Healthy Low Calorie Breakfast Ideas

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A few months ago, I published two articles on healthy low calorie breakfasts. In the first article I shared tips on what to include with a low calorie breakfast to improve your chances for weight loss success. Low calorie yet high protein meals with natural foods, plenty of fiber, and overall nutritional balance work best. In the second article I included several sample menus. Best Healthy Breakfasts for Weight Loss: Part 1 Best Healthy Breakfasts for Weight Loss: Part 2 Today I have more sample breakfast menus to share with you. With respect to nutrition, these menus are fairly well balanced. If you need a simple plan for achieving daily nutritional balance on a low calorie diet, I would suggest reviewing the 1500 and 1200 calorie diet plans I have on this site. One of the sample breakfast menus I have here includes a muffin-like product called fiber cake available from a company by the name of Zen Bakery. It is actually a high fiber low calorie food made with all natural ingredients. Although I have not had an opportunity to try one, I have heard very good reports from others. Evidently these fiber cakes can be purchased from Whole Foods or Trader Joes (neither one of which is located anywhere near me.) I’m working on developing my own recipe but it would help if I could try the real thing first! Healthy Low Calorie Breakfasts: Image via Wikipedia Breakfast 1 Enjoy a blueberry fiber cake along with a hard-boiled egg, a raspberry yogurt, and 4 ounces of orange juice. 1 Blueberry Fiber Cake (80 calories, Zen Bakery) 1 Light n’ Fit Creamy Raspberry Yogurt (100 calories, Dannon) 1 hard-boiled egg 1/2 cup orange juice calories: 313 protein: 20.2 grams dietary fiber: 13.2 grams calcium: 309 mg Vitamin C: 62 mg Breakfast 2 Make a simple egg frittata with lots of veggies served with an oat bran muffin. Egg frittata (How to prepare a frittata. Hopefully the article is still available when you read this!) 1/2 cup egg substitute (99% egg white, 104 calories or less) 1 tsp. olive oil (for the skillet when preparing the frittata) 1/2 cup chopped fresh tomato 1/2 cup chopped fresh zucchini 1 Oat bran muffin (178 calories) calories: 347 protein: 21.2 grams dietary fiber: 4.8 grams calcium: 127 mg Vitamin C: 21.9 mg Note: You may want to lightly cook the zucchini and tomato first before adding it to the fritatta. Breakfast 3 Quickly prepare and heat two healthy mini pizzas in a toaster oven that can be ready to eat in minutes (if the turkey bacon has been cooked ahead of time). 1 Whole Wheat English Muffin (133 calories, Thomas) 2 slices Turkey Bacon (one for each muffin half, 60 calories) 2 slices Tomato (one for each muffin half) 1/4 cup Reduced Fat Shredded Mexican Cheese, sprinkle on top of each mini pizza (80 calories, Sargento) calories: 299 protein: 25.8 grams dietary fiber: 6.4 grams calcium: 425 mg Vitamin C: 22.8 mg Breakfast 4 Easily prepare scrambled eggs with egg substitute and a little cooking spray (such as Pam). Serve along with 1/2 cup raspberries, and two slices of buttered whole wheat toast. 4 Tbsp. Egg Substitute (99% egg white, 52 calories or less) 2 Slices whole wheat toast (180 calories total) 2 tsp. Light Butter by Land O’Lakes (with part canola oil) 1/2 cup fresh Raspberries calories: 297 protein: 16.2 grams dietary fiber: 10.0 grams calcium: 128 mg Vitamin C: 16.1 mg This last sample menu comes up short for calcium and vitamin C. Plan on having a good source of vitamin C later in the day such as orange juice, kiwi fruit, tomatoes, and more. Choose dairy or non-dairy fortified foods for calcium (Also see Low Calorie Dairy Snacks) Note: To keep your calorie count down with 1200 calorie diets include water or unsweetened tea or coffee with these meals. If you are following a diet plan with more total calories you have more calories for beverages. Even so do be careful. Beverage calories can add up quickly! (See: The Beverages You Drink May be Making You Fat!). Getting plenty of fiber and protein and some level of balance for a meal with only 350 calories or less is difficult. I hope the menu ideas I’ve shared in this article and a previous article will be of help (see: Healthy Breakfasts). Till next time, watch those calories and eat healthy! calories Health Maintenance weight loss calories, Health, Maintenance, weight losshealthy breakfast healthy breakfast menu diet dietary fiber fiber weight loss

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Healthy Restaurant Food: Is it Low Calorie?

