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How many calories will you consume at Thanksgiving dinner?

We’re not here to burst your Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon, but if you’re concerned about calories on Turkey Day, you might want to take note. According to the Calorie Control Council, most Americans will consume around 4,500 calories next Thursday — and that’s during dinner alone! As if that’s not bad enough, most of us are in denial. According to a Basis Science survey, most Turkey Day diners expect to consume just 1,780 calories, and 75 percent of diners estimate their meal will clock in under 2,000 calories. While ignorance can be bliss, your pants will always know better. And you should, too. From appetizers to dessert, we took a look the calories in a traditional Thanksgiving holiday menu. Too scared to read on? No need. We won’t ask you give up gravy — or pie.  You can have an enjoyable holiday feast without depriving yourself. Just be mindful of what…

Nutrition labels are about to look different

The next time you pick up a bag of chips at the grocery store, flip it over and look for the new nutrition label. The Food and Drug Administration announced that nutrition labels would be receiving a makeover that reflects new scientific findings. The changes will ultimately help you make better-informed choices about foods you and your family eat. The new labels will only be required of manufacturers who sell more than $10 million in food a year. Companies in this category have until 2020 to adopt the new label. Some manufacturers have already incorporated the new label into their packaging, so it might already look familiar if you’re a frequent label checker. One of the most noticeable changes comes with the serving size and calories. Serving sizes have been adjusted to reflect how much people actually eat, rather than an arbitrary number some companies were perviously using to skew…

How to cut sugar and calories from your Pumpkin Spice Latte order

Fall is the season for swopping swim suits for sweaters and popsicles for PSLs. Yes, another Pumpkin Spice Latte season has arrived. But before you head to Starbucks to wrap your hands around a warm cup of PSL goodness, wrap your brain around the fact that each standard Grande Pumpkin Spice Latte has 380 calories and the sugar equivalent (50 grams) to 3.5 giant Starbucks sugar cookies! Yikes! At that rate, you’ll be packing on the holiday pounds before we even enter October. So what’s a PSL fanatic to do? Well, there are a good handful of ways to cut back. The best all-around way to cut calories and sugar is to stop them at their main source. That delicious pumpkin syrup  comes at a cost. Each pump delivers 7.5 grams of sugar and 30 calories to your drink, and each Grande PSL takes four pumps. The numbers add up…

Your workplace is adding 1,300 calories to your diet every week

The next time Karen from accounting brings in a box of baked goods for the big morning meeting, remember to stay strong. All of those extra office goodies are adding an extra 1,300 calories to your diet every week! A large CDC study of 5,222 people found that about a quarter of Americans eat food at work at least once a week. Free food made up most of the excess calories, while food and beverage vending machines in the cafeteria rounded out the count. In other words, employees are eating unnecessary empty calories — almost always of the processed variety — while they’re at work. The food tended to be high in solid fats and/ or added sugars. The most common foods were pizza, soda, cookies, brownings, cakes, and pies, NBC reported. And since most of this food is offered for free, it makes it difficult to avoid temptation. The CDC offered one solution.…

Calorie counts on most fast food menus are now required

You know that fast food is totally terrible for you, but if you had nutrition information in front of your face while you ordered, would you practice some restraint? The next time you head to a Taco Bell or even Coldstone Creamery you’ll be tested. Starting May 7, the Food and Drug Administration will require any food outlet with more than 20 locations to list the calorie counts for each menu item — every restaurant from Auntie Annes to Chick-fil-A, Orange Julius and Panera are affected. And the information won’t be posted exclusively online, or in some dark corner of the restaurant either. The calorie counts will be front and center on the menu, so you won’t be able to throw caution to the wind and order those Doritos Locos Tacos and hope for the best. You’ll know exactly the size of the caloric gut-bomb you’re eating. It’s an Obama-era policy that…

Here’s how much you can eat over the holidays to lose or maintain weight

You no surprise that you’re likely to pack on a few pounds over the holidays. The extra appetizers, cocktails with friends, side dishes, desserts and post-meal champagne can quickly add up to an average of 7,000 calories on a holiday — more than triple the daily recommendation. Shockingly, 29 percent of people estimated they would eat fewer than 3,000 calories over the course of Christmas Day. While it’s just one day — and who counts calories on Christmas anyway? — it’s worth taking a peek at MealKitt’s photo series on portion control. Julian Gaine, the CEO of the British company known for its portion control tool, released photos showing what Christmas Day plates should look like if you’re looking to lose, maintain or gain weight. While this might not be your exact meal, the images can serve as a guide which you use to gauge how full your plate should be. For those…

Office workers consume a shocking number of extra calories in snacks every year

Glazed donuts, pretzels, salted peanuts. What is it about a 9-5 desk job that makes you want to eat all the darn time? You barely finish breakfast before your stomach is rumbling for a mid-morning snack or lunch. And let’s not even talk about those late afternoon hunger pangs. Whether it’s boredom or temptation that has you giving in to the slice of cake, the calories consumed present a huge cause for concern. According to a recent survey by Dutch food brand Kallø, all of those extra calories add up to a shocking 100,000 extra calories every year for the average woman. Your eyes probably just popped a little bit, and you might have even put down that potato chip — and that’s a good thing. All those extra calories are, of course, seriously adding to your waistline. 100,000 calories is the equivalent to eating 193 double cheeseburgers or 502 bars of chocolate. If you go…

America’s most horribly unhealthy chain restaurant meals announced by watchdog group

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a national nutritional watchdog group, just released their annual list of the most shamefully caloric items on menus across American chain restaurants. Titled the Xtreme Eating Awards, the list aims to inform Americans of the amount of calories, cholesterol, fats, sodium and sugars they consume when eating out. Top honors went to The Cheesecake Factory — no stranger to lists of culinary shockers. It’s Pasta Napoletana took the “Worst Adapted Pasta” award for its 2,310 calories and 79 grams of saturated fat and shocking 4,370 milligrams of sodium — a full three days worth of the daily recommended salt intake. The dish was the brain child of Donald Moore, Chief Culinary Officer at TCF who asked in a Facebook Live video in March, “How can we turn a meat lover’s pizza into a pasta?” Moore and TCF might have been successful in their…

The sneaky calories you’re slipping into your diet

It’s time to rethink your drink. Unless you are a natural water lover, chances are you’re consuming unnecessary calories through ice teas, coffee, juices or sugary smoothies and sodas. According to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the average American consumes 400 calories a day from beverages — that’s about 37 percent of our total daily diet. Research suggests that drinking calories isn’t as satisfying to us a eating the same amount of calories in solid food form, so if you’re looking to maintain a healthy weight, you should start to pay attention to what you’re pouring down the hatch. Here’s how to make the switch to healthy drinks that still taste great, but won’t have you pushing your calorie limits. Know what you’re drinking: Read those nutrition labels. Beverages like energy drinks and iced teas can be deceiving because they advertise their health benefits while hiding…