It’s hot.  You’re thirsty.  You want something cool – or maybe ice cold – to drink.

Check Out The Calories

A lot of cool, refreshing drinks come with a hefty dose of calories. You might be surprised how many are in a drink you’ve been having for years.

According to CSPI (Center for Science in the Public Interest), carbonated soft drinks are the single biggest source of calories in the American diet.  It’s easy to forget about the calories in sugared sports drinks, sweetened ice teas, juices, and alcoholic beverages.

Alcohol isn’t a caloric bargain – it has 7 calories per gram (protein and carbs have 4 calories per gram and fat has 9 calories per gram). Add sweetened juices, syrups, or soda to your alcohol, and you could be drinking a significant portion of your suggested daily calorie allowance.

It helps to do some research to figure out what’s your best choice to grab from the deli, the food truck, the coffee shop, or at the bar.

Can you be satisfied with a bottle of beer that has around 100 calories rather than another brand that has around 300 – or water with a hint of flavor instead of a sports drink?

To help you with your choices, here are the calories in some summer favorites:

Water and Sports Drinks

• Gatorade, 12 ounces: 80 calories
• Gatorade G Orange, 12 ounce bottle:  80 calories
• Gatorade G2 Perform Low Calorie Orange, 8 ounces: 20 calories
• SoBe Lifewater, 20 ounces: 90 calories
• Sobe Lifewater 0 calories Black & Blue Berry, 8 ounces: 0 calories
• Glaceau Smart Water, 33.8 ounces: 0 calories
• Vitamin Water, 20 ounces: 125 calories
• Vitamin Water 10, 20 ounces: 25 calories
• Perrier Citron Lemon Lime, 22 ounce bottle:  0 calories
• Vitamin Water Focus Kiwi-Strawberry, 20 ounce bottle:  125 calories
• Hint Blackberry, 16 ounce bottle:  0 calories
• Powerade, Grape, 8 ounces: 50 calories
• Propel Kiwi-Strawberry, 8 ounces: 10 calories
• Water (as much as you want):  0 calories

Iced Coffee and Tea Drinks

• Dunkin’ Donuts Vanilla Bean Coolatta, 16 ounces: 430 calories
• Dunkin’ Donuts Sweet Tea, 16 ounces: 120 calories
• Starbuck’s Coffee Frappuccino, 16 ounces (grande): 240 calories
• Starbuck’s Coffee Frappuccino light, 16 ounces grande: 110 calories
• Tazo Unsweetened Shaken Iced Passion Tea:  0 calories
• Iced Brewed Coffee with classic syrup, 12 ounces (tall): 60 calories
• Red Bull Energy Drink, 8.4 ounces, 110 calories

Soda and Non-Carbonated Drinks

• Mountain Dew, 20 ounce bottle: 290 calories
• Coke Classic, 20 ounce bottle: 233 calories
• Diet coke, 20 ounce bottle: 0 calories
• Snapple Orangeade, 16 ounces:  200 calories
• San Pelligrino Limonata, 11.15 ounce can:  141 calories
• Can of Coke, 12 ounces:  140 calories
• Bottle of 7Up, 12 ounces:  150 calories
• Root beer float, large, 32 ounces:  640 calories

Beer (12 ounce bottle)

• Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Ale: 330 calories
• Samuel Adams Boston Lager: 180 calories
• Guinness Extra Stout: 176 calories
• Pete’s Wicked Ale: 174 calories
• Harpoon IPA: 170 calories
• Heineken: 166 calories
• Killian’s Irish Red: 163 calories
• Long Trail: 163 calories
• Molson Ice: 160 calories
• Samuel Adams Brown Ale:  160 calories
• Budweiser:  144 calories
• Corona Light: 105 calories
• Coors Light: 102 calories
• Heineken Light: 99 calories
• Budweiser Select: 99 calories
• Miller Light: 96 calories
• Amstel Light: 95 calories
• Anheuser Busch Natural Light: 95 calories
• Michelob Ultra: 95 calories
• Miller MGD 64:  64 calories
• Beck’s Premier Light: 64 calories

Wine

• Red Wine, 5 ounces: 129 calories
• White Wine, 5 ounces: 120 calories
• Sangria, 8 ounces: 176 calories

Alcoholic Drinks

• Mojito, 7 ounces: 172 calories
• Frozen Magarita, 4 ounces: 180 calories (the average margarita glass holds 12 ounces, 540 calories)
• Mimosa:  137 calories
• Gin and Tonic:  175 calories

The post How Many Calories Are In Your Favorite Summer Drinks? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

How many ketchup drips, chocolate smears, coffee stains, and greasy crumbs do you have in your car (or on your clothes)?

