Baseball season is in full swing.  What accompanies a visit to the stadium – food, of course!

Oh, the food!  Oh the calories!  Hang on – this post is not about ignoring the good time food.  Of course, there are always healthy food options:  you can bring your own or be scrupulous in making healthy choices. And, there are now many more gourmet options available (but usually still loaded with calories). But honestly, do you think that most people really want to eat low calorie foods when they’re at a ballgame? No way.

So what do you do when you’re at these places with food vendors about every 20 feet hawking dogs, ice cream, and beer?

There Are Ways And Then There Are Ways

If you’ve got a will of iron, I guess you could ignore the food and drinks.  But if you’re like most people and you’re tempted at every turn, you can try to minimize the damage without taking out the fun.  If you know you’re going to be having a stadium or food court meal, do some thinking, planning, and learning.  The best choices are not always the obvious ones.

Do you need both peanuts and popcorn?  Can you make do with a regular hot dog instead of a foot-long?  Can you keep it to one or two beers instead of three?  Can you choose the small popcorn instead of the jumbo tub?

Make Your Best Choice

Here’s some info to help you make your best choice.  Just a heads up – we’re not talking about the most nutritious choice because given these foods, quality nutrition is not front and center.  You can, however, enjoy your day and make the best caloric choice (with a nod to fat and sugar content) and still eat traditional ballpark and amusement park food.

• Cotton Candy: Nothing but heated and colored sugar that’s spun into threads with added air. Cotton candy on a stick or wrapped around a paper cone (about an ounce) has around 105 calories; a 2oz. bag (common size) has 210. A lot of sugar, but not a lot of calories – albeit empty ones.
• Cracker Jack (officially cracker jack, not jacks): candy-coated popcorn with some peanuts. A 3.5oz stadium size box has 420 calories but does have 7g  protein and 3.5g fiber.
• Hamburger: of beef with a bun has about 490 calories — without cheese or other toppings which up the ante.
• Grilled Chicken Sandwich, 6oz., 280 calories – not a bad choice.  6oz. of chicken tenders clock in at 446 calories.  Barbecue dipping sauce adds 30 calories a tablespoon.
• Hot Dog: Most sold out stadiums can sell 16,000 hot dogs a day. A regular hot dog with mustard has about 290 calories: 180 for the 2oz. dog, 110 for the bun, zilch for regular yellow mustard. Two tbs. of sauerkraut adds another 5-10 calories, 2 tbs. of ketchup adds 30, and 2 tbs. of relish another 40. A Nathan’s hot dog racks up 320 calories; a foot-long Hebrew National 510 calories. Hot dogs are usually loaded with sodium.
• Pizza: Stadium pizza is larger than a usual slice, about 1/6 of a 16-inch pie (instead of 1/8) making it about 435 calories a slice.
• Super Nachos with Cheese: A 12oz. serving (40 chips, 4oz. cheese) has about 1,500 calories!!! Plain French fries look like a caloric bargain by comparison.
• French Fries: A large serving has about 500 calories. A serving of Hardee’s chili cheese fries has 700 calories and 350 of them come from fat.
• Potato Chips:  One single serving bag has 153 calories (94 of them from fat).
• Peanuts in the Shell: What would a baseball game be without a bag of peanuts? Stadiums can sell as many as 6,000 bags on game days. An 8oz. bag has 840 calories; a 12oz. bag has 1,260. Yes, they have some protein and fiber.  But wow on the calories.
• Soft Pretzel: One large soft pretzel has 483 calories – giant soft pretzels (7-8oz.) have about 700 calories.
• Draft Beer: A stadium draft beer, 20oz. cup (the usual size), has about 240 calories. A light draft saves you 60 calories.
• Coca Cola:  A 12oz can has 140 calories –- and close to 10 tsp. of sugar.
• Helmet Ice Cream: Your team’s mini-helmet filled with swirly Carvel, 550-590 calories.
• Souvenir Popcorn: At Yankee Stadium a jumbo size has 1,484 calories and a souvenir bucket has 2,473 calories.

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It’s football season. How can you possibly not chow down on thousands of calories when there are food vendors or tailgating friends about every 20 feet hawking dogs, barbecue, burgers, and fried everything?

