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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Almost half of all the money we spend on food is spent eating out. Studies have shown that the foods we choose away from home are higher in calories, sugar, fat and saturated fat. Eat breakfast out and you’ll average 74 more calories than breakfast at home. Lunch out can add over 155 calories, compared to brown bag or at-home lunch. Eat dinner out and you’ll pack on 140-plus extra calories. What’s the solution? Try these sensible food swaps.
For some of these changes, the results are small. But, small changes can yield big results if done consistently.
Best small change ever – If you drink 2 cups of coffee with cream each day and you switch to whole milk, you can save enough calories to lose 4 pounds in a year. Switch to skim milk and you can drop 5 pounds. Two tablespoons of cream equals 58 calories. If you use it daily for a year (365 days) you will consume 21,170 calories. Switch to skim milk with 11 calories in 2 tablespoons and by the end of the year you will have eaten only 4,015 calories. Impressed?
Everyone loves pizza. Grab a slice of regular cheese pizza and you’ll be eating about 425 calories. Switch to thin crust and save 75 calories. Switch to thin crust topped with veggies and save over 100 calories.
A quarter pound cheeseburger, plus pickles and ketchup on a bun, weighs in at 575 calories. Simply switching to a plain hamburger with the trimmings will save 115 calories. Try a veggie burger, but keep the pickles and ketchup, and lunch adds up to 260 calories (315 calories saved).
Order chicken fajitas with stir-fried onions and peppers, plus 3 tortillas and all the toppings, and you are edging near 950 calories for dinner. Skip the sour cream and guacamole, but keep the salsa, and you save over 200 calories. Most restaurant servings are huge. Try splitting the original meal with a friend and add one extra tortilla so you’ll each have two. Each person will save 430 calories because now dinner equals 520 calories per portion.
Nachos with the works (beef, beans, cheese and sour cream) are a tasty start to a meal. But this portion, even when you share it with tablemates, can be as much as 1,600 calories. If you skip the sour cream and beef, you can reduce the load to 780 calories. If you select just nachos and beans the portion equals 510 calories. You’ll still have room left for dinner!
Fried or steamed dim sum? Three deep-fried shrimp dim sum equal about 225 calories. Switch to a steamed portion and save 75 calories.
An order of chicken parmigiana plus a cup of pasta and sauce on the side is 561 calories. Order the same dinner with steamed broccoli and you can save over 243 calories.
Okay, you say, I’ll just order a salad because that’s a low calorie, healthy choice. Sorry! Not always. A dinner-sized Caesar salad has 734 calories. Top it with grilled chicken and you add 108 more calories. The same dinner-sized portion of a tossed salad with grilled chicken has 260 calories. Caesar salad comes with dressing. For the tossed salad you need to pick – 4 tablespoons is a typical on-the-side salad dressing order – blue cheese 308 calories, Italian 276, and French 268. The dressing has more calories than the salad. Better choices are lowfat or no fat.
When you look at menu choices, don’t think eliminate, think negotiate. There is always a change that can be made to save some calories. If nothing else, don’t order soda and stick with water.
Making small changes in the way you relate to food can result in more success than making a few big changes that usually won’t last. If you make enough small changes, over time the results can be impressive. The bikini? Sometimes, less is more 🙂
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of the nutrition counter series for Pocket Books with 12 current titles and sales in excess of 8 million books. The books are widely available at your local or on-line bookseller.
Current titles include:
The Calorie Counter, 5th Ed., 2010
The Ultimate Carbohydrate Counter, 3rd Ed., 2010
The Complete Food Counter, 3rd ed., 2009
The Fat Counter, 7th ed., 2009
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
The Cholesterol Counter, 7th Ed., 2008
The Diabetes Carbohydrate and Calorie Counter, 3rd Ed., 2007
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to the newly updated website: TheNutritionExperts
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