Tag Archives: calories

Massive New Study Finds Workplaces Can Help Employees Make Better Food Choices

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As many of us go back to work in person it may become harder to avoid those sugary, fatty foods that are easier to escue at home.

Office lunchrooms have snack tables filled with treats from friendly coworkers, not to mention the vending machines filled with highly processed junk foods.  Even workplaces with cafes often offer things like burgers and pizza among healthier options.

What happens when an employer offers less unhealthy options and smaller portion sizes? A new study looked at just that scenario.

The new randomized trial found that when employers do this their workers pick foods and beverages with fewer calories.

The study suggests that making fairly simple changes to menus in workplaces and other cafeterias could make a significant impact on the world’s obesity problem.

In a massive study, the University of Cambridge collected data from 19 workplace cafes that changed the both the type and amounts of foods they sold to 20,000 manual laborers over a six-month time period.

Changes included replacing things like cheeseburgers with something like a grilled chicken sandwich. When higher calorie items were left on menus, cafes reduced the portion size by 14%. For example, they might serve fewer fries in a high calorie meal.

These changes equated to about 12% less calories sold to employees and employees saving about 50 calories a day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Iceberg Lettuce

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So what’s the beef with eating iceberg lettuce? Iceberg lettuce is very low in calories and high in Vitamin K. A few decades ago, it was just about the only lettuce people were eating. 3.2 ounces is about 12.5 calories. At this rate you can eat the whole head!

Many of us grew up with this being the lettuce to put on tacos. It’s just not the same with spinach leaves or other lettuces. If you ask for a burger without a bun in a lettuce wrap it would probably be iceberg lettuce. There’s also a wedge salad but you need to be aware of the extra calories the toppings are. They can range from 200-800 calories or even more depending on what you add to them.

Iceberg got it name from the way it was transported – on ice. It traveled very well this way.

Yes there is more nutrition in other lettuces but why not mix it up with this iceberg lettuce for a little changeup to your salads. With it’s mild flavor it can adapt to many dressings without overpowering other ingredients.

Big Fat Shake

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A few weeks ago we talked about the Big Fat Fatty. Sal’s has another food challenge called the Big Fat Shake. You can only get these items as part of a challenge and you must finish in the allotted time.

So the Big Fat Shake has 30 scoops of vanilla AND 30 scoops of chocolate ice creams, cake, candy, cookies, pretzels, syrup, and whipped cream. It would have been nice to find a picture or video with this concoction but there were none. Milk wasn’t even mentioned.

So let’s try and break this down. 60 scoops of ice cream at about 179 calories per scoop is about 10,740 calories. Let’s add another 10,000 for the rest (without knowing the amounts) is hopefully not too conservative a count. It has to be a “glutton” for punishment that would eat this!

Is Eating Breakfast Really Necessary?

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Whether it’s oatmeal, cereal, or eggs and toast, many people enjoy breakfast. For some it gets you going and fuels your morning. But is it really necessary?

The BMJ did an analysis on just that. They examined the effect of breakfast consumption on weight change and energy intake. In their conclusion, they caution the addition of breakfast for weight loss. They looked at trials that had already occurred in the U.S., U.K., and one from Japan, and found seven studies that had data about breakfast consumption from various previous years.

They found that those who did eat breakfast had higher energy intake (assuming calories) per day. Daily calorie intake was higher in those who did eat breakfast than those who skipped breakfast. The assumption that early calorie intake in the day helps metabolizing calories throughout the day was debunked.

So whether you eat breakfast or not, we suggest you eat when you are hungry, not because of whatever the clock says.

Source: The BMJ

Cheat Days

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So there was a new study done in Australia that concludes that having cheat days can help in weight loss. Now this is not a license to binge or overeat but quite contrary.

What they really are conveying is that it is better to stick to your strict diet for maybe two weeks and then for the next two weeks eat the things you want but keep within the calorie frame for maintaining your weight. For instance, if it’s determined that your maintenance calories are 2,000 per day you can go ahead and sustain that for two weeks and then go back to your 1,200 calorie per day dieting for two weeks.

After a while of dieting your body goes into “starvation” mode (the study called it ER or Energy Restriction) and by doing this, you may trick it into not doing that.