Eat Out Eat Well

Calorie Tips, Healthy Eating, Food Facts

Dinner Plates: Size Matters!

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Plates:  Bigger Isn’t Better

The size of our dinner plates might be contributing to our country’s obesity problem.

Since 1960, the surface area of our average dinner plate has increased 36%. Today, the average dinner plate measures 11 to 12 inches across, but a few decades ago they were 7 to 9 inches. By comparison, a European plate averages 9 inches and some of our restaurants use plates that are about 13 inches across.

Supersized Eating

Just as serving sizes in restaurants have been supersized and package sizes in the market have grown, so have the plate, bowl, and glass sizes we use in our homes — by 36% in some cases.

Our ideas about portion sizes and how much we need to eat and drink to feel full have grown along with the size of our dishware.

Six ounces of cooked rice with a little chili looks like a good portion on an 8 inch plate. The same amount on a 12 inch plate would look paltry  and probably cause the typical person to add more rice to the plate — which ends up increasing the portion size and calories.

What To Do

The fact of the matter is that we eat most of what’s on our plate regardless of the size of the plate.

But, when you switch to a smaller plate you eat a smaller serving. According to research done at Cornell, when you switch from a 12 inch plate to a 10 inch plate you eat 22% less.

So, you can control your portion sizes by downsizing the size of your plate. You can switch from a dinner plate to a salad plate or search vintage stores for older plates that are smaller in size.

Go Small – But Not Too Small

It sounds too good to be true, but using smaller dishes can also help you feel full even when you’re eating less. Amazingly, studies show that people are more satisfied with less food when they are served on 8 inch salad plates instead of on 12 inch dinner plates.

Use smaller plates and bowls. It’ll keep the portions smaller and you feeling fuller.

But — be careful not to go too small with your plate.  With too little food you might end up going back for seconds. A plate 2 inches smaller than the one you normally use is probably about right.

How Long Can Your Thanksgiving Turkey Safely Stay On The Table — And In The Fridge?

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How Do Turkeys Cross The Road?

Where I live, I often have to stop my car and wait for the wild turkeys to cross the road.  I’m not kidding.  They start climbing over a stone wall from a wooded area one after another.  Gorgeous, they’re not.   And they don’t cross in a timely fashion, either.  They’re sort of in a line but sometimes one shows an independent streak and turns around to look for the others.  Quite a sight – and, quite annoying when I’m in a hurry having seen this parade many times before – although it makes me smile every time!

These are not the turkeys that most of us will find on our dining room tables – but certainly are distant relatives of those eaten by the early New England settlers.

Turkey Is A Very Good Source Of Lean Protein

Turkey is low in fat and high in protein. A 3 1/2-ounce serving is about the size and thickness of a new deck of cards. The fat and calorie content varies because white meat has less fat and fewer calories than dark meat and skin.

Meat Type (from a whole roasted turkey) Calories Total Fat Protein
Breast with skin 194 8 grams 29 grams
Breast w/o skin 161 4 grams 30 grams
Wing w/skin 238 13 grams 27 grams
Leg w/skin 213 11 grams 28 grams
Dark meat w/skin 232 13 grams 27 grams
Dark meat w/o skin 192 8 grams 28 grams
Skin only 482 44 grams 19 grams

Once Your Bird Is Cooked, Does It Matter How Long You Leave It Out?

Ye, yes, yes! According to the Centers for Disease Control the number of reported cases of food borne illness (food poisoning) increases during the holiday season. You shouldn’t leave food out for more than two hours. To save turkey leftovers, remove the stuffing from the cavity, cut the turkey off the bone, and refrigerate or freeze all leftovers.

The Basic Rules For Leftovers

According to the March 2010 edition of the Nutrition Action Healthletter (Center for Science in the Public Interest):

The mantra is:  2 Hours–2 Inches–4 Days

  • 2 Hours from oven to refrigerator: Refrigerate or freeze your leftovers within 2 hours of cooking. Throw them away if they are out longer than that.
  • 2 Inches thick to cool it quick: Store your food at a shallow depth–about 2 inches–to speed chilling.
  • 4 Days in the refrigerator–otherwise freeze it: Use your leftovers that are stored in the fridge within 4 days. The exceptions are stuffing and gravy  which 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.

