Are You Eating More Than You Realize?

by GameChanger Strength & Nutrition Coach Rob Riccobono

If you are eating what you perceive to be a healthy diet, and have a consistent exercise regime, but you still can’t lose fat, something needs to change.

Barring a medical condition, it’s very likely you are eating more than you realize. It’s incredibly common for dieters to underestimate the calories they eat, or even forget about food they’ve eaten throughout the day.

Here are a few pitfalls that foster this unintentional calorie-intake.

1. Frequent Small Taste and Bites: Do you ever take a few bites from your children’s dishes before cleaning them off? How about sampling your food while cooking? Are there frequently treats around the office that you’ll have a few tastes of? We often file these feedings away in our minds as food that doesn’t count, almost like they never happened. But unfortunately, all calories count. There is nothing wrong with having a few chocolates from your desk at work or finishing your child’s pasta from his untouched dinner – just be aware that this food counts just as much as any other you eat, and factor it into your total food intake for the day.
2. Coffee from Popular Chains: We’ve written about this before, and it’s worth mentioning again. Flavored coffee from popular chains like Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts is often filled with as many calories as two cans of soda! Here’s a quick look at some calorie info for popular coffee drinks:
   • Starbucks Coffee- Calorie Content per 12 oz (Tall) from Starbucks.com
     Iced Espresso Classics Cafe Mocha- 140
     Double Shot Energy Coffee Drink- 210
     Caffe Latte Espresso- 190
     Caffe Mocha Espresso- 290
     Caramel Flan Latte Espresso- 250
     Caramel Macchiato Espresso- 240
     Cinnamon Dolce Latte Espresso- 260
     Flavored Latte Espresso- 250
     Cinnamon Dolce Frappuccino- 260
     Double Chocolaty Chip Creme Frappuccino- 200
     Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee- Calorie Content per 14 oz (Medium) from dunkindonuts.com
     Caramel Latte w/ milk- 350
     Caramel Mocha Latte w/ milk- 330
     Most Flavored Lattes w/ skim milk- 270.
     If you’re ordering coffee out and trying to trim your waistline, stay away from the flavored coffee options unless it’s stated they’re calorie free. Add the sugar/sweetener and milk in yourself.
3. Low-Fat/Fat Free Products: These options are not inherently unhealthy. In fact, they are often an acceptable alternative to treats such as full-fat ice-cream and other typical desserts. Unfortunately, companies often mislead consumers and market these products as more “diet-friendly” than they actually are. Many low-fat and fat-free products have only 10-20 fewer calories than their original full-fat counterparts! What you get is a product that hinders your fat loss as much the original, but is less satisfying because of the low-fat content, leading you to eat more of the product than you usually would. You also eat more of it because you think it’s a healthy option. For ANY packaged, processed treat you eat, whether it’s low fat or not, pay note to the calorie information for the servings you eat and factor it into your total nutrition for the day.

These are just a few of the many ways we might be consuming more food than we know of. What makes this more problematic is most people who fall victim to this will swear they know exactly what they put into their bodies.

So if you really do think you are eating healthy enough to lose fat, but it just isn’t happening for you, take an honest assessment of your habits and EVERYTHING you eat during the day. Find out if you are eating more than you realize. You have nothing to lose, except for maybe a few pounds.