Is your road trip an endless food-fest of fast food, junk food, and all kinds of snacks — with your dashboard or vacant passenger seat acting as your table?

If you’re nodding your head, you’re a dashboard diner. What is it about mini-mart and rest stop food that seems to touch that primal urge to eat sweet and/or salty stuff that’s probably loaded with calories and lacking in nutrition?

The Trap And The Danger

When you walk through rest stop or gas station doors, there’s an endless stream of high carb, high fat, high calorie, and processed food just begging you to plunk down your money so you can immediately indulge (watch how many people start eating the food they’ve bought before they even pay).

The real danger – aside from the damage to your waistline and poor nutrition — is that high-carb processed foods spike then crash your blood sugar — making you really tired and cranky.

• Drowsy drivers are most definitely not safe drivers.
• Cranky drivers make life miserable for everyone in the car – not a great tone to set if you’re going on vacation.

 Some Mini-Mart And Rest-Stop “Gotchas”

Candy is an impulse purchase; 49 percent of shoppers admit to unplanned purchases of candy. It seems that we want to treat ourselves and candy is an affordable luxury.

Check out the placement of candy the next time you’re in a mini-mart or rest stop — it’s positioned to grab your attention. Vividly colored wrappers reach out to you from high-traffic areas of the store: the checkout area, the aisle that leads to the check out, and on the way to the restrooms.

Visually, you’re going to be assaulted by the unending display of colorful packages, so have a plan for what you will and will not buy. If you’ve decided you want M&Ms go straight to them and don’t get sidetracked by the large display of new kinds of chips, seasonal displays, or the latest and greatest deal on a king-sized package of some kind of candy.

Coffee, unlike candy, coffee isn’t an impulse purchase. Nearly 96% of customers intend to buy a cup of coffee before they walk in. Here’s the impulse buy: stores put candy, baked goods, and chips — near the coffee to entice you to buy them. As a man standing in line at a gas station mini-mart muttered, “I stop here for coffee every morning and I’ve gained 20 pounds since they put in the Krispy Kreme donut display between the door and the cash register.”

Helpful Tips

Nuts have protein and crunch, won’t cause swings in your blood sugar, and are almost always stocked. Tread a little gently — nuts aren’t low in calories. For a one-ounce serving of nuts you might find at rest stops:

• 49 shelled pistachios, 162 calories
• 23 almonds, 169 calories
• 18 cashews, 163 calories
• 19 pecans, 201 calories
• 10-12 macadamias, 203 calories
• 39 peanuts (technically a legume), dry roasted, 170 calories

Some mini-marts have fruit (bonus: oranges and bananas come in their own natural wrapper and don’t have to be washed) and almost all have dried fruit — but balance the higher sugar content of the dried fruit with the fat and protein in the nuts.

Sometimes you can find individual bowls of Cheerios or whole grain cereals, although check labels because some cereals are loaded with sugar. Grab a small container of low-fat milk or a container of yogurt to go with it.

Protein bars can be good, better, and best. Check the labels for higher protein and lower sugar. Some can be the equivalent of a candy bar and are so large (with so many calories) that they are made to be meal replacements. A protein bar for a snack should be around 150 calories. Meal replacement bars have around 300 calories or more. Look for at least 15 grams of protein.

If you’re really hungry, choose a sandwich or burrito over donuts, pastry, and cookies. Check out how fresh it is, though. What’s appealing early in the morning when the shelves are first stocked might not be so appealing at 10PM when it’s been sitting around all day and lots of people have picked up the sandwich, squeezed it, and put it back again.

Beef jerky or beef sticks (or nuggets) are good, portable protein snacks. A one-ounce serving usually has around 80 calories and 5 grams of fat or less.

A hard-boiled egg is a good choice, too. Just make sure it’s been refrigerated and hasn’t been sitting around for a couple of days!

If you really want crunchy stuff, stick with popcorn, pretzels, soy crisps, or baked or popped chips in single-serve bags to keep portions in check. Sometimes bags might look small, but contain multiple servings. Remember that the salty stuff will make you thirsty so stock up on water. There’s something to be said for snacks that take time to eat one by one when you’re driving.

Remember to drink water. It’s easy to confuse thirst with hunger so you can end up eating extra calories when a glass of water is really all you need. If plain water doesn’t cut it, try drinking flavored still or sparkling water. Dehydration can cause fatigue and there’s some evidence that even mild dehydration can slow metabolism and drain your energy.

