Healthy versus unhealthy

Take a look at these two lists:

List A
Salad (3/4 cup with one tbs. ranch dressing -- lettuce, carrot, and tomato)
Apple (2)
Black beans ( 1 cup canned)
Banana (two small)
Lowfat yogurt ( 1 cup vanilla)
Fish (8.5 oz grilled ocean cod)
Orange juice (Tropican 16 oz.)
Baked chicken ( 7 oz. breast)

List B
Hershey's kisses (4 pieces)
Ice cream (2/3 cup Breyer's vanilla)
Soda (16 oz. cola; non-diet)
French fries (McDonald's small fry)
Cookies (4 Oreo)
Potato chips (1/2 oz Ruffles BBQ)
Pizza (Pizza Hut - one slice medium cheese with thing crust)
Hamburger (McDonald's regular hamburger)

Okay -- what opinions have you already formed about these lists? Have you already rated them in the "Healthy" and "Unhealthy" categories?

So...which one is which?

Which one looks more like the food you eat in a day?

Which one would make you gain weight quicker?

Okay -- you have answered all these questions right? Seriously. Take a look at the list -- when I did, I divided it up into the likelihood I could get a full days worth of meals out of each of them. Which one would be more satisfying to eat? Which one (if you weren't so conscientious about setting aside judgment) would make you feel the most guilty for eating?

These were some of the questions researchers asked study participants when showing them these food lists. The answers I would expect to hear from you are pretty straight forward -- just reflexively, most of us have been trained to see list A as a better choice. A healthier choice.

But here is the kicker:

List A's calorie content 1600 cal.
List B's calorie content 1669 cal.

List A and B are separated by 69 cal!!!

I have given it a decent amount of thought since I came across this study and I think I would be hard pressed to eat all of the food in List B. There is enough fat in that list to provide some satiety for a while. It doesn't appear that List A would do that for me for a whole day -- there just doesn't look like that much satisfying food.

What are you using your food for? If it is weight loss, each of these lists are (nearly -- separated by 69 calories) as "Healthy" of a choice. And one definitely NOT make you feel like you are on a diet!