Eat Out Eat Well

Free Food: No Money For Lots Of Sweet, Fatty Calories And Little Energy

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You have an early morning meeting.  Sitting in front of you is a platter loaded with bagels, danish, and doughnuts just waiting to be eaten and washed down by copious amounts of coffee.

If you didn’t have time to grab some and if all the platters aren’t picked clean, the remnants will surely end up in the snack room next to the birthday cake (it’s always somebody’s birthday) or the leftover cookies from someone’s party the night before.

Perhaps you shop at Costco on the weekend.  At least three tables will be manned by someone offering you samples of hot pizza, luscious cheesecake, or tooth-picked pigs ‘n blankets just waiting to be quickly and neatly popped into your mouth.

Maybe you then make a stop at the cleaners, the tailors, or the veterinarian.  There it is – the giant bowl piled high with freebie candy.  You can dig deep for the kind you like – Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, mini Snickers, or Tootsie Roll pops.  You name it — it’s usually there for the taking.

Going to a wedding that night?  How do you escape the platters of salami, cheese, mini quiches, and then the desserts covered with icing and whipped cream?

What’s The Problem With Easily Accessible Free Food?

Not a thing if you don’t care about calories, nutrition, and how you’re going to feel after an overload of sugar, fat, and salt. It’s also very attractive if you don’t have a lot of money to spend and your belly is screaming, “I’m hungry.”

Occasional dips into free food probably aren’t going to hurt anyone in reasonable health.  But, consistently finding your hand in the candy or goldfish bowl or on the sample tray in Costco has a caloric downside. And, non-nutritious junk, processed, and high calorie food negatively impacts your concentration, alertness, and energy. Your simple carb freebies will send your blood sugar on highs and lows worthy of a roller coaster ride.

Easy To Understand – Hard To Do

It’s one thing to understand all of that. The problem is that most of us find it pretty darn hard to ignore the food that’s just there for the taking. It’s everywhere – and we value cheap calories. When was the last time that you resisted the peanuts, pretzels, or popcorn sitting on the bar counter?  What about the breadbasket – that’s usually free, too.

We don’t have to eat any of this stuff.  But we do.  Why?  Some of us have trouble passing up a giveaway; some of us see it as a way to save money, even with possible negative health consequences; and some of us use “free” as an excuse to eat or overeat junk food or the sweet, salty, fatty foods that some call addicting.

And the calories?  Just because it’s free doesn’t mean the calories are, too.  It’s all too easy to forget about those calories you popped in your mouth as you snagged a candy here and tasted a cookie there.

Things To Think About Before The Freebies Land In Your Mouth

You might want to come up with your own mental checklist that, with practice, will help you decide if it’s worth it to indulge.  If you decide to taste the salami and have a cookie and a piece of cake, at least you’ll have made a conscious choice.  Ask yourself:

  • Is the food fresh and tasty?  It might be if you’re at a catered wedding or a private party, it’s more questionable if it’s being handed out at the supermarket or sitting in a large bowl at the cleaners.
  • Is it clean?  How many fingers have been in the bowl of peanuts on the bar counter or have grabbed pieces of cheese or bunches of cookies off of an open platter?
  • Do you really want it – or are you eating it just because it’s there?
  • Is it loaded with fat, sugar, and salt that add up to mega calories?  Every calorie counts whether it’s popped in your mouth and gone in the blink of an eye or savored more slowly and eaten with utensils off of a plate.
  • If you fill up with the non-nutritious free food, are you skimping on the nutritious stuff later on because you’re simply too full to eat it?
  • If you start nibbling on the free food, does it open the flood gates so that you continue to indulge? Loading up on simple sugars – like those in candy, cookies, cake, and many processed foods – causes your blood sugar level to spike and then to drop – leaving you hungry and pretty darn cranky.

You Do Have Choices

  • You don’t have to eat food because it’s free.  No one is forcing you to make some more room on the serving tray or breadbasket by sampling one (or more) of each variety.
  • If you sample the candy, pizza, cheesecake, popcorn, or pieces of cookie, are you giving yourself permission (perhaps in disguise) to overindulge in food you might not ordinarily eat?
  • Be aware of the cascade.  Sometimes you can’t eat just one – it’s more like eat one and you can’t stop.
  • If you know you’re going to be tempted, plan to indulge. Do it mindfully, not mindlessly:  build it in.  Eat a lighter lunch and don’t go shopping or to an event when you’re starving — a sure ticket to chowing down on almost everything in sight.
  • Have your own personal policy for bowl dipping – the quick hand dips into the candy bowl at the receptionist’s desk, the jelly beans on your friend’s table, the chocolates on the counter. Aside from the calories think about all of the other hands – and where those hands have been – that are also dipping into the same bowl.