There Are Ways And Then There Are Ways

If you’ve got a will of iron you could ignore the food and drinks. But if you’re tempted at every turn, try to minimize the damage without taking away the fun. If you know you’re going to be having a stadium or concession stand meal, do some thinking, planning, and sleuthing. The best choices are not always the obvious ones. If you always eat sausage and peppers at the stadium or corn dogs from your favorite concession stand, plan for it, have it, and enjoy it.

But give the total picture some thought. Do you need both peanuts and popcorn? Can you make do with a regular hot dog instead of a foot-long? Can you choose the small popcorn instead of the jumbo tub? Can you ditch the soda—or maybe the second one—and replace it with water? 

Make Your Best Choice To Save A Few Calories — Use These Facts As Guidelines:

• Cotton Candy: Nothing but heated and colored sugar that’s spun into threads with added air. Cotton candy on a stick or wrapped around a paper cone (about an ounce) has around 105 calories; a 2 ounce bag (common size) has 210. A lot of sugar, but not a lot of calories—albeit empty ones.
• Funnel cake: The fried dough wonder is made by pouring dough through a funnel into cooking oil and deep frying the “funnels” of dough until they’re golden-brown and crispy—then topping the pieces with powdered sugar, syrup, or honey. The calories vary enormously depending on the quantity and toppings. Regardless of the shape, they’re all dough fried in oil topped with a sweetener—which means high calories and low nutrition. You have to figure a minimum of around 300 calories for a 6 inch funnel cake (do they ever come that small?).
• Cracker Jack (officially cracker jack, not jacks): candy-coated popcorn with some peanuts. A 3.5 ounce stadium size box has 420 calories but it does have 7g of protein and 3.5g of fiber.
• Hamburger: 6 ounces of food stand beef (they’re not using extra lean—the more fat, the juicier it is) on a bun has about 490 calories—without cheese or other toppings—which up the ante.
• Grilled Chicken Sandwich: 6 ounces, 280 calories—not a bad choice. 6 ounces of chicken tenders clock in at 446 calories. Barbecue dipping sauce adds 30 calories a tablespoon.
• Hot Dog: A regular hot dog with mustard has about 290 calories—that’s 180 for the 2 ounce dog, 110 for the bun, zilch for regular yellow mustard. Two tablespoons of sauerkraut adds another 5-10 calories and a punch of flavor, 2 tablespoons of ketchup adds 30, and 2 tablespoons of relish another 40. A Nathan’s hot dog racks up 320 calories; a foot-long Hebrew National 510 calories. A regular size corn dog has around 280 calories.
• Fried Battered Clams: One cup (5 large clams or 8 medium clams or 10 small clams) has around 222 calories.
• Pizza: Stadium pizza is usually larger than a regular slice, about 1/6 of a 16-inch pie (instead of 1/8) making it about 435 calories a slice—add calories if you add toppings.
• Super Nachos with Cheese: A 12 ounce serving (40 chips, 4 ounces of cheese) has about 1,500 calories!!! Plain French fries look like a caloric bargain by comparison.
• French Fries: A large serving has about 500 calories. A serving of Hardee’s chili cheese fries has 700 calories and 350 of them come from fat.
• Potato Chips: One single serving bag has 153 calories (94 of them from fat).
• Peanuts in the Shell: An 8 ounce bag has 840 calories; a 12 ounce bag has 1,260. Yes, they have some protein and fiber. But wow on the calories.
• Soft Pretzel: One large soft pretzel has 483 calories—giant soft pretzels (7-8 ounces) have about 700 calories.
• Draft Beer: A stadium draft beer—a 20 ounce cup, the usual size –has about 240 calories. A light draft saves you 60 calories.
• Coca Cola: A 12 ounce can has 140 calories and close to 10 teaspoons of sugar.
• Good Humor Ice Cream: Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bar (83g): 230 calories; Toasted Almond (113g): 240 calories; Candy Center Crunch: 310 calories; Low Fat Ice Cream Sandwich, vanilla:130 calories
• Helmet Ice Cream: Your team’s mini-helmet filled with swirly Carvel, 550-590 calories.
• Popcorn: FYI—at Yankee Stadium a jumbo size has 1,484 calories and a souvenir bucket has 2,473 calories.

