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calories

Bigger and Biggest Burgers: Tips for Burger Eaters

February 19, 2010 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

  • Battle On:  who has the biggest burger? 

I love burgers – much more than steak of any kind.  So, I budget them into my food plan.  Holding the bacon, cheese, and fried onions cuts down on the calories – but for occasional indulgences it’s even possible to have those – just keep a close eye on the portion size.

According to the Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter (2/10), the fight for our dollars to purchase the biggest burger is on. The trade journal, Advertising Age, is calling the marketing war for the consumer’s bucks for big or biggest burger:  “Battle of the Big Burgers.”

  • Bigger and biggest nutritional stats*

Applebee’s A1 Steakhouse Burger:  1085 Calories, 60g Fat, 80, Carbs, 52g Protein

Burger King Steakhouse XT:  970 Calories, 55g Carbs, other info N/A

Carl’s Jr.  $6 Burger:  890 Calories, 54g Fat, 58g Carbs, 45g Protein

Chili’s Classic bacon Burger:  1140 Calories, 72g Fat, 61g Carbs, 59g Fat

Denny’s Western burger:  1160 Calories, 65g Fat, 79g  Carbs, 63g Protein

Hardee’s $6 Thickburger:  950 Calories, 59g fat, 58g Carbs, 45g Protein

Krystal BA Double Bacon Cheese:  850 Calories, 59g Fat, 48g Carbs, 32g Protein

McDonald’s Angus Deluxe:  750 Calories, 39g fat, 61g Carbs, 40g Protein

Wendy’s Bacon Deluxe Triple:  1140 Calories, 71g Fat, 47g Carbs, 79g Protein

These burgers can range from 1/2 to 3/4 of most people’s usual daily caloric and fat (especially saturated fat) allowance, and I didn’t include the amount of sodium in each burger, which is equally alarming.


How to choose?  Sticking to ordering an ordinary hamburger might be your best bet if you exercise caution with the caloric fatty sides (French fries, onion rings) and not sugared drinks.  A McDonald’s regular burger:  250 Calories, has less calories than any other sandwich on it’s menu.  Burger King’s Whopper Jr. clocks in at 370 calories.

Don’t be misled by the healthier sounding veggie burger with it’s added on toppings.  Burger King’s Veggie burger has 420 calories and 16g Fat – it’s Whopper has 670 calories and 40g fat.  Ruby Tuesday’s Veggie Burger chalks up 952 Calories and 53g fat and it’s Classic Cheeseburger has 1160 calories and 81g total fat.

  • SocialDieter Tip

If you know that your routine, maybe for workday lunches or after your kid’s soccer game, is probably going to include a stop at a fast food or casual dining chain, arm yourself with information by checking out the chain’s website for nutrition data.  Figure out ahead of time which choice is the best for you and then stick to it when you order.  If you haven’t figured out your preference before hand, chains in many states are now obliged to post in the restaurant the nutritional information for their products.  Bottom line: to save calories and fat, ignore the touted “big” or “biggest” burger (even if it’s the special) and order the small, ordinary burger and ask for extra onions, pickles, and other veggies.

*All data is from Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter February 2010

Filed Under: Calorie Tips, Healthy Eating, Food Facts, Restaurants, Diners, Fast Food, Takeout, Prepared Food, Junk Food Tagged With: calories, fast food, food facts, hamburgers, weight management strategies

Want To Save Close to 100 Calories at Lunch?

January 28, 2010 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

sandwichLunchtime.  What will it be?  Maybe a sandwich – it’s nice outside – good day to eat on a bench in the park.  Salad is way too messy.  Sandwich or a wrap is the way to go.

Lots of choices for the sandwich filling:  ham, turkey, roast beef, cheese, tuna, grilled veggies . . .

Lots of choices to wrap around the protein:  rye, wheat, white, roll, wrap . . .

Lots of stuff to put inside along with the protein: lettuce, tomato, onion, sprouts, olives . . .

What’s going to give your sandwich a pop of flavor and hold it all together  . . . mayo, mustard, ketchup, oil and vinegar???

Here’s where you can save close to 100 calories – without sacrificing flavor. My math is not fuzzy.  Note that all calorie counts are for a tablespoon.  In my experience, it’s awfully easy to use at least a tablespoon, if not more, of mayonnaise on a sandwich – and pretty tough to use that amount of mustard (you’re far more likely to use closer to a teaspoon).