The post Do Your Road Trips Mean Dashboard Dining? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

Tip 1. Know your setting: pace yourself in the “speed eating” environment of fast food restaurants. Restaurant decor of fast food restaurants is not an accident — it is designed with the intention of getting you to eat and run. The red and gold color schemes in many fast food and Chinese restaurants encourage you to chow down quickly.

Tip 2. Go easy on sauces and dressings: There are lots of calories in mayo, sour cream, salad dressing and other “special” sauces, like those often found on burgers. The amount on your sandwich or salad often depends on the “hand” of the person preparing your food or how much you pour on. The best way to control this is to ask for the sauce or dressing on the side and add it (or not) by yourself. You really can do this — even in fast food burger places! Source: McDonald’s USA Nutrition Facts for Popular Menu Items

• McDonald’s Creamy ranch Sauce (0.8 ounces): 110 calories, 110 calories from fat
• Newman’s Own Low Fat Sesame ginger Dressing ( 1.5 ounces) 90 calories, 25 calories from fat
• McDonald’s Spicy Buffalo Sauce (0.8 ounces): 35 calories, 30 calories from fat
• Newman’s Own Creamy Southwest Dressing (1.5 ounces): 120 calories, 70 calories from fat
• Newman’s Own Ranch Dressing (2 ounces): 200 calories, 150 calories from fat
• McDonald’s Sweet ‘N Sour Sauce (1 Package): 50 calories, no fat
• McDonald’s Honey Mustard Sauce (0.8 ounces): 60 calories,, 35 calories from fat
• McDonald’s Tartar Sauce Cup (1 ounce): 140 calories, 130 calories from fat

Tip 3. Opt for chicken or fish as long as it’s not fried/breaded/or called crispy – which is just an alias for fried. Order it grilled, baked or broiled. Another sauce alert: lots of the sauces have a ton of sugar in them. Make your best choice (check the labels or nutrition info) and dip sparingly. Source: McDonald’s USA Nutrition Facts for Popular Menu Items

• McDonald’s Premium McWrap Chicken & Bacon (Crispy): 610 calories, 280 calories from fat
• McDonald’s Premium McWrap Chicken & Ranch (Grilled): 450 calories, 160 calories from fat

Tip 4. Order your burger or chicken sandwich without bacon or cheese: A serving size of meat is about 3 ounces — about the size of a deck of cards. You’re probably getting well over that with a single meat patty. One slice of bacon adds about 43 calories, but how many sandwiches come with only one slice? One slice of American cheese clocks in at 94 calories.

Tip 5. Do you really need (read “need” not “want”) fries, curly fries, potato sticks, or onion rings? You can order salad or a baked potato instead (as long as you don’t smother them in butter and/or sour cream or salad dressing). If you absolutely must have fries, order a small or a kid’s size. Large fries can tack on around 500 calories. Larger sizes may seem like a good “value” but the beefed up sizes also beef up the calories, fat, and sugar.

Tip 6. Avoid combo specials: they might have wallet appeal but you get, on average, 55% more calories for 17% more money.  What’s more important, your waistline, or your wallet?

Tip 7. Survey the sides: Eating a burger or sandwich by itself is often filling enough. If you do want a side, consider ordering a fruit cup or side salad instead of French fries or onion rings. Most fast food restaurants now offer them. Source: McDonald’s USA Nutrition Facts for Popular Menu Items

• McDonald’s Side Salad (3.1 ounces): 20 calories, no fat
• McDonald’s Apple Slices (1.2 ounces): 15 calories, no fat
• McDonald’s Large French Fries: 510 calories, 220 calories from fat
• McDonald’s Medium French Fries: 340 calories, 140 calories from fat
• McDonald’s Kids’ Fries: 110 calories, 50 calories from fat

Tip 8. Don’t drink your calories. Soda isn’t the only sugary drink. Sweetened tea, sports drinks, non-diet flavored water, juice, flavored milk, and shakes are sugary drinks, too. A 12-ounce can of coke has 140 calories and 39 grams of sugar (about 10 teaspoons). Eight ounces of orange juice has 110 calories and 25 grams of carbs. At Burger King, a small classic coca cola has 190 calories and 51g carbs; a medium classic coca cola has 290 calories and 79 carbs. Decreasing – or eliminating — the amount of sugary soda that you drink is an easy way to save calories.

