Eat Out Eat Well

weight management strategies

Did the Fat Calories in Cooking Spray Really Take a Hike?

By 2 Comments

Are All Cooking Sprays Created Equal?

I’m staring at five different kinds of cooking spray:  Butter flavor, Olive Oil, Canola Oil, Baking, and Professional for high heat cooking.    All say they are for non-stick cooking or baking.  Some say they are for fat-free cooking and baking.

The nutrition facts for all five say that the serving size is about 1/3 of a second, the equivalent of 0.25 grams.  The ingredient labels all list an oil (canola, olive, soybean, or vegetable) as their first ingredient. All have an emulsifier, usually soy lecithin, and a propellant.  Some have other flavorings and the baking spray has wheat flour.

Nutrition stats for cooking sprays:

Listed calorie count for a serving (a 1/3 second spray): 0

Total Fat:  0

Time for a Reality Check

Okay.  So how can something with oil as the main listed ingredient have zero calories and zero fat?  In the US, any product that has less than 5 grams of fat per serving lists the fat content rounded to the nearest 0.5 g. If the product contains less than 0.5 grams of fat per serving, the listed fat content is rounded to 0 grams. If a product contains 0.45 grams of fat per serving and the package has 10 servings, the label would show 0 grams of fat even though the entire package actually contains a total of 4.5 grams of fat.

All of the cooking sprays that I checked call a 1/3 second spray a serving size – that’s the equivalent of .25 grams of fat.  Because the serving size, as created by the manufacturers, is under half a gram, the nutrition facts can be listed as 0 grams of fat and 0 calories.  Feel duped?

0.25 grams of fat is the equivalent of 2.25 calories (fat has 9 calories per gram), not a huge number.  However, how many of you use cooking spray for 1/3 of a second?  Can you even coat a small frying pan with a 1/3 second spray?

How Many Calories?

Most of us spritz for at least three to six times as long – many of us for probably longer.  A one second spray has about 7 calories, 2 seconds has about 14 and and 1.5 grams of fat.  Again, not huge numbers, but 2 seconds is still awfully short.  My guess is that a lot of sprays are a bit longer.

SocialDieter Tip:

Remember that nonstick cooking spray is not calorie free. Be careful of drenching your pans and skillets.  As you’re spritzing, count the seconds.  If the length and number of your spritzes crank up the calorie count, either cut back on the spray or consider using a small amount of oil on a paper towel to coat your pan. Using one teaspoon of olive oil adds 4.5 grams of fat and 40 calories and you will be avoiding the additives and propellant in the cooking spray.

Slow down You Eat Too Fast

By Leave a Comment

Do you wolf your food down so quickly that it’s gone before you realize you’ve eaten it all – and, to boot, you’re still hungry and staring at an empty plate?
Mothers around the world often say the same thing: slow down and chew your food. Then again, my father-in-law, a dentist, used to give the same advice.
Well, what do you know, there’s something to it.
According to an article in the New York Times, studies show that people who eat quickly eat more calories than they would if they ate a bit more slowly. The people who ate more slowly also felt fuller.
A recent study showed that hormones that give you feelings of fullness, or satiety, are more pronounced when people eat slowly. Subjects given identical servings of ice cream released more of these hormones when they ate it in 30 minutes instead of 5 minutes.
It leads to eating less, too. According to an article published in The Journal of the American Dietetic Association people who ate at a slow pace compared to when they chowed down very quickly said they were fuller and ending up eating about 10 percent fewer calories.
An analysis of surveys completed by 3287 adults (1122 men, 2165 women), ages 30-69, concluded that eating until full and eating quickly are associated with being overweight and that these combined behaviors might have a significant impact on being overweight.


SocialDieter Tip: Once again, Moms are right – slow down when you eat. (Doesn’t that often go with don’t grab?) Slowing down allows the feeling of fullness to register and may even mean that you eat fewer calories. You might even have time to really taste and enjoy your food, too.

Bigger and Biggest Burgers: Tips for Burger Eaters

By 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

Blizzards, Hurricanes and Menu Choices

By Leave a Comment

Apples, apples, and more apples. NYC farmer's market in the snow.

The weather forecast is all doom and gloom:  a foot and a half of snow, or torrential rain with 60 miles an hour wind gusts. Rush to the supermarket and, it seems, along with everyone else who lives in your town or city, buy bread and milk and then lots of other stuff.  You need to be prepared for the apocalypse — which in many cases doesn’t happen — and, unfortunately, sometimes does.

The weather comes and forces you to be housebound. Eventually you start going stir crazy, have to get out of the house. Maybe you have lost power.  So,  you venture out to eat.  Perhaps not during the height of the storm, but right afterwards.  The trick is to find someplace that is open and has power.  Wow — you find one.  Hmmm . . . what to order?  Gee, the fresh fish of the day sounds great.

