Eat Out Eat Well

Calorie Tips, Healthy Eating, Food Facts

Are You A Smart Snacker When You’re Out Shopping?

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There are food courts and coffee shops around every bend and on every corner – and all of them seem to sell peppermint and gingerbread goodies that scream, “Holiday.”  That can really test your willpower.

A hot skim latte is a great snack – soothing, calorie controlled, with a nice amount of protein.  A nice giant hot coffee drink filled with syrup and whipped cream – often clocking in at 400 to 500 calories — might be soothing but sure isn’t great for your waistline.

Ditto on mega sized soft pretzels, muffins, scones, and croissants. Think about carrying portion controlled nuts or a protein bar with you to make it a little easier to resist temptation.

And Remember, These Calories Still Count . . .

Do you tend to forget about the:

  • large pretzel with cheese topping that you bought at the mall to snack on while shopping
  • 3 mini candy canes you snagged from the receptionist’s desk
  • couple of samples of cheesecake you grabbed at Costco
  • grilled cheese sandwich you finished off of your child’s plate
  • cookie batter you tasted and licked from the bowl and beaters
  • leftovers in the pot that you finished because there was too small an amount to save
  • tastes of chocolate bark and spiced pecans your coworker offered you
  • Christmas cookies that seem to be everywhere

They Still Count

All calories do count — it’s just that all too frequently we neglect to add them – remember them – or acknowledge them (that would mean having to admit that you ate that candy bar).

You can try writing down everything that you eat – not at the end of the day but when you eat it  – you’re forced to acknowledge all of the random food that you pop into your mouth.  This might be especially helpful during holiday season – or during times of stress – when it’s easy to mindlessly overeat and then to overlook (and then wonder why your pants are tight).

Some Tips

  • Only eat it if you want it. Eat what you want not what you think you should.
  • Skip the everyday food – the stuff that’s available all of the time. If you’re going to indulge, splurge on the special stuff (and make it count).
  • Don’t put yourself in the face of danger – in other words, stay away from all of those place you know will have fantastic treats freely available for the taking – especially if they happen to be your trigger foods.

For more hints and tips about holiday eating get my book,  The Sensible Holiday Eating Guide: How To Enjoy Your Favorite Foods Without Gaining Weight, available from Amazon for your kindle or kindle reader.

 

Leftovers Will Defeat The Best Laid Diet Plans

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You open the fridge door right after the holiday party and what do you see?  Leftover pie, cake, stuffing, turkey, ham, potatoes, lasagna, pizza – you name it.

With all of that tempting stuff staring at you, how can you possibly not nibble away?

The best laid plans have been defeated by left over stuffing – or pie – or lasagna (in my house, it’s pastitsio rather than lasagna).

Don’t forget, nibbling during clean up counts as leftovers, too. Broken cookies, pieces of piecrust, and the last spoonfuls of stuffing haven’t magically lost their calories.

The Two Most Effective Things To Do

1.  The first most effective way to handle leftovers:  Get Them Out Of The House through whatever means you choose.  Here are some “getting them out of the house” options:

  • Send them home with your family and friends — right away – as they’re going out the door.  The longer the leftovers are in your kitchen, the greater the chance you’ll eat them.
  • Throw them out.  Some people might consider it a sin to throw food out.  You need to weigh what works best for you and your conscience – whether to keep the food and eat it or to let the garbage man take it away.  You could always feed some animals if you like, too.
  • Bring it to someone in need.  There must be a food pantry or shelter that would welcome some extra food. There are many people who would appreciate a meal that they are unable to provide for themselves and their families.
  • Take it to the office or send it along with someone to take to his or her office.  There always seem to be ravenous people in offices.  Just don’t eat someone else’s leftovers as you try to get rid of yours.

2.  If you just can’t bring yourself to get your leftovers out of the house: Hide The Stuff That Tempts You.  Out of sight, out of mind is really true. We all tend to eat more when it’s right in front of us.  Food we like – especially higher calorie sugary, fatty, and salty foods, which means many holiday foods —  trigger cravings and eating.