For 99 cents you can get the lowdown on Easter Candy.  Check out my ebook Easter Candy Facts and Fun on Amazon.  You’ll spend less than you would on jelly beans.  It’s also way fewer calories than a chocolate bunny!

The post 8 Ways To Save Calories When You Order Fast Food appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

Choose your seat carefully. According to Brian Wansink, Director of Cornell’s Food and Brand Lab, where you sit in a restaurant does have an effect on how much you eat!

Scratching your head yet?

After mapping the layout of 27 restaurants across the country and analyzing what and where customers ate, here are some general findings and recommendations from Wansink and his team:

• Diners who sit the farthest from the door eat the fewest salads and they are 73% more likely to order dessert.
• People who sit at darkly lit tables or in booths eat fattier foods.
• Diners who sit within two tables from the bar, drink, on average, three more beers or mixed drinks (based on a table of four) than a group even one table farther away.
• Diners order healthier foods when they sit by a window or in a well-lit area. Wansink speculates that seeing sunlight, people, or trees might make you think about how you look which, in turn, might make you think about walking — which could prompt you to order a salad.
• People at uncomfortable high-top tables tend to choose salads and order fewer desserts, perhaps because it’s harder to slouch or spread out.
• Conspicuous consumption, or eating in an area where other people can see you, seems to cut down on overeating. If it’s darker, Wansink thinks you might feel more “invisible.”  Since it’s not too easy to see how much you’re eating, you feel less conspicuous or guilty.
• The “fat” table? Try near the TV screen. The closer you sit to the screen, the more fried food you’ll probably eat because you’re distracted and likely to order seconds and refills.

Some additional findings in Wansink’s book, Slim by Design:

• Skinny people face away from the buffet when they eat.
• Thinner people choose smaller plates.  It takes less food to fill up the plate causing you to eat smaller portions.
• Diners sitting at high-top tables tend to order more fish and salads.
• Diners at regular tables order more vegetarian entrees and more vegetable sides.
• Diners at tables near the window have fewer drinks and have more side salads.
• Diners at tables closer to the TV screen and the bar order more chicken wings and drinks.
• Diners in booths order more ribs and desserts.

The post Do You Sit In The Fat Or Skinny Area Of A Restaurant? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

Then do you mindlessly continue to munch before and during your meal either because you’re hungry or because the bread is there for easy nibbling or for sopping up gravy or sauce?

Butter or Oil?

Olive oil for bread dipping is giving butter some stiff competition.  Olive oil arrives green or golden, plain, herbed or spiced.  It can be plopped down on your table, or poured with a flourish.  Some restaurants offer a selection for dipping – and attempt to educate you about the variation in flavors depending upon the olives’ country of origin.

Butter can also appear in many forms. It still may still arrive in shiny foil packets – what would a diner be without them – or mounded in pretty dishes and sprinkled with sea salt or blended with various fruits or herbs.

Don’t be misled by the presentation — butter and oil, although delicious, are high calorie, high fat foods. Certain oils may be heart healthy, but they are still caloric.

Who Takes In More Calories – Butter Or Olive Oil Eaters?

Hidden cameras in Italian restaurants have shown that people who put olive oil on a piece of bread consume more fat and calories than if they use butter on their bread. But, the olive oil users end up eating fewer pieces of bread than the butter eaters.

In the study done by the food psychology laboratory at Cornell University, 341 restaurant goers were randomly given olive oil or blocks of butter with their bread. Following dinner, researchers calculated the amount of olive oil or butter and bread that was eaten.

The researchers found:

• Olive oil users used 26% more olive oil on each piece of bread compared to block butter users (40 vs. 33 calories).
• Olive oil users ate 23% less bread over the course of a meal than the people who used butter.
• Although the olive oil users used a heavier hand than the butter users for what they put on individual slices of bread, over the course of the meal they ate less bread and oil.
• Olive oil users took in 17% fewer bread calories:  264 calories (oil eaters) vs. 319 calories (butter eaters).

The Caloric Punch of Butter, Oil, And Bread

• A tablespoon of olive oil has 119 calories, a tablespoon of butter has 102 calories, one pat of butter has around 36 calories.
• Butter and oil are all fat; olive oil is loaded with heart healthy monounsaturated fat, butter contains heart unhealthy saturated fat.
• Bread varies significantly in calories depending on the type of bread and the size of the piece. Harder breads and breadsticks are often less caloric than softer doughy breads.
• Most white bread and a small piece of French bread average around 90 to 100 calories a slice. Dinner rolls average 85 calories each.
• If you’re eating Mexican food, bread may not appear, but a basket of chips adds around 500 calories.

