calories

How Many Calories Are In A “Mindless Bite”?

January 3, 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.

Celebrating The New Year In Good Eating Style

December 27, 2011 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

The earliest recorded celebration of the arrival of the new year dates back 4,000 years ago in ancient Babylon. The first new moon following the vernal equinox, or the day in the spring with an equal amount of sunlight and darkness, signaled the start of a new year.

Today, New Year’s Day–the first day of the calendar year–is celebrated in almost every country in the world, but depending the type of calendar, not all countries or cultures welcome the New Year on January 1st. The Chinese, Egyptian, Jewish, Roman, and Mohammedan years all have different start dates.

January 1 was recognized as New Years Day in the 1500’s with the introduction of the Gregorian Calendar. In 1582 most Catholic countries adopted the Gregorian calendar but the British didn’t adopt it until 1752. Until then the British Empire and their American colonies celebrated the new year in March.

Some Traditions and Legends

In ancient Rome the first day of the New Year honored Janus, the god of gates, doors, beginnings and endings. Janus had two faces. One looked ahead to see what the new year would bring and the other looked backward to see what had happened during the past year. To celebrate, the Romans gave gifts to friends and family members –and sometimes to Senators in exchange for favors.
Druid priests In England celebrated the New Year on March 10. They gave branches of mistletoe to people for charms. Later on, English people cleaned their chimneys on New Year’s Day believing that this brought good luck to the household for the coming year (which is where the expression “cleaning the slate” comes from).
In many countries people eat specific foods to bring good luck for the coming year. In Spain they eat grapes, round fruits in the Philippines, suckling pig in Austria, soba noodles in Japan, rice pudding in Norway, black-eyed peas in the southern US, and cake with a hidden coin in Greece. Other common worldwide customs are making resolutions–which dates to the Babylonians, and watching fireworks.
Chinese New Year, an all East and Southeast Asia celebration, is known as “Spring Festival” in China. Filled with tradition and ritual it’s usually considered the most important traditional holiday for Chinese around the world. It begins on the first day of the first month in the traditional Chinese lunar calendar and is celebrated with lucky red envelopes filled with money, lion and dragon dances, drums, fireworks, firecrackers. Traditional sweet sticky the last course rice cakes and round savory dumplings symbolize never-ending wealth. On New Year’s Eve the meal includes fish to symbolize abundance. In the first five days of the New Year people eat long noodles to symbolize long life and round dumplings shaped like the full moon to represent the family unit and perfection.

Some New Year’s Eve Tips

If you have big plans for New Year’s Eve, enjoy yourself by devising an eating strategy before you go out and committing to carrying it out. If you’re watching your weight, have a plan – you can still enjoy yourself and not feel deprived. With a plan you design just for you, you’ll have a much better chance at succeeding – and not end up hating yourself and cursing the scale on the first day of the New Year. Here are some ideas:

If you’re going to a party with lots of hors d’oeuvres decide beforehand how many you’ll have. Three varieties, one of each? Two varieties, two of each?
Alternate your drink of choice – wine, champagne, liquor – with sparkling water to cut calories, help with sobriety, and make it easier for you to resist food temptations. Hold that glass of sparkling water or diet soda in your hand – the only people who will know it’s non-alcoholic is you and the bartender (who most likely could care less about what you are drinking).
If you’re going to dinner decide if you’re going to have dessert ahead of time. If you are going to indulge – even if it’s the house specialty smothered in whipped cream — compensate by having a salad with dressing on the side as your appetizer. Nix the bread. Just balance your caloric intake the best you can.
If it’s a pizza, wings, and beer affair think about ways to minimize your fat intake – pizza and wings (especially the dip) are loaded. Cut the pizza slice in half – leave the other half in the box. When you go back for seconds, retrieve the other half slice. You’ll end up eating just one slice but feel like you’re having two. If you can, take off some of the cheese – the main source of fat. Some people use paper towels or napkins to absorb some of the extra fat floating on the surface of a slice. Up to you – but it really cuts down on calories – mopping up the equivalent of two teaspoons of oil knocks off just under 100 calories.