  • Keep the veggies in the front of the fridge and the chocolate pudding in the back.
  • If the food hasn’t made its exit immediately, package it up and store put it in the back of the fridge where you can’t see it at first glance (and might forget about it).
  • Freeze it – although freezing alone isn’t enough to deter some leftover hunters (frozen butter cookies still taste great). Shove the food all the way in the back of the freezer behind the frozen peas where you can’t see it and have to move things around to get at it. It will help.
  • If you’ve bought jumbo size packages of anything in anticipation of holiday company and still have some food left in the packages — put that excess away, too.  Put it somewhere inconvenient so you’ll have to work to get at it. Once again: out of sight and, hopefully, out of mind.  Put it far away, too.  We tend to be lazy so if you have to exert energy to get the food it may take some of the desire out of it.  So store the food in the basement or garage — someplace out of the kitchen.

In Case You Keep The Leftovers

Here are guidelines to help you avoid getting sick along with stuffed.

  • Remember:  2 Hours–2 Inches–4 Days
  • Food can stay unrefrigerated for a maximum of 2 hours from the time it is taken out of the oven and then placed in the refrigerator.
  • Refrigerate or freeze leftovers within 2 hours of cooking by any method — otherwise throw the leftover food away.
  • Leftover food should be stored at a maximum of 2 Inches of thickness so it cools quickly.
  • Food should spend a maximum of 4 days in the refrigerator–otherwise freeze it.
  • The exception to 4 days in the fridge: stuffing and gravy should be used within 2 days. Reheat solid leftovers to 165 degrees F and liquid leftovers to a rolling boil. Toss what you don’t finish.
  • Frozen leftover turkey, stuffing, and gravy should be used within one month.
  • To successfully freeze leftovers, package them properly using freezer wrap or freezer containers. Use heavy-duty aluminum foil, freezer paper, or freezer bags for best results and don’t leave any air space. Squeeze the excess air from the freezer bags. Without proper packaging, circulating air in the freezer can create freezer burn – those white dried-out patches on the surface of food that make it tough and tasteless.
  • Leave a one-inch headspace in containers with liquid and half an inch in containers filled with semi-solids.

Those big holiday meals are coming up!  For more hints and tips about holiday eating get my book,  The Sensible Holiday Eating Guide: How To Enjoy Your Favorite Foods Without Gaining Weight, available from Amazon for your kindle or kindle reader.

Can You Deal With One Fantastic Holiday Treat A Day?

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Peppermint candy and holiday chocolates at the receptionist’s desk.  Candy canes at the dry cleaners.  A rotating selection of Christmas cookies on just about everyone’s desk.  Happy holiday food gifts from grateful clients. Your neighbor’s specialty pie. And that doesn’t include the fantastic spreads at holiday parties and family events!

It’s All So Tempting

It‘s incredibly difficult not to nibble your way through the day when you have all of these treats tempting you at every turn. How many times do your senses need to be assaulted by the sight of sparkly cookies and the holiday scent of eggnog or spiced roasted nuts before your hand reaches out and the treat is popped into your mouth?

Be Realistic

It’s the holidays and even though some of these treats are a week’s worth of calories, by depriving yourself of them you’re denying yourself the tradition of celebrating with food.

Make the distinction between mindful indulgence in the spirit of celebration as opposed to mindless indulgence in the spirit of trying to taste everything or to soothe your psyche by eating.  The first is part of the nurturing, sharing, and communal spirit of eating, the latter is an element of emotional and over eating.

Nix The Restrictive Thinking

Creating a restrictive mentality by denying yourself a treat that’s always been part of your holiday celebration means it’s just a matter of time until you start an eating fest that only ends when there’s no more left to taste. Think of this:  what would it be like to swear that you won’t eat a single Christmas cookie when those cookies have been a part of your Christmas since you were a little kid and you baked them with your Mom?

