Got milk? Well if you've got full fat milk and you add some Nesquick, you've got more than seven grams of fat and more than 230 calories in each cup.

What was more surprising to Juliette Darrell when she opened her fridge to dietitian Tony Ward, was how easy it would be to cut those numbers in half.

With exclamations of disbelief at how many calories were in her favourite drink, Juliette was shocked as Tony introduced her to semi-skim milk and Nesquick powder with no sugar added.

Juliette, who is the mother of one biological son and four adopted children, was the one brave soul who e-mailed this paper in response to requests for personal stories.

Last year the 44-year-old bet her father she could lose 20 pounds by Christmas and she did – going from 274 pounds to 254 pounds.

Having the contents of her fridge analysed was one more step to the weight loss and change in lifestyle she started last year.

As she answered the door, though, she looked quite unsure about what she had gotten herself into. Tony, however, began delicately walking her through each product asking how she ate it and when she ate it.

Starting with the door, Tony grabbed the peanut butter asking how she ate the spread, which can be high in fat and sodium.

"But I snack on spoons of peanut butter. You know I don't want to eat the carbs so I just take a spoon when I'm hungry," she said.

Clearly different diets, low carb, low calorie, etc. were confusing things for the mom who had already lost her 20 pounds last year by cutting out Coca-Cola.

But really, explained Tony, spreading it on wholewheat bread means you eat less peanut butter and will also fill you up so you don't keep going back.

The condiments got the worst review with creamy salad dressing bearing the brunt of his criticism.

Tony said: "Everybody thinks salads are good but with dressing on them it's actually more calories then the cheeseburger."

Though her creamy salad dressing advertised itself as being eight grams of fat, that's in only two table spoons and no one, according to the stern dietitian, eats only two tablespoons.

After the dressing is added, then those fruits and veggies could be 20 grams of fat — almost an entire day's serving of fat for a woman.

Surprisingly the eggs in her fridge door got a glowing review, but he warned it depended on how they were cooked, with poached or scrambled the best ways.

"I would say about five a week is OK," said Tony as Juliette quickly hushed him saying she actually only fed her children one a week.

Tony reminded her that the eggs are a good source of protein and variety from other protein sources like meat and cheese.

However, for meat in sandwiches, there were more suggestions from her dietician for a day. "Buy a whole turkey or chicken, cook it how you like with spices and slice it," according to Tony.

"It's cheaper and you have more control over what is in the meat and can slice it to include in sandwiches," he said.

Each of the suggestions for Juliette were with the idea of lifestyle maintenance and choosing options that are low fat and low calorie to try small changes that can make a big difference.

Juliette's fridge wasn't too bad, but according to Tony, there were easy trade-offs that could help her lose weight with very little sacrifice.

He warned, though: "Don't give up the starchy food because that's what gives you the energy you need. When you eat something sweet it keeps you up and then down."

That's why Juliette said she gave up Coca Cola.

She said: "I can exercise every morning and night, but it's food that's my biggest problem. As a stay-at-home mom I can do well for a day or two then I slip back.

"That's why I haven't drunk coke for 30 months."

So for Juliette it's probably best for her to eat five smaller meals a day and including healthy snacks like Kashi cereal and a piece of wholewheat bread with peanut butter rather than three meals.

But, said Tony: "You have to stay on a routine. Try to have your main meal in the afternoon and try not to eat too late in the evening.

"If you're snacking, go for carrots and veggies. It's about willpower, though, and will have to carry on forever."

Beaming, even after Tony and this paper went through her fridge and all of her cupboards, Juliette said she felt a renewed sense of direction.

She said: "If I couldn't do this before, I can do it now."

SMALL STEPS TO HEALTHIER EATING

Most of the time healthy eating does not mean a complete overhaul of the food you eat.

It only takes small changes like adding water to your apple juice and choosing cottage cheese instead of sliced cheese to have a big impact on your health.

While looking through Juliette Darrell's fridge, Tony Ward, clinical dietician at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital offered her these healthy alternatives:

l Instead of Fruit Cups in sugar water, choose Fruit Cups in juice: The juice version provides healthier natural sugars rather than refined sugar.

• Instead of regular Nesquick choose Nesquick (no sugar added): Regular Nesquick adds 13 grams of sugar to the sugar already in milk while the healthier alternative adds only three grams.

• Instead of Honey Smacks Cereal choose Kashi Go Lean Cereal: There are 16 grams of sugar in one serving of Honey Smacks while the healthier alternative has no sugar added and a good amount of potassium. The healthier alternative is also a good easy snack during the day.

• Instead of apple juice straight, add water to your juice: While juice is good for you it is also very high in sugar. A serving is one cup but to quench thirst, make the bottle last and cut the calories add half a cup of water to half a cup of juice.

• Instead of full milk choose semi-skim milk: The full milk has seven grams of fat per serving while semi-skim has only 2.5g but still packs all the protein and calcium that full milk does.

Semi-skim also has only 15 calories per serving versus the 150 calories in full fat milk.

• Instead of a tortilla choose whole-wheat bread or a pita: Tortillas are high in sodium while bread has only 3mg of sodium per serving. Pita can be toasted and used as crackers for a snack serving, lowering the fat and sodium of each serving.

• Instead of Kraft Cheese Slices choose Semi-Skim Cottage Cheese: In one cup of cottage cheese there is only 918mg of sodium while in the same serving size of Kraft there is 3,120mg. The cottage cheese also had only 2g of fat as opposed to 31g of fat in the Kraft product.

• Instead of processed sliced turkey, substitute cooked turkey or chicken and slice it yourself: The more processed the meat, the more likely for salt and other preservatives to be added. It is healthier to control the sodium by cooking your own and then slicing it for sandwiches.

For advice on healthy eating, call the Bermuda Dietitian's Association at 239-3567.