Posted on: Wednesday, April 20, 2005
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SHAPE UP
Be careful when you buy snacks
By Charles Stuart Platkin
Many of us will hit the road this spring and summer, and that means fueling up — our cars and ourselves. According to the National Association of Convenience Stores, there are more than 138,000 such stores in the United States with more than $394 billion in sales.
In fact, convenience stores are becoming quick-service restaurants in our time-starved culture — a phenomenon that can be costly if you're counting calories.
Take a look and see if you can make the "right choices" to stay fit.
Of course the pint of ice cream has more calories, but the difference is smaller than you might think. 7-Eleven sells more than 13 million Slurpees each month. A Coca-Cola Classic Slurpee has 330 calories and about 88 grams carbs for about 22 ounces. The 40-ounce Slurpee is nearly double at 600 calories and 160 grams carbs. By comparison, a pint of Haagen-Dazs chocolate ice cream has 1,080 calories. But a Haagen-Dazs Vanilla & Almonds Bar has only 320 calories, 12 grams fat and 22 grams carbs.
Fit tip: Try a 12-ounce Crystal Light Raspberry (or Lemon-Lime) Ice Slurpee, which has just 50 calories. The 22-ounce size still has only 90. Or why not try the Diet Pepsi Slurpee — it's virtually calorie-free!
They're all pretty much the same calorie-wise because the chips usually come in 1.5- or 2-ounce bags.
Fit tip: We tend to eat the entire bag of whatever we buy, so choose the smallest one — don't pretend you're going to share or save some for later. Also, what about a piece of fruit?
We checked David's Sunflower Seeds and Planter's Trail Mix, but all should be similar. The sunflower seeds are the obvious winner, but if you peek at the calories, you'll see that both are pretty high. A 5.75-ounce bag of sunflower seeds in their shells contains 475 calories, 37.5 grams fat, 12.5 grams carbs, 17.5 grams protein; a 6-ounce bag of trail mix has 800 calories, 60 grams fat, 55 grams carbs, 25 grams protein.
Fit tip: Go for the smaller bags of sunflower seeds if the store has them. Nuts and even trail mix can be good sources of nutrients — as long as you don't eat the entire bag. They can be addictive!
The banana muffin may sound safe, but it's really quite calorically "expensive" at 605 calories (not to mention 30 grams fat and 72 grams carbs). The breakfast combo on the English muffin is a much better deal at 450 calories, 24 grams fat and 37 grams carbs.
Fit tip: Most convenience stores have small packages of cereal and skim milk, so if you choose a low-cal cereal (about 90 to 150 calories per box), you'll be OK. If you're getting an egg sandwich or burrito, choose either sausage, ham or cheese.
The 1/4-pound Big Bite hot dog has 365 calories, 34 grams fat, 2 grams carbs and 1,138 milligrams sodium, plus 120 calories for the bun. So you're looking at 485 calories before you even add any condiments. It's close, but the Beef Steak Burrito (7 ounces) is the better bargain at 390 calories, 8 grams fat, 61 grams carbs and 930 milligrams sodium.
Fit tip: Stick to the 5-to-7-ounce burritos (300 to 500 calories) and avoid the 10-ounce (600 to 700 calories). Or you can go for the 1/4-pound Big Bite hot dog which has 280 calories (including the bun).
The Nutri-Grain bar is lowest in calories, but it's also about a third the size of the others. If the Nutri-Grain bar satisfies you and you don't mind the sugar, trans fat and the processing, it would be your best bet.
Fit tip: Stay focused, and avoid those impulse buys.
The iced tea has 175 calories and 45 grams carbs for a 20-ounce bottle, while 16 ounces of Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice Original has 220 calories and 52 grams carbs, as well as 900 milligrams potassium and all that vitamin C. In terms of calories, however, Gatorade wins. Gatorade Lemon-Lime Sports Drink has 50 calories, 14 grams carbs per 8 ounces, or 200 calories and 56 grams carbs in a 32-ounce bottle.
Fit tip: Choose no-calorie flavored coffee, like 7-Eleven's chocolate cherry coffee, and use skim milk. Charles Stuart Platkin is a nutrition and public health advocate. Write to info@thedietdetective.com.
7-ELEVEN SLURPEE
vs.
1 PINT OF HAAGEN-DAZS CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
POTATO CHIPS
vs.
TERRA CHIPS
vs.
DORITOS
vs.
PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH CRACKERS
SUNFLOWER SEEDS
vs.
TRAIL MIX — NUTS, SEEDS & RAISINS
SAUSAGE, EGG AND CHEESE ON ENGLISH MUFFIN
vs.
BANANA WALNUT MUFFIN
7-ELEVEN 1/4-POUND BIG BITE
vs.
DON MIGUEL BEEF STEAK BURRITO
NUTRI-GRAIN BAR
vs.
POWER BAR
vs.
CLIF BAR
vs.
SNICKERS
ARIZONA ICED TEA WITH GINSENG
vs.
GATORADE
vs.
OJ