Pick One – And Make It Special

You know that you are going to indulge.  Pick your treat, limit it to one, and enjoy it. To help control the temptation, decide early in the day what your treat will be and stick with your decision. If you wait until later in the day when all the food is right in front of you and you’re hungry and tired, you’ll find that your resolve is not quite as strong!

Just remember that the added treats are added calories – on top of what your body already needs.  And, those treats are often forgotten calories – until you try to snap your jeans.  So remember to figure the treats into the overall scheme of things.

Of course, if you don’t want to indulge on any given day – no one is forcing you.  In the world of caloric checks and balances, that’s money in the band.

Make an informed choice, too.  Being informed doesn’t deprive you of deliciousness, but does arm you with an element of control.  If you know the calorie count of certain foods, you can make the best choice.  For instance, perhaps you enjoy both wine and eggnog.  If you know that one cup of eggnog has around 343 calories and 19 grams of fat and a five ounce glass of red wine has around 125 calories and no fat – which would you choose?

For more hints and tips about holiday eating get my book,  The Sensible Holiday Eating Guide: How To Enjoy Your Favorite Foods Without Gaining Weight, available from Amazon for your kindle or kindle reader.

 

It’s A Celebration: How Many Calories Will You Be Drinking?

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Are you indulging in celebratory cheer? Toasting to the New Year?

Just a heads up: all of those drinks can really pack a caloric punch.  So, just like drinking wisely (and of course, not driving), don’t forget to factor in all those calories.

16% Of Calories?

The CDC released a report showing that adults in the US take in, on average, almost 100 calories a day from alcoholic beverages:  around 150 calories for men and a little over 50 calories for women.

On any given day, 33% of men and 18% of women get some of their calories from alcoholic beverages and of those who drink, almost 20% of men and 6% of women get more than 300 of their calories.  That’s equal to 2 or more 12 ounce beers, more than 2 and 1/2 glasses of wine (12.5 oz), or more than 4 and 1/2 ounces of spirits.

Of the people who drink, on any day they’re drinking they get approximately 16% of their total calories from alcoholic beverages – the same percentage of overall calories that children in the US get from added sugars.

A standard drink is 1.5 ounces of hard liquor, 5 ounces of wine, or 12 ounces of beer.  Think about that when someone pours with a heavy hand.  Odds are that five ounces of wine is far less than what you might pour into your glass and in most cases it’s hard to judge the amount of alcohol in eggnog or punch.

A Sampling Of Calories In Holiday Cheer

Alcohol has 7 calories a gram. Because alcohol doesn’t register as “food” in your GI tract or your brain, it doesn’t fill you up the way food would. Consequently, you can drink a lot and still not feel stuffed (perhaps drunk, but not stuffed). Alcohol also lowers your inhibitions; your resolve to not eat everything in sight often flies right out the window.

  • 12 ounces of beer has 153 calories and 13.9 grams of alcohol
  • 12 ounces of lite beer has 103 calories and 11 grams of alcohol
  • 5 ounces red wine has 125 calories and 15.6 grams of alcohol
  • 5 ounces of white wine has 121 calories and 15.1 grams of alcohol
  • 1 1/2 ounces (a jigger) of 80 proof (40% alcohol) liquor has 97 calories and 14 grams of alcohol
  • Drinking light beer rather than regular saves about 50 calories a bottle
  • A frozen margarita has about 45 calories an ounce
  • A plain martini, no olives or lemon twist, has about 61 calories an ounce
  • An 8 oz white Russian made with light cream has 715 calories
  • An 8 oz cup of eggnog has about 343 calories and 19 grams of fat thanks to alcohol, heavy cream, eggs, and sugar
  • Mulled wine, a combination of red wine, sugar/honey, spices, orange and lemon peel, has about 210 to 300 calories per 5 ounces, depending on how much sweetener is added
  • One cup (8 oz) of apple cider – without any additives – has 115 calories
  • A mixed drink runs about 250 calories.  Watch your mixers — per ounce club soda has no calories, tonic has10, classic coke has 12, Canada Dry ginger ale has 11, orange juice has 15, and cranberry juice has 16
  • One hot buttered rum has 218 calories
  • One Irish coffee has 218 calories
  • One cup of coffee with cream and sugar runs at least 50 calories (more if it’s sweet and light)
  • 1 glass cider or sparkling grape juice has 120 calories
  • Champagne is a comparative caloric bargain at about 19 calories an ounce