How Long Can I Keep Leftover Turkey In The Freezer?

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 air space. Squeeze the excess air from freezer bags and fill rigid freezer containers to the top with dry food. 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 head space in containers with liquid and half inch in containers filled with semi-solids.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Eating Worries? You’ve Got Them Covered!

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A Time For Giving Thanks and a Celebration of Abundance

Those of us who are lucky enough to go to or host a Thanksgiving dinner are often faced with a dilemma:  overabundance.  The Thanksgiving meal has become associated with a true groaning table – a table loaded with turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes in multiple formats, cranberry sauce, gravy, green bean casserole, brussel sprouts, and traditional family specialties. For closers there’s apple pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, ice cream, cookies, and whatever other desserts Grandma, Aunt Sue, and Mom decide to make or bring.

A Feast and a Caloric Overload

How can you enjoy your traditional Thanksgiving dinner and not feel like a slug for days afterward? The ironic thing is that the usual main dish is really lean poultry (turkey), and the main vegetables and condiments are nutritional powerhouses (sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, and cranberries).  The traditional dessert is made from a vegetable (pumpkin pie) or nuts (pecan pie) so you wouldn’t think this would be so difficult.

The calories in a traditional Thanksgiving dinner are estimated to range from 2,000 to 4,500, depending on what you put on your plate. Given that people of average size who get moderate activity should eat between 1,600 to 2,400 calories per day, Thanksgiving dinner is quite a hefty meal. Not everyone gains weight over the holidays, but if you do, those pounds rarely come off.

Who Wants to Count Calories on a Holiday?

Most of us don’t want to count calories on a day of celebration. If you deprive yourself of the traditional foods you come to associate with holidays, more often than not you end up paying the piper. That’s when you find yourself standing in front of an open fridge rummaging for leftovers because you feel deprived from the stare down you had with your favorite foods earlier in the day.

Have Your Own Plan of Attack

Create an eating plan of attack before the celebration day. You know you’ll eat a bit more – or maybe a bit more than a bit more – than on a typical day. Mathematically allow for your holiday meal. Remember, calories in – calories out. Compensate by eating a little lighter the days before and after. Add in a long walk.

Don’t starve yourself the day of the grand meal. If you do in an attempt to save up calories for a splurge, you’ll probably be so hungry by the time dinner is ready you’ll end up shoving food into your mouth faster than you can say turkey.

The Key Is Balance, Not Deprivation

Inevitably if you deprive or restrict yourself you eventually end up overeating. The mantra becomes – “it’s just one day.” The problem is the one day extends to leftovers the next day – then the weekend – then to Christmas parties – then to the New Year’s Eve party. It could even extend to Super Bowl Sunday!

Celebrations the day of are fine. Celebrating for weeks on end is not. Plus, you end up hating yourself!

Try some of these:

  • Give yourself permission to not eat something just because it’s tradition.
  • Only eat it if you want it. Eat what you want not what you think you should.
  • Say no to the friend or relative who is pushing the extra piece of pie. You’re the one stepping on the scale or zipping up your jeans the next day – not them.
  • Make some rules for yourself and commit to them.
  • Make a deal (with yourself) that you can eat what you want during dinner. Put the food on your plate and enjoy every last morsel. I’m not even suggesting that you leave some on your plate. But – that’s it. No seconds and no double-decking the plate.
  • Limit the hors d’oeuvres. They really pack in calories. Make eating one or two your rule.
  • Trade hors d’oeuvres for a luscious piece of pie for dessert.
  • Alcohol adds calories (7 calories/gram). Alcohol with mixers adds more calories. Plus, alcohol takes the edge off lots of things – including your ability to stick to your plan.
  • Drink water. It fills you up. Have a diet soda if you want. If you’re going to drink, limit the amount – alternate with water.
  • Control your environment. Don’t hang around the buffet table or stand next to the platter of delicious whatevers. Why are you tempting yourself?
  • Talk to someone. It’s hard to shove food in your mouth when you’re talking.
  • Get rid of leftovers. The best laid plans have been defeated by leftover stuffing.
  • Don’t nibble during clean-up (or preparation for that matter). Broken cookies, pieces of piecrust, and the last spoonfuls of stuffing haven’t magically lost their calories.

