Manage Your Weight

3 Tips To Avoid Pre-Halloween Sugar Overload

October 24, 2012 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Halloween conjures up images of ghosts, ghouls, witches – and candy corn, tootsie rolls, snickers, and kit-kats. The Halloween costumes vary depending on what’s trendy – and the Halloween candy varies depending on what’s on sale, what you buy, what you like or dislike, and what makes it’s way into the house in trick or treat bags.

Halloween happens. Trick or treating happens. Candy is around – everywhere. You’re probably going to eat some candy. So, make a plan for when and how much. If it’s one day of candy it’s no big deal – but, days and weeks worth of candy can definitely be a big and weighty deal.

But – you don’t have to attack the bags full of your favorite sweet stuff in the days and weeks leading up to Halloween. You know the scenario – you bought those big bags because they were such a good price – and then you end up having to buy more candy to give to trick or treaters because the candy you bought at such a bargain price has been devoured.

Three Tips To Avoid Eating Candy Before Halloween

Don’t buy candy ahead of time. It’s so darn easy to be swayed by the monster sized bags of midget candy bars or sweet tarts, or M&Ms, or tootsie roll pops. The bags are priced to sell and practically jump off the shelves at you as you walk down the aisles in the grocery store or drug store. The retailers are just itching to sell you candy nice and early so you have to come back for a repeat buying performance.
When you buy candy – even if it’s the day before or the day of Halloween, buy candy you hate – or at least dislike. Very simply – if you don’t like it, there’s less of a chance you’ll eat it. It doesn’t mean that you won’t eat it – just that it’s less likely that you will — and if you do, maybe it won’t be the whole bag.
If the candy does make its way into your house or your workplace – get it out of your sightline. It’s very simple: if you see it you eat it. And, we’re lazy – so the more energy you need to use to get to the candy, the less likely you are to do it. So, hide it in the back of the top shelf of the cabinet, or in the freezer, or in the basement, or in the garage. Be creative – just don’t forget where you’ve hidden it so that you have to buy more and then, months later, you find old Halloween candy when you’re cleaning out some random closet.

For more tips and strategies on handling holiday eating from Halloween right through Valentine’s Day be sure to read my new book, The Sensible Holiday Eating Guide: How To Enjoy Your Favorite Foods Without Gaining Weight, coming soon to Kindle and Kindle readers.

Do You Swipe Candy From Your Kid’s Trick Or Treat Bag?

October 19, 2012 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

If you do, you can start shedding your guilt because you’re certainly not alone.

Let’s put it another way: Is it almost a foregone conclusion that there’s Halloween candy in your future?

The candy assault on your senses is pretty hard to escape. It’s everywhere in glowing Technicolor on shelf after shelf in big box stores, supermarkets, and drug stores. It’s on desks, in restaurants, and even on the receptionist’s desk in my veterinarian’s office in a nice purple bowl with a dog bone painted on the side.

How Much Candy?

Halloween and the week afterward accounts for about 5% of all candy consumed for the year. The most popular types, in order, are: chocolate, chewy candies and hard candy.

What’s In Your Kid’s Trick or Treat Bag?

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.

Parents don’t just sample; they invade their kids’ Trick or Treat bags. Estimates are that 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%).

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 (no, that’s not a joke, candy has a big calorie and fat gram range)

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

Protein: Have You Ever Wondered How And Why It Fills You Up?

October 3, 2012 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Protein Really Does Help You Feel Full, But Why?

According to the September 2012 Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, French researchers published the findings of a study that confirms that dietary protein affects satiety – the feeling of being full and satisfied — something that a lot of people seem to know but that hadn’t previously been explained. The researchers found that there’s a chain reaction of signals between your brain and your digestive system that explains why this happens.

Why Does Protein Make You Feel Full?

When you eat and start digesting dietary protein, it stimulates activity of molecules called mu-opioid receptors, the same receptors that are responsible for your body’s reaction to morphine. As the protein is being digested, the receptors send signals to your brain, which then tells your intestines to release glucose. As your glucose (blood sugar) levels start to rise, both your hunger and your desire to eat starts to get suppressed.

How Much Protein?

The good news is that most of us, barring certain problems, usually meet or exceed our protein requirements. Protein is a very common part of a lot of the foods that we eat — especially if you’re eating a pretty varied diet. Most Americans get about 12-18% of their calories from protein sources.

Every cell in our bodies contains protein – with the exception of bile and urine. Our bodies need that protein to form new cells, repair old ones, and build and maintain muscles. People with medical issues may have different protein needs and research is showing that protein intake in older adults may help with frailty.