The post Stadium Food: Good, Better, and Best Choices appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

How many ketchup drips, chocolate smears, coffee stains, and greasy crumbs do you have in your car (or on your clothes)?

Is your road trip an endless food-fest of fast food, junk food, and all kinds of snacks — with your dashboard or vacant passenger seat acting as your table?

If you’re nodding your head, you’re a dashboard diner. What is it about mini-mart and rest stop food that seems to touch that primal urge to eat sweet and/or salty stuff that’s probably loaded with calories and lacking in nutrition?

The Trap And The Danger

When you walk through rest stop or gas station doors, there’s an endless stream of high carb, high fat, high calorie, and processed food just begging you to plunk down your money so you can immediately indulge (watch how many people start eating the food they’ve bought before they even pay).

The real danger – aside from the damage to your waistline and poor nutrition — is that high-carb processed foods spike then crash your blood sugar — making you really tired and cranky.

• Drowsy drivers are most definitely not safe drivers.
• Cranky drivers make life miserable for everyone in the car – not a great tone to set if you’re going on vacation.

 Some Mini-Mart And Rest-Stop “Gotchas”

Candy is an impulse purchase; 49 percent of shoppers admit to unplanned purchases of candy. It seems that we want to treat ourselves and candy is an affordable luxury.

Check out the placement of candy the next time you’re in a mini-mart or rest stop — it’s positioned to grab your attention. Vividly colored wrappers reach out to you from high-traffic areas of the store: the checkout area, the aisle that leads to the check out, and on the way to the restrooms.

Visually, you’re going to be assaulted by the unending display of colorful packages, so have a plan for what you will and will not buy. If you’ve decided you want M&Ms go straight to them and don’t get sidetracked by the large display of new kinds of chips, seasonal displays, or the latest and greatest deal on a king-sized package of some kind of candy.

Coffee, unlike candy, coffee isn’t an impulse purchase. Nearly 96% of customers intend to buy a cup of coffee before they walk in. Here’s the impulse buy: stores put candy, baked goods, and chips — near the coffee to entice you to buy them. As a man standing in line at a gas station mini-mart muttered, “I stop here for coffee every morning and I’ve gained 20 pounds since they put in the Krispy Kreme donut display between the door and the cash register.”

Helpful Tips

Nuts have protein and crunch, won’t cause swings in your blood sugar, and are almost always stocked. Tread a little gently — nuts aren’t low in calories. For a one-ounce serving of nuts you might find at rest stops:

• 49 shelled pistachios, 162 calories
• 23 almonds, 169 calories
• 18 cashews, 163 calories
• 19 pecans, 201 calories
• 10-12 macadamias, 203 calories
• 39 peanuts (technically a legume), dry roasted, 170 calories

Some mini-marts have fruit (bonus: oranges and bananas come in their own natural wrapper and don’t have to be washed) and almost all have dried fruit — but balance the higher sugar content of the dried fruit with the fat and protein in the nuts.

Sometimes you can find individual bowls of Cheerios or whole grain cereals, although check labels because some cereals are loaded with sugar. Grab a small container of low-fat milk or a container of yogurt to go with it.

Protein bars can be good, better, and best. Check the labels for higher protein and lower sugar. Some can be the equivalent of a candy bar and are so large (with so many calories) that they are made to be meal replacements. A protein bar for a snack should be around 150 calories. Meal replacement bars have around 300 calories or more. Look for at least 15 grams of protein.

If you’re really hungry, choose a sandwich or burrito over donuts, pastry, and cookies. Check out how fresh it is, though. What’s appealing early in the morning when the shelves are first stocked might not be so appealing at 10PM when it’s been sitting around all day and lots of people have picked up the sandwich, squeezed it, and put it back again.

Beef jerky or beef sticks (or nuggets) are good, portable protein snacks. A one-ounce serving usually has around 80 calories and 5 grams of fat or less.

A hard-boiled egg is a good choice, too. Just make sure it’s been refrigerated and hasn’t been sitting around for a couple of days!

If you really want crunchy stuff, stick with popcorn, pretzels, soy crisps, or baked or popped chips in single-serve bags to keep portions in check. Sometimes bags might look small, but contain multiple servings. Remember that the salty stuff will make you thirsty so stock up on water. There’s something to be said for snacks that take time to eat one by one when you’re driving.

