Eat Out Eat Well

eat out eat well

How Many Calories Were In That Trick Or Treat Bag?

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A public heath expert has estimated that, on average, a child in the US collects between 3,500 and 7,000 candy calories on Halloween night.

She says that to burn off 7000 calories, a one hundred pound child would have to walk for almost 44 hours or play full-court basketball for 14.5 hours.

With 31% of US children and teens ages 2-19 overweight or obese, it really makes you stop and think about having candy and treats so frequently and easily available everywhere you look.

One evening of collecting candy is not going to make a child – or an adult – overweight or obese.  It is the constant bombardment with candy, sweets, and other treats that can lead to weight (and health) challenges.

Now that we’re on the cusp of the major holiday season perhaps it’s time to give some thought to the quantity and constant availability of treats.

A treat is only a treat if it happens once in a while.  If it’s a common occurrence it far too frequently becomes an expectation or a habit.

How Much Walking Do You Need To Do To Walk Off Halloween Candy?

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Here’s another way to think about Halloween candy — how much walking will it take to work off the calories in each piece?

These are some of the calculations from walking.com:

  • 1 Fun Size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc. comes to 80 calories. You will need to walk 0.8 miles, 1.29 kilometers, or 1600 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 2 Hershey’s Kisses comes to 50 calories. You will need to walk 0.5 miles, 0.80 kilometers, or 1000 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 2 Brachs caramels comes to 80 calories. You will need to walk 0.8 miles, 1.29 kilometers, or 1600 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 1 mini bite-size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.) comes to 55 calories. You will need to walk 0.55 miles, 0.88 kilometers, or 1100 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 1 Fun Size M&M packet – Plain or Peanut, comes to 90 calories. You will need to walk 0.9 miles, 1.45 kilometers, or 1800 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 1 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup comes to 33 calories. You will need to walk 0.33 miles, 0.53 kilometers, or 660 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 1 full size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.) comes to 275 calories. You will need to walk 2.75 miles, 4.43 kilometers, or 5500 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 1 King Size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.) comes to 500 calories. You will need to walk 5 miles, 8.06 kilometers, or 10000 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.
  • 1 small Tootsie Roll comes to 25 calories. You will need to walk 0.25 miles, 0.40 kilometers, or 500 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

If You Eat Them All . . .

2 Brachs caramels, 2 Hershey’s Kisses, 1 small Tootsie Roll, 1 Fun Size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.)1 mini bite-size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.), 1 Fun Size M&M packet – Plain or Peanut, 1 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, 1 full size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.), 1 King Size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.), …that comes to 1188 calories. You will need to walk 11.88 miles, 19.16 kilometers, or 23760 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

 

Do You Eat Out As Much As The Average Person In The US?

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The average adult in the US eats 4.8 meals in restaurants each week.

An online survey of 4000 consumers’ behavior found:

  • The most popular restaurant meal is lunch
  • 2.6 lunch meals are eaten out, on average, each week
  • The lunch meals are both take-out and restaurant dining
  • 1.4 sit down dinners each week are in restaurants
  • 0.8 brunch or breakfast meals are eaten out each week

How People Label Their “Eating Out” Preferences

  • Nearly 50% of the people responding to the survey call themselves “meat lovers”
  • 22% have a “sweet tooth”
  • 19% call themselves “fast food junkies”
  • 18% call themselves “health nuts”
  • 5% are self-described “vegetarians or vegans”
  • 35% describe themselves as “experimental eaters”
  • 25% call themselves “foodies”
  • 11% refer to themselves as “locavores,” or lovers of local food

Takeaways

It’s important to remember that this is a survey of 4000 people – done online — which makes it a survey of people who spend time online, who are willing to take a survey, and who eat out quite a bit.

That said – it seems that a lot of people are eating out a lot of the time.  If you are, too, consider building eating out into an overall eating plan so that you can continue to eat out, eat well and healthfully, and still manage your weight.

Will It Be Coleslaw Or French Fries With Your Sandwich?

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Everyone loves a “side” with their sandwich.  Here’s some approximate calories counts (portion sizes and contents always vary depending on who makes or serves them).  Which would you choose?

French fries (from frozen);10 pieces of 3½ to 4 inch deep fried strips: 249 calories; 13.38g fat; 29.27g carbs; 2.93g protein

French fries, deep fried; one medium fast food order:  427 calories; 22.8g fat; 50.25g carbs; 5.04g protein

Coleslaw with dressing; 1 cup:  269 calories; 23.64g fat; 14.08g carbs; 2.36g protein

Is The Breadbasket Doing You In?

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Shiny Packets And Small Pots

It used to be only butter on bread – big slabs, small pots, or foil wrapped rectangles.  You can still find all of these – what would a diner be without those sometimes rock hard, sometimes soft and squishy, gold or silver foil wrapped butter packets?

Butter or Oil?

Olive oil for bread sopping and 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 flourish from a dark tinted bottle.  Some restaurants offer a selection for dipping – and attempt to educate you about the variation in flavors depending upon the olives’ country of origin.

How Many Calories?

Do you eat more calories from one or the other?  Hidden cameras in Italian restaurants showed that people who put olive oil on a piece of bread consumed more fat and calories than if they used 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 the amount of bread that was consumed.

How Much Butter, How Much Oil, How Much Bread?

Adult diners given olive oil for their bread used 26% more oil on each piece of bread compared to those who were given block butter, but they ended up eating 23% less bread in total.

The researchers found:

  • Olive oil users used 26% more olive oil on each slice 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

The olive oil users had a heavier hand than the butter users – for individual slices of bread.  However, over the course of the meal when the total amount of bread and either oil or butter was accounted for, the olive oil users used more per slice, but, overall they ate less bread and oil over the course of the meal.

They also took in 17% fewer bread calories:  264 calories (oil eaters) vs. 319 calories (butter eaters).

Butter, Oil, And Bread Add Significant Calories

  • 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 is filled with heart unhealthy saturated fat
  • Bread varies significantly in calories depending on the type of bread and the size of the piece
  • Most white bread and French bread averages around 90 to 100 calories a slice. Most dinner rolls average 70 to 75 calories each.

What’s Your Bread And Butter (or oil) Plan?

The bread and butter or olive oil pre-dinner (and maybe during dinner) ritual can create a real caloric bump without much nutritional value.  So many of us chow down mindlessly on bread and butter or oil before a meal – because we’re hungry – or because it’s there for easy nibbling.

Choose to eat it, limit your amount, or don’t let the breadbasket land on your table.  The choice is yours – just be mindful of the calories.