I'll Just Have a Taste...

Well, the holiday season is officially upon us. Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I am sure that many of you will be having festive gatherings surrounded by family, friends, and FOOD! This time of year can be hard for many of us who are striving to loose weight or at least maintain it. I feel your pain! A very large amount of the calories taken in at these holiday parties are from appetizers or items that we only eat a little of. We always say, "I'll just have a taste." However, those little "tastes" can add up in calories very quickly.

I came up with a list of common appetizers that are normally set out during holiday parties to snack on. I then used Calorieking.com to research how many calories are in each of these items--the catch, the serving size is only 1-2 oz per item. This is to show how much "just a taste" can add up to be a very large amount of calories that are consumed before we've even touched the main meal!! This is going to be a huge eye opener and will hopefully help you to be more conscious of grazing before the main meal is served. **Note: 1 oz = 1/8 cup, 2 oz = 1/4 cup.

Peanut M & M's (28 pieces) - 144 cal

Mixed Nuts (1 oz.) -168 cal

Cheese (2 oz.) & Crackers (8) - 354 cal

Egg Nog (2 oz.) - 86 cal

Cheese Log (2 oz.) & Crackers (8) - 308 cal

Deviled Eggs (1/2 egg) - 64 cal

Queso Dip (2 oz.) & Crackers (8) - 208 cal

Spinach Dip (2 oz.) & Crackers (8) - 317 cal

Sugar Cookie (1 whole cookie) - 130 cal

Chocolate Kisses (3) - 67 cal

Peanut Butter Cup-snack size (1) - 90 cal

Mashed Potatoes (2 oz.) -64 cal

Cranberry Sauce (1 oz.) -43 cal

Pumpkin Pie (1 oz.) - 58 cal 

GRAND TOTAL: 2101 calories!! That's a day's worth of calories just in "tasting". This doesn't count your main meal or any other meals for the day! 

So, here's how to help cut these "tasting" calories down:

• Try to stay away from the appetizer table. While mingling among family and friends, try to go into other rooms where the food is not.

• Focus on eating the main meal only.

• If you really want something from the appetizer table, include it on your plate during the main meal. If you are able to see the amount that you are eating of that item on your plate, along with your other food in the meal, you are more likely to only eat that amount. If you are just standing at the appetizer table in conversation, dipping chips into the cheese dip, after X-amount of chips, you have no idea how much you just ate. You would probably be very surprised with how many of those chips you ended up eating!

• Indulge, but don't "over" indulge. Enjoy your favorite foods this time of year, but don't over do it.

• Try to prioritize what you would like to eat. If sugar cookies are your absolute favorite, then go ahead and have one, but if the cranberry sauce isn't really essential to your meal, then skip it.

Enjoy this time of year, it truly is wonderful! I hope this helps :)