Remember to drink water. It’s easy to confuse thirst with hunger so you can end up eating extra calories when a glass of water is really all you need. If plain water doesn’t cut it, try drinking flavored still or sparkling water. Dehydration can cause fatigue and there’s some evidence that even mild dehydration can slow metabolism and drain your energy.

The post Do Your Road Trips Mean Dashboard Dining? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

Sooner or later you will likely have your next sharing moment with a vending machine: you share your money and the machine shares its calories.

Vending machines actually have a holy history. Around 215 BC the mathematician Hero invented a type of vending device that accepted bronze coins to dispense holy water. Vending eventually became economically viable In 1888 when the Adams Gum Company put gum machines on New York City’s elevated train platforms to dispense a piece of Tutti-Frutti gum for a penny.

Now they’re everywhere: down the hall from your hotel room, in train stations, and in just about every rest stop on the road. And, they call your name when you’re especially vulnerable – when you’re stressed, tired, bored, anxious, and your blood sugar is traveling south—all of which means the allure of sweet, fatty, and salty junk food is hard to overcome.

No Choice Is Perfect — Make the Best Choice for You

When a vending machine calls your name, choose wisely. There are good, better, and best choices to be made.

• You can almost always find packages of nuts, or popcorn, or pretzels, or dried fruit.
• Be careful of things with too much sugar, especially if you’re driving. A big time sugar hit may give you energy as your blood sugar surges but more than likely it will be followed by a drop –which will probably make you sleepy, grouchy, and hungry for more sweet and fatty food.
• Your choice depends on what you want: protein, sweet satisfaction, fill-you-up fiber, or salty crunch. Here are some choices – take a look at the calories, carbs, protein, and fiber of some of your favorites.

Crunchy

• Baked Lays Potato Chips: 130 calories, 2 grams of fat, 26 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein
• Baked Doritos, Nacho Cheese: 170 calories, 5 grams of fat, 29 grams of carbs, 3 grams of protein
• Cheez-It Baked Snack Crackers: 180 calories, 9 grams of fat, 20 grams carbs, 4 grams of protein
• Ruffles Potato Chips: 240 calories, 15 grams of fat, 23 grams of carbs, 3 grams of protein
• Cheetos, Crunchy: 150 calories, 10 grams of fat, 13 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein
• Sun Chips Original: 210 calories, 10 grams of fat, 28 grams of carbs, 3 grams of protein
• Snyder’s of Hanover Mini Pretzels: 160 calories, no fat, 35 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein
• White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn, Smartfood: 120 calories, 8 grams of fat, 11 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein

Nuts/Seeds

• Planters Sunflower Kernels: 290 calories, 25 grams of fat, 9 grams of carbs, 11 grams of protein
• Planters Salted Peanuts: 290 calories, 25 grams of fat, 8 grams of carbs, 13 grams of protein

Cookies/Pastry/Bars

• Mini Chips Ahoy: 270 calories, 13 grams of fat, 38 grams of carbs, 3 grams of protein
• Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts (2 pastries): 410 calories, 10 grams of fat, 75 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein
• Hostess Fruit Pie, apple: 470 calories, 20 grams of fat, 70 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein
• Fig Newtons: 200 calories, 4 grams of fat, 40 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein
• Quaker Chewy Low-Fat Granola Bar, Chocolate Chunk: 90 calories, 2 grams of fat, 19 grams of carbs, 1 gram of protein
• Nature Valley Granola Bar, Crunchy Oats and Honey (2 bars): 190 calories, 6 grams of fat, 29 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein

Candy

• Skittles: 240 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 56 grams of carbs, no protein
• Twix (2 cookies): 250 calories, 12 grams of fat, 34 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein
• 3 Musketeers, king size: 200 calories, 6 grams of fat, 36 grams of carbs, 1 gram of protein
• Peanut M&Ms: 250 calories, 13 grams of fat, 30 grams of carbs, 5 grams of protein
• Snickers, regular size: 250 calories, 12 grams of fat, 33 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein

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if you do, you’re not alone. According to research, snacking, including drinking beverages at times other than during a regular meal,accounts for more than 25% of Americans’ calorie intake everyday. Snacking has turned into “a full eating event,” or a fourth meal, averaging about 580 calories each day.