If you ignored a lot of this, you ate everything is sight, and your exercise was walking back and forth to the to the buffet table, put on the tourniquet. It was just one day — just don’t let it stretch into days or weeks.

Remember to enjoy the holidays. Be grateful. That’s the point, isn’t it?

I’ll be posting more holiday facts and tips on my blog: www.SocialDieter.com as we enjoy this celebratory season. I invite you to share some of your own.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

So Many Eggs — So Many Claims — How Do You Choose?

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It’s time to do some holiday baking. One essential ingredient of most baked goods is:  eggs.  Needless to say, the fragile little power packages enclosed by brown, white, and sometimes blue shells are key players for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, too.

When you shop for eggs there are a slew of different egg cartons – most of which sport all kinds of claims about nutrients and the personal space of the hens plastered front and center.

The dilemma: how to choose.  I would love my eggs to come from happy chickens that run around in lots of space  (like my Grandmother’s chicken coop that came with individual wooden nests for each chicken and a large outdoor pen).  I don’t know how to tell if hens are happy since they don’t smile, but I guess if they are sheltered, fed, have space to roam and lay lots of eggs they might qualify.

Egg Nutrition

One large egg has 72 calories, 16 in the white, 54 in the yolk.  Each has 6.3 grams of protein, 3.6 in the white, 2.7 in the yolk.  There are 5 grams of fat, 4.5 of which are in the yolk.  1.6 grams is saturated fat – all of which is in the yolk.  There are 212 mg of cholesterol, 210 of which are in the yolk.  (There’s the answer to egg white omelettes). There are a whole bunch of vitamins and minerals in these little powerhouses, a lot of which  — but not all — reside in the yolk.

The Claims On The Carton

The following information is from a Nutrition Action Healthletter Safe-Food Report.

Verified Or Certified Claims You Can Trust:

  • USDA Organic means that the hens have to be uncaged inside barns or warehouses and have to have an unspecified amount of outdoor access.  They have to be fed a vegetarian organic diet free of antibiotics and pesticides and can’t have had any antibiotics after they were three days old.  Beak cutting (trimmed beaks prevent the chickens from harming each other) is permitted.
  • American Humane Certified means that the hens can be confined in cages or they can be cage free.  Their beaks can be cut.
  • Animal Welfare Approved means that the hens are raised by independent family farmers and in flocks of no more than 500 birds that spend their adult lives outside.  They aren’t fed any animal byproducts and their beaks can’t be cut.  Their eggs can be found at farmers markets and restaurants.
  • Certified Humane means that the hens must be uncaged inside barns or warehouses but can also be kept indoors all the time.  Beak cutting is okay.
  • United Egg Producers Certified means that the producer must meet minimum voluntary industry standards which, according to the Humane Society, “permits routine cruel and inhumane factory farm practices.”

Claims That Have Not Been Certified By An Organic Or Animal Welfare Organization (aka the companies make the claim – can you trust them???)

  • Raised Without Antibiotics should mean that the hens haven’t been fed antibiotics at any time and if the hen was sick and given them, this claim cannot be used for her eggs.  FYI:  Routine use of antibiotics for hens is illegal.
  • Cage Free means that the hens live outside of battery cages in warehouses or barns but they usually don’t have outdoor access.  They typically have two to three times more space than their caged brethren.
  • Free Range or Free Roaming hens are cage free with some outdoor access although there are not requirements for how much or what kind of access.
  • Pasture Raised or Pastured hens romp for at least some time outside foraging for bugs and vegetation.

