You are in a restaurant and your eyes automatically skim the menu for grilled items -  assuming they are low in fat. But are they really low in fat? While a grilled item is a much better choice than an entree with a sauce, such as chicken marsala or shrimp scampi,  you can’t assume there is minimal added fat to your “plain” grilled or broiled entree.  Most chefs will brush the meat/poultry/fish with oil or butter prior to grilling or after cooking. The amount of fat added will depend upon the chef.  So the question remains - how much fat is added to grilled, baked, sautéed or broiled items?

Tips for estimating fat used in restaurant cooking:

-  ½ tsp of fat per ounce of cooked meat/poultry/fish for pan fried without breading, grilled/broiled with fat in marinade or brushed with fat, fat added to dress meats before serving, or roasted or baked meats/poultry fish.       *For example: a 7 ounce piece of broiled fish could contain up to an additional 3.5 tsp of added fat (157 calories and 17 gmfat in addition to the calories/fat in the fish )

-  1 tsp of fat per ounce of cooked meat/poultry/fish that is deep fried with breading or batter.    *For example: a 5 ounce portion of fried calamari (~ 1/2 an appetizer size portion) could contain an additional 5 tsp. of added fat (225 calories and 45 grams of fat in addition to the calories/fat  in the calamari).

-  1 tsp of fat per cup of vegetables that are steamed/boiled/microwaved with fat or fatty meat added to flavor, and vegetables sautéed with limited fat   * For example: an order of sautéed spinach (2 cups) could contain an additional 2 tsp of added fat ( 90 calories and 10 grams of fat) in addition to the calories/fat in the spinach (which isn’t much!)

-  2 tsp of fat per cup of vegetables sautéed with generous fat, steamed/boiled/microwaved with generous fat added   *For example: some restaurants served grilled or sautéed veggies that are quite oily. This would contribute an additional 4 tsp. fat (180 calories and 20 grams of fat) for a 2 cup portion.

-  1 Tbsp of fat per cup of vegetables that are deep fried with breading or batter. No shocker here! We know anything deep fried is loaded with calories and fat.

These guidelines are from the Nutrition Data System for Research. Of course, they are only guidelines. The actual amount of fat added to the food will depend upon the chef!

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You’re on the road, had no time for breakfast, but see a Dunkin Donuts sign looming ahead. Is it possible to find something healthy to eat there? If you had asked me this question years ago, I would have said NO! But while I wouldn’t give Dunkin Donuts an A+ for nutrition, it has added a few somewhat healthy menu items.

I have memories as a child of going to Dunkin Dunkin donuts every Sunday with my family and being allowed to choose 2 donuts. (I also worked at McDonald’s as teenager - no wonder I rebelled and became a nutritionist!). I remember the donuts being tasty, oozing with jelly or cream - but far from nutritious. I don’t think I’ve had a donut since the age of 16. So when I saw a Dunkin Donuts breakfast sandwich on one of my client’s food records, my first inclination was to tell her it was not a healthy choice. However I decided to do a little research first and found out I was wrong! Her choice was the egg white and veggie flatbread sandwich.  (See pic)

Nutritional content of some Dunkin Donuts menu items

In the chart below, I listed a few of the many item breakfast items found at Dunkin Donuts. Check out their link for the full menu with nutritional content. The majority of items are loaded with calories and fat.  My recommendations are based on the item being 350 calories or less and 7 grams of fat or less. While some of the donuts meet those criteria,  I just can’t bring myself to put them on the “recommended” list!

Navigating the breakfast choices at Dunkin Donuts

1. Avoid sandwiches made on bagels, croissants or biscuits as they will greatly increase the calories and/or fat content. Stick to the english muffins or flatbreads.

2. Avoid cream cheese - or at least use a very small amount. It will add 190 calories and 17 grams of fat (and 13 grams of saturated fat!) Yikes - this is more than most of us should consume in the entire day.

3. Skip the fancy coffee drinks and stick to plain coffee or tea.  Some of the coffee drinks have 300 calories or more.

4. If you really have the urge for a donut, try to stick to 2 munchkins or a French Cruller. I was actually suprised to see that most of the donuts were lower in calories than I thought (~ 300 calories per donut), however they tend to be loaded with fat - especially the artery clogging saturated fat. I usually recommend that you try to keep your saturated fat intake to 7%  or less of your total caloric intake (especially if you have high cholesterol). This comes out to be 9 - 15 grams of saturated fat a day - depending upon your caloric needs.