How Far You’d Need To Walk to Burn Off A New Year’s Party Calories

If you go to a New Year’s party and have:

one Irish coffee
one glass of wine
one cup of coffee with cream and sugar
one cup of eggnog
one 3 oz Stinger
5 large olives
half a cup of mixed nuts
one oz of potato or tortilla chips
one teaspoon of chip dip, a mini-quiche
2 oz of boiled shrimp with cocktail sauce
two chocolate mints
one slice of pecan pie with half a cup of ice cream
one small piece of fudge
one iced gingerbread cookie

you would have consumed 27030 calories and you would need to walk 27.03 miles, or 54060 steps (assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps) to burn off those calories.

Is A Gingerbread Latte Or A Steaming Hot Chocolate Calling Your Name?

December 15, 2011 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN 2 Comments

You’ve spent the day shopping – or working – or taking care of the kids – or any combination of the above – and by mid- afternoon you really want a nice, hot satisfying treat. It’s pretty tough to resist some of the irresistibly named hot and flavorful drinks that Starbuck’s and Dunkin’ Donuts have to offer.

Hot Chocolate

This is what Starbuck’s has to say about their hot chocolate — how can you resist?

“Do you remember your first hot chocolate? Sweet, creamy comfort in a cup. You instantly pegged it the best drink on earth. Chances are you’ll feel the same about our version of this classic beverage. Made with steamed milk, vanilla and mocha-flavored syrups, and topped with a generous swirl of sweetened whipped cream, we bet it tastes even better than the one you remember.”

Coffee Drinks And Hot Chocolate

Here’s the nutritional information for some Starbuck’s and Dunkin’ Donuts drinks so you can make your best informed choice even if something else sounds so wonderful .

Starbuck’s Caffe Latte, grande (16 oz), 2% milk: 190 calories; 7g fat; 18g carbs; 12g protein

Starbuck’s Cappuchino, grande (16 oz), 2% milk: 120 calories; 4g fat; 12g carbs; 8g protein

Starbuck’s Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha, grande (16oz), 2% milk, no whipped cream: 440 calories; 10g fat; 75g carbs; 13g protein

Starbuck’s Gingerbread Latte, grande (16 oz), 2% milk: 250 calories; 6g fat; 37g carbs; 11g protein

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

Dunkin’ Donuts Gingerbread Hot Coffee with Cream, medium: 260 calories; 9g fat; 41g carbs; 4g protein

Dunkin’ Donuts Mint Hot Chocolate, medium: 310 calories; 10g fat; 52g carbs; 2g protein

Dunkin’ Donuts Vanilla Chai: 330 calories; 8g fat; 53g carbs; 11g protein

How About Some Plain Coffee?

If you want something hot you could just have plain black coffee for a bargain basement 5 calories. The trick is controlling the extras to avoid making your coffee just another sneaky calorie bomb.

Brewed coffee, grande (16 oz), black: 5 calories

Heavy cream, 1tbs: 52 calories

Half-and-half, 1 tbs: 20 calories

Whole milk, 1 tbs: 9 calories

Fat-free milk. 5 calories

Table sugar, 1tbs: 49 calories

For more help in choosing, eating, and enjoying holiday food — from Halloween through Valentine’s Day, invest 99 cents for my new ebook, “How Not To Get Fat Over The Holidays.”

You can buy it for Amazon Kindle, at Barnes & Noble.com, and through iBooks (iTunes store/Health, Mind and Body).

How Many Pounds Of Meat And Cheese Do You Eat In A Year?

November 29, 2011 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

According to Visual Economics:

The average American is 36.6 years old and eats 1,996.3 lbs. of food per year.
The average man is 5 feet 9 inches and weighs 190 lbs.
The average woman is 5 feet 4 inches and weighs 164 lbs.

