save you 25 pounds of body-fat per year.
No. We should not boycott mayonnaise. It’s still delicious! Especially on french fries. 🍟 (Trust me.)
Instead, you should enjoy mayonnaise responsibly. Moderate your condiment habits.
Did you add a teaspoon or a serving spoon? 🥄 There’s a big difference between 20g of mayo (140 Calories) and 200g of mayo (1400 Calories).
👍 Here’s more good news: it’s pretty hard to over-consume mustard.
👍 Here’s some great news: it’s damn near impossible to over-consume hot sauce… but I will certainly keep trying. 🔥
Remember. There’s no such thing as inherently good or bad food. There are only foods that happen to be more or less aligned with your current goals. Whatever your goals may be, there’s a sauce (or a substitute) for you.
*I often substitute Ranch Dressing for a combination of greek yogurt, fresh dill, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and apple cider vinegar. It’s high-protein, low-Calorie deliciousness!
But if you want the easy way out… join me on the dark side. Together, we can become. We can ditch the wine-tastings, and become connoisseurs of the world’s finest hot sauce. 😜 (Have you seen my hot sauce Q+As?)