Calories per tablespoon:

  • Dijon mustard:                                                     12
  • Yellow mustard:                                                   9  (1 packet, 3 calories)
  • Deli mustard (Grey Poupon):                           15
  • Honey mustard:                                                   around 30 (check brand)
  • Spicy brown mustard (Gulden’s):                   18
  • Classic yellow mustard (French’s):                  0  (yep!, it’s water and spices)
  • Dijonnaise (Hellman’s):                                       15
  • Ketchup:                                                                  15  (1 packet, 6 calories)
  • Russian dressing:                                                 54
  • Mayonnaise:                                                          99 (1 packet, 86 calories)
  • Light mayonnaise:                                               49
  • Fat free mayonnaise:                                           13
  • Tartar sauce:                                                          74
  • Relish, sweet:                                                         20  (1 packet, 13 calories)
  • Horseradish:                                                           6
  • Vinaigrette:                                                            43
  • Olive oil:                                                                  119
  • Butter:                                                                     102

To save calories:

  • Experiment with different kinds of mustard and relish
  • Swap the mayo for mustard
  • Swap the mayo for ketchup
  • Swap the Russian dressing for ketchup or relish

These are some small swap-outs that you can learn to do routinely – they become a mindless way to save calories.  Of course you could also walk or run a mile in the park instead of sitting on a bench eating your slimmed down sandwich.  The mile will burn off around 75 to 100 calories (depending on your weight and speed)– the same amount you might save with some of the swap-outs suggested above.

Filed Under: Calorie Tips, Healthy Eating, Food Facts, Eating on the Job, Manage Your Weight, Restaurants, Diners, Fast Food, Shopping, Cooking, Baking, Takeout, Prepared Food, Junk Food Tagged With: calorie tips, calories, condiments, eat out eat well, ketchup, lunch, mayonnaise, mustard, sandwich

How Many Calories Are In That Glass Of Wine?

January 22, 2010 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

IMG_4521Love your wine with dinner – or maybe that champagne at your friend’s wedding?  What about that wonderful, sweet, thick dessert wine to polish off a fantastic meal?

You may have your preference – most of us do – but whether it’s red, white, dry, sweet, or sparkling, it is really easy to overlook the calories in those long-stemmed glasses.

A standard portion of table wine (red or white) is 4 oz.  But, how many ounces are really in the glass of wine that you usually drink?  Probably five to eight!

So, on average, if 4 oz. of red or white table wine has about 100 calories, you are drinking anywhere from 100 to 200 calories of wine – in one glass! How many glasses of wine do you drink with a meal?

If you have dessert wine after dinner it’s about double the calories per oz. although the standard serving is less:  usually 2 to 3 oz.  So add on about another 100 to 150 calories for each glass of that smooth dessert wine.

Think about your strategy:  wine is great but it does add calories. Wine instead of dessert – wine instead of an appetizer?  Maybe both, maybe all.  The choice is yours – just figure it into your eating plan.

Calories in Wine:

  • 1 oz. of Champagne:                                                       19 calories
  • 1oz. of red table wine (burgundy, cabernet):           25 calories
  • 1 oz. dry white (Chablis, hock, reisling):                    24 calories
  • 1 oz. sweet white (moselle, sauterne, zinfandel:    28 calories
  • 1 oz. rose:                                                                           20 calories
  • 1 oz. port (about 20% alcohol):                                   46 calories
  • 1 oz. sweet dessert wine:                                               47 calories

http://www.calorieking.com/calories-in-wine.html

Filed Under: Entertaining, Buffets, Parties, Events, Manage Your Weight, Snacking, Noshing, Tasting Tagged With: alcoholic beverage, calories, calories in wine, food facts, wine, wine glass

Calorie Counts: Can You Trust Them?

January 20, 2010 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Ever wonder if you can really trust all of the numbers written on the label of your frozen chicken with vegetables and rice or next to the burger description in your local fast food emporium?


Well, it turns out that you’re right to wonder.  The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/health/12calo.html)  reported on a Tufts study (http://www.adajournal.org/article/S0002-8223(09)01679-4/abstract) that evaluated the accuracy of calorie counts of 29 typical under 500 calorie quick-serve  and sit-down restaurant foods and 10 frozen complete meals bought in supermarkets.

The calorie counts of the restaurant foods averaged 18% more than stated and the calorie counts of the frozen foods averaged 8% more than stated. These were average numbers:  some restaurants under reported caloric content; some choices had up to 200% more calories than stated; and in some there were no real inaccuracies.

When some free side dishes were added to entrees they boosted the inaccuracy of the total stated calories to 245%.  This highlights the nasty little fact that all too often we forget to add the calorie count of those side dishes – which are often over the top in calories and fat – to the total calorie counts of our meals.

All of the variations fell in the 20% margin that the FDA allows for packaged food (although it doesn’t specify maximum overage for restaurant meals they also fell within the 20% margin).