Fresh fish? If there’s a foot and a half of snow, the snow plows are struggling to clear the main roads, the local waterway is iced over, trains and buses are running on limited schedules if at all, the airports are empty because there are no flights in or out, and even professional sports teams have cancelled their games, how is that “fresh” fish getting to your local restaurant?

A moment to analyze the menu is in order.  The chef may have a whole bunch of stuff languishing in the freezer in the back.  Okay, it may be fine, but it’s certainly not fresh.  And those leafy vegetables and berries — if the delivery trucks can’t drive through the streets, how did they get there?

If the chef ordered enough food before the storm and the restaurant’s business was way down because customers didn’t want to fight the weather, what happened to the unused food?  Restaurants are in business to make money.  Unsold food taking up space in the refrigerator and freezer does not bring in the bucks.  So, does the unused food appear in the days after the storm in a frittata or stew? Soup, cassoulet?   Of course, the frittata, stew, soup, or cassoulet  may still taste great, or maybe not.

Exercise some thought — and in some cases caution — when you make those menu choices during, or just after, blizzards, hurricanes, monsoons, and mudslides, and especially power outages!  Does grilled cheese and tomato soup sound good?

Supergood and Superbad Superbowl Food

By Leave a Comment

Superbowl cookies

Superbowl:  football, commercials, halftime show, and food!

It’s amazing how food has become associated with football — from tailgating to the food for the game — which of course culminates in the Superbowl party.  There are plenty of choices and anyone can eat well — and even have room for an indulgence — if you have a plan and don’t get sidetracked by the array of very caloric and usually very fatty foods.

This list is just to point out some examples of potential pitfalls and some saving graces. Stick with grilled meat, veggies, baked chips rather than fried if you must have them, plain bread rather than biscuits or cornbread. Go for salsa and skip the guacamole.  Turkey, baked ham, and grilled chicken are better choices than wings and fried chicken.  Try fruit for dessert.  Alcohol adds calories and dulls your mindful eating.  If you drink, intersperse each drink with water or club soda.  Take care of yourself and still have fun.  You’ll like yourself even more on Monday.

Enjoy the game. The SocialDieter would love to be watching the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets.  There’s always next year!

Examples of food often found on Superbowl party tables:

Tostada with guacamole:  2 pieces (9.3 oz), 360 calories, 23g fat, 32g carbs, 12g protein

Salsa:  1 tablespoon 4 calories, .04g fat, 1g carbs, .2g protein

Nacho flavored tortilla chips, reduced fat:  1 oz, 126 calories, 4g fat, 20g carbs, 2g protein

Nacho flavored tortilla chips:  1oz, 141 calories, 7g fat, 18g carbs, 1g protein

Potato chips:  1oz, 152 calories, 10g fat, 15g carbs, 2g protein

Potato chips, reduced fat:  1 oz, 134 calories, 6g fat, 19g carbs, 2g protein

Raw baby carrots:  1 medium, 4 calories, 0 fat, .8g carbs, 0 protein

Pizza with cheese:  1 slice (1/8 of a 12” pie), 140 calories, 3g fat, 20g carbs, 8g protein

Pizza, pepperoni:  1 slice (1/8 12” pie), 181 calories, 7g fat, 20g carg=bs, 10g protein

Grilled chicken breast:  one 4.2 oz breast, 180 calories, 4g fate, 0 carbs, 35g protein

KFC Fiery hot Buffalo wing:  one 1oz wing, 80 calories, 5g fat, g carbs, 4g protein

KFC extra crispy drumstick:  one 2oz piece, 150 calories, 6g carbs, 11g protein

Chili (Wendy’s, with saltine crackers):  8 oz, 187 calories, 6g fat, 19g carbs, 14g protein

Wheat bread:  1 slice, .9 oz., 65 calories, 1g fat,, 12g carbs, 2g protein

Italian combo on ciabatta (Panera):  1 sandwich, 1lb. 7 oz, 1050 calories, 47g fat, 94g carbs, 61g protein

Subway 6g of fat or less turkey breast & ham on wheat sandwich:  8.3oz, 296 calories, 4g fat, 48g carbs, 19g protein

Chocolate chip cookie:  2-1/4” from refrigerated dough. 59 calories, 3g fat, 8g carbs, .6g protein

Chocolate ice cream, Cold Stone Creamery:   5oz (like it), 326 calories, 20g fat, 33g carbs, 5g protein

Apple:  medium, 95 calories, .4g fat, 25g carbs, .5g protein