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According to recent survey results by the National Restaurant Association 3 out of 4 American adults are trying to eat a healthier diet than they were a couple of years ago. That’s good news. However, it may not translate into fewer calories consumed when eating out. If anything Americans are eating just as much if not more. There seems to be a misperception about healthy foods and calories. Healthy and low calorie are not necessarily one and the same. The sad truth is that no matter how careful you may be it is all too easy to consume more calories then you might estimate. Why is that? The results of a 2008 study published in the Journal of Consumer Research suggests that consumers are more likely to underestimate the total calories eaten when they choose food that is perceived as being healthy as opposed to unhealthy. Although the research involved perceptions of food from fast-food restaurants, I suspect the same would hold true for other restaurants as well. The participants in the study underestimated the number of calories in main dishes. Believing that they were eating fewer calories then they actually were, they went on to choose additional calories in the form of side dishes, drinks, or desserts. In addition, these extra dishes had up to 131 percent more calories if the main dish was perceived as being healthy versus unhealthy. Image via Wikipedia Knowing the calorie count ahead of time would solve some of the problem. But that’s a lot easier said then done! What I try to do is keep in mind those restaurants that have healthier food choices along with lower calorie counts. (A Low Calorie Restaurant Food Guide) When it is just my husband and me that works reasonably well. Throw children, other family, or friends into the mix and it doesn’t work quite so well! Just as may happen to you, I end up at restaurants without enough advance knowledge of the food choices and calorie counts. When this happens the truth of the matter is that I can and do misjudge the calorie count. I can think of a couple of examples of situations that I encountered recently. A few months back, I was at Bruegger’s with family. I love bagels as much or more than anyone else! But I tend to avoid this restaurant because I have found most of the choices on the menu to be high calorie. (Some of the soups seem to be healthy low calorie choices.) The day I was there, I encountered a new sandwich offering called the “softwich”. As I recall there were a couple of healthy sounding possibilities with this new line, the Mediterranean Softwich (hummus, muenster cheese, sun dried tomato spread, lettuce, and red onions) and the Thai Peanut Chicken Softwich (chicken fajita strips, cucumber, peanut sauce, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, and a little cream cheese). I enquired about the softwich and it was explained to me that a softwich is basically a bagel but it is softer and not so dense. So I reasoned that it would have fewer calories then the typical large and dense bagel. I was wrong. It is actually larger than a regular bagel and has more calories not less! I should have asked for the calorie count. (At chain restaurants this information should be available.) I chose to order a Thai Peanut Chicken Softwich instead of the Mediterranean. Fortunately, that turned out to be the better choice in terms of calories but it was still more then I would have liked. Mediterranean Softwich (790 Calories - Ouch!) 15 grams saturated fat 11 grams dietary fiber 13 grams of sugar 30 grams of protein (15 grams of saturated fat and 13 grams of sugar are a lot for a seemingly healthy sandwich!) Thai Peanut Chicken Softwich (590 Calories!) 2.5 grams of saturated fat 5 grams of fiber 18 grams of sugar (Likely in the sauce which came served on the side) 36 grams of protein I chose to use very little sauce on my Thai Peanut Chicken Softwich and as such knocked the calorie count down to maybe 500 calories or so. That was better but still a good 50-100 calories more than I had estimated. It’s just all too easy to do. Another situation I encountered was with a “treat” I selected to go with my cafe latte (made with skim milk) from Starbucks yesterday. I can’t afford to eat sweets very often but there it was, a Berry Stella looking and “sounding” as healthy and tempting as a treat could be. A new offering from sometime in July, the Berry Stella is a star-shaped bakery treat listed as having “whole grain goodness”. The small cake-like offering is topped with raspberries, blueberries, and whole oats. It caught my eye, seemed to be a “healthy” choice, and I simply couldn’t walk away… How did I fare? Well that tasty little treat had 280 calories! Was it healthy? For a treat, yes. Low calorie? No! One Petite Vanilla Scone, on the other hand, has only 130 calories. However, the first three ingredients for the Berry Stella listed in order are oats, brown sugar, and whole wheat flour. The first three ingredients for the Petite Vanilla Scone are enriched wheat flour, vanilla bean glaze (basically sugar), and heavy cream. Berry Stella is the healthier but higher calorie choice. So do you choose healthy or lower calorie? My recommendation is to go with the healthier choice most of the time. BUT if you don’t know the calorie count (if possible do ask!) and you are on a low calorie diet, then only eat half. Save half for later or share with a friend! Have a great week, watch those calories and, whenever possible, eat healthy! calories Health Maintenance weight loss calories, Health, Maintenance, weight losslow calorie restaurant food healthy calories

