Does vegetarian = low calorie?

   If you are considering a meat free diet specifically to reduce the number of calories you consume, this post is for you.
   There are several reasons why national dietary guidelines, the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association recommend that 

1. red meat be limited(this includes pork no matter what you tell yourself), 
2. processed meat be avoided or extremely restricted (this includes all lunch meats, bacon, sausage) and 
3. a plant based diet be chosen (lots of vegetables, fruits and whole grains).

    Two words in the start of that sentence explain the dietary advice, heart and cancer.  Evidence suggests that saturated fat in red meats may lead to high blood cholesterol and thickening or hardening of the arteries, and that processed meat increases the risk of colon cancer.  Fruits, vegetables and the fiber from whole grains has been shown to reduce the same problems or diseases.
  Meats also have more calories per gram than plant based items and limiting them can make it easier to consume fewer calories. However, this is only true when all things are equal- (and they never are - equal). Look at the table below, which I created using Jimmy John's gourmet sandwiches - this is a list of the seven 8" sub sandwiches on their menu.  I put them in order from least to most calories per sandwich.

JJs 8" sub sandwiches

 As you can see, the vegetarian sandwich has the most saturated fat and nearly the most calories.  All of the sandwiches, with the exception of the Vito, which is made with Italian lunch meats and an oil and vinegar, contain MAYONNAISE.  I can tell you how the vegetarian sandwich ended up to be so high in calories, but first note that all the sandwiches are a significant source of calories because of the bread - a salad would be a better choice (if not loaded with a mayonnaise based dressing).  The vegetarian option is described on the menu as having 'layers of provolone cheese and an avocado spread,' plus the mayonnaise and a few veggies for a grand total of 640 calories! The cheese, avocado and mayonnaise are the main source of calories, followed by the bread - I suspect.  A more reasonable lunch would have 400 calories, and mine usually have 100 or 200 because I eat small meals often.

All food has the potential to be high in calories and nutrients that are harmful in excess (i.e., saturated fat, sugar, sodium). In order to make sure that when you intend to eat a low calorie meal you actually do, read the menu labels, ask the restaurant staff to hold things like mayo, ask if butter is used on the 'steamed' vegetables and consider skipping butters, breading and sauces when preparing food for yourself.

BTW, this post was inspired by a meeting I am going to next week.  We were given these 7 options to choose from for our lunch.  I replied to the host that I would be bringing my own lunch.  
(That's right.  It doesn't matter that the lunch is free - it doesn't matter if everyone else is going to order from that menu - what matters it what I need for my body and my health.  Surely you feel as interested in your health as I do mine.  Be brave and remember not to eat to please others but to fuel your body - while enjoying the choices you make.)

How menu labeling can help you detect good food gone bad

Last night I ate dinner out with a dear friend at a local Applebee's.

   This particular Applebee's had calorie information for a few items on its print menu.  It had comprehensive nutrition information on its website.  You can see that information here.  I accessed (and assessed) the information prior to my visit, but I could have seen it from my smartphone while at the table.  Not everyone can do either of those two things.
  While dining, I told my friend that I saw some items on the menu that had over 2000 calories.  This was in reference to the research articles I talked about here, which showed the average restaurant meal has over 1000 calories, more than half a days worth for many of us.
   She asked me which items, but I could not remember at the time.  I looked again today and it was the appetizer sample and two dishes with riblets.
   My friend and I both ordered the blackened tilapia meal which had a very reasonable 410 calories (as opposed to the fish and chips which had 1690!).  My meal had less than 410 calories because I asked the chef not to use butter and I replaced the potatoes with steamed broccoli (great service from the wait person and manager, Winston Salem, NC).  My friend and I ate similar volumes of food but I had fewer calories (I make these choices because I like to eat many times a day).  
   The tilapia looked like a good choice and it was a good choice. I can't say the same for the grilled chicken salad which had 1290 calories.  There was also this great find on the children's menu.  The item was titled 'Kids Celery Side with Dressing."  In case you didn't know, 3 whole cups of chopped celery has less than 50 calories.  This 'low calorie' vegetable side item had 220 calories - I am guessing that about 200 of those calories were from the dressing.  To be fair, the celery - even with this dressing - had half the calories of the kids french fries.
    Speaking of kids meals, remember this post regarding the nutrition in children's meals at certain restaurants.  Applebee's did make it to the low end of the upper half of the list with 4 to 8 % of its children meals meeting expert nutrition standards.  It paled in comparison to Subway and even Red Lobster and IHOP.

