In Search of Hidden Calories – Are you Doing it Right?

Is it the morning muffin or the afternoon snack that is sabotaging your healthy diet? Are you aware

that you might be actually consuming more than 700 calories in your cup of coffee? This is only the

beginning. What you do not know might be impairing your efforts in controlling your weight loss

goals while at the same time causing your body more harm than you might be aware. Hidden

calories found in most of today's popular food products are believed to be the worst offenders in

one’s endeavour towards a healthy body.

You might be aware about the number of calories in a huge burger and you might be consciously

staying away from it, but you might not know the number of calories in your cup of coffee or calorie

laden muffin. By understanding how these hidden calories can harm your body, you can adopt some

simple rules while ordering meals thus helping to banish some of the biggest hidden calories found

in your diet.

Having an innocent looking muffin or a bagel at breakfast may not appear to be such a big deal, but

diet experts and food scientists reveal that the size of breakfast items has quadrupled in recent years

across the fast food industry. When they were first introduced, muffins were the size of tennis balls

but now resemble soccer balls! And all this boils down to the amount of calories that are found in

these foods which have also risen exponentially with the rise in sizes.

A number of people believe that a muffin is just a muffin or a bagel is just a bagel, but it is important

to note the size of that particular muffin or bagel you are consuming. You might begin with

consuming just half of that huge bagel or muffin and you will notice the difference eventually.

Another common mistake that most people assume is the kind of lunch items that they order with

their meal. Almost every fast food chain now offers a wide variety of salad items to go with a lunch

meal. But just because it is known as a salad does not mean it is low in calories. Your bowl of salad

may contain healthy quantities of lettuce which is definitely low in calories but the rest of the

ingredients that make up for the taste such as dense calorie dressings, crispy deep-fried noodles,

deep fried croutons, bacon bits etc. are actually piling up the calorie count and the fat, thus negating

the entire point of having a 'healthy' salad.

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Instead of choosing a ready-made salad at the fast food counter or salad bar, opt for these tips in

ensuring that your salad stays healthy and tasty. These include:

Customising your salad. Even if your ready-made salad comes with a host of toppings and

options, it does not mean that you have to take them all. Pick and choose the ones that you

like while keeping a mental note of the number of toppings you are ordering. Cutting down

on even a few of these toppings can help in controlling the number of calories you are

consuming.

Lookout for interesting salads toppings. Try out something new or different such as hearts of

palm as a new vegetable topping or get that extra kick of protein without the added fat such

as grilled fish or tuna, hummus or boiled chick peas, boiled kidney beans or even a soft-

boiled egg.

Try to avoid cheese as much as possible. Strew the salad with a low quantity of grated

cheese instead of going for large cheese chunks or cubes. Look at cheese only as an added

flavour or volume.

Article Source: http://nichedatafactory.com/2013/11/in-search-of-hidden-calories-are-you-doing-it-right/