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Healthy Low Calorie Beverages: 100 Calories or Less

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What could be better than an ice cold drink in the hot summer months? Or how about a steaming cup of coffee or tea when the north winds bring us snow and ice? We live in a culture with an endless number of appealing beverage choices. Are you paying attention to the calories? They can quickly add up! Having a sense of what choices to make will help you manage your calorie intake. You may want to take a moment and read an article I posted earlier on how beverages are quite literally making people fat. (The Calories You Drink May Be Making You Fat!) Beverages may account for more hidden calories than anything we eat. Fortunately there is a place for healthy beverages in a low calorie diet. What is important to keep in mind is the need to choose low fat and unsweetened or at least minimally sweetened whenever possible. Coffee and tea offer many benefits in the way of antioxidants. But you’ll want to watch the sugar. Whether or not to use low calorie or calorie-free sweeteners is a personal choice. I prefer not to use any because I have doubts about their long-term safety but many health professionals would disagree with my position. I also don’t like the flavor some sweeteners impart. The ultimate decision is yours. Something else to keep in mind is whether or not caffeine is a good choice for you. (To learn more about the health benefits and drawbacks to caffeine read: “Caffeine: the good, the bad, and the maybe“. Low fat milk can be a good source of much needed calcium, protein, and other vitamins and minerals but it is not the only choice. Consider soy milk, nut-based milk (such as almond), rice or other grain-based milk. However, the nutrient content of non-dairy milks will not be as good as cow’s milk unless you pick brands that are fortified with calcium and other nutrients. Soy milk has about the same or slightly less protein than cow’s milk. Rice and other grain-based milks typically have little protein. If you would like to read more about the health benefits, nutrition, and availability of non-dairy milk, I recommend a detailed and informative article written by dietitian and vegan, Stephanie Gall. (Vegetarian Journal, Jan-March, 2008) Although fruit juice offers nutritional benefits, I recommend limiting the amount of fruit juice you drink. You’ll get more fiber and other nutrients by eating fresh fruit. (You still need to watch the calories. Read Low Calorie Fruits: 100 Calories or Less) In addition, fruit may give you more of a sense of fullness and satisfaction then fruit juice. This relates to the difference in the way our bodies have evolved to perceive the calories in food versus the calories in beverages Image via Wikipedia My list of beverage choices for 100 calories or less is by no means exhaustive or necessarily accurate for the beverages you purchase. Make it a habit to check the nutrition labels for the products you buy from the store. Ask for the nutrition information on menu choices when you visit a coffee shop. I believe most chain restaurants are required by law to have that information available for customers. However, you won’t find it to be on the menu boards unless you’re at a chain restaurant and happen to be in New York City (Calorie, Weight, and Restaurants, summer 2008). In general, when you are watching your calorie intake, you will want to avoid frapuccinos, mocha lattes, and steamers. Ask for the lists and take a look yourself. I think you will be just as shocked as I am each time I look at the actual calorie counts. Keeping track of beverage calories will go a long way with your efforts to lose weight or maintain weight loss. Beverages: 100 calories or less* WATER 0 calories Reduced-fat milk (2%) 1/2 cup 60 calories Low-fat milk (1%) 1/2 cup 50 Fat-free milk (skim) 1 cup 90 calories (80-90 calories) Rice milk (fat-free) 1 cup 80 Almond milk (regular, plain) 1 cup 70 Soy milk 1 cup 100 (Soy Dream soy milk) Buttermilk, cultured lowfat 1 cup 98 Cafe latte (with skim milk, unsweetened) 1 cup 80 Coffee, brewed and unsweetened 1 cup 5 Tea, brewed and unsweetened 1 cup 5 Rice milk iced latte 12 oz. 80 Rice milk latte 6 oz. 60 Soy milk chai latte 12 oz. 100 (Dunn Brothers Coffee) Soy milk iced latte 12 oz. 70 Iced Green Tea Latte (with soy milk) 12 oz 90 Grape Juice 1/2 cup 75 Orange Juice 1/2 cup 55 Pineapple Juice 1/2 cup 70 Tomato Juice 1 cup 50 Vegetable Juice (V8) 1 cup 50 *The calorie counts will vary for some of these beverages (each brand will differ slightly in calorie counts and nutrients based on ingredients and fortification levels) calories Health Maintenance weight loss calories, Health, Maintenance, weight losscalories beverages coffee tea milk juice low calorie weight loss maintenance healthy

