Americans eat more than 28 pounds of cheese a year and some nutritionists believe the habit is making us fat. The quantity is too much. Drayer says while cheese provides calcium and protein, it's loaded with calories and artery-clogging saturated fat, but the killer is that almost no one realizes that the correct portion size is astoundingly small. A tiny 1-ounce cube packs 120 calories and 10 grams of fat. The problem is that most of us eat much more than that, maybe 5 or 6 ounces at a sitting, especially at parties.
People just grab the nuts.
Most people are unaware the proper serving size for nuts is only a quarter of a cup, which works out to a measly 10 macadamia nuts for a whopping 220 calories and 22 grams of fat. Even so-called healthy sunflower kernels have 170 calories and 15 fat grams per serving size, but few of us stop there. Other good choices include light cheese, cottage and ricotta cheese, mozzarella, and goat cheese. As for nuts, all are high in monounsaturated fat, which can lower bad cholesterol, but almonds and sunflower kernels have less fat, and by mixing them with raisins, you can cut calories by a third. Therefore you consume fewer calories.