Away from home - be afraid!

The secret to weight loss, or even weight maintenance, is calories in vs calories out. When we eat foods that we made, or that have a nutrition label on it, we are pretty sure how many calories, fat, protein and carbs are in it. If you are not sure of the nutrition information of any food, please log onto your Vitabot account or use a calorie counting book.

But..when you eat meals away from home, whether at a restaurant or a Dunkin' Donuts, we are never sure of how many calories there are and we guesstimate. Luckily for us, many restaurants now have web sites with nutrition information on it. But we must look BEFORE we eat! So, let's use D&D for an example. Now, I have nothing against this New England Chain, I love coffee since I'm Italian and married to a police officer, but a for a little somthin', somthin' with coffee you can do a lot of damage:

Bagel with Cream Cheese: 470 cal, 17.5 grams fat, 66 grams carbs
Chocolate chip muffin: 590 cal, 22 grams fat, 92 grams carbs
Chocolate chip cookie (it's small!): 360 cal, 15 grams fat, 53 carbs
Reduced Fat Blueberry Muffin (no bargain here): 430 cal, 22 g fat, 92 carbs
And though not a health food,
Glazed donut: 220 cal, 9 grams fat, 31 carbs. That's actually the lowest in calories. So, if you wanted to have one these choices at a treat meal, and you really wanted the donut, you may choose the reduced fat Blueberry muffin based on misinformation.

Another shockers: Uno Chicago Classic INDIVIDUAL Deep Dish pizza: 2,310 cal, 162 g fat and 4,200 grams of sodium - should be for a family of 4.

Don't even go to Macaroni Grill! I got some of this information from the book Eat This, Not That. For more information go to http://eatthis.menshealth.com/home

To find great food ideas, and to get emails about more food shockers and healthy food substitutions, log onto www.hungry-girl.com It's one of my favorites!

Here's a quick food idea. We all love the Greek yogurt because it's so rich and full of protein. The plain ones are the least in sugar, but you many want a little flavor. I use a little Jell-O sugar free fat free pudding mix, dry to add flavor. Now you can have chocolate, butterscotch or even pistachio. Or...you can add onion soup mix for a great dip for cut up veggies.