For more hints and tips for handling celebrations get my book,  The Sensible Holiday Eating Guide: How To Enjoy Your Favorite Foods Without Gaining Weight, available from Amazon for your kindle or kindle reader.

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How To Slim Down Your Holiday Baking

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Bake With Less Sugar And Butter (You Can Really Get Away With It)

Does holiday season mean, among other things, baking lots of cookies:  spritz, rolled, ginger bread men, meringues, pies, biscuits, breads, and whatever other recipe sounds good?  Maybe not fruit cake.

The total number of butter and sugar calories in all of these baked delights would be so staggering it would absolutely spoil the deliciousness.

There are ways to lower the calories in baked goods without drastically affecting the taste or texture.  In most cases, no one will even notice.

Some Baking Substitutions To Try

  • Decrease the amount of fat and sugar called for in your recipe.  Decreasing the amount of sugar by a third doesn’t even really affect the taste – although sometimes you need to experiment to see how it might affect the texture, too.
  • For brownies, fruit breads, and cake-like cookies, use ¼ cup of applesauce and ¼ cup of vegetable oil or butter instead of a half cup of oil or butter – OR — replace half the butter or oil with unsweetened applesauce, pureed pumpkin, or mashed bananas. For every half-cup of oil you replace with pureed pumpkin, you’ll save more than 900 calories and 100 grams of fat  — and pumpkin keeps baked goods moist.
  • Use 2 egg whites or ¼ cup egg substitute for one egg; use 3 egg whites and 1 egg yolk for 2 whole eggs.
  • Decrease the amount of sugar in your recipe by up to a half and add ginger, lemon zest, cinnamon, or cloves to spark the flavor.
  • Substitute nonfat sweetened condensed milk for sweetened condensed milk.
  • Use evaporated skim milk instead of evaporated milk.
  • Instead of sour cream use nonfat or low fat sour cream, pureed low-fat cottage cheese, or low or nonfat Greek yogurt.
  • Substitute low or nonfat cream cheese for full fat cream cheese.
  • Substitute non-fat, 1%, or 2% milk for whole milk and half and half for cream.
  • Substitute 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, chopped dried fruit, or chopped nuts for 1 cup of chocolate chips.
  • Swap 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoon of oil or water for one ounce of baking chocolate.
  • For frosting use sliced fresh fruit with a dusting of powdered sugar, sweetened and flavored (vanilla, peppermint) nonfat cream cheese, or nonfat whipping cream.
  • Use whole wheat flour (12g of fiber per cup) or ground flax for up to half of your recipe’s white flour. Regular whole wheat flour will make baked goods heavier and denser.  Try using white whole wheat four that is higher in fiber and nutrients than refined flour but is lighter than regular whole wheat flour.
  • For fruit pies, use half the sugar called for in the recipe – a savings of 774 calories for every cup of sugar you don’t use.
  • Substitute part-skim ricotta cheese for cream cheese in cheesecake, which doubles the protein and cuts the fat by about 60 grams for each substituted cup.

Tastes Aren’t Calorie Free

It’s amazing how little tastes and nibbles are so easy to forget in the calorie ledger.  Just remember — the dough from the bowl has the same number of calories as the baked cookie – and they add up pretty quickly!  Dump the bowls and beaters into the sink as soon as you’re finished with them to help resist the temptation of licking the batter off of the beaters and out of the bowls.

For more hints and tips about holiday eating get my book,  The Sensible Holiday Eating Guide: How To Enjoy Your Favorite Foods Without Gaining Weight, available from Amazon for your kindle or kindle reader.