5. My first two choice for a breakfast at Dunkin Donuts would be the egg white and turkey sausage flatbread or  the egg white and veggie flatbread sandwich. They are fairly low in calories and fat. I was suprised to see that the turkey sausage sandwich was lower in calories and fat than the veggie sandwich! However, these sandwiches are also low in fiber (only 3 grams) and high in sodium (680 - 820 mg) - so don’t ditch your bowl of whole grain cereal with nonfat milk and fruit for this breakfast item!

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I literally had 5 minutes for dinner last night before going to a meeting. There are tons of restaurants and delis near my midtown nutrition office, however I didn’t even have an extra 5 minutes to have a sandwich made or eat a salad. So I turned to good old Subway. I haven’t eaten there in years. Intellectually, I know it has low cal healthy choices for sandwiches - after all, if it’s good enough for Jared who lost over 100 pounds, it must be good enough for me! However I kind of associate it with “fast food” and boring sandwiches. I am used to the fancier more interesting (and yes, fattening!) sandwiches served at other locations.  (Pic is of Jared)

But I decided to give it a try. I ordered the 6″ turkey sandwich with cheese (only adds 50 calories and 4 gm fat because the slices are so thin) with extra turkey (an extra 50 calories and 1gm fat), lettuce, tomatoes, veggies and mustard. It came to about $5.00. This is a lot cheaper than most of the sandwiches from other places such as Au Bon Pain, Pax, Metro Cafe, Hale and Hearty. I must say that it wasn’t bad! I was actually suprised at the low calorie content as it seemed like a fairly large sandwich with a lot of bread. I think the trick is that the bread is light and airy, which lessens the calorie content. Total calories: 380  Total fat: 9.5 grams

Overall, I would recommend certain Subway sandwiches for a low calorie, relatively tasty, inexpensive lunch or dinner. It beats the 700 calories or more fancy wraps and sandwiches  (that can cost $8.00) that are sold at other locations!

6-inch Jared Sandwiches with 6 grams of Fat or Less Values include wheat bread, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, pickles and olives. I would recommend adding in extra meat, as the portions they give you are on the small side. Mustard is the lowest calorie/fat condiment.

Ham
Oven Roasted Chicken Breast
Roast Beef
Subway Club®
Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki
Turkey Breast
Turkey Breast & Ham
Veggie Delite®
6-inch Sandwiches

Check out this link for the complete listing of sandwiches under 7 gm of fat and 400 calories or less (most of them are 300 calories or less!)

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It’s a warm day and you are looking for something “light” to eat. You are also trying to drop a few pounds so your attention automatically turns to the salad section of the menu. A Cobb salad sounds healthy, after all it contains grilled chicken and heart healthy avocado. 1200 calories later, you have finished your “light” lunch.

One of the biggest misconceptions I see in my private practice is that salads are low calorie. Sure, then can be … but they can also have more calories and fat than a bacon cheeseburger. Chef, Caesar and Cobb Salads are the biggest culprits. Today, I’m going to address Cobb Salads. The calories in a Cobb Salad will vary depending upon where you get it. Think about the ingredients in this salad: greens and other assorted vegetables, bacon, blue cheese, maybe grilled chicken and some kind of fatty dressing. The dressing alone can add up to over 600 calories!

Here is a sampling of Cobb Salads from a variety of places. As you can see, some are acceptable choices (especially if you order a light dressing), while others can make up over 75% of your calories for the day! Looks like McDonalds and Pax take the prize for the lowest calorie Cobb Salads!

1. Pax Turkey Cobb Salad  220 cal / 12 gm fat    Blue cheese dressing 160cal /17 gm fat  Fat free italian or lemon herb dressing ~ 20 cal /0 gm fat

2. Cosi Cobb  425 cal /28 gm fat   Reduced fat sherry Shallot dressing 94 cal /6 gm fat   Cosi Vinaigrette 357 cal/ 39 gm fat

3. Generic Cobb salad per cup 179 cal /15 gm fat (from fitday.com)  However, keep in mind that the average salad = 4 cups.   This would bring the total to 716 cal /60 gm fat 

4.  Cobb_salad  Jerry’s Famous Deli (Marina del Rey, California)  757 cal/ 50 gm fat

5. McDonald’s Grilled Chicken California Cobb Salad - 280 calories/14 fat grams  Newman’s Own® Light Balsamic Vinaigrette - 90 cal/8 gm fat

6. Southwestern Cobb Salad from Chilis  970 cal/60 gm fat

7. Typical restaurant Cobb Salad 1000 - 1,200+ cal /90 gm fat

8. Au Bon Pain  330 cal /19  gm fat  Blue cheese dressing 230 cal/ 24 gm fat   Fat free raspberry vinaigrette 70 cal/0 gm fat

Bottom line, think twice before ordering a Cobb Salad. If you are going to a chain restaurant, check out the calories on line first to see what you are dealing with. If you really must have this salad, at least order dressing on the side and try to order a low fat dressing. If they are generous with the blue cheese and bacon, eat only 1/2. At least this will do some “damage control”.