The post Do You Eat A Bread And Butter (or oil) Meal Before Your Meal? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

Is frozen yogurt actually healthy or are you being hoodwinked by “yogurt” in the name?

What’s In Frozen Yogurt?

Milk and milk by-products are the main ingredients in frozen yogurt.

Frozen yogurt companies have their own recipes, but most common frozen yogurts contain yogurt cultures, sweetener, corn syrup, milk solids, gelatin, flavoring, and coloring.

Sugar makes up 15-17% of frozen yogurt and adds flavor, body, and thickness. If you’re thinking healthy bacteria and frozen yogurt, you need to check the brand. Frozen yogurt isn’t regulated by the Food and Drug Administration — although it is by some states — and it may or may not contain live bacterial cultures.

Frozen yogurt is lower in fat than most ice creams because it’s made with milk instead of cream. Most of the nonfat “original” or “plain” flavors are usually the lowest in calories at about 30-35 calories per ounce with about 20g of sugar.

Frozen yogurt, which comes in a multitude of flavors, wears a healthy food “halo” but doesn’t always warrant one. Some brands and flavors are “healthier” than others — depending on the company’s recipe and the quality and quantity of ingredients which produce a product with varying levels of sweetness/tartness, fat content, consistency, and flavor. Of course, it’s up to you to gauge the “healthiness” of what and how much you add on top of your soft swirl!

Some Frozen Yogurt History

Frozen yogurt is relatively new – certainly compared to other frozen desserts. There is a tale, perhaps a myth, of Roman Emperor Nero (AD 54–68) sending his slaves into the mountains to get snow to mix with nectar, fruit pulp, and honey. Frozen yogurt, as we know it, was invented in Massachusetts in 1970 when a Hood dairy employee put regular yogurt through a soft-serve ice cream machine. The first “frogurt” cone was served by a Harvard Square store on February 3, 1971.

During the health craze of the 1980’s frozen yogurt went mainstream and then sort of fizzled. Its popularity rebounded when self-serve stores began allowing customers to control their portion size, mix and match flavors, pick from dozens of toppings, and pay by weight.

Calorie Tips

• Despite variation in recipes, frozen yogurts are fairly comparable when calories are compared. For instance, a half cup serving of Pinkberry has 116 calories, 0g fat and 20g of sugar; TCBY’s 98% fat free vanilla has 120 calories, 2g fat, and 17g of sugar; and Ben & Jerry’s vanilla frozen yogurt has 130 calories, 1.5g fat, and 16g of sugar.
• If you have a choice, choose soft serve rather than hard serve. Soft serve has air whipped into it making lighter in weight and lower in calories.
• Pick the smallest cup. When you start with a smaller cup rather than a large one, you’re already ahead of the game. Despite the fact that you swear you won’t fill up a large cup, you almost always do.
• Try putting the self-serve yogurt on top, not under, the toppings. Make space-filling low calorie fruit like berries or fresh pineapple your first layer. Then add things with crunch and volume, like cereal. Follow with the yogurt, then perhaps a teaspoon of candy crunch on top. Starting with yogurt often means putting a lot of yogurt in the cup followed by a lot of toppings. Layering low calorie volume food on the bottom can save you a lot of calories.
• Try not to mix flavors. Swirling a couple sounds like fun, but taste buds are funny. When you pick just one flavor and topping your taste buds are happy and you probably end up feeling more satisfied than if you have a variety of flavors.

Calories in Frozen Yogurt

One cup of low fat frozen yogurt runs about 210 calories. More specifically, for a one cup serving of different varieties of generic frozen yogurt:

• Frozen yogurt: Calories: 214; Fat: 2.94g; Carbs: 39.24g; Protein: 9.40g

• Nonfat frozen yogurt: Calories: 164; Fat: 0.65g; Carbs: 34.84g; Protein: 5.96g

• Low fat frozen yogurt: Calories: 214; Fat: 2.94g; Carbs: 39.24g; Protein: 9.40g

• Chocolate frozen yogurt (soft serve): Calories: 230 | Fat: 8.64 | Carbs: 35.86g; Protein: 5.76g

• Vanilla frozen yogurt (soft serve): Calories: 234; Fat: 8.06g; Carbs: 34.84g; Protein: 5.76g

• Frozen yogurt (non-chocolate flavors): Calories: 210; Fat: 2.70g; Carbs: 38.24g; Protein: 9.14g

