Who doesn’t love Halloween? With free candy and a bonafide reason to dress up in a wacky get-up, it’s tough not to have a secret soft-spot for this sugary-sweet holiday.
While we all make Halloween resolutions such as “I’ll only allow myself two pieces of candy,” or “I’m donating all leftover candy to the local soup kitchen,” you can safely indulge in your favorite Halloween treats without harboring guilt or using a padlock to protect yourself from raiding your child’s Halloween bag. Need proof? Here’s a look at the nutritional stats of some of your favorite spooky-time eats so that you can savor the fun of this holiday and still look great in your skinny jeans. Plan these nibbles into your daily calorie budget.
- Four plain Hershey’s Kisses: 104 calories
- One fun-sized pack of plain M&M’s: 88 calories
- One fun-sized pack of peanut M&M’s: 93 calories
Weight loss is often shrouded in mystery. Thousands of diets with variations on what it takes to lose weight proves this. While it’s not necessarily quite as simple as calories in, calories out, that is a very important starting point to getting yourself to your weight loss goals.
So much of weight loss comes down to simple math. We already know that Americans consume too many calories every day. I came across data for the period of 2000-2002 that states Americans at that time consumed 3,790 calories a day (UN Food and Agriculture Organization). When you consider the fact that the average man only needs about 2,000 calories to sustain his weight, slightly less for women, it doesn’t take a mathematician to see the dilemma.
There are approximately 3,500 calories in a pound of stored body fat. So, if you create a 3,500-calorie deficit through diet, exercise, or a combination of both, you will lose one pound of body weight.
In 2008, New York City was the first in the country to mandate that fast food restaurants post calorie counts on their menus. While I thought it was a good idea, if for no other reason than people should have a right to full disclosure of what is going into their bodies, I was a bit unsure that people would change. I figured people want what they want, even if they see their favorite sandwich packs 800 calories.
Full nutritional disclosure on menus leads to better choices.
But, I happily stand corrected.
The New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has released findings of a recent analysis on the impact of the city’s new menu label requirements. The results show that people became more selective with foods, choosing items with fewer calories. People chose lower calorie meals at 9 of 13 fast food restaurant and coffee chains that were included in the study.
Fall is a special time. Lots of great things occur. My kids go back to school. Football season starts again. I can finally stop wearing shorts and can (hopefully!) get back into my favorite jeans. But, even more important to an entire legion of my friends is the return of the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. I have friends who wait all year long to be able to order this drink. It’s immensely popular and stores have a tough time keeping the syrup on the shelves. Have you ever wondered if this drink was worth it? Let’s take a look.
How come someone hasn’t thought of this diet tool before? TwoFoods is a free website application that allows you to compare two foods at once to determine which one better fits into your eating plan.
For instance, you can compare a McDonald’s grilled chicken salad to Panera’s grilled chicken Caesar salad, to find that the McDonald’s version is a better choice; or you can compare generic potato chips against Baked Lays and receive a complete nutritional analysis of calories, fat, carbs and protein grams.
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