A Muffin Has More Calories Than a Donut, and Other Surprising Facts
One day I was ordering lunch at a fast-food restaurant and noticed a man depressingly shoveling a very large salad into his mouth, forkful after forkful. It was smothered with creamy dressing, laden with shredded cheese, covered with bacon bits and full of croutons. But he did not look happy at all. I passed by his table and commented, “You don’t look like you’re enjoying that salad very much” and he answered, “No, I hate salad; I’m just eating this because it’s good for me. What I really wish is that I could eat a burger”. So I informed him, “The next time you come here, order a burger and fries and you’ll still be eating 300 fewer calories than you have in that mound of bacon, dressing and cheese!” Boy was he happy to hear that.
Have you ever chosen a bran muffin over a donut because you thought it was better for you? And did you ever find out that the bran muffin at the local donut chain has 480 calories and the glazed donut you really want has less than half that? Ooops! I guess you just found out.
How many choices have you been making based on the idea you think one item is more healthy/lower in calories, lower in fat than something you would rather eat? Check out some of these surprising findings obtained from looking up calorie content on the restaurants’ own websites:
A McDonald’s hamburger has just 250 calories: far less than half of the 630 calories in a crispy chicken sandwich; an ice cream cone at this restaurant has 150 calories–their large iced coffee has 280 calories.
Two taco-bell tacos provide about 400 calories; if you order a salad in a crispy shell ‘bowl’ you get 400 calories in just the bowl!
At Hardee’s a charbroiled barbeque chicken sandwich has 290 calories; the ‘healthy’ broccoli and cheese potato weighs in at 530 calories.
At Arby’s, their Regular roast beef sandwich can be enjoyed for just 350 calories: the Market Fresh Roast Beef and Swiss someone has been ordering because it sounds like it must be healthier: 810 calories!
Have you been opting for ‘real fruit juice’ as a beverage because it’s far better than drinking soda? Many juices are sweetened with sugar, fruit juice concentrate, or even high fructose corn syrup; most have at least 80 calories in an 8 ounce glass–the same as soda.
Snacking on energy bars to give you a boost between meals instead of a junky candy bar? Read the label! Many of these bars have well over 200 calories, the same amount of chocolate, fat and sugar as a candy bar does, and come with an expensive price tag.
You can avoid all of these calorie overages simply by reading the labels, or looking up the nutritional value online before you patronize your favorite fast food restaurants. There are comprehensive sites galore to inform you of the calorie content of all the options you have. Stop guessing what must be good for you because of the name or the ads or what someone told you. Get the facts, and save yourself from eating what you don’t like, as well as saving a few hundred calories!
Written by Laurie Beebe
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About The Author: Laurie Beebe has been a registered dietitian for 25 years and is certified in adult weight management. Laurie currently serves as a Related posts:
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