Then There Are The Nutrient Claims

Because caged and cage free hens usually eat the same diet based on corn there’s no nutritional difference in their eggs.  However, some egg producers supplement their hens’ diet with ingredients that they claim produce an increased nutrient value in the egg (like Vitamin E).  Always check the Nutrition Facts label for specifics rather than just trusting the claim.

Then there are the Omega 3 claims.  The three kinds of Omega 3 fats are DHA, EPA, and ALA.  The first two help reduce heart attack risk, lower blood triglyceride levels, and are very important components of your brain cells and retinas.  Their most plentiful source is fatty fish like salmon.

The third kind of Omega 3, ALA, doesn’t protect your heart as much as the other two.  Most of us get ALA thorough foods made with vegetable oils.

The Hoodwink

Here’s a heads-up:  The FDA has banned omega 3 claims on eggs but egg producers still make the claims.  Read on.

An egg typically has about 25mg of DHA and 25mg of ALA.  If the carton boasts that the eggs have omega 3s but doesn’t specify how much – or – if it says that there are 50mg of omega 3s per egg, chances are it’s just an ordinary egg with the naturally occurring amount of omega 3s and a leading claim.

Some companies supplement their hens’ feed with things like algae or fish meal which can boost the DHA in each yolk to about 100mg.  Adding canola oil or flaxseed to the feed can boost ALA to around 350mg.

If the carton claim is that the eggs have 300mg or more of omega 3s most of it is probably ALA and not the more desirable DHA or EPA.

What Do You Get When You Buy A Low Calorie Or Reduced Fat Product?

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What does low fat or reduced calorie really mean?

With the holidays rapidly approaching many of us are starting to scan recipes and plan menus – which means grocery shopping.  It also means trying to balance out the excess calories from holiday meals with some “lighter” fare – which also may mean grocery shopping.

Walk down the aisle – just about any aisle – in the supermarket and the labels on packages are plastered with claims of low fat, no fat, low this, low that, and extra lean.

What a dilemma!  Sounds great, all of this reduced fat and light or “lite” food – but what does it really mean?  Does light mean that the butternut squash soup is light as a feather or that it is lighter than the pea soup?  Does reduced calorie mean that the chocolate mousse has half the calories of the “regular” mousse or that it’s ten calories less?

Unfortunately, the answers are not always what they seem to be.  For instance, according to the FDA, a food is allowed to be labeled fat free if a serving contains less than 0.5 grams of fat.  So, something could have 0.4 grams of fat and still be called fat free.

Be Aware Of Definitions – And Check The Nutrition Labels

Definitions of Some Common Terms Used On Food Packages

  • Fat-free = less than 0.5 grams of fat per serving, with no added fat or oil.
  • Low fat = 3 grams or less of fat per serving.
  • Less fat = 25% or less fat than the comparison food.
  • Saturated fat free = Less than 0.5 grams of saturated fat and 0.5 grams of trans-fatty acids per serving.
  • Cholesterol-free = less than 2 mg of cholesterol per serving and 2 grams or less of saturated fat per serving.
  • Low cholesterol = 20 mg or less of cholesterol per serving and 2 grams or less of  saturated fat per serving.
  • Reduced calorie = at least 25% fewer calories per serving than the comparison food (the “regular” version of the same food).
  • Low calorie = 40 calories or less per serving.
  • Extra lean = less than 5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, and 95 mg of cholesterol per 100 gram serving of meat, poultry, or seafood.
  • Lean = less than 10 grams of fat, 4.5 g of saturated fat, and 95 mg of cholesterol per 100 gram serving of meat, poultry, or seafood.
  • Light (fat) = 50% or less of the fat in the comparison food.
  • Light (calories) = one-third fewer calories than the comparison food.
  • High fiber = 5 grams or more fiber per serving.
  • Sugar-free = less than 0.5 grams of sugar per serving.
  • Sodium-free (salt-free) = less than 5 mg of sodium per serving.
  • Low sodium = 140 mg or less per serving.
  • Very low sodium = 35 mg or less per serving.

It’s a good idea to read labels, know what you’re getting,  and choose wisely.