Underestimated calorie traps
Last night I got a distraught call from a friend of mine, “what’s happened?” I asked. “Have you broken up with Steve?" " Did you lose your job?”. In Ann's mind at that moment any of these situations would be preferable to what actually happened. Soon I got to the bottom of the story, she had weighed herself, convinced there would be less of her to weigh then the week before, but she was devastated to find she had gained a pound.
She started listing out everything she was eating; one of the joys of my job is that friends often use me as their own personal food diary, Ann will be getting the bill in the post! After going through Ann's diet with her, I quickly realised where the problem lay. Her snacks although healthy enough were actually packed with calories which notched up to an extra 800 calories on top of her 3 main meals every day!
The issue of snacking is something most of us can relate to. The snacks available in supermarkets today are a calorie minefield. It’s about time we realised that snacking is perfectly healthy, but there is a right and wrong way to go about it.
There is little point in cutting the portions of your main meals if you are going to add an extra snack in somewhere else.
Before I get onto my healthier snack suggestions, you probably want to know what Ann was eating. Well let’s start with her 3 main meals. They were top notch – weetabix with milk for breakfast, soup with a small brown roll and fruit for lunch. Finally her dinner was a stir fry with rice, pasta or oven chips, nothing wrong here!
The snacks were another story, she had 3 snacks during the day and although they were quite nutritious, they were shooting up her daily calorie intake.
If the snacks below don’t seem too calorific, add in her three times weekly Starbucks vanilla Frappuccino and it is little wonder why her ‘healthy eating plan’ just didn’t work.
3 tbsp of guacamole with veggie sticks = 176 calories
30g peanuts = 169 calories
Scone with 1 tbsp of honey = 338
Ann isn’t alone in misjudging the amount of calories in her snacks. According to new research many Brits don't have any idea of the actual calorie-content of healthy snacks such as dips and reduced-fat goods. The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has published the results of a survey which shows that two thirds of Britons underestimate the number of calories in hummus, a chickpea-based dip which contains on average 332 calories per 100g.
It seems we are overly cautious with some snacks and eating too many of the higher calorie types. A fifth of consumers mistakenly believe that bananas are high in calories when they only contain an average of 95 calories per 100g. A banana would be a far better option than the scone and honey. Instead of nuts have 30g of mixed dried fruit, at 85 calories; she would save half the calories compared to the nut snack.
Rather than a higher calorie dip like guacamole and veggies, Ann could make a savvy choice by going for low fat dips like cottage cheese, sweet chilli sauce or tzatziki dip…better still make her own low fat yoghurt and onion/garlic dip. Eating veggie sticks with 3 tbsp of cottage cheese, would save her around 90 calories.
Other fantastic low calorie snacks that I advised Ann to include in her diet were:
Berries and low fat yoghurt
Olives with fresh herbs and a drizzle of olive oil
Oatcake with light cream cheese and chives
Roasted chickpeas
Have you any other suggestions of tasty, low calorie snacks snacks?
Catherine Matthews
Nutritionist
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I'm glad I decided to read this..although I dont always feel the need to snack I have ditched the crisps and biscuit tin and have bought low fat stuff like snack o jacks and Velvet Crunch (casava) these have far fewer cals than ordinary crisps (the family will not convert) but my boyfriend tried the velvet crunch and was surprised (he's an old stickler) I don't always feel the need to snck but when the family sit down to watch a movie I don't feel left out..Iwill also be trying the Beetroot dip.
Comment by DENISE50W -
Good to read. I have never eaten peanut butter until this diet and have to be so careful of taking a teaspoonful out of the jar. I just love it! So I try to have it as a legitimate snack with 2 rice cakes. I save it for the evening!
Comment by ANDYGARRETT1952 -
I love celery and if I'm tempted to snack I will chew on a stick of celery and I also have slices of carrot in the fridge to pick on.
Comment by SUSIE65JULY -
ALYNCH777 you could add ingredients to your 3 meals, to make sure you're getting your daily calories allowance, so as to not slow your metabolic rate, and not have to have the snack.
Comment by ANNETTE1977 -
I have adapted a great dip recipe. Blend cooked beetroot (the cheap stuff in the vac packs works great) with low fat yoghurt or low fat creme fraiche and add a teaspoon or 2 of horseradish. Makes a brilliant substitute for houmous or guacamole and it's a brilliant purple colour!
Comment by SAPOOLE76 -
Great advice. At the moment if I fancy a naughty treat I have two Ryvita Crispbreads with 2 teaspoons of nutella. Otherwise my snacks seem to be based around fruit to bump up my intake. I also like to add some lemon juice and agave nectar sweetner (Low GI) to a small amount of natural yoghurt which is lovely.
Comment by EMMY_JAY -
Hi Alynch,
I was pointing out that my friend was eating excess calories and could have chosen lower calorie snacks - remember there is only one snack on your plan! Nuts and houmous are really good for you, but they are still a source of calories (nuts particularly), so eat them in moderation. Also, we generally recommend low fat houmous instead of full fat houmous which Ann was eating. Our nutritionists ensure your meal plan is calorie controlled, so you don't need to worry about your intake.
Comment by CATHERINEMATTHEWS -
I don't understand why the snacks you are berating here are on my food plan, ie nuts and hummous. I dont normally snack but have been doing so since following tesco diets as i am sticking to the plan, however I never feel I want the snacks.
Comment by ALYNCH777 -
Hi BEEBYTHESEA, this is why it is so important to read nutritional labels and to look behind a healthy picture on the jar. Lime and chill may sound low in calories, but if you look a little further you could see that there are lots of added ingredients which notch up the calories.
Comment by CATHERINEMATTHEWS -
It's easy to fall into these traps. Lovely hubby brought home a new stir-fry sauce for my veggies. I usually use about half a sachet . . . 80kcals . . . but after I'd eaten my supper, I looked at the label of this new sauce.
Horror! Tesco Tamarind, Fresh Lime & Chilli stir fry sauce . . . a whopping 205kcal . . . in a sauce!!! I didnt see that coming. So my simple meal became a mega meltdown.
Comment by BEEBYTHESEA -
Hi Bishon13, that's a great idea! Cottage cheese is low in cals and you can even get a low fat one now!
Comment by CATHERINEMATTHEWS -
Celery is a good calorie free snack you could dip with cottage cheese still low in cals from bishoin 13
Comment by BISHOIN13LUCKY -
your advice is most helpful.
Comment by RUTHALLAN101147 -