Eat Out Eat Well

Snacking, Noshing, Tasting

What’s The Difference Between Low Fat, Reduced Fat, Light, Lean, And Extra Lean?

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How much time do you spend in the supermarket aisle confused by the labels on mayo — or cookies — or just about every other item in the packaged bread aisle?  What do reduced fat, low fat, light, fat free, or low in calories actually mean?

You practically have to walk around with a cheat sheet — or whip out your cell phone to use an app — to figure out if something actually lives up to the fatty or lean promise on the product’s label.

Checking Labels Will Give You A Clue

Packaged food labels list ingredients in descending order by weight, not amount. The first ingredient listed has the greatest amount by weight — the last ingredient is the one with the least amount by weight. That’s why preservatives are usually at the end of the ingredients list.  A ton of chemicals are not necessary to increase shelf life so a little bit will do it — but fat, sugar, and grains have more heft and usually are closer to the beginning of the ingredients list.

Fat Labels

Labels have to include the total amount of fat, saturated fat and unsaturated fat.  This carves the way for the low, reduced, and fat free categories.

  • Low fat means 3 grams of fat or less per serving (or per 100 grams of food)
  • Reduced fat means the food product contains 50% (or less) of the fat found in the regular version
  • Less fat means 25% or less fat than the comparison food
  • Fat free means the product has less than 0.5 grams of fat per serving, with no added fat or oil

The Low down On Low, Light (Lite), Lean, And Reduced Calories And Fat

  • Reduced calorie (calories, not fat – see above) on the label means there’s at least 25% fewer calories per serving than in the regular (full calorie) version of the product
  • Low calorie (calories, not fat – see above) means 40 calories or less per serving and less than 0.4 calories per gram of food
  • Light (fat) means 50% or less of the fat than in the regular, full calorie, version
  • Light (calories) means 1/3 fewer calories than the regular, full calorie, version
  • Lean (meat, poultry or seafood) means less than 10 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, and 95 mg of cholesterol in a 100 gram serving
  • Extra lean (meat, poultry or seafood) means less than 5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, and 95 mg of cholesterol in a 100 gram serving

Confused???

Are you confused by the labeling rules?  You’re not alone.  You really need to read labels and look for the amount of fat grams, not just assume that a product labeled reduced fat is indeed low in fat.

For instance, a product labeled reduced fat just means that it contains at least 50% or less fat than the original full fat version of the same product. Unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is a low-fat product.

Here’s an example:  Look at a box of cookies or a container of ice cream labeled reduced fat.  If the fat content in the original full fat product is 20g and the fat has been reduced to 10g — a 50% reduction – the manufacturer is allowed to call the product reduced fat even though its fat content is still a little over 3 times higher than the 3 grams of fat per serving that officially qualifies as low fat.  Premium ice cream can really snooker you with this labeling simply because the full fat version may have so much fat that the reduced fat version – even with 50% less fat – still contains a significant amount of fat.

The trick is to look carefully at the calorie count and fat breakdown on the nutrition label and note the numbers for each.  A check of the ingredients label can also give you valuable information about the type of fat in the product.

Remember, these regulations apply to labeled packaged food products, not prepared food like you find in salad bars or for takeout.

Do You Eat To Procrastinate?

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Procrastinate:  to delay or postpone action; to put off doing something.

Do you find yourself wandering to the refrigerator/vending machine/food truck/coffee shop . . . when you have something to do that you really don’t want to tackle?

Email viewers — you might have to go to the web to view the video.  Just click on the MyFoodMAPs link.

Iced And Frozen Coffee Drinks: Refreshing But A Caloric Bomb

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The weather is heating up and the drinks are cooling down.  Unfortunately, some of those delicious iced and frozen coffee drinks that seem to be offered everywhere can really bump up your calories and fat grams.

Keep in mind that you can always order plain old iced coffee or even an 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 iced brewed coffee with classic syrup:  12 oz (tall), 60 calories.

Calories in Some Iced And Frozen Coffee Drinks

Note that despite the differences in names for various sized cups, all stats (with the exception of Burger King) are for a 16 oz. size cup.

  • Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino with whipped cream, 16 oz. (grande): 400 calories, 15 g fat (9 g saturated), 64g carbohydrates.
  • Starbucks Mocha Light Frappuccino with nonfat milk, 16 oz. (grande): 130 calories, 0.5g fat, (0 g saturated), 28g carbohydrates.
  • Iced Caffe Latte with nonfat milk, 16 oz. (grande):  90 calories, 0g fat, 13g carbohydrates.
  • Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee Coolata made with whole milk, 16 oz. (small):  240 calories, 4 g fat (2.5 g saturated), 50g carbohydrates
  • Dunkin’ Donuts Vanilla Bean Coolatta, 16 oz. (small): 420 calories, 6g fat (3.5g saturated), 92g carbohydrates
  • Dunkin’ Donuts Iced Latte made with skim milk, 16 oz. (small):  80calories, 0g fat,   13 g carbohydrates
  • Baskin Robbins Cappuchino Blast Mocha, 16oz (small):  400 calories, 13g fat (9g saturated), 65g carbohydrates
  • McDonald’s: McCafé Iced Caramel Mocha, 16 oz. (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 oz. (medium):  260 calories, 3.5g fat (2.5g saturated), 54g carbohydrates

Bottom Line:  Ways To Shave Calories From Iced Coffee Drinks

Try these:

  • Ditch the whipped cream.
  • Swap full fat milk for 2% milk, 1% or skim.
  • Watch the sugar:  ask for one pump instead of two, ask for sugar free syrup, add non-calorie sweetener instead of sugar, 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 or a medium (or even a small) sized drink.
  • If you have a two a day (or more) habit – like a coolata 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.

Should I Eat This?

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What do I want to eat?  What should I eat? Two questions we all ask ourselves.  Including me.  A lot. Standing in front of the fridge with the door open.  Staring at the shelves in the pantry or in front of the deli case – or when staring at a menu.  With no clear idea, the danger zone looms — setting up the perfect scenario for being easily swayed by all kinds of food that, perhaps, isn’t really the best for you.

What’s The Answer?

Sorry to disappoint you, but there really isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer.  I can’t tell you what to eat. That’s your personal decision. But here’s some helpful guidelines:

  • deprivation doesn’t work.  Certainly not for long lasting and healthy weight loss and maintenance.
  • restriction and deprivation almost always end up in a pendulum swing – restriction on one end and indulgence on the other.
  • how many times have you deprived yourself of a food that you love only to gorge on it when you hit an emotional low and toss resolve out the window?
  • constant dieting doesn’t work either.  It messes with your metabolism, and dieting — by its very nature — means deprivation.

How Do You Figure Out What To Eat?

There’s no two ways around it:  energy taken in (calories) should equal energy output (physical movement and metabolism).  If you eat more calories than you use up, you gain weight.  To maintain your weight, your energy (calorie) intake and caloric expenditure (activity and metabolism) have to be in balance.  An imbalance means you either gain weight or lose weight.

There are ways to help figure out how to eat delicious food and not pack on the pounds.  Each of us has food and food memories that we feel we can’t  — and don’t want to — live without.  Sometimes it’s hard to separate the food we eat because we physically need it from the food we eat for emotional, cultural, religious, or traditional reasons.  Sometimes the two can’t and shouldn’t be separated.

Foodie Checks and Balances

When you know what is good for your body and what isn’t, and how much food your body needs for the amount of activity you do, there are a bunch of questions you can use to evaluate your food choices – before you make them.  It sounds like a big deal, but it’s really not – you probably ask yourself some of these already.  It’s a simple system of “foodie checks and balances.” The answers can give you valuable information to use to make good food choices – wherever and whenever.

  • What is my tried and true meal that can be my fallback or my “go to” meal for breakfast, lunch, or dinner? What type of food did I grow up with?  Did that type of eating make me feel energetic and clear-headed?  There’s something to be said about eating the way our ancestors did (even if its only one or two generations ago).
  • How do I feel when I eat this food? If you feel like garbage after eating red meat or drinking a glass of milk, stay away from those foods.  Just because someone else eats them doesn’t mean you have to. A journal comes in handy so you can write down what you eat and how you feel and then figure out what foods make you feel good or bad.
  • Is it delicious?  Why waste your calories on something that doesn’t taste good or that has little or no nutritional value.  There are two sides to this coin.  Just because something is good for you doesn’t mean that it has to taste bad.  There are many ways to prepare foods so try a different preparation.  The other side of the coin is that maybe you’ll never like a certain food.  Who cares if it’s a nutritional superstar.  There are plenty of them.  Why eat what you can’t stand?  There are lots of delicious and healthy foods to go around so choose something else.  Don’t waste your nutritional budget on something that you don’t like.
  • Is it healthy?  Is it good for me — not Is it good for my family, my spouse, or my friend?  Don’t waste your calories on something that doesn’t do anything for you. Some foods may be delicious (to you) but be downright unhealthy.  Give up on the empty and unhealthy calories.  What’s the point of eating stuff that does nothing for you, or that may be bad for you?
  • If I eat this, how am I going to feel half an hour or an hour from now? Ever eat a big bowl of pasta at lunch, start to nod off and reach for a monster cup of coffee?  Ever stop at a gas station on a long road trip to grab a candy bar – only to find yourself nodding off a while later?  Dangerous.  I once had pasta for dinner before a movie and promptly fell asleep during the trailer only to wake up when the movie credits were rolling.  Pasta makes me sleepy, so does candy.  What about you?
  • Food affects your mental clarity. Learn to identify the relationship between certain foods and how your body physically and emotionally reacts to them.  Some make you sleepy, some make you crabby, some make you alert, and some give you energy.  Which foods do what for you?
  • Is this the right portion size for me? Portion control is essential for weight management.  Learn to eyeball portion sizes and commit to a personal “no seconds” policy.
  • Do I really want to eat this or am I doing it just because . . . (you supply the answer – some typical ones are: everyone else is eating it, or my kids love it, or Grandma made it, or it’s the specialty of the restaurant, or “I had a tough day, I deserve it”).