Eating while you’re doing something else, called secondary eating, has also increased.  Between 2006 and 2008, the amount of time we spend eating breakfast, lunch and dinner stayed at 70 minutes but secondary eating doubled from 15 minutes a day in 2006 to nearly 30 minutes in 2008. There was nearly a 90% jump in the time spent on secondary drinking: from 45 to 85 minutes. (Ever wonder why Starbuck’s is so crowded?)

There’s an increase in snacking across the board, but beverages account for 50% of snack calories. It’s way too easy to forget the calories in drinks. And, we spend about 12% of our total food money at the supermarket on packaged snacks.

What’s A Snack?

A snack shouldn’t be a fourth meal. Most recommendations are that a snack be between 150 and 200 calories and have some protein for both satiety and to help keep your blood sugar level stable. Some fiber in the snack helps keep you full.

Here are some examples – just be aware of portion sizes (for instance, don’t eat half a jar of peanut butter or a huge wedge of cheese):

• Hummus with baby carrots or other vegetables
• ½ cup of low-fat cottage cheese with fruit or whole grain crackers
• An apple, orange, peach, or grapes (or other fruit) with either ¼ cup almonds (or other nuts) or an ounce of cheese or a part skim cheese stick
• Non-fat, unsweetened yogurt with ½ cup of whole grain cereal and/or fruit
• A 12-ounce non-fat latte or cappuccino
• Whole-grain crackers with peanut, nut, or seed butter
• Trail mix with nuts, seeds, raisins, and cereal (cereal can cut down on the calories while increasing the volume – nuts are a high calorie food)
• A whole grain (especially if it’s high fiber) English muffin or slice of toast and low-fat cream cheese or a slice of reduced fat (2%) cheese
• A portion controlled serving of nuts

Smart Snacking Tips

• Make sure your snack is 200 calories or less and has protein and fiber to help keep you full and satisfied.
• 100-calorie snack packages are usually processed and probably are not great for you choices. Check the ingredients, protein, and fiber content.
• Beware of “healthy” or “halo-food” snacks like some sugary cereals, some sweetened, flavored yogurts, some so-called protein bars, yogurt-covered pretzels, and sports drinks.
• Ask yourself if you’re snacking out of boredom, stress, or if you’re really hungry.
• Don’t let yourself get so hungry that it’s impossible to control what and how much you have for a snack.
• There are many choices. Pick snacks that you enjoy and can look forward to eating.
• Keep healthy snacks in your desk drawer, your kitchen cabinet, or in your car so when you’re really hungry you have a good choice readily available. Otherwise it’s way too easy to succumb to the vending machine, newsstand, food truck, or the donut or apple fritter staring at you when you pay for your coffee.

Do you know someone who’s off to college?

Get my book for some easy, doable tips on how to eat well in dining halls and dorm rooms.  Available in print and as an ebook from Amazon and as an ebook from Barnes & Noble.

The post How Big Are Your Snacks? Are They As Big As Lunch or Dinner? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

And, if you’re eating from the bag while you watch TV or work on the computer, it’s likely that as you mindlessly move your hand from bag to mouth you don’t realize how much you’re eating or whether you’re full of not.  So you probably just keep eating until you get to the bottom of the bag – and then eat all of the crumbs, too.

• It’s easier to stay away from chips and cookies if the bag isn’t in your line of sight – out of sight, out of mind.

• If you do buy jumbo size packages because they’re cheaper, put the excess somewhere inconvenient so you’ll have to work to get at it –like the basement, garage, or a high shelf that you need a stepstool to access. If you have to work to get the food it might take some of the desire out of it.

• Don’t eat straight from the package.  Divide up the contents of one large package into several smaller portions. Put your portion in a bowl, on a plate, or even on a napkin. Count out your chips, crackers, and pretzels or only eat from a single portion size bag.

• Who can stop when there’s an open bag of salty, crunchy food right in front of you? It’s amazingly easy to just keep until the bag is empty. A dive to the bottom of a 9 ounce bag of chips (without dip) is 1,260 calories. One serving, about 15 chips, is 140 calories.

• And, leave the broken pieces of cookies or chips in the bag.  Remarkably, pieces of cookies and broken chips have calories, too!