• Chocolate frozen yogurt (not soft serve): Calories: 226; Fat: 3.90g; Carbs: 43.22g;Protein: 10.48g

• Frozen flavored yogurt (non-chocolate, not self serve): Calories: 221; Fat: 6.26g; Carbs: 37.58g; Protein: 5.22g

• Nonfat chocolate frozen yogurt: Calories: 172; Fat: 1.32g; Carbs: 35.19g; Protein: 8.95g

Some Frozen Yogurt Toppings

It’s easy to convince yourself that you’re really doing well (and you might be) by eating frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. But, some toppings can turn frozen yogurt into a caloric nightmare – especially when you keep piling them on.

Here are the calorie counts are for one ounce of various toppings:

Fruit (fresh and not):

• Strawberries: 9 calories
• Blueberries: 16 calories
• Blackberries: 12 calories
• Rasberries: 15 calories
• Pineapple: 17 calories
• Mango: 17 calories
• Grated sweetened coconut: 131 calories

Nuts:

• Slivered almonds: 170 calories
• Chopped peanuts: 166 calories
• Chopped walnuts: 184 calories

Cereals:

• Cap’n Crunch: 114 calories
• Cinnamon Toast Crunch: 123 calories
• Froot Loops: 97 calories
• Granola: 138 calories

Cookies/Pretzels/Candy:

• Oreo topping: 112 calories
• Pretzels covered in chocolate swirl: 130 calories
• Milk chocolate M&Ms: 146 calories (1/4 cup has 210 calories)
• Gummi bears: 90 calories (14 pieces have 120 calories)
• Nestle crunch bar topping: 37 calories
• Heath bar, crumbled: 170 calories
• Chocolate sprinkles: 25 calories
• Rainbow sprinkles: 30 calories

The post Is Frozen Yogurt Healthy? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

You can put just about anything on ice cream, but the standard fare — toppings like hot fudge, whipped cream, peanuts, walnuts in syrup, crushed heath bar, caramel sauce – can add hundreds of calories and not much nutrition to your sundae or cone.

 Some common ice cream toppings:

• Smucker’s Spoonable Hot Fudge Topping, 2 tablespoons: 140 calories, 4g fat, 24g carbs, 2g protein
• Smucker’s Spoonable Pecans in Syrup Topping, 1 tablespoon: 170 calories, 10g fat, 20g carbs, 1g protein
• Regular Redi Whip, 2 tablespoons: 20 calories, 2g fat, 1g carbs
• Fat Free Redi Whip. 2 tablespoons, 5 calories, 0g fat, 1g carbs
• Cool Whip, extra creamy, 2 tablespoons:  32 calories
• Cool whip, light, 2 tbsp,16 calories
• Cool Whip, fat-free:  2 tbsp, 15 calories, 43.5g carbs, 0 protein
• Regular M&M’s, 10 pieces: 103 calories, 5.2g fat, 12.1g carbs, 1.9g protein
• Peanut M&M’s, about 16 pieces:  200 calories, 10.15g fat, 23.48g carbs, 3.72g protein
• Peanuts, one ounce: 160 calories, 14g fat, 5g carbs, 7g protein
• Rainbow Sprinkles (Mr. Sprinkles), 1 teaspoon: 20 calories, 0.5g fat, 3g carbs, 0g protein
• Chocolate Sprinkles (jimmies), 1 tablespoon:  35 calories, 0g fat, 6g carbs, 0g protein
• Smucker’s Spoonable Light Hot Fudge Topping, Fat Free, 2 tablespoons:  90 calories, 23g carbs, 2g protein
• 10 mini marshmallows:  22 calories, 0 fat, 5.7g carbs, .1g protein
• 18 gummi bears: 140 calories, 0 fat, 43.5g carbs, 0 protein

Think Outside The Box For Lower Calorie, but Still Delicious, Toppings

The world is your oyster in terms of toppings, so why not think about fruit, cereal, or a crushed up 100-calorie pack of anything? Here are some suggestions:

• Smucker’s Spoonable Pineapple Topping, 2 tablespoons: 100 calories, 0g fat
• 1 mini box of raisins (0.5 ounces):  42 calories, 0.1g fat, 11.1g carbs, 0.4g protein
• One medium banana: 105 calories, 0 fat, 27g carbs, 1g protein
• One cup strawberry halves: 49 calories, 0.5g fat, 11.7g carbs, 1g protein
• Sugar-free Jello pudding:  60 calories
• One cup Froot Loops:  118 calories, 0.6g fat, 26.7g carbs, 1.4g protein
• One cup blueberries:  83 calories, 0.5g fat, 21g carbs, 1.1g protein
• Crushed pretzel sticks, 1 ounce:  110 calories, 1g fat, 23g carbs, 3g protein

Is there a road trip in your future?

