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.

The post Did You Forget These Calories? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

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 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

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

The post Is Your Coffee Or Tea Giving You A Muffin Top? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.