Oh and btw - I just started a twitter feed so if you want to follow me there you can. I expect I will mostly tweet photos of volumetric meals and maybe an occasional research update, esp related to diet quality and public health policy.  @DeirdreDingman

French Toast Compare

    My last post highlighted research that supports the idea that restaurant meals, in general and regardless of type (quick service, fast casual, sit down, chain or independent) contain excessive amounts of calories.  Recall that one study showed how eating all  3 main meals at restaurants, would lead someone to consume 1000 extra calories a day.
   
   Well I love to cook and show off my talent for calorie reduction so lets compare my french toast breakfast to two others.  One from IHOP and one for Denny's. 

   IHOP has several versions of French Toast.  One of them is called  Simple and Fit - so we can expect that one to be their least caloric version.  Some versions have over 800 calories!  You can check them all here. 
The Simple and Fit, shown below has 490 cals and 23 g of sugar.
   

  Denny's has a Fit Fare section on its menu, but doesn't include French Toast there.  Just in case your curious, they do have Fit Fare pancakes - how fit?  Not so much...780 calories.  Interestingly, that is the SAME amount of calories in their one French Toast dish.  See below.

    So how does the French Toast meal from Deirdre's Kitchen compare?  Quite exceptionally - I'd say... calorie and sugar wise.  None of these meals could be considered faultless.  For example, mine uses processed sugar free products  (Walden's Farms) and bread that isn't whole grain.  That being duly noted, we are talking about low calorie and low sugar today and so I WIN! 
 (with < 200 calories for my whole meal)

To be fair, this is a picture of a real plate of food that I quickly ate.
I did not use a food picture editor -or stage this with fake food!

   French Toast, Egg Beaters, Strawberries, and a Cereal Bar.  

  Find more ideas on my You Tube Channel.

No Interpretations Needed

I am going to link to two stories tonight because they are both spot on things that I believe and have written about and would write about again.  There is no need for me to regurgitate, or qualify them -


The first regards the rationale behind a sugar tax - though I have written about soda taxes, I am just as comfortable with this approach and will be passing this article around the community obesity coalition that I am a part of in Greensboro NC.


The second is another expert's advice to adopt the Mediterranean style diet - and by diet I mean foods that you eat every day - foods that fill your plate, not a plan that you employ for weight loss.  I eat a plant based diet that is Volumetrics based....


PS  - I have just read about terrible storms in the south with many lives lost.  The weather system is moving east through ALA, GA, parts of Fl, SC and NC even to VA by tomorrow - my heart is saddened by the losses and I hope that the advance warning will protect those in the path of these storms.  Apparently, the devastation is related to a phenomena called straight line wind, which comes out of a thunderstorm as opposed to the circular winds from  tornados - which are also a part of this system.  Be safe.

vegetable spotlight

The incredible brussels sprout-

In the video you will see my past with brussels sprouts and I have to say - I was wrong - they are delicious!

Brussels sprouts are also low calorie and contain the antioxidant lutein as well as vitamins A and K and beta carotene. Brussels sprouts are a good source of potassium with far fewer calories per gram then potatoes because they are not as starchy. They contain 3g of fiber per 100g and are a source of protein as well. Interestingly, brussels sprouts have sucrose, fructose and glucose. This is an example of a naturally occurring sugar which is NOT empty calories.

