 Those holiday-treat calories can add up quickly, so don't go crazy
We’re surrounded: fudge, cookies, cakes and breads. It’s hard, really hard, to resist. I indulge every year too! I'm even guilty of contributing – I've sent a loaf of fresh-baked pumpkin bread and other treats to work with my husband this week. However, I do everything I can to make the wisest choices and to spend my calorie budget only on treats that I deem worthy.
The problem is that most of that yummy stuff contains a lot more fat and calories than you’d expect – and that is what gets you into trouble (and unable to get into your jeans). For example, take those sugar cookies that are around every holiday. I really love them and now and then I indulge myself. I had estimated them at 100 calories each. The other day I did some research and discovered that they actually contain 180 calories - almost twice my estimate! Whoops!
So, this Christmas I decided to make a record of the nutritional data on the treats I make. I'll keep it and add to it as the years go by. Remember that pumpkin bread I mentioned? One eighth of an 8-inch x 4-inch loaf will cost about 300 calories. Again, that would be about twice what I would have estimated. I don’t eat this stuff very often, so I'm not as familiar with the nutritional data on it. Also, most of it’s homemade so there are no nutritional labels. So, the actual figures can be a real shock.
A two-inch square of marshmallow fudge has 150 calories. Any one of these things can be fit into a day without making a huge impact. But what if you had one cookie, one slice of pumpkin bread and one piece of fudge in a single day? Well, you’d add 630 calories to your day. It only takes five days like that to add on a pound – and that’s only with three properly portioned treats per day. It's not hard to eat that much or more at this time of year - I used to do it myself.
As you maneuver your way through the rest of the holidays keep this in mind: limit yourself to one carefully chosen treat per day. If it's not really good and you don't really want it, don’t spend the calories on it. Also, if you want to try to estimate the calories without a label to refer to, make your best guess - then double it. Finally, try to cut back a little somewhere else to make up for that extra expenditure or get some extra exercise in. Trust me, around mid-January you'll be glad you did.
Until next time, stay healthy and be happy.
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