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You only have a few minutes for lunch and see the street vendor selling hot dogs, gyros and chicken kabobs in pita. You may be wondering if these are appropriate lunch choices.  In my quest to provide CGB readers with knowledge on healthy and not-so-healthy lunch choices, I decided to buy one of the chicken kabobs in pita and dissect it in the privacy of my home. I would weigh and measure it to determine the caloric content … and then eat it for lunch if it looked appealing and wasn’t too high in calories.

So I went to a street vendor across the street from the hospital where I work on York and 69th Street.  BTW - I was a little hesitant about eating food purchased from one of these vendors (given there has been some publicity in the past about cleanliness…) however there is always a long line at this particular vendor so I figured the food was probably ok.

I purchased a chicken kabob sandwich. It bascially consisted of a chicken kabob wrapped in a pita with some hot sauce. Nothing fancy. I noticed that the pita used for my sandwich was the last one in the plastic bag (that contained a food label!). So I asked the street vendor man if I could have it as I wanted to read the nutrition info.  He seemed to think this was a strange request but gave it to me.

My findings:
- pita (called “pre-oiled gyro bread) contained 250 calories and 3 grams of fat
- the chicken weighed 4 ounces and therefore contained ~ 180 calories and 4-5 grams fat 
- minimal fat was used in cooking
- the hot sauce contains negligible calories
- overall calorie content was 430 calories and fat content was 8 grams
- it was cheap (~ $3.00). This is a lot cheaper than the sandwiches in most delis and gourmet stores
- I actually ate it for lunch and it wasn’t bad. It would have been better with some veggies but overall it is an acceptable choice for a lunch on the run

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You’re in a rush - no time to stop to eat a salad or wait in line for a sandwich. But you pass the pizza shop and see the slices ready to go. You have probably wondered at times - how bad is pizza? It turns out, not so bad - as long as you don’t get the slices loaded with pepperoni or sausage. An average slice of NYC style pizza has approximately 500 calories. The thinner crust slices would have less (I haven’t figures these calories exactly yet!).

For a woman watching her weight, I usually suggest a 400 calorie lunch. Go ahead and have your slice … if you can keep it to one! It wouldn’t be a bad idea to add a salad to help fill yourself up. Avoid the slices with pepperoni or sausage as they will add another 200 calories or so. If available, choose a whole wheat slice or one with vegetables.

For guys, I usually recommend a 500-600 calorie lunch.  Your best bet would be to try to stick to one slice with a salad. If you NEED to have 2 slices, just make the other meal a bit lighter.

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Everywhere city girls are planning when they will see the  Sex in the City movie. And of course, a pre or post movie party is a must. I met friends last night at The Smith in NYC (across the street from the movie theater)  for a pre- movie party.  I haven’t have a cosmo in years, but managed to get in the spirit of the movie with a cosmo in hand, as did my friends. (Pic is of city girl pre-movie party)

Guess who was there???  ESTHER!  I observed her  and must say,  I was extremely impressed with her eating and drinking. I have seen her in action in the past and it is not always so good!

The potential problems at pre-movie party:
1. Lots of tempting fattening goodies on the menu (pic is of Alba, event planner, eating fried hushpuppies with mayo sauce - trying to tempt Esther)

2. Getting caught up talking with friends and losing track of cocktail intake… one city girl (who shall remain nameless) was observed consuming 4 cosmo’s in 40 minutes (Pic is of Martha and Esther)3. Multiple appetizers were ordered instead of entrees. This can add up to more calories as you tend to pick more and forget about the quantity of food you are eating (versus ordering grilled fish and veggies where you know exactly what is on your plate)

How Esther handled the potiential problem situation:
1. She ordered her own tuna tartare appetizer and stayed away from the other tempting appetizers  (Pic is of Esther eating tuna tartare)

2. She did not stand right at the bar near the appetizers. Instead, she stood away from the food.

3. She spent more time talking to her friends instead of eating.

 4. She paced herself with the alcohol and enjoyed a vodka and soda and small martini. She also drank plenty of water.  (Pic is of city girls at the party)

So city girls, use some of Esther’s damage control tips at your Sex in the City movie party!