It’s easy to understand how there can be variation in restaurant food – a longer pour of oil, a little more of a schmear of cream cheese on the bagel – it’s often in the hands of the preparer.  Prepackaged food produced under factory control is a little more difficult to understand and obviously accounts for overage of only 8% versus 18% (there’s some speculation that since food companies are heavily penalized for underweighting they may add a little more volume, and therefore calories, to protect against this possibility).  And, as a Tufts researcher points out: 5% excess calories daily for someone eating 2,000 calories a day could mean a 10 pound weight gain in one year.

What to do?  Be mindful and aware. If it looks to good to be true, it probably isn’t.  Translation:  If it’s swimming in oil, arrives with a big pat of butter melting on top, it’s smothered in melted cheese, or it’s gargantuan in size it’s probably not a low cal meal.  Trust your reaction and stick up for yourself.  If you don’t get what you ordered or what’s described, bring it back and ask for it to be prepared the way it’s supposed to be.

Filed Under: Calorie Tips, Healthy Eating, Food Facts, Manage Your Weight, Restaurants, Diners, Fast Food, Takeout, Prepared Food, Junk Food Tagged With: calorie tips, calories, food facts, mindfulness, nutrition labels, weight management strategies

Brunch Buffet

January 18, 2010 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN 2 Comments

eggs in cartonFace the brunch buffet and keep the calories under control!

Okay.  So it’s a brunch buffet the day after your friend’s wedding.  Do you really want to go?  Maybe yes, maybe no.  But you have to, she’s a really good friend.

Or, maybe you’re on vacation and staring down the sumptuous brunch buffet in the resort hotel.  Boy oh boy, everything looks both beautiful and indescribably delicious.  Freshly baked bread and scrumptious pastry displayed with an artist’s touch.

You really indulged at the reception the night before and your inner voice is chiding you to choose your food wisely and not blow your diet another day.

As any social dieter should do, you cruise the buffet line first just taking in all of the choices.  Wow, what a minefield of diet busters!

What to do?  What do you want to do?  What’s going to energize you and not mess too badly with the calorie count that you want to maintain?

Yes, there’s fruit and yogurt and eggs.  Bacon and sausage, too.  But, you eat yogurt everyday and those pancakes and waffles look really delicious.  So does the danish and coffee cake.  And, you really want some.

It’s decision making time.  Think.  What are you going to eat the rest of the day. If you think you can eat at 11AM and have no food until tomorrow, bad choice.  By late afternoon you’ll probably be so hungry that you’ll throw all caution to the wind and head for pizza or a cheeseburger promising yourself you’ll get back on track tomorrow.  The possible beginning of a downward spiral.

Make your choice.  Have a good meal that will fill you up, keep your blood sugar at a nice level, and taste good. What does that mean?  Some protein and some complex carbs.  Easy on the fat and simple carbs.  Look at your choices – what will fill the bill?  What are you willing to trade off?  What will make you happy without feeling either deprived or guilty?

Start with the fruit.  Not the juice, the whole fruit. Juice is sugar, albeit natural, in a glass.  Fruit is full of fiber and antioxidants.  Berries are a great choice – low in calories, almost always available at a buffet, and they can serve as a topping for yogurt or pancakes.  Next some protein.  Yogurt is a possibility – is it low fat?  Eggs fill the bill, too, but not when smothered in hollandaise sauce or cheese – want to guess that fat and calorie count?  Bacon or ham?  Plain ham is surprisingly low in fat – something bacon and sausage are not.  Plain pancakes aren’t a bad choice – as long as you don’t coat them in butter and drown them in syrup.  Top them with those berries and have some protein on the side (a slice of ham, some yogurt, a spoonful of scrambled eggs from the next chafing dish).

If you decide you really will feel totally deprived if you don’t indulge in one of those delicious baked goods, choose one without loads of thick buttery crumbs on top, cut it in half or in thirds and be satisfied with that amount.  Put it on a separate small plate that you can easily push away from you.  Keeping it on your main plate or even a smaller one that’s easily reachable means you’ll be nibbling away at it the entire time.

Still hungry?  Have some more fruit, another glass of water, some tea or coffee. No half and half, please.  Oh, try and skip the mimosas and the bloody marys.  If you must, try a virgin mary – tomato juice is low in calories and it looks just the same in the glass.  Remember that the alcohol will mess with both your calorie count and your willpower to keep your hands off the pastry and the bacon.

Now, don’t you feel full, happy, and very proud of yourself?

Filed Under: Calorie Tips, Healthy Eating, Food Facts, Eating on the Job, Eating with Family and Friends, Entertaining, Buffets, Parties, Events, Manage Your Weight, Restaurants, Diners, Fast Food, Snacking, Noshing, Tasting Tagged With: brunch, buffet, calories, eating environment, et out eat well

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