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Nuts are full of healthy fats and protein.  They’re a great snack and can help tide you over until your next meal — but they’re also a high calorie food.

Be careful of portions — a serving size of most nuts is one ounce.

For a one ounce serving:

• 49 shelled pistachios, 162 calories
• 23 almonds, 169 calories
• 21 hazelnuts, 183 calories
• 18 cashews, 163 calories
• 19 pecans, 201 calories
• 14 English walnut halves, 185 calories
• 10-12 macadamias, 203 calories
• 39 peanuts (technically a legume), dry roasted, 170 calories

The post How Many Calories Are In Different Kinds Of Nuts? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

Vending machines are everywhere – down the hall from your office or around the corner from your hotel room, in hospital waiting rooms, in train stations, and calling your name on road trips. They call your name when you’re especially vulnerable – when you’re stressed, tired, bored, anxious, and your blood sugar is traveling south – all of which means the sugar, fat, and salt junk food allure is really hard to overcome.

When a vending machine calls your name, choose wisely.  There are good, better, and best choices to be made.  You can almost always find packages of nuts, popcorn, pretzels, or dried fruit along with the packaged sweet or crunchy calories.

Be careful of choices with too much sugar, especially if you’re driving.  A big time sugar hit may give you quick energy but more than likely it will be followed by a drop in your blood sugar levels that could possibly make you sleepy, grouchy, unfocused, and hungry for more sweet and fatty food.

No Choice Is Perfect; Make The Best Choice For You

Your choice depends on what you want:  protein or sweet satisfaction; fill-you-up fiber or salty crunch.  Here are some common choices so you can compare calories, fat, carbs, and protein:

Crunchy

• Baked! Lays Potato Chips (original), 1 package, 130 calories, 2g fat, 26g carbs, 2g Protein

• Baked Doritos, Nacho Cheese, 1 bag (38.9g):
170 calories, 5g fat, 29g carbs, 3g protein

• Cheez-It Baked Snack Crackers (Snack Pak):
180 calories, 9g fat, 20g carbs, 4g protein

• Ruffles Potato Chips, 1 package (1.5 oz):
240 calories, 15g fat, 23g carbs, 3g protein

• Cheetos, Crunchy, snack size bag (1 oz): 
150 calories, 10g fat, 13g carbs, 2g protein

• Sun Chips Original, 1 package:
210 calories, 10g fat, 28g carbs, 3g protein

• Snyder’s of Hanover Mini Pretzels, snack size: 160 calories, 0g fat, 35g carbs, 4g protein

• White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn, Smartfood, 1 package: 120 calories, 8g fat, 11g carbs, 2g protein

Nuts/Seeds

• Planters Sunflower Kernels, 1 package (1.75 oz): 290 calories, 25g fat, 9g carbs, 11g protein

• Planters Salted Peanuts, 49g (1.75oz): 290 calories, 25g fat, 8g carbs, 13g protein

Cookies/Pastry/Bars

• Mini Chips Ahoy!, snack pack (56g): 270 calories, 13g fat, 38g carbs, 3g protein

• Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts (2 pastries): 
410 calories, 10g fat, 75g carbs, 4g protein

• Hostess Fruit Pie, apple: 470 calories, 20g fat, 70g carbs, 4g protein

• Fig Newtons, 1 package: 200 calories, 4g fat, 40g carbs, 2g protein

• Quaker Chewy Low-Fat Granola Bar, Chocolate Chunk, 1 bar: 
90 calories, 2g fat, 19g carbs, 1g protein

• Nature Valley Granola Bar, Crunchy Oats and Honey, 2 bars: 190 calories, 6g fat, 29g carbs, 4g protein

Candy


• Skittles (original), 2.17 oz:
240 calories, 2.5g fat, 56g carbs, 0g protein

• Twix, 2 cookies:
250 calories, 12g fat, 34g carbs, 2g protein

• 3 Musketeers, king size:
200 calories, 6g fat, 36g carbs, 1g protein

• Peanut M&Ms, 1 pack:
250 calories, 13g fat, 30g carbs, 5g protein

• Snickers, regular size: 250 calories, 12g fat, 33g carbs, 4g protein

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Snacks account for more than 25% of Americans’ daily calorie intake; since the 1970s, snacks have accounted for around 580 calories a day — which basically turns them into “a full eating event,” or a fourth meal.