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Calories, Weight, and Restaurants

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I happened to be visiting New York City in early July. A friend and I walked everywhere! By mid-afternoon, we were tired and hoped to find a local coffee shop but weren’t having much luck. So we settled on getting something from Starbucks. It may not have been our first choice but hey, it was hot, and we were thirsty as well as tired. We approached the counter to place an order. I was startled to see the calorie counts listed on the menu board for each item! Wow! I was impressed. Image via Wikipedia You see, I had forgotten that New York City had passed a regulation requiring chain restaurants to make available the calorie content of the food they offer right on the menu. I thought to myself “What a relief! I don’t have to guess the calorie count or opt for a sure winner with something like plain tea or coffee with no sweetener.” For anyone who is serious about keeping calorie counts under control this is a real blessing. However, will knowing the calorie count of foods make you change your habits? When you purchase food from the grocery store to cook or prepare at home, many of the products have mandatory FDA nutrition labels. But not everyone takes the time to actually read those labels and act on the information provided. Still it is there and we do have a choice. That hasn’t been true for restaurants until the recent change in New York City and even then, only for restaurants with more than 15 chains. Evidently there are similar calorie labeling laws scheduled to go into effect sometime later this year for a few other places such as Seattle, San Francisco, and Santa Clara. Quite a number of other cities, counties, and states are working to pass such legislation. Will knowing calorie counts make a difference? After the changes took effect in New York City, many people were shocked to learn the calorie counts of some of their favorite foods and drinks. Evidently some people have been motivated to make better choices whereas others have been annoyed or even angered. I believe we should be informed right up front. Then we can make a choice as to whether or not we want to take the information into account when making our selections. The reason I feel so strongly about this is because studies have shown that people can underestimate the calorie count of the food they eat by as much as 50%, especially when it is perceived as being healthy food. Unfortunately, the calorie labeling will not apply to all restaurants. And meals ordered at sit-down or family style restaurants often have more calories than typical takeout fast food. Why? Food is often served on very large plates making the portion sizes unreasonably big. As hard as it is, your best bet is to get a sense of which restaurants serve healthy foodand then know about how many calories are in a serving before you head out to eat. The only way to do this, in most cities at this time, is to check the calorie counts for those restaurants that have the information available online. Another issue to keep in mind even when calorie counts are provided is whether or not the counts are accurate. I was surprised to read that the Scripps Howard News Service tested the calorie and nutrient count of the food served in a number of chain restaurants and learned that the information consumers are provided can be significantly off. The restaurant chains may be doing their best to comply with a standard method of preparation to assure uniformity in calorie and nutrient count. However, no two meals will be prepared in exactly the same way or will have portions exactly the same size. Add to that, the tendency for consumers to customize the food they order and you have a real dilemma. The only solution that I can see is to gain a sense of how much is enough. This means knowing what is enough with respect to the amount (portion size) but also, and just as importantly, eating slowly and mindfully so that you are aware of when you have eaten enough. All too often portion size has little to do with the number of calories in a dish. Many prepared foods have “hidden” calories. But that’s a subject for a post on another day. Let me know what you think about having the calorie count listed on the menu boards at chain restaurants. Do you like the idea or not? Do you have thoughts about how it might be handled differently? calories Maintenance weight loss calories, Maintenance, weight losscalorie count calories restaurants weight weight loss maintenance labeling

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