What Are Good Sources Of Protein?

A gram of protein has four calories but the problem is that a lot of our dietary protein comes from large portions of animal sourced foods — like fatty meats and full fat dairy — and not from lean meat, fish, beans, and certain vegetables and whole grains.

The National Academy of Medicine says that most adults can meet their daily need for protein with two to three servings of protein rich food.

Recommended servings might be:

1/2 cup of cooked dried beans
One ounce of cheese, two tablespoons of peanut butter, or one egg
Two to three ounces (about the size of a deck of cards) of cooked poultry, lean meat, or fish
Two to three ounces of soy protein (such as tofu or soybeans).
An egg is almost a perfect protein source. One large cooked egg has more than six grams of protein and about 70 calories.

Good vegetable protein sources are: black, pinto, garbanzo, and kidney beans; split peas; peanuts and peanut butter; sunflower seeds; nuts; and soy products.

Animal sources might be: skinless poultry; bosom; lean cuts of beef and pork trimmed of visible fat; fish and shellfish; and low or non- fat dairy products.

Why Your Mindless Bites Are Making Your Jeans Tighter

September 28, 2012 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Are your pants feeling a bit tight and you can’t figure out why?

It’s those mindless bites that will get you. Each one of those “shove it in your mouth without thinking about it” bites is worth about 25 calories. Do the math. If you have four mindless bites a day above and beyond your daily calorie needs that means possibly gaining slightly less than a pound a month (it takes 3500 calories to gain a pound — and yes, you need a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound).

Do You Do Any Of These?

Snag a piece of candy from the bowl on someone’s desk

Scoop the last bit of leftovers from the pot into your mouth

Taste the cookie dough batter then lick the beaters

Finish the crust off of your kid’s grilled cheese sandwich

Sample the bar food while having a drink

Taste the free “want to try” foods when you’re shopping

Have “just a taste” of your friend’s or spouse’s dessert

Eat the freebie cookies or candy that come with the check in restaurants

Twenty-five

Ouch! Each bite adds up to — on average — 25 calories (sometimes more, sometimes less).

Be aware of what you’re eating – especially when you’re not really eating. Most of us don’t have a clue how many calories – or even bites – we’ve shoved into our mouths at times other than meals. Unfortunately, all of those calories that we eat when we’re not eating meals not only count but add up to those pounds gained — and you can’t figure out why you gained them.

What To Do

Keep track of when and where you’re most likely to indulge in the mindless bites you shove down the hatch while you’re walking, talking, socializing, working, and driving.

The most effective method is to try to write down what you eat. That may be a pain but might serve as a real “heads-up” because a written record is hard to deny. If you don’t want to write it down (I must admit I have trouble doing that) at least be aware of your mindless bites – and decide if you want to eliminate, control, or include them in your daily calories.

Awareness is a good thing — especially if it makes your jeans fit better.

What Are Your Eating Triggers?

September 25, 2012 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Is it almost a foregone conclusion that you’ll stuff yourself to the gills when you go home to your parents’ house for holidays or other events? Is it almost impossible for you to navigate your office without stopping at the snack room and the receptionist’s desk to sample the never-ending array of holiday specialties or someone’s birthday cake? What about the routine lunch for a not-so-good friend that makes you go home and eat a pint of ice cream?

Know Your Triggers

Most of us can name situations that make us want to eat. Sometimes it takes dedicated thought to precisely identify what it is that starts the cascade of events that leads to not just wanting to eat, but the feeling that you absolutely must have a particular food — sometimes in large quantities. Keeping a food journal where you record not only what you ate but the environment and what was going on while you were eating can help you identify the causative factors.

Sometimes those triggers are big red flags – for instance you know that having a piece of pecan pie — or any other sweet food for dessert at lunch will trigger nibbling on candy at the office the rest of the afternoon. But do you eat it anyway?

Or, do you intentionally go to store A instead of store B for a cup of coffee because you know store A always has lots of free samples of freshly baked cake and cookies? Do you know that if cookies are in the cupboard and ice cream is in the freezer that you will sooner, rather than later, eat it?

Which Foods And Environments Are Your Red Flags?

Be honest  with yourself and admit that certain foods and environments are red flags for you. I know that I can’t have cookies in my house and I also know that I tend to overeat at family events.

There’s no reason to psychoanalyze why certain foods or situations act as your triggers. Just know which particular things serve as your red flags — your triggers — and have strategies in place to deal with them.