The Summer issue of Eat Out Eat Well Magazine is ready to help you eat well when you’re in the car or eating at rest stops or roadside diners.

Get it now from iTunes for $1.99 an issue or $4.99 for a yearly subscription (four seasonal issues).  Soon to be available for android, too.

The post If You Consider Toppings an Ice Cream Essential, Check These Out appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

Here’s your Tuesday tip:

Are you planning on having a sandwich for lunch?

• You can substitute mustard for mayo and save 100 calories.
• If you leave off the slice of Swiss cheese you save another 133 calories.
• Ditch two slices of bacon from your club sandwich or subtract two slices from your BLT to save another 84 calories.
• Put your turkey, ham, or roast beef along with lettuce, tomato and onions on a whole grain pita (74 calories) instead of between two slices of rye (180 calories).
• When you tally up the calories you’ve saved a total of 423 calories.
• If you walk to and from the deli or around the block several times and you’ve easily saved yourself 500 calories.

The post How To Save 500 Calories At Lunch appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

What are Lean and Extra-lean Cuts of Beef?

According to the USDA:

• a 3.5 oz serving (about 100 grams) of a lean cut of beef has less than:
  • 10 grams total fat
  • 4.5 grams saturated fat
  • 95 milligrams cholesterol

• a 3.5 ounce serving (about 100 grams) of extra-lean cut of beef has less than:
  • 5 grams total fat
  • 2 grams saturated fat
  • 95 milligrams cholesterol

• Twenty-nine cuts of beef qualify as lean or extra lean. The cuts that are considered extra lean are:
  •               Eye of round roast or steak
  •               Sirloin tip side steak
  •               Top round roast and steak
  •               Bottom round roast and steak
  •               Top sirloin steak

 Some Calorie Saving Beef Tips

• “Round” or “loin” are what to look for when you want the leanest cut of meat (for instance:  top round, sirloin, top loin, tenderloin, eye round).
• “Cut” refers to the part of the animal the “cut” of meat has been taken from. Leaner cuts usually come from the hip or hindquarter.
• If you don’t stick to extra-lean cuts like top round and top sirloin, go for lean cuts like strip, tenderloin, T-bone, and shoulder.
• Ribeye and skirt steaks are usually marbled – which means there’s fat throughout the meat.
• Your safest bet is to ask for smaller portions of leaner cuts of beef.

The post How To Order Lean Beef In A Steak House appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

There are some easy small changes you can make that won’t drastically change your meal. They don’t focus on skipping dessert or having a cup of broth instead of a burger, but rather on choosing to make slight alterations in what you would usually order.

Here’s how to save a few calories when you eat at fast food (or fast casual) restaurants:

