Because of my love for food and desire to educate others - I'm starting a short series I'm calling "Read the Label" on everything you wanted to know about nutrition labels (and probably some things you didn't want to know).
Marie Callendar's Cheesy chicken and bacon pot pie. Homestyle deliciousness. In fact, I'm sure I was served my fair share of pot pies as a kid. Loaded with veggies and tender white meat chicken… right? Hardly. We all know it's probably not the best thing for you to eat, but let's take a peek at the label…
Marie Callendar's Cheesy chicken and bacon pot pie. Homestyle deliciousness. In fact, I'm sure I was served my fair share of pot pies as a kid. Loaded with veggies and tender white meat chicken… right? Hardly. We all know it's probably not the best thing for you to eat, but let's take a peek at the label…
520 calories - reasonable for dinner? meh.
48% of my daily fat? Ouch.
31% of my daily sodium? Yikes.
But here’s the kicker… that’s for 1 serving. This pie indicates it serves two. So... 1040 calories, 96% of your daily fat, and 62% of your daily sodium. [[shudder]]
Now, I know that you and your hubby are not going to come home from work and share this adorable tasty chicken pot pie. No one splits the pie in half and supplements their meal with a side salad and steamed veggies... let's be real. Always double check the serving size – especially on stuff that seems like it would be for one person (heat and eat soup containers, frozen packaged meals, popcorn/chip bags, candy etc.)
48% of my daily fat? Ouch.
31% of my daily sodium? Yikes.
But here’s the kicker… that’s for 1 serving. This pie indicates it serves two. So... 1040 calories, 96% of your daily fat, and 62% of your daily sodium. [[shudder]]
Now, I know that you and your hubby are not going to come home from work and share this adorable tasty chicken pot pie. No one splits the pie in half and supplements their meal with a side salad and steamed veggies... let's be real. Always double check the serving size – especially on stuff that seems like it would be for one person (heat and eat soup containers, frozen packaged meals, popcorn/chip bags, candy etc.)
2 other places you might be getting your portions “wrong”: Cereal and Ice Cream. Take Honey Nut Cheerios for example. 110 calories in one serving. Not bad - seems like a low cal breakfast. But one serving is 3/4 cup without milk. Who measures out 3/4 cup of cereal? Not me.
Take a gander at the image below. That scant bowl of cereal on the right? Yea... that's 3/4 cup. If you can stop at that - congratulations - but a girl's gotta eat. My bowl looks more like the one on the left, doesn't yours? That's 2 servings.
Actually - I usually have that, plus a handful of granola (150 calories), plus a banana (110 calories), plus soy milk (100 calories). We're nearing at least 580 calories for a bowl of cereal. Not so "low cal" anymore... I'm not cutting calories - but my point remains... read the label!
Take a gander at the image below. That scant bowl of cereal on the right? Yea... that's 3/4 cup. If you can stop at that - congratulations - but a girl's gotta eat. My bowl looks more like the one on the left, doesn't yours? That's 2 servings.
Actually - I usually have that, plus a handful of granola (150 calories), plus a banana (110 calories), plus soy milk (100 calories). We're nearing at least 580 calories for a bowl of cereal. Not so "low cal" anymore... I'm not cutting calories - but my point remains... read the label!
Take frozen yogurt as another example. 1 serving is usually 1/2 cup. I highly doubt you're only serving yourself 1/2 cup of frozen yogurt - but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. This is exactly 1/2 cup of frozen yogurt in 2 different bowls. My trick for keeping portions under control is to put your food in a smaller bowl and eat with a smaller spoon. You’ll feel like you’re eating more. My sister taught me the smaller spoon trick. She started eating with my niece's baby spoons and the ice cream definitely lasts longer when you can only eat a teaspoon at a time :) plus... it's kind of fun eating off a little spoon.
The one on the right looks bigger, right? Kind of? Smaller bowl, smaller spoon - throw in some sliced almonds + natural peanut butter and your frozen yogurt won't look so lonely.
Lesson Learned: Portions are not always what they might appear, so read the label!
Lesson Learned: Portions are not always what they might appear, so read the label!