This article is part of the 30 day series of blog posts called: 30 Easy Tips for Looser Pants and Excellent Energy.

Did You Forget These Calories?

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Are you keeping a record – virtual, written, or in your noggin – of how may calories you’re eating?

Even if you’re not (and some people find it very hard to do – actually loathe doing it) you probably take note of what you eat each day – at least most of what you eat.  But, all of us have things that we eat, and consequently calories we take in, that easily slip being added to our mental or written calorie ledger sheet. The reasons for the oversight vary but either:

  • we truly forget
  • we find keeping track of them to be an onerous task
  • we don’t want to address the fact that we ate what we did.

Calories That Are Way Too Easy to Forget

There are some kinds of calories that are particularly easy to forget.  Here’s some ideas – perhaps you’d like to take the opportunity to think about the mindless, sneaky calories in your life.

It’s easy to forget to include the calories in:

  • the candy bar you buy at the gas station and eat it in the car
  • the 3 tootsie rolls you snagged from the receptionist’s desk
  • the couple of samples of cheesecake at Costco
  • the crusts of the grilled cheese sandwich or the ends of the pizza that you finished from your child’s plate
  • the cookie batter you tasted and the dough you licked from the bowl and beaters
  • the leftovers you polished off because there was too small an amount to save
  • the  extra hors d’oeuvre you mindlessly popped into your mouth
  • the ice cream you licked from your child’s ice cream cone to prevent it from falling on the street
  • the peanuts and goldfish you nibbled on at the bar
  • the bread you practically inhaled from the breadbasket
  • the glass of juice from the fridge in the snack room
  • the extra coffee and cream in your tea and coffee
  • the extra wine in your glass that is half again the size of a “regular” portion
  • those “I’ll just have half a cookie” moments

How many more can you add?

This article is part of the 30 day series of blog posts called: 30 Easy Tips for Looser Pants and Excellent Energy.

Is Your Coffee Or Tea Giving You A Muffin Top?

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Morning coffee.  Coffee break.  Afternoon tea.  A nice cup after dinner. Many of us love – need – our coffee or tea.  Hot, cold, it doesn’t always matter.

But, as you dump sugar and pour cream into mugs, thermoses, and those too hot to touch cardboard take-out containers, have you ever thought about how many calories you’re actually adding to an otherwise very low calorie drink? Probably not. They’re calories not usually measured and all to easy to forget.

What Do You Put Into Your Coffee Or Tea?

How much milk or half and half do you add to your coffee or tea? How much sugar? Bet you don’t have a clue.  We all do a freehand pour.  Try measuring how much you pour and you might be really surprised.

Here’s The Facts

Black brewed coffee and tea both have around two calories in an eight ounce cup. Not a bad deal.

Here’s the potential trouble:

  • Heavy cream, 1tbs:  52 calories
  • Half-and-half, 1 tbs:  20 calories
  • Whole milk, 1 tbs:  9 calories
  • 2% (low fat) milk; 1 tbs:  7 calories
  • Non-fat milk, 1tbs:  5 calories
  • Table sugar, 1tbs:  49 calories; 1tsp:  16 calories

Wow – It Can Add Up

Say you have three grande (Starbuck’s) – or large (Dunkin Donuts) – size 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 that’s 399 calories a day
  • Do that every day for a year and that’s the equivalent of 145,635 calories a year.

Of course not everyone will drink this amount of coffee with this amount of half and half and sugar.  But, it does make you stop and think about how many calories you really are putting into your coffee.

In Case You’re Tempted By Something More

Here’s the nutritional information for some other Starbuck’s and Dunkin’ Donuts drinks:

  • Starbuck’s Hot Chocolate, grande (16 oz), 2% milk with whipped cream:  370 calories; 16g fat ; 50g carbs; 14g protein; 25mg caffeine.  Without whipped cream: 290 calories

This article is part of the 30 day series of blog posts called: 30 Easy Tips for Looser Pants and Excellent Energy.