If you roast them as described above - you will keep all the good that comes naturally without adding fat from frying them. Monounsaturated fat is heart healthy, however, so you might consider drizzling a teaspoon (olive, canola, peanut oil) over your finished product!

Graze Ways

This post should be relatively short and simple with no scientific study or google searching required. I want to make a statement about "grazing" in order to encourage a healthful eating pattern not an unhealthful one... Or is it healthy and unhealthy... either way...

I don't like the word grazing but I think it was meant to take the place of snacking.. as snacking is generally thought of as eating "fattening" foods between meals. Grazing however makes me think of near constant eating, and that isn't good either.


The way that our body best responds to and uses energy is in small doses over time. Thus, eating frequent small meals is the healthful option. As I was having a conversation the other day, I realized that "small" is not the right word either because small doesn't mean low in calories, it just means small.


Imagine eating a donut or candy bar or even a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.. Small meals in the context of "frequent small meals" is meant to mean low in calories not necessarily small visually. A salad can fill a plate and have 50 calories where as a piece of cheese may not fill your hand and have 200.

I cannot tell any of you how many calories you should consume in a day but I can tell you that if it is 1800 then spread them out! It doesn't have to be even, but it can be.

Mine usually go like this;
50 cals to wake up
150-200 for breakfast

75-100 snack

150-200 lunch

100 snack

75-100 snack

300 dinner and dessert

200 snack

200 popcorn..

and another couple 100 spread around in there :)

Those are consumed from 7am to 10pm.. every two to three hours...


It is not wise to eat two 900 calorie meals or even three 600 calorie meals.. meals that high in calories are often that way because of high fat or sugar content. Heavy meals increase the heart's work load, effect metabolism negatively and often make the eater feel sluggish.

So - eat low calorie meals OFTEN.. and move more too!

More on Low Calorie Foods

To reiterate... I enjoy eating more food more often more than eating food high in energy density only a few times a day. People are sometimes curious about what exactly I do eat and so I had made this list. I do not think that I posted it directly to the blog before and since I am still traveling, it seemed a good time to keep it simple.

BTW, I always travel with healthy meals too and made it through the Tampa Airport without any lunchbox loss. That was a first!

Meals of Deirdre

Each morning I have a small serving of fruit and one of my cereal bars, recipe on FB and You Tube, along with one of the following:
· 1/3 c egg beater, rice cake with smart beat cheese on top
· 1/3 c (dry) loose oat bran from Richards, cooked in h20, served w/ splenda & cinnamon
· 3 TBSP cream of wheat, cooked in water, and served with splenda
· My home made pancakes, recipe on video somewhere
· One 6-8 ounce SF/FF yogurt with 1/8 c all bran or kasha added (warmed in microwave)

I have 65-120 calorie snacks ~ 3 x a day, including:
· 90 calorie Special K bar (or bargain brand)
· 90-100 calorie granola bars (watch those labels!)
· Home made wraps, video available
· ½ egg sandwich
· ½ PBJ sandwich
· Publix cookie toast with non fat cream cheese 2 = 90 cals
· Mexican sugar cookies, staw, van, choc – 30 cal per cookie
· Tea biscuit cookies 65 cals for 4
· Vegetarian lunch meat with sargento 2% cheese (95 – 100 c)
· Pizza slice that I baked and cut into 100-120 cal slices
· And more, with my late afternoon snack I also have a diet soda (12 oz)

For Lunch, I have a small serving of fruit and a cereal bar along with a meal of protein that I made on the weekend. Lunch usually has 150-200 cals

For Dinner, I eat the Volumetrics way with either a salad or stir fry

For Dessert, either SF/FF ice cream with pudding sauce and extras or my dessert cakes with pudding sauce (150 cals either choice)

For a snack, my PB cookies and skim milk cappuccino

Before Bed, air popped and salted pop corn with 1 tsp olive oil on top!