Post by jinxx47 on Oct 6, 2007 12:15:13 GMT -5
As the temperature drops, we start yearning for comfort foods. But beware of their hefty caloric price. A few of autumn's least healthy offerings.
Oct. 1, 2007 - The leaves start turning, the wind gets cold, and all you want to do is curl up with delicious but heavy autumn treats. And even though our fall favorites aren't exactly known as diet foods, their calorie counts might still surprise you. Turns out Thanksgiving essentials aren't the only figure-busting culprits. Here's a list of the worst eight:
1. Halloween candy With all the bowls and bags of bite-size treats around the house, it's all too tempting to steal a few. But those tiny chocolate bars are more of a trick than a treat. Eat just four "bite size" bars and you're up to 320 calories. Twenty pieces of candy corn will cost you 100 calories, and just 25 jelly beans add up to 140 calories.
2. Mashed potatoes They are the quintessential comfort food for fall. But watch out before taking seconds: weighed down with milk and butter, mashed potatoes usually have about 200 calories in a half-cup serving.
3. Venti Pumpkin Spice Latte Starbucks drinks are notoriously high in calories, and their autumn special is no exception. The Venti Pumpkin Spice Latte weighs in at 510 calories and 20 grams of fat.
4. Apple pie A Thanksgiving dinner is never complete without a slice of apple pie. But with more than 400 calories and 20 grams of fat, this might be one dessert you shouldn't be saving room for. Add a scoop of ice cream (who doesn't?) and you're up to 530 calories. It might just be enough to last you until next fall.
5. Cider Who doesn't love a cup of warm cider? You might not want to skip this traditional treat altogether, but with a sugar-laden 200 calories in 16 ounces, the sweet drink should probably be considered a dessert substitute rather than a beverage.
6. Stuffing At 358 calories and 18 grams of fat per cup, there's a reason they call it stuffing. The high-carb turkey companion may be appearing on lots of menus this fall, not to mention its starring role on Thanksgiving Day, but take it easy if you're trying to keep the fall weight gain to a minimum.
7. Candy apple An apple alone is a pretty healthy fall fruit somewhere in the 60-100 calorie range. Coat it in caramel, however, and you have quite a different story. A large candy apple with caramel usually weighs in around 540 calories. Avoiding this autumn treat will be a boon for your dental bills and your figure.
8. Turducken This combo wonderbird is a trendy entree you might want to forgo. It contains turkey, duck and chicken wrapped together for a new twist on the usual Thanksgiving meal. In terms of your diet, that twist may be for the worse: one serving of Turducken has 749 calories and 34.5 grams of fat. Try limiting yourself to one bird and skip the crispy skin. A three-ounce serving of skinless turkey has 130 calories.
(Still pining for summer's culinary delights? Check out the eight worst foods of beach season.)
Bikini Busters
Want to fit into that bathing suit all summer long? Eight hot-weather treats you should avoid.
June 28, 2007 - It's summertime and the dieting should be easy. But alongside the fresh fruits and light salads are a slew of unhealthy summer staples. Hot-weather favorites like ice cream, tropical thingytails, and fried chicken often rank high in calories and low in nutrition. And they're hard to avoid. Here are eight of the most calorific offenders. (We've saved the worst for last.)
1.Fudge. A beach town isn't complete without sand, surf, tacky t shirt stores, and the quintessential fudge shop. Stopping in, however, can be a high-calorie decision. Each ounce of chocolate fudge has about 100 calories and 3 grams of fat. Sample Fannie May's chocolate peanut butter fudge, and you are up to 114 calories per ounce.
2.Tropical Drinks. Unwinding with a poolside drink may hit the spot at the end of a long summer day. But it also is a high-calorie pastime. Just one frozen pina colada from TGI Friday's packs 250 calories. Other summer drinks, such as a Bacardi Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri, are a bit lighter with about 120 calories per serving.
3.Fried Chicken. A bucket of crispy fried chicken is a picnic staple. And while chicken is often a healthy choice, adding the breading and oil turns it into a calorie extravaganza. One chicken breast from Popeye's has 510 calories and 30 grams of fat. And that's just one piece—wait until you calculate the three-piece meal.
4.Frappuccinos. Cooling off with coffee beverages can be a low-calorie option; an unsweetened, black iced coffee, for example, is completely calorie free. The same, however, is not true for your Venti Java Chip Frappucino from Starbucks. The drink weighs in at 490 calories and 11 grams of fat—add the whipped cream, and it jumps to 600 calories.
5.Ballpark Meal. Taking yourself out to a ball game can also mean taking yourself out to a high-fat, high-calorie meal. The standard ballpark fare, a beer and a hot dog, doesn't just take a bite out of your wallet, it can wreak havoc on your waistline. The 20-ounce Budweiser sold by vendors contain 240 calories. Add a 455- calorie giant hot dog, and you're at about 695 calories and 33.5 grams of fat.
6.Macaroni Salad. With just over 700 calories and 50 grams of fat in a single cup, macaroni salad side dishes may have more calories than your main dish. Its companion, potato salad, is a bit better—one cup has 440 calories and 24 grams of fat. Either way, it may be best to stick to the leafy green salad instead.
7.Funnel Cake. Amusement parks are famous for their odd animals, whirling rides and tempting foods. And it's quite likely that no dessert has won as many state-fair fans as funnel cake. It may also have the most calories—the high-calorie fried cake weighs in at 760 calories.
