Little Calories Count, Too

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Little Calories Count, Too

When it comes to wanting to lose weight and get into shape, most people overhaul their diet. They’ll switch from high fat foods to low fat foods and cut out some of the bad habits they have such as eating in front of the television.

But changes like that aren’t enough if you’re not paying attention to the little calories. These are calories that you’re either not aware of that are hidden in food or they’re additives that jack up the calorie count in an otherwise low calorie meal.

The little calories can add up and once you recognize what they are and are on the lookout for them, you’ll be able to lose weight faster. Some little calories are more obvious than others.

These are the ones that you add to meals. Your coffee, whether you make it at home or you buy it out at your favorite coffee shop, isn’t loaded with calories. A cup of black coffee with nothing extra has two calories as long as that cup size is an 8 ounce size.

Two calories for a beverage isn’t bad. But when you add in milk, you add in calories. Some people add sugar which has 16 calories per teaspoon. Most people add a couple of teaspoons.

If you add syrup to your coffee, that’s more calories, too. Just getting one shot of syrup from somewhere like Starbucks can add 30 or more calories to your coffee. If you also add whipped cream, depending on the kind you add, you can end up with 50 or more extra calories.

Since most people have more than one cup a day, you can see how these calories can quickly add up. That 2 calorie cup of coffee can quickly become one that’s over 100 calories per cup.

You want to be careful that you’re not drinking your calories in things like coffee or tea or any drink where you add extras to it. Condiments are loaded with little calories. You can make what starts out as a healthy salad and quickly make it over half your day’s calorie intake just by the extras that you add.

Salad dressing is loaded with calories, but it’s not the only thing that can make that salad too calorie heavy. Adding cheese adds calories and so does putting on croutons or nuts.

Sunflower seed toppings and bacon bits can also add to that calorie count. Sauces for meats and gravies can be loaded with calories. Things like barbecue sauce, ketchup and other condiments can turn a low calorie meal into one that blows your calorie limit.

Little calories can be hidden in foods that say they’re low fat. Many people think low fat means no hidden calories but that’s not true. Dried fruit is an example of that. At first glance it appears that dried fruit would be a low calorie snack but these can be laden with carbohydrates as well as calories.