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When I went to Starbucks today to get my afternoon jolt, I noticed the calories listed on the menu. I think this is great! I wonder if it will really affect what people order. I have been taking an informal poll with my clients today to see if it would affect what would order. They all said yes… (maybe because they were talking to their nutritionist!)  One client told me “her friend” didn’t order the banana loaf in Starbucks based on the calories it contained. Another client told me she changed what she was going to order in Chipoltes based on the calories.

The other chain restaurants have until June 3 to post their calories. Working midtown, I’ll be waiting to see the calories posted on Hale and Hearty, Pax, Metro Cafe, Au Bon Pain, etc.

If anyone spots calories posted in their favorite lunch spots, let us know!

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Question from Hilkka: I’ve always been a fan of the steamed whole fish with veggies and/or sauce. It is usually a very nice presentation and the wait staff will de-bone in front of you. What are the calories in something like this?

Answer from Martha: That would be a great choice. I would assume they would give you 6 - 8 oz of edible fish. Depending upon the type of fish, it would contain about 35-45 calories per ounce. Adding 2 cups of steamed veggies are about 100 calories. The total caloric intake would be 345-415 calories. Great choice!

Other healthy choices in a Chinese Restaurant
I usually recommend steamed chicken, scallops or shrimp with steamed veggies when eating Chinese food. I was cravign something different the other night,  so I called my local Chinese restaurant  - Evergreen on First and 69th (BTW - great restaurant. They also have a fantastic dim sum brunch! ) so see if they could make steamed moo shoo chicken.  I didn’t think that they would make this dish steamed, however they did. It was actually quite good. The whole dish came to 500 calories including 2 T. hoisen sauce (70 calories), one pancake (100 calories) and the entire order of steamed moo shoo (325 calories). Quite a difference from the real dish of moo sho with one pancake - 1100 calories!  

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I posted this article about 9 months ago. However I’ve had so many questions recently from my clients on calories in Chinese food that I wanted to repost it so everyone would see it. Many of my clients trying to lose weight eat this cuisine on a regular basis. I think most of us know it isn’t the healthiest food around, but I think a lot of people don’t realize how bad it can actually be for your waistline… 

 Chinese food tastes so good … but is so fattening! Most dishes are high in calories and fat due to the amount of oil used in cooking. In addition, many of the vegetables soak up the oil like a sponge (especially eggplant). Many of the dishes contain over 800 calories - and this is before you add the rice. And do not let the fact that a particular dish is vegetarian fool you. Some of these dishes are the highest in calories!

The Center for Science in the Public Interest decided to see how fattening Chinese food really was. They bought food from multiple Chinese restaurants and had it analyzed at a lab.

Here are the Calories in Chinese Food:
Egg drop soup (one serving in restaurant) 100 calories for each soup
Hot & sour soup
Wonton soup
Little pack of fried noodles 150 calories

These figures do not include rice. Add 200 calories for each cup of white rice

Tips for surviving Chinese food:

• Obviously steamed protein and vegetable dishes are your best bet for 325 calories. Add a few Tablespoons of sauce on the side. If you need rice, try to limit it to 1/2 cup of brown rice. All for 445 calories.

• Not a bad idea to start the meal with a soup - no crispy noodles of course. Soup helps to fill you up. One bowl is 100 calories

• Some restaurants also have special diet menus (called Revolution Diet Meals) where the dishes are prepared in a sauce with soy sauce, broth, ginger, black beans or garlic AND no added oil or cornstarch. These dishes would be substantially lower in calories than the regular dishes maybe by 200-300 calories due to the limited anount of oil used in cooking. However steamed food would still be the lowest.

• Try to eat with chopsticks. Hard to shovel in rice with chopsticks.

• Order your dishes lightly stir-fried. Avoid battered, breaded and double fried.

• How about ordering one chicken with brocoli stir-fry dish (700 calories) and one dish with steamed shrimp and veggies. (325 caloires). You can mix the two to cut calories. You should then be getting 3 meals from these orders of food for a total of 330 calories per meal. You can add 1/2 cup (100 calories ) - 1 cup of rice (200 calories) to each portion. So these meals will total 430 - 530 calories for entree and rice.

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