8.Hot Fudge Sundae. Ice cream takes the cake for the most calorific way to beat the heat this summer. A large hot-fudge sundae at Carvel weighs in at 50 grams of fat and 900 calories—almost half the recommended daily calories for the average person
Oct. 1, 2007 - The leaves start turning, the wind gets cold, and all you want to do is curl up with delicious but heavy autumn treats. And even though our fall favorites aren't exactly known as diet foods, their calorie counts might still surprise you. Turns out Thanksgiving essentials aren't the only figure-busting culprits. Here's a list of the worst eight:
1. Halloween candy With all the bowls and bags of bite-size treats around the house, it's all too tempting to steal a few. But those tiny chocolate bars are more of a trick than a treat. Eat just four "bite size" bars and you're up to 320 calories. Twenty pieces of candy corn will cost you 100 calories, and just 25 jelly beans add up to 140 calories.
2. Mashed potatoes They are the quintessential comfort food for fall. But watch out before taking seconds: weighed down with milk and butter, mashed potatoes usually have about 200 calories in a half-cup serving.
3. Venti Pumpkin Spice Latte Starbucks drinks are notoriously high in calories, and their autumn special is no exception. The Venti Pumpkin Spice Latte weighs in at 510 calories and 20 grams of fat.
4. Apple pie A Thanksgiving dinner is never complete without a slice of apple pie. But with more than 400 calories and 20 grams of fat, this might be one dessert you shouldn't be saving room for. Add a scoop of ice cream (who doesn't?) and you're up to 530 calories. It might just be enough to last you until next fall.
5. Cider Who doesn't love a cup of warm cider? You might not want to skip this traditional treat altogether, but with a sugar-laden 200 calories in 16 ounces, the sweet drink should probably be considered a dessert substitute rather than a beverage.
6. Stuffing At 358 calories and 18 grams of fat per cup, there's a reason they call it stuffing. The high-carb turkey companion may be appearing on lots of menus this fall, not to mention its starring role on Thanksgiving Day, but take it easy if you're trying to keep the fall weight gain to a minimum.
7. Candy apple An apple alone is a pretty healthy fall fruit somewhere in the 60-100 calorie range. Coat it in caramel, however, and you have quite a different story. A large candy apple with caramel usually weighs in around 540 calories. Avoiding this autumn treat will be a boon for your dental bills and your figure.
8. Turducken This combo wonderbird is a trendy entree you might want to forgo. It contains turkey, duck and chicken wrapped together for a new twist on the usual Thanksgiving meal. In terms of your diet, that twist may be for the worse: one serving of Turducken has 749 calories and 34.5 grams of fat. Try limiting yourself to one bird and skip the crispy skin. A three-ounce serving of skinless turkey has 130 calories.
(Still pining for summer's culinary delights? Check out the eight worst foods of beach season.)
Bikini Busters
Want to fit into that bathing suit all summer long? Eight hot-weather treats you should avoid.
June 28, 2007 - It's summertime and the dieting should be easy. But alongside the fresh fruits and light salads are a slew of unhealthy summer staples. Hot-weather favorites like ice cream, tropical thingytails, and fried chicken often rank high in calories and low in nutrition. And they're hard to avoid. Here are eight of the most calorific offenders. (We've saved the worst for last.)
1.Fudge. A beach town isn't complete without sand, surf, tacky t shirt stores, and the quintessential fudge shop. Stopping in, however, can be a high-calorie decision. Each ounce of chocolate fudge has about 100 calories and 3 grams of fat. Sample Fannie May's chocolate peanut butter fudge, and you are up to 114 calories per ounce.
2.Tropical Drinks. Unwinding with a poolside drink may hit the spot at the end of a long summer day. But it also is a high-calorie pastime. Just one frozen pina colada from TGI Friday's packs 250 calories. Other summer drinks, such as a Bacardi Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri, are a bit lighter with about 120 calories per serving.
3.Fried Chicken. A bucket of crispy fried chicken is a picnic staple. And while chicken is often a healthy choice, adding the breading and oil turns it into a calorie extravaganza. One chicken breast from Popeye's has 510 calories and 30 grams of fat. And that's just one piece—wait until you calculate the three-piece meal.
4.Frappuccinos. Cooling off with coffee beverages can be a low-calorie option; an unsweetened, black iced coffee, for example, is completely calorie free. The same, however, is not true for your Venti Java Chip Frappucino from Starbucks. The drink weighs in at 490 calories and 11 grams of fat—add the whipped cream, and it jumps to 600 calories.
5.Ballpark Meal. Taking yourself out to a ball game can also mean taking yourself out to a high-fat, high-calorie meal. The standard ballpark fare, a beer and a hot dog, doesn't just take a bite out of your wallet, it can wreak havoc on your waistline. The 20-ounce Budweiser sold by vendors contain 240 calories. Add a 455- calorie giant hot dog, and you're at about 695 calories and 33.5 grams of fat.
6.Macaroni Salad. With just over 700 calories and 50 grams of fat in a single cup, macaroni salad side dishes may have more calories than your main dish. Its companion, potato salad, is a bit better—one cup has 440 calories and 24 grams of fat. Either way, it may be best to stick to the leafy green salad instead.
7.Funnel Cake. Amusement parks are famous for their odd animals, whirling rides and tempting foods. And it's quite likely that no dessert has won as many state-fair fans as funnel cake. It may also have the most calories—the high-calorie fried cake weighs in at 760 calories.
8.Hot Fudge Sundae. Ice cream takes the cake for the most calorific way to beat the heat this summer. A large hot-fudge sundae at Carvel weighs in at 50 grams of fat and 900 calories—almost half the recommended daily calories for the average person