Each year Americans eat:

85.5 lbs. of fats and oils
110 lbs. of red meat, including 62.4 lbs. of beef and 46.5 lbs. of pork
73.6 lbs. of poultry, including 60.4 lbs. of chicken
16.1 lbs. of fish and shellfish and 32.7 lbs. of eggs
31.4 lbs. of cheese each year
600.5 lbs. of non-cheese dairy products
181 lbs. of beverage milks
192.3 lbs. of flour and cereal products, including 134.1 lbs. of wheat flour
141.6 lbs. of caloric sweeteners, including 42 lbs. of corn syrup
56 lbs. of corn each year and eat 415.4 lbs. of vegetables
24 lbs. of coffee, cocoa and nuts
273.2 lbs. of fruit

These foods include:

29 lbs. of French fries
23 lbs. of pizza
24 lbs. of ice cream
53 gallons of soda, averaging about one gallon each week
24 lbs. of artificial sweeteners
2.736 lbs. of sodium, which is 47 percent more than recommended
0.2 lbs. of caffeine each year, about 90,700 mg

In total, Americans eat an average of 2,700 calories each day.

Graphic and statistics courtesy of Visual Economics

How Long Can Your Turkey Safely Stay On The Table — And In The Fridge?

November 23, 2011 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

How Do Turkeys Cross The Road?

Where I live, I often have to stop my car and wait for the wild turkeys to cross the road. I’m not kidding. They start climbing over a stone wall from a wooded area one after another. Gorgeous, they’re not. And they don’t cross in a timely fashion, either. They’re sort of in a line but sometimes one shows an independent streak and turns around to look for the others. Quite a sight – and, quite annoying when I’m in a hurry having seen this parade many times before – although it makes me smile every time!

These are not the turkeys that most of us will find on our dining room tables – but certainly are distant relatives of those eaten by the early New England settlers.

Turkey Is A Very Good Source Of Lean Protein

Turkey is low in fat and high in protein. A 3 1/2-ounce serving is about the size and thickness of a new deck of cards. The fat and calorie content varies because white meat has less fat and fewer calories than dark meat and skin.

Meat Type (from a whole roasted turkey)	Calories	Total Fat	Protein
Breast with skin	194	8 grams	29 grams
Breast w/o skin	161	4 grams	30 grams
Wing w/skin	238	13 grams	27 grams
Leg w/skin	213	11 grams	28 grams
Dark meat w/skin	232	13 grams	27 grams
Dark meat w/o skin	192	8 grams	28 grams
Skin only	482	44 grams	19 grams

Once Your Turkey Is Cooked, Does It Matter How Long You Leave It Out?

Absolutely! According to the Centers for Disease Control the number of reported cases of food borne illness (food poisoning) increases during the holiday season. You shouldn’t leave food out for more than two hours. To save turkey leftovers, remove the stuffing from the cavity, cut the turkey off the bone, and refrigerate or freeze all leftovers.

The Basic Rules For Leftovers

According to the March 2010 edition of the Nutrition Action Healthletter (Center for Science in the Public Interest):

The mantra is: 2 Hours–2 Inches–4 Days

2 Hours from oven to refrigerator: Refrigerate or freeze your leftovers within 2 hours of cooking. Throw them away if they are out longer than that.
2 Inches thick to cool it quick: Store your food at a shallow depth–about 2 inches–to speed chilling.
4 Days in the refrigerator–otherwise freeze it: Use your leftovers that are stored in the fridge within 4 days. The exceptions are stuffing and gravy which should be used within 2 days. Reheat solid leftovers to 165 degrees F and liquid leftovers to a rolling boil. Toss what you don’t finish.

How Long Can I Keep Leftover Turkey In The Freezer?

Frozen leftover turkey, stuffing, and gravy should be used within one month. To successfully freeze leftovers package them properly using freezer wrap or freezer containers. Use heavy duty aluminum foil, freezer paper, or freezer bags for best results and don’t leave air space. Squeeze the excess air from freezer bags and fill rigid freezer containers to the top with dry food. Without proper packaging, circulating air in the freezer can create freezer burn – those white dried-out patches on the surface of food that make it tough and tasteless. Leave a one inch head space in containers with liquid and half inch in containers filled with semi-solids.