Diet
Hidden Calories!
By
Jul 27, 2008 - 12:18:43 PM

(HealthNewsDiget.com) - "Hidden Calories" are everywhere! There's no doubt about it. Last week we discussed the anti-obesity law now in effect requiring chain restaurants in New York to list calorie information next to all menu items. But how do we take a calorie count from all the prepared foods we eat that are not from a chain restaurant? Well, we may not be able to because even dieticians have underestimated total calories in restaurant foods. But one thing we can control that will help us to control the calorie count, is to get rid of hidden calories. What are hidden calories?

The hidden calories are the fat calories that we underestimate in each meal whether it's a high fat food itself or fat has been added to the food during preparation. Fat gives food a great taste, and it also appeals to our satiety center (sugar does this too!). While there are some fats that are healthier than others, let's address the fact that a fat is a fat is a fat when it comes to calories! Fats add calories and dietary fat is more efficiently stored on our hips, thighs and love handles.

It is especially important for those of us who eat out often to monitor the hidden fat in our food. Many of us eat about 2/3 of our meals out or we eat prepared foods that we order or buy as take-out.

Want some examples of hidden calories?
Eat Eggs? Are we having scrambled or fried eggs made with butter, oil or that good tasting grease from the corner deli? This can add 200 calories alone. Even the white egg omelet is cooked on an oily grill.
Eat Bagels? Are we eating a bagel with butter or cream cheese? A survey of popular places found that a 4 ounce bagel (very common in NYC) with 2 ounces of cream cheese added equals about 19 grams of added fat or about 170 calories above the 300 calorie bagel. Choose butter instead? Well one tablespoon of butter can equal 150 calories. Let's not forget to mention muffins and those supposedly low-fat versions (aren't I sounding mean?). All flour weighs in at about 70 calories per ounce. If we add all the sugar, added butter, and whatever else is in our favorite muffin, then we could be eating up to 700 calories for a 5 ounce muffin! Even most low fat muffins add up to over 300-350 calories.
Eat Salads? Are we having a great large salad for lunch and feeling virtuous? Well, if we don't measure and add the dressing on ourselves, we can pack on almost another 300 calories (I promise, I'm not exaggerating) for 2 tablespoons. Let's add even more if we pick a creamy type.
Eat Tuna Salad? Are we still eating tuna salad sandwiches at lunch? Well, most places do not use tuna packed in water, and after they have added the mayo, we can have an extra 250-300 calories of fat (let's just stick those 25 grams of fat right on the hips). Same goes for the diet special made with a scoop of tuna salad on top of lettuce, that many restaurants serve.
Dine Out Often? Dinner, even without butter on our bread can still spell trouble. If we count a tablespoon of oil for our sautéed veggies, a tablespoon (minimum) of butter or oil with any sauce on our low calorie fish, and another tablespoon for a small arugula salad, okay don't shoot me, but this can add up to about 300-500+ extra calories in total.
Choose 99% Fat free? Think the 1% fat in 99% fat free milk refers to the amount of fat by calories? Guess again. It actually refers to the amount of fat in milk by volume! Big difference. I cup of 1% milk equals 100 calories, which contains 3 grams of fat or 27 calories out of 100! How about 99% Fat Free meat? Just like our milk product, our 99% fat free refers to 99% fat free only by weight not volume, and not by calories (just as our milk referred to 1% by liquid volume). What is important is for us to read the nutrition facts label on the package and check how many fat grams are in each serving or ounce of meat (multiply 9 calories by the number of fat grams in each serving to arrive at the amount of fat calories in each serving!).

These are just a few examples of hidden calories. So, at best, if any one of these sound familiar, you're taking in at least an extra 300 hidden calories+ per day in the form of fat. If we do this on an average of 5+ meals per week, it can add up to a 2-3 LB weight gain in one month ( weight loss is possible, if we make these few changes), and I'm just referring to only 5 meals per week out of a possible 21 meals (This doesn't include all the meals that we prepare, with fats ourselves without measuring). Imagine, how many more meals do we eat out including snacks?

"Hidden Calories" in the form of fat are not so little (we'll discuss another favorite of mine next time, alcohol) and they do add up over time. Some of us even sacrifice by eating less food and wonder why we're still not losing!

June M. Lay M.S.
www.junefit.com
This Week, look for my Grilled Fruitkebab recipe (*there's no hidden calories!) posted now at www.junefit.com/tips_recipehp.htm

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