Eat Out Eat Well

Calorie Tips, Healthy Eating, Food Facts

Do You Steal Candy From Your Kids’ Trick or Treat Bags?

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Trick Or Treat

Is there Halloween candy in your future (or present)?  It’s pretty hard to escape because candy is everywhere – on desks, in restaurants, even in my veterinarian’s office in a purple bowl with a dog bone painted on the side.

Halloween and the week afterward account for about 5% of all candy consumed for the year. Big box stores don’t wait for mid-October to start stocking their shelves — by the second week in September most of them have already filled their shelves with orange and black trimmed packages of mini-candy boxes and bars – right along side the school supplies.

What do you steal from your kids’ Trick or Treat bags? What do you go for first?

Don’t feel guilty if you have. If you’ve ever swiped candy from your kid’s trick or treat bag, you’re certainly not alone. According to the National Confectioners Association, 90% of parents confess they occasionally dip into their kid’s stash. I know I sure did.

Not only do parents swipe candy form their kids’ bags, they invade them big time — they eat one candy bar out of every two a child brings home.  Their favorite targets are snack-sized chocolate bars (70%), candy-coated chocolate pieces (40%), caramels (37%) and gum (26%).

How many calories are in Trick or Treat bags?

It’s been estimated that, on average, a child in the US collects between 3,500 and 7,000 worth of candy calories on Halloween night.

If you choose to eat all of that on top of your regular daily intake, you’re looking at a pound or two added to your waistline (or hips).

A One Day Indulgence Isn’t Such A Big Deal

One day of collecting (and eating) candy isn’t going to make a child – or an adult – overweight or obese (what it can do to behavior is another story).  It’s the constant bombardment with candy, sweets, and other treats that can lead to weight (and health) issues.

Some food (or candy) for thought: a treat is only a treat if it happens once in a while – like Halloween, birthdays, and other holidays.  If it’s a common occurrence it can become an expectation or a habit.

In Case You Want To Pick The Least Caloric Candy 

Here are the calories in some popular Halloween candy – just in case you might want to minimize the caloric damage (you didn’t read that wrong — candy has a big range of calories and fat grams):

  • Hershey’s Milk Chocolate: snack size .49-ounce bar; 67 calories; 4g fat
  • Snickers: Fun size; 80 calories; 4g fat
  • Tootsie Rolls: 6 midgee pieces; 140 calories; 3g fat
  • Skittles Original Bite Size Candies: Fun size bag; 60 calories; 0.7 g fat
  • M&Ms: Fun size bag; 73 calories; 3g fat
  • Butterfinger: Fun size; 85 calories; 3.5g fat
  • Tootsie Roll Pop
: 60 calories; 0g fat
  • Starburst Original Fruit Chews: 2 pieces; 40 calories: 40; 0.8g fat
  • Brach’s Candy Corn: 20 pieces; 150 calories; 0g fat
  • Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup:  Fun size; 80 calories, 4.5g fat
  • Peppermint Pattie:  Fun size; 47 calories; 1g fat
  • Kit Kat:  Fun size; 73 calories; 3.7g fat

Why is a Jack-o’-Lantern called a Jack-o’-Lantern?

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Jack O Lantern

Stingy Jack and the Devil

The story goes that the Jack-O’-Lantern comes from a legend that goes back hundreds of years in Irish history.

It’s said that a miserable old drunk named Stingy Jack — who liked to play tricks on his family, friends, and even the Devil — tricked the Devil into climbing up an apple tree.   Stingy Jack then put crosses around the apple tree’s trunk so the Devil couldn’t get down — but made a bargain that if the Devil promised not to take Stingy Jack’s soul when he died he would remove the crosses and let the Devil down.

When Jack died, Saint Peter, at the pearly gates of Heaven, told him that he couldn’t enter Heaven because he was mean, cruel, and had led a miserable and worthless life. Stingy Jack then went down to Hell but the Devil wouldn’t take him in.  Ultimate payback! Jack was scared and with nowhere to go he had to wander around in the darkness between Heaven and Hell.

Stingy Jack, Jack-o-Lanterns, and Halloween

Halloween, or the Hallow E’en in Ireland and Scotland, is short for All Hallows Eve, or the night before All Hallows. On All Hallows Eve the Irish made Jack-O’-Lanterns by hollowing out turnips, rutabagas, gourds, potatoes, and beets and put lights in them to keep away both the evil spirits and Stingy Jack.  In the 1800′s when Irish immigrants came to America, they discovered that pumpkins were bigger and easier to carve, and the pumpkin became the Jack-o’-lantern.