Some Questions To Ask Yourself

Create a habit of asking yourself these questions when you’re faced with food choices:

  • How will I feel when I eat this food?
  • Am I really hungry?
  • Is it delicious?
  • Is it good for me?
  • Is it healthy?
  • If I eat this, how am I going to feel half an hour to an hour from now?
  • Is this the right portion size for me?
  • Do I really want to eat this or am I doing it just because . . .?

What are some of the questions you can ask yourself before eating?

Leftover Dilemma: Can I Eat It Or Should I Toss It?

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You know the feeling:  you’re standing in front of your open refrigerator. There’s a mess of containers in there. Move ‘em around. Discovery: A mystery plastic container all the way in the back; a couple of Chinese food take-out containers; some oddly shaped tin-foil packages. Don’t you wonder what’s in them?

With some trepidation you take a peek. Container #1: the leftover take-out chicken fried rice from five days ago. Container #2: the rest of your lasagna you brought home last night from a huge restaurant portion. Then there’s some of Mom’s really delicious stuffing from last weekend in that plastic container.  The tin-foil packages: grayish looking stuff that doesn’t smell so great.

Big question: Will you end up writhing in pain and spending the next day in the bathroom if you eat any of it?

How Long Can Prepared Food Safely Stay  Unrefrigerated?

According to the FDA, when you buy hot, cooked food, you should get it home quickly and eat it right away.  It shouldn’t sit out at room temperature. If the food is cold – not hot — and sitting out, it should be eaten within two hours of when it was prepared.  Otherwise, store it in the fridge, or freeze it.

Take-Out Food

When take-out food is delivered, you want to prevent any lurking potentially nasty and harmful bacteria from multiplying, so eat the food within two hours after it arrives. If you aren’t going to eat it within two hours keep it hot in an oven set at or above 200° F (93° C). Side dishes also should to be kept hot in the oven. Cover the food to keep it moist while you’re keeping it warm. Don’t guess at the temperature of the food. Use a food thermometer to check that the food is kept at an internal temperature of 140° F (60° C).

The Food Temperature “Danger Zone”

The FDA defines the “danger zone” as the range of temperatures at which bacteria can grow. It is usually between 40° and 140° F (4° and 60° C). To keep food safe, it’s important to keep it below or above the “danger zone.”

The 2 Hour Rule For Leftovers

There is a 2 Hour Rule: toss any perishable food (the kind that can spoil or become contaminated by bacteria if left unrefrigerated) that has been left out at room temperature for more than two hours. When the environmental temperature is above 90° F (32° C), throw out the food after one hour.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest’s Nutrition Action Healthletter, expands on the Rules For Leftovers with what they call:

2 hours – 2 inches – 4 days

2 hours from oven to refrigerator: any leftovers should be refrigerated or frozen within 2 hours of cooking or they should be thrown away.

2 Inches thick to cool it quick: food should be stored in containers at a shallow depth of about 2 inches or less, to speed the chilling time.

4 days in the refrigerator or freeze it: use refrigerated leftovers within 4 days — with the exception of stuffing and gravy which should be used within 2 days. Solid leftovers should be reheated to 165 degrees F and liquid leftovers to a rolling boil. Whatever you don’t finish, throw out.

What About The Doggie Bag?

If you leave a restaurant with a doggie bag – or a prepared food store with a container of food – and you’re not going to get home within two hours of having the order served to you, scrap the food. If you do leave with doggie bag or food container in hand, keep in mind that the inside of your car can get very toasty and bacteria can multiply very quickly. So, if the doggie bag contains tomorrow’s lunch or a late night snack, it’s a good idea to go directly home and get those still identifiable leftovers in the refrigerator right away.