• Go easy on the sauce and dressings: There are lots of calories in mayo, sour cream, salad dressing and other “special” sauces, like those that come with burgers. The amount on your sandwich or salad often depends on the “hand” of the person preparing your food.  The best way to control this is to ask for the sauce or dressing on the side and add it (or not) yourself.  You really can do this in fast food burger places!
• Opt for chicken or fish as long as it’s not fried/breaded/or called crispy – which is just an alias for fried.  Order it grilled, baked or broiled. Just be aware that lots of the sauces have a ton of sugar in them.  Make your best choice (check the labels or nutrition info) and dip sparingly.
• Order your burger or chicken without bacon or cheese: A serving size of meat is 2-3 ounces — about the size of a deck of cards. You’re probably getting well over that with a single meat patty. One slice of bacon adds about 43 calories, but how many sandwiches come with only one slice? One slice of American cheese clocks in at 94 calories.
• Downsize. Order a kid’s meal or a junior burger. Opt for regular sizes instead of large sizes: It may seem like a good “value” but there are lots of extra calories, fat, and sugar in beefed up sizes. You’ll still be satisfied. Here’s a comparison.  At Burger King, a Triple Whopper burger has 1,020 calories, 65g fat, 57g carbs, 3g fiber, 58g protein.  You could get one of these, instead:  Plain regular burger: 240 calories, 8g fat, 31g carbs, 1g fiber, 12g protein (280 calories and 12g fat for a cheeseburger;  Whopper Jr. without mayo,
1 burger: 260 calories, 10g fat, 28g carbs, 2g fiber, 13g protein;  MorningStar Veggie Burger without mayo, 1 burger: 320 calories, 7g fat, 43g carbs, 7g fiber, 22g protein
• Do you really need (read “need” not “want”) the fries, curly fries, potato sticks, or onion rings?  You can order salad or a baked potato, instead (as long as you don’t smother the potato in butter and/or sour cream). If you absolutely must have fries, order a small or a kid’s size. Large fries can tack on around 500 calories compared to a small order at around 300 calories.
• Avoid combo specials: they might have wallet appeal but you get, on average, 55% more calories for 17% more. money.  What’s more important, your waistline or your wallet?
• Thin crust it: Go for a thin-crust pizza with veggies instead of a thick-crust or deep dish with meat and extra cheese.
• Skip the sides: Eating a burger or sandwich by itself is often filling enough. If you do want a side, consider ordering a fruit cup or side salad. Most fast food restaurants now offer them.
• Don’t drink your calories.  Soda isn’t the only sugary drink. Sweetened tea, sports drinks, non-diet flavored water, juice, flavored milk, and shakes are sugary drinks, too. A 12 ounce can of coke has 140 calories and 39 grams of sugar. Eight ounces of orange juice has 110 calories and 25 grams of carbs.
• Treat yourself – but swap out your treats. Go for low-fat ice cream or frozen yogurt (careful of the toppings), fruit popsicles, and sherbets instead of ice cream or cookies. Add sprinkles — they have a lot fewer calories than caramel or chocolate sauce.
• Salads aren’t always the best pick. The dressing, the cheese, the croutons, and other mix-ins can add a ton of calories.

Some choices to consider:

• McDonald’s Fruit ‘n Yogurt Parfait, 1 parfait: 160 calories, 2g fat, 31g carbs, 4g protein

• McDonald’s Apple Dippers with Low Fat Caramel Dip:  100 calories, 0.5g fat

• Subway Egg White Muffin Melts, 1 sandwich, except mega and sausage varieties): 140 – 210 calories, 3.5 – 8g fat, 18 – 20g carbs, 12 – 19g protein

• Taco Bell Fresco Chicken Soft Taco, 1 taco: 170 calories, 4g fat, 22g carbs, 12g protein

• Burger King Whopper Jr. without Mayo: 260 calories, 10g fat, 29g carbs, 13g protein

• Burger King Quaker Oatmeal,
1 order: 140 – 270 calories, 3.5 – 4g fat, 23 – 55g carbs, 3 – 5g fiber, 5g protein – the fruit topped maple flavor includes 100 calories of dried cranberries, raisins, cherries, and blueberries

• Burger King Egg & Cheese Muffin Sandwich,
1 sandwich: 220 calories, 9g fat, 22g carbs, 1g fiber, 12g protein

• KFC Grilled Chicken Breast, 1 piece: 210 calories, 8g fat, 0g carbs, 34g protein

• Carl’s Jr. Hawaiian Grilled Chicken Salad, 1 salad without wontons or dressing): 260 calories, 8g fat, 34g carbs, 22g protein

• Wendy’s Small Chili, 1 small order: 220 calories, 7g fat, 22g carbs, 18g protein

• Denny’s Fit Fare Light Choices (under 550 calories) such as Cranberry Apple chicken Salad or Chicken Avocado Sandwich

• Dunkin” Donuts Roast Beef Pretzel Roll Sandwich:  1 sandwich: 440 calories, 7g fat

 Some Choices To Think Hard About (and not in a good way):

• Taco Bell Chipotle Steak Taco Salad, 1 salad: 900 calories, 57g fat, 68g carbs, 28g protein

• Wendy’s Baconator Double, 1 burger: 980 calories, 63g fat, 46g carbs, 58g protein

• Burger King Triple Whopper, 1 burger: 1,140 calories, 75g fat, 51g carbs, 67g protein

• BK Ultimate Breakfast Platter,
1 platter: 1,450 calories, 84g fat, 34g carbs, 5g fiber, 40g protein

• French Toast and Bacon: 1850 calories, 65 g sat. fat

• Denny’s Macho Nacho Burger: 1020 calories, up to 1530 calories with fries

•  Chili’s Southwestern Chicken Pizza, 9 inches:  1550 calories

•  Chicken Fajitas served with heaps of sour cream, shredded cheese, refried beans, and fried rice:  (average) 1320 calories,   47 g fat

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