If You Want To Eat Your Pumpkin . . .

Jumping from legend to fact:  pumpkins are Cucurbitaceae, a family of vegetables that includes cucumbers and melons. They are fat free and can be baked, steamed, or canned.

One cup of pumpkin has about 30 calories, is high in vitamin C, potassium, dietary fiber, and other nutrients like folate, manganese, and omega 3′s.  Pumpkin is filled with the anti-oxidant beta-carotene, which gives it its rich orange color. It can be used many ways and can be added to baked goods and blended with many foods. Pumpkin seeds are delicious and are a good source of iron, copper, and zinc.

Although pumpkin is low in calories, pumpkin seeds aren’t. They have 126 calories in an ounce (about 85 seeds) and 285 calories in a cup.

Football, Food, and Beer

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football-food-beer-7-tips

 

It’s football season. With it comes fun, excitement, joy, angst, wringing of the hands, a whole new spin on vocabulary, and tons of food and drinks.

It seems that football is associated with nine main food groups: beer, wings, pizza, chips and dip, barbecued ribs, burgers, chili, sausage (especially bratwurst), and pulled pork. It’s a calorie bonanza.

When fans were asked in a national survey if game day calories count, 46% said their diet goes out the window when they’re tailgating or watching their team play. thirty-nine percent said calories count but that they still indulge in a few favorites on game day. No big surprise there.

7 Tips To Keep You Happy . . .

or at least your stomach and waistline happy — your favorite football team is responsible for your mental happiness (or anguish).

1. Be aware of what and how much you’re eating. Mindless munching is a calorie disaster. You’re shoving hundreds of calories into your mouth and it’s probably not even registering that you’re eating. Put a portion on a plate and eat it rather than a constant hand to mouth action off of a platter or open bowl. It’ll save you hundreds of calories.

2. Learn approximately how many calories are in a portion of your favorite game day food so you can make intelligent choices. That way you’re not denying yourself what you love, but if pulled pork has hundreds more calories than a grilled sausage and you love them both, would you choose one over the other?

3.  Save your calories for what you love and pass on the other stuff. You don’t have to eat something just because it’s there and it’s traditional football food. If you really don’t love guacamole why would you eat it? Salsa has a lot fewer calories.

4. Don’t be starving at game time (or for the pre-game tailgate). Have a healthy protein based snack (about 150 calories) before the game. Just don’t have a snack and then eat the same amount out of habit – then you’re just adding the snack calories to all of the others.

5.  Cut it down a little. Can you have 4 or 5 wings instead of 6 or 7? How about a slider instead of a burger, 2 pieces of pizza instead of 3, or ½ a grinder instead of a whole one? Put only 1 or 2 toppings on your chili instead of sour cream, cheese, guacamole, and a never-ending supply of chips or nachos.

6.  If you’re doing some shopping or cooking (or bringing food) for a tailgate or party, try making a slightly healthier version of your favorite food.

  • Fried chicken: Use crushed cornflakes for the breading and bake instead of fry
  • Nachos: Use low-fat cheese and salsa
  • Creamy dips: Use 2% yogurt instead of sour cream
  • Chips: Buy baked, not fried
  • Chili: Go beans only or use extra-lean ground beef or extra-lean ground turkey instead of ground chuck
  • Pizza: order thin crust instead of deep dish and stick with veggie toppings or plain cheese instead of pepperoni or meatball toppings

7. Beer. There’s huge variation between brands and types of beer. On average:

  • 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

Different types of beer and malt liquor can have very different alcohol content. Light beer can have almost as much alcohol as regular beer – about 85% as much.   Put another way, on average:

  • Regular beer: 5% alcohol
  • Some light beers: 4.2% alcohol
  • Malt liquor: 7% alcohol

For an extensive list of the calories in many popular brands of beer, click HERE.

Do you know someone who’s off to college?

Freshman-15-ebook-coverGet my book for some easy, doable tips on how to eat well in dining halls and dorm rooms.  Available in print and as an ebook from Amazon and as an ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Count Your Cashews: How Many Nuts and Calories Are In a Serving?

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Calories in Nuts

Nuts are amazing – they taste great and they’re full of fiber, nutrients, heart healthy fats, along with protein and, for most nuts, a minimal amount of carbohydrates. They’re a great addition to many dishes and they’re a delicious snack that can help tide you over until your next meal.

But, because nuts are loaded with fat (even though most of it is healthy fat, it’s still fat), it means they’re also high in calories. So, be careful of portions — a serving size of most nuts is one ounce. And, think twice about “dressed and spiced up” nuts like honey glazed, honey roasted, beer nuts, spiced (spices are often mixed with butter or oil), and nuts that have been candied.

