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You know those delicious huge cupcakes (like the ones from Crumbs) that have that thick layer of frosting? Perhaps your mouth is watering right now. Well, I was just offered one and as I was generously slicing a piece for myself, I couldn’t help but think. This “sliver” that I just cut looks bigger than an entire cupcake made in cupcake tins. It got me to thinking about how many calories are really in those ginormous cupcakes. After a little research, I found what I was looking for (and made me think hard about how long my workout was going to have to be tonight). Those cupcakes have somewhere around 800 calories and over 30 grams of fat, each. ouch! I think I’m better off sticking to my homemade ones that are already portion controlled for me.

People are always asking me what I eat. I try not to spend my time counseling people telling them about what I eat since I generally don’t find that to be very helpful… But, since I get the question so often, I figured I’d share what I’ve had to eat today.

8:30AM: 1 cup high fiber cereal (Quaker Crunchy Corn bran – it’s my absolute favorite and unfortunately, very hard to find)
1/2 cup strawberries and raspberries
3/4 cup low-fat milk
16 oz water

9:15AM: 1 cup black tea
more water

11:30AM: 4 oz container Breakstone’s Reduced-Fat Cottage Cheese
Crispin Apple

Now I’m just waiting to eat my delicious lunch….

Isn’t it bad enough that Chinese food is packed with calories?

1,000 calories in Eggplant in Garlic Sauce
1,400 calorie in Kung Pao Chicken
1,500 calories in House Fried Rice

Apparently not, since a new study also links MSG (the food additive often used in Chinese food), to obesity. 1/3 of people who used the most MSG were 3 times as likely to be overweight. With each .04 ounce of MSG intake daily, there was an increase in Body Mass Index. So, if you’re looking to pack on a few pounds, dig in to your egg roll and General Tso’s Chicken (you’ll have consumed 1,500 calories, almost enough to gain 1/2 pound). But, if like most of us, that’s not what you’re after, order your chinese food steamed, with sauce on the side. Or, if you can’t take the steamed food, at least ask for your food with no MSG.

What do you do? I recently was at a party where there was pretty much every kind of noshing food you could think of – pizza, pigs in a blanket, cheese and crackers, spinach artichoke dip, chips, egg rolls, chicken fingers, candy, meatballs and the list goes on. As I was sitting there, I was thinking of the dilemma that these types of situations cause. You feel like you’re not eating that much because you’re often not using a plate and because you are often taking one bite of this and another of that. But, you usually end up consuming many many more calories than you would in a typical meal. So, I thought I’d share a few tips to prevent this the next time you are in this situation.
1. Stand away from the food. (it’s much harder to eat constantly if you are in conversation away from the food)
2. Avoid trying everything. You are better off picking a few things to try, rather than one of everything.
3. Avoid going to these events hungry. Otherwise, it’s really hard not to eat everything.
4. Limit your alcohol. The less inhibited you are, the more you will eat!

Happy Monday!

So, I was in a store today when I noticed a very overweight women pick up a bottle of vitamin-enhanced water. I was very tempted to let her know that she didn’t need the vitamins and those extra couple hundred calories were not going to help her lose weight anytime soon. But, I decided to keep the nutrition advice to myself.

How have vitamin-enhanced waters become so unbelievably popular? Do we really believe that we need “extra” vitamins to get through the day? Or, that they will give us the energy boost we need? Sorry to break the news, but vitamins can’t give you energy.

Want to save money, calories and get a healthier beverage? Grab a glass of good old fashioned H20. Want some extra Vitamin C? Toss in a slice of lemon or orange. Note if you eat it, you will get even more Vitamin C!

Snacking during the day is probably one of the most important aspects of weight loss. Often the thought of packing a snack the night before work (or school) is just too much of an effort or worse yet – not even a thought. So 3:00 rolls around and you are starving. With no fruit or veggies in site, you head straight for the vending machine or to the bowl of chocolates on your co-worker’s desk. You’re just too hungry to care about healthy eating. Enter Mann’s vegetables, your answer to the afternoon snack – already packaged for you. In 4 Varieties: Celery, Carrots & Stringless Sugar Snap Peas; Broccoli, Carrots & Celery; Celery, Carrots & Grape Tomatoes; Carrots, Celery & Raisins these fresh-cut vegetables also come with a creamy light ranch dip. If you stick to the only veggies packs, they range from 50 – 70 calories, but even the pack with raisins (at 150 calories) is a much better snack than what you will typically find in the vending machines. Check out the website www.broccoli.com for more on the snacks and a variety of coupons.

There has been a lot of concern expressed recently about bisphenol-A or BPA a chemical commonly used in baby bottles (probably not your top concern right now), some food containers and hard reusable water bottles, like Nalgene. We know, now you’re listening. The Canadian government is set to call the chemical toxic. It is thought that BPA may mimic estrogen causing a wide variety of health problems. While the jury is still out on whether it’s bad for you, or how much exposure is of concern, there’s no reason to wait to find out. Next time you’re going out for a walk, reach for a different water bottle. (A clue that the product might contain BPA is that it has the Number 7 recycling symbol.)

Rather than grabbing yet another cup of coffee, try a protein packed snack for that boost of afternoon energy. Almond butter, cashew butter or sunflower seed butter (all available at Trader Joe’s and other specialty markets) provide a delicious, healthy source of protein. Try on a whole wheat cracker, an apple or a banana. Note, it will also give you enough energy so you can actually make it to the gym after work!

By this point, you’ve probably seen the name acai around somewhere, though it’s most likely you have no idea how to pronounce it (it’s ah-SIGH-ee). If not, you surely will – watch out pomegranate, this is the new fruit taking over the supermarket. Promoted for it’s high antioxidant and phytochemical content, acai is likely to be infused in everything from juices to your shampoo. Given it’s deep dark purple color, adding the fruit to your diet is probably a great move. And, regardless of how much (or how little) is actually in Haagen-Dazs’ new sorbet, we love the flavor, it’s exotic sounding name and of course the fact that it’s Haagen-Dazs. And, at 120 calories and 2 grams fat per ½ cup, you have a great dessert without the guilt. However, beware of the other Haagen-Dazs Reserve flavors which all have more than double the calories.