When And Where Do We Snack?

• Americans average 2.3 snacks per day, snacking most frequently in the afternoon, evening and late at night.
• Most people snack at home, 12% say they snack at work, 7% eat snacks while they travel from place to place
• 27% of Americans snack on impulse, 28% snack because they want a treat, and 14% eat snacks when they’re stressed or anxious
• 57% of people say it’s important that food and beverage snacks be healthy, the food and beverages mentioned the most were chips and soda.

How Many Calories?

Maybe we snack so much because multi-tasking has increased – think about how often you eat and drink while you’re doing something else.

Between 2006 and 2008, it took around 70 minutes to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Secondary eating, the kind you do while you’re working on the computer, driving, or walking down the street, doubled from 15 minutes in 2006 to nearly 30 minutes a day in 2008.

The time spent on secondary drinking jumped nearly 90% — from 45 to 85 minutes — which explains why beverages account for 50% of the calories we take in through snacking. (Ever wonder why Starbuck’s and Dunkin’ Donuts are so crowded?)

Are All Snacks Bad For You?

No.  Research doesn’t support the idea that snacking is the main cause of obesity; for some people — like young children and older adults – snacks can be an important source of nutrients and calories.

Trying to go more than four hours without something to eat can make you so hungry that you’ll eat quantities of just about anything in sight. Eating a small meal or snack every 3 to 4 hours helps keep your metabolism revved up so you burn more calories over the course of a day and will help ward off mid-morning and afternoon slumps.

Thoughtful, planned snacking can keep you from feeling outrageously hungry, really grouchy, and can put the brakes on raiding the refrigerator or going on a buying spree at the nearest bakery.

What’s A Snack?

Almost 100% of Americans snack every day, but there isn’t a standard definition of what a snack is or what motivates us to snack. We “self-define,” leaving plenty of wiggle room to blur the line between what’s a snack and what’s a meal.

A snack shouldn’t be a fourth meal.  An individual snack, like the one so many of us have mid-morning or mid-afternoon, is recommended to be between 150 and 200 calories, have at least 8 grams of protein for satiety and to keep your blood sugar stable, and at least 3 grams of fiber to fill you up. Keep the fat and sugar grams low.

Beware health halo foods – the so-called “healthy” snacks that are really a bunch of sugar and/or fat in disguise.  These include a selection of (but not all) cereals, breakfast and protein bars, yogurt-covered anything (like raisins and pretzels), sports and energy drinks, smoothies, and frozen yogurt. Check labels.  Most baked goods, chips, candy, and sugary drinks are occasional treats and not daily snacks.

If you’re not hungry, don’t snack. Ask yourself if you’re snacking because of hunger, habit, or some other reason – like boredom or anger.

Some Snack Choices

Pick snacks that taste good and you look forward to eating.

Some good choices:

• Baby carrots (or other vegetables) and hummus.

• Half a cup of cottage cheese with fruit or whole grain crackers.

• An apple, orange, pear, peach, or grapes with ¼ cup of almonds or reduced-fat cheese or a low-fat cheese stick.

• Whole-grain crackers, a slice of whole grain bread, or a banana with peanut butter.

• Trail mix or a combination of nuts, seeds, raisins, and whole grain cereal. Be careful of portions, though – although they’re healthy, nuts are a higher calorie food.

• A whole wheat or multi-grain English muffin with a small amount of nut or seed butter.

• Low-fat or non-fat yogurt with raisins, a banana, or a small amount of whole grain cereal.

• A 12 ounce skim latte or cappuccino.

This is the first post of week 4 of the lose a pound a week challenge.  How are you doing? Let us know on Facebook.

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Keeping your back to the table is one of the easiest strategies to use.  We often eat with out eyes – if we see something delicious, we want to eat it.  So, don’t look at it.  Keep your back to the tempting food as you’re having conversations or watching the game.

Hors d’oeuvres can really sucker punch you, too.  They’re small, but the calories really add up. Make up your mind how many you’ll eat ahead of time or you’ll have shoved down a thousand calories before you know it. Pick the ones you love and avoid the ones you don’t.  Why sacrifice your calories for something you don’t love?  Try to keep a mental count because when you’re talking and drinking it’s far too easy to grab from each passing tray.

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

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