Here’s some info to help you gauge how many nuts and calories are in a one-ounce serving:

  • 49 shelled pistachios, 162 calories
  • 23 almonds, 169 calories
  • 21 hazelnuts, 183 calories
  • 18 cashews, 163 calories
  • 19 pecans, 201 calories
  • 14 English walnut halves, 185 calories
  • 10-12 macadamias, 203 calories
  • 39 peanuts (technically a legume, not a nut),dry roasted, 170 calories

Is Your Coffee Giving You A Muffin Top?

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CoffeeMuffinTopGraphic

Are the calories in your favorite coffee the equivalent of the calories in a muffin – or your lunch — for that matter?

Calories and nutritional information for some Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts hot coffee drinks:

Calories and nutritional information for some iced and frozen coffee drinks:

Note: all info (with the exception of Burger King) is for a 16 ounce cup.

  • Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino with whipped cream, 16 ounces (grande): 400 calories, 15 g fat (9 g saturated), 64g carbohydrates.
  • Starbucks Mocha Light Frappuccino with nonfat milk, 16 ounces (grande): 130 calories, 0.5g fat, (0 g saturated), 28g carbohydrates.
  • Iced Caffe Latte with nonfat milk, 16 ounces (grande):  90 calories, 0g fat, 13g carbohydrates.
  • Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee Coolata made with whole milk, 16 ounces (small):  240 calories, 4 g fat (2.5 g saturated), 50g carbohydrates
  • Dunkin’ Donuts Vanilla Bean Coolatta, 16 ounces (small): 420 calories, 6g fat (3.5g saturated), 92g carbohydrates
  • Dunkin’ Donuts Iced Caramel Mocha Latte with milk, (large):       450 calories, 12g fat (7g saturated), 73g carbohydrates
  • Dunkin’ Donuts Iced Latte made with skim milk, 16 ounces (small):  80 calories, 0g fat, 13g carbohydrates
  • Baskin Robbins Cappuccino Blast Mocha, 16ounces (small):  400 calories, 13g fat (9g saturated), 65g carbohydrates
  • McDonald’s McCafé Iced Caramel Mocha, 16 ounces (medium) made with whole milk and whipped cream:  300 calories, 14g fat (8g saturated), 36g carbohydrates
  • Burger King: Iced Seattle’s Best Coffee Mocha, 22 ounces (medium):  260 calories, 3.5g fat (2.5g saturated), 54g carbohydrates

Wow—It Can Add Up

  • Say you have three grande (Starbucks)—or large (Dunkin’ Donuts)—coffees a day. Each is 20 ounces or 2.5 times the size of a traditional 8 ounce cup.
  • If you add 4 tablespoons of half and half and three teaspoons of sugar to each—which sounds like a lot but is very east to do—that’s 128 calories for what you add and around 5 calories for the coffee for a total of 133 calories for each grande/large cup of coffee.
  • If you have three of those daily that’s 399 calories a day or the equivalent of 145,635 calories a year.

What about the calories in some plain coffee or tea?

Hot or cold, you can have plain black coffee for a bargain basement 5 calories.  The trick is controlling the extras to avoid making your coffee just another sneaky calorie bomb.

  • Brewed coffee, grande (16 oz), black:  5 calories
  • Heavy cream, 1tbs:  52 calories
  • Half-and-half, 1 tbs:  20 calories
  • Whole milk, 1 tbs:  9 calories
  • Fat-free milk. 5 calories
  • Table sugar, 1tbs:  49 calories

Have your coffee and save some calories, too:

  • Ditch the whipped cream.
  • Swap half and half, full fat, or 2% milk for 1% or skim.
  • Watch the sugar:  ask for one pump instead of two of sugar free syrup, add non-calorie sweetener instead of sugar, or don’t sweeten at all.
  • Change the size of the drink that you order:  instead of a venti or an extra large, order a grande or large – or drop down to a tall, medium, or even a small-sized drink.
  • If you have a two a day (or more) habit – like a latte in the morning and a frappuccino in the afternoon – substitute a plain coffee or iced tea (easy on the milk and sugar), or even a latte with nonfat milk for one of those choices.
  • Order plain hot or iced coffee or even a hot or iced Americano (almost no calories for 16 ounces) and doctor it with non-caloric sweetener and skim milk.  You’d even come out ahead if you use controlled amounts of sugar and a bit of half and half. Or have an hot or iced brewed coffee with classic syrup:  a 12 ounce cup has 60 calories.