For our March 9th Question of the Week, over 67% of respondents chose the best answer!

Before we start though, if you don’t want any spoilers and haven’t tried the question yet, you can answer below: Answer Question

Question: JR wants to lose weight in the next 30 days by drinking less juice.  There are 100 calories per glass of juice and JR usually drinks 3 glasses a day. 

How much weight would JR lose by only drinking 1 glass a day?

Answer Choices:

1. 0.85 pounds
2. It depends on the type of juice
3. 1.7 pounds
4. 3000 calories

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As shown above, the most common choice was option 3, the second most common answer was option 1, then option 2, and finally option 4.

Getting to the Best Answer

If you are thinking about taking the certification exam, the content of this practice test question will set you up for success. The exam will present questions that require test takers to apply their math skills to a word problem and choose the BEST answer. If you see a question that requires math, just take a deep breath, read the question carefully and call upon your abundant common sense. For this particular question, we also need to know that 1 pound equals 3,500 kcals.

Answers & Rationale

Answer 1 is incorrect, 19.89% chose this answer. “0.85 pounds”. This was the juicy answer designed to distract test takers from the best answer. JR was drinking 3 glasses of juice and is reducing their intake by 2 glasses of juice. Their net calorie reduction, therefore, is not one glass a day, but 2 glasses a day. Each glass contains 100 calories, leading to a 30-day calorie deficit of 6,000 calories a month (not 3,000 calories).

Answer 2 is incorrect, 7.73% of you chose this answer. “It depends on the type of juice”. Since we are given the caloric content of the juice, we don’t need to know what kind of juice to get the best answer.

Answer 3 is correct, 67.96% of you chose this answer “1.7 pounds”. Good job. JR was drinking 3 glasses of juice and is reducing their intake by 2 glasses of juice. Each glass contains 100 calories. This leads to a 200 calorie a day deficit, and a 30-day calorie deficit of 6,000 calories. 6,000 calories divided by 3,500 calories (1 pound) equals 1.7 pounds.

Answer 4 is incorrect, 4.42% of you chose this answer. “3,000 calories”. If you go back to the root of the question, it asks the test taker, “How much weight” would JR lose. Weight is expressed in kg or pounds, not calories. By making sure the answers’ unit of measure matches the questions’ unit of measure, test takers can eliminate wrong answers.

Special note: I want to acknowledge that weight and weight loss are complicated. It is so much more than a function of calories consumed or deprived. There are hormones, genetics, set-points, co-conditions, and a whole range of other influencing factors that contribute to weight at any given time. This sample test question does not address these factors since its main focus was providing a word problem with math calculations.

I would encourage you to check out this blog on Diabetes and Diet Culture, which interviews Megrette Fletcher, M.Ed., RD, CDCES, co-founder of The Center for Mindful Eating, co-founder of WN4DC Symposium, and author of five mindful eating books. Megrette is a trailblazer in the field and offers a new approach that values the individual first and encourages us to address our own weight biases.

We hope you appreciate this week’s rationale! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our Question of the Week and participate in this fun learning activity!

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