Sneaky Calories

A coffee beverage that contains 700 calories?  A salad with over 600 calories!?  Watch out for hidden calories!  Foods and beverages with added fats and sugars can quickly increase the calorie content of your meals and snacks. 

To maintain a healthy weight, the calories consumed from food must equal the calories expended from daily activity.  Just adding a 20 oz bottle of soda pop each day contributes 250 excess calories per day, or 1750 excess calories per week.  That’s a ½ lb. weight gain per week if the extra calories are not expended through activity!  In addition, calories from beverages typically provide no feeling of fullness, so we still tend to eat the same amount of calories from food. 

Follow these tips to be sure you’re avoiding sneaky calories:

1. Aim for calorie-free beverages.  Good choices include water, diet beverages (ex: Diet Pepsi, Crystal Light).  To flavor water, add a lemon or orange slice.  
2. Limit high-calorie drinks such as coffee with added cream & sugar, soda pop, sweetened teas, restaurant smoothies, and hot chocolate. Limit fruit juice to 4-6 oz per day.
3. Drink alcoholic beverages in moderation.  Up to one glass per day for women and two glasses per day for men.  Choose “light” versions or mix alcohol with diet beverages to save additional calories.
4. Limit your intake of high-fat foods (ex: muffins, pastries, pizza, fried foods, full-fat dairy products, potato chips, candy, burgers, sausage, and ribs).
5. Use high-fat toppings sparingly, or choose lighter versions.  Examples include mayonnaise, butter/margarine, oil, creamy sauces, hollandaise sauce, and salad dressing.

Check out these new low-calorie food products!  Smart Balance Light spread, Wish-Bone Salad Spritzers, Hellman’s or Kraft light mayonnaise, True Lemon zero-calorie flavor packets, Edy’s Loaded frozen dairy dessert, Laughing Cow light cheese, and Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches, just to name a few.