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| :: How to Avoid Hidden Calories :: |
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With our busy lifestyles, we often eat 'on the go' and before you know it you have unknowingly picked up and eaten an unhealthy snack ? it really is 'food without thought'.
Salad deception
Sometimes the things we see as healthy can be laden with bad fats and sugar. What seems like a healthy salad, may be smothered in creamy dressing or contain fatty ingredients like avocado. Croutons, for example, can add as much as eight grams of fat to a salad.
Amanda Wynne, a dietician and spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association, helps uncover these hidden health baddies. "There are certain things that we feel are healthy ? salad is typically low fat but croutons, dressing and olive oil and added cheese all bump up the fat content," she says.
Coffee culture
The latest coffee-bar trend means people are picking up high fat snacks and drinks without a second thought. Your typical coffee-shop frappuccino and large mocha with cream have about 26 grams of fat. "People don't think drinks count as fat," says Amanda Wynne.
And whatever happened to the small and medium choices? "There are 'super sizes' of everything, it's indicative of our culture. The 'big' factor is a part of the obesity epidemic," she adds.
If you do whiz through the coffee shop on your way to work, try asking for the 'skinny' hot drinks using skimmed milk and skip the cream. Drink tea and coffee at home or in the office with skimmed milk (without sugar) and avoid sugary fizzy drinks.
Alcohol
Alcohol is another diet trap. Behind the bar lurks a whole host of hidden calories. "In pubs these days you can't get wine in a glass under 250mls in size - there are more POINTS? values in the larger size. A couple of those and you are the through best part of a whole bottle of wine!" warns Amanda Wynne.
Guilt-free?
Foods that make claims like 'guilt free', 'eat as much as you like' or ྛ% fat free' are not as healthy as they may seem on the surface. "There's a whole aisle of them with the cakes in the supermarket. The Food Standards Agency don't recommend these - the 'fat free claims', for example, might be 85% fat free, but that equals a 15% fat content, which is quite high," says Amanda Wynne.
Eat 'slow food'
Part of the reason we are not spotting hidden POINTS values is that we are eating in a rush. In some European Countries they have adopted a 'slow food' movement - to try and promote more thought and time to meals.
"Eat home-cooked food that tastes good in moderate sized portions. People are so busy that they don't have time to prepare food ? and they go for the fast food culture instead," says Amanda Wynne. "With our modern lifestyles, with more stress and longer hours, we don't spend time on food - we shove something down to fill up we don't make it a priority."
Tips for avoiding hidden POINTS values
* When at a sandwich bar, choose tasty wholemeal bread, without butter and look for sandwiches with lean meat, mayo-free tuna, lower fat cheese like Edam and oil-free salads.
* If you get time, make a packed lunch so you know what's in it, but if you buy a pre-packed sandwich or salad check the label for hidden fillings, like bacon bits and salad dressing.
* Something to remember is that not all Points value calculations are as straight-forward as they seem. For example, while one piece of bread comes in at 1 Points value for one medium slice, two medium slices will set you back 2? Points values. Similarly one plain digestive has a Points value of 1, whilst two biscuits have a Points value of 2?. This is because Points values are calculated according to the nearest ?.
* Occasional treats are fine - have healthy snacks with you to take the edge off your hunger. Pop an apple in your handbag.
Remember: the best fast food is a piece of fruit. |
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