A great way to determine the value of a certain food is by its generosity. The best foods are the ones that make you work the least and give you a whole bunch of nutrition in return. The nature of these wondrous foods lies in their extreme simplicity. Think lots of satisfaction with little calculation. When it comes to counting calories, they let you take your thinking caps off. They are calorie free foods and while they may be every math teachers’ worst nightmare, when it comes to helping you stick to a nutritious diet, they are a dream come true.

No matter how hard you try to escape them, the fact is calories do count. The good news is that there’s no reason you should draw the curtain on them. It’s true that if you eat more calories than your body can burn then you will gain weight. It’s also true, however, that depriving yourself of essential calories means depriving yourself of the energy you need to move and grow. The answer is balance and the key is to become calorie savvy.