 

No Seconds: Here’s A Useful Tip

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Do you skimp on putting food onto your plate thinking that it will keep your calorie count down?

What happens?  You eat the skimpy portion – decide you’re still hungry – and then go back for more.

If the serving dishes are right in front of you there’s potential for making caloric matters much worse.

Get Those Serving Dishes Off The Table

If you want to make it a little easier for yourself to save on calories, one thing you can do is to get those serving dishes off of the table.  According to an article in the May 2011 Nutrition Action Healthletter, when serving dishes are left on the table men eat 29% more and women 10% more than when those serving dishes stay on the counter.

Why?

It’s harder to mindlessly shove food into your mouth if you have to get up to get it. Sticking out your fork and shoveling more onto your plate while your butt remains firmly planted in your chair makes it far too easy to refill your plate without much thought about the quantity of food that’s going into your mouth.

According to the article, men chow down on more servings than women because they tend to eat fast  — impatiently gobbling food while they wait for everyone else in the family to finish. As a result, they end up eating seconds and thirds while other people are still on firsts.  Women usually eat more slowly so they’re not as likely to get to the seconds and thirds.

Pay Attention To What Goes Onto Your Plate

To help avoid the temptation of going back for seconds:

  • figure out a reasonable portion of food that is within reason but not so skimpy that you’re no where near satisfied when you’re finished
  • fill your plate with that portion from stove or from serving dishes on the counter
  • eat and enjoy knowing that you’ve selected a healthy meal that’s satisfying but neither too skimpy nor too large.

This article is part of the 30 day series of blog posts called: 30 Easy Tips for Looser Pants and Excellent Energy.

Do You Always End Up In The Cookie Or Chips Aisle In The Supermarket?

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Is your route around the supermarket always the same – and does it usually include the aisles that get you in trouble? You know – the aisles with the home made baked goods or the chips and pretzels or the freezer cases with an incredible selection of mouth-watering ice cream flavors.

Think about it – why do you always go up and down the aisles the way you do?  For that matter – why do you choose one market over another?  Is it the price, the ease of use, or maybe subconsciously, or consciously, you know that the store you use as your “go-to” carries your favorite foods. Those foods may be the freshest produce, the leanest meat, or the best convenience foods, home made cookies, and freshly baked cakes.

Do You Usually End Up Walking Out Of The Market With A Bag Of Cookies Or Chips That You Hadn’t Planned On Buying?

Do you almost inevitably end up with donuts, cookies, or chips in your cart? Do you also walk around the supermarket in the same pattern slowing down in the aisles that house your favorite foods?

Whatever your “trigger” or “treat” food of choice might be, tossing it into your cart when it calls your name as you walk down the supermarket aisle becomes a habit – a habit that often translates into weight gain.

The routine of traveling a certain route – the one that propels you past the food that has become your caloric downfall — becomes so ingrained that you function on autopilot. You may not even think about going to the place that sells your craving/trigger/indulgence food – you seem to just find yourself there.

It’s not dissimilar to being unable to pass the popcorn or candy counter when you get into the movie theater.  The array of bright candy boxes and the smell of popcorn is in your face and buying popcorn or candy is the thing that you’ve always done.  It’s become your habit when you go to the movies. You don’t really think about it – you just do it.

The same thing is true with tossing those cookies or chips into your shopping cart – ‘fess up — isn’t it true that 9 times out of 10 you’ll end up with them in your cart?

Do You Need To Change-Up Your Route?

Snacks and treats aren’t always bad things. But, when they become  habits and choices that lead to weight gain it’s time for some reassessment of your shopping and eating habits.

If your supermarket shopping is followed by grumbling over the fact that you bought and ate (whatever it is) once again — often in the parking lot or on your way home — perhaps it’s time to reconsider your route and your routine.

Change it up. Go to a different store or try walking around the supermarket in a different direction. We all get used to doing certain things in a certain way – which may be fine – unless it’s not. If your routines are causing you to eat poorly, do something different.

You might not even realize how your shopping patterns affect what you buy and ultimately what you eat.  What kind of changes can you make?

This article is part of the 30 day series of blog posts called: 30 Easy Tips for Looser Pants and Excellent Energy.