Winter's coming, time to get the soup out!

If there is one thing that can warm you up on a cold winters day, it is undoubtedly a nice warm mug of soup. There are so many popular varieties of soup out there, but which is your favorite? Recognising the fact that winter is well and truly upon us, I have recently created a new section on the calories found in popular soups, such as mushroom, tomato, minestrone and chicken, to name but a few. This is something that will be growing over the next month, so keep up to date by checking back with us.

Despite being high in sodium, most soups have some impressive nutritional values, and are well worth including in your diet, for reasons other than to warm you up! You can contribute to various nutritional levels in your body quite handsomely through a simple cup of soup, and whats more it is one of the easiest and cheapest foods to purchase and prepare!

If there is any particular soup that you would like to know the nutritional value, or calorific content of, why not tweet me or leave a comment here, and I will add it to the site.

You can see our calories in soup menu here.

Do you eat peach skin?

Peaches are an amazing juicy and delicious examples of a fruit, but do you eat peach skin? I have always assumed that this goes without saying, and everybody eats the skin to peaches.

However, just the other day I found myself curiously watching somebody peel a peach before they started to eat it. This was no place for me to intervene, but I just couldn't help myself. I sat myself down next to a young lady who was quietly reading her book (yep you guessed it fifty shades of grey!), and asked just what made her peel the skin of a peach?

She seemed rather surprised that a stranger would accost her for something like this, I mean normally people are bothered for charity donations, or the like, but here was some random guy questioning how she ate her fruit. Fortunately she answered though and said that she was not too keen on the texture of the peaches fuzzy surface, and had been taking the skin off before eating them for several years now.

After mentioning that she though that this made no difference to it's nutritional goodness, I had to point out that she was getting rid of most of the fiber that the peach offers, as this comes from the skin. Seemingly a little disappointed about this, she thanked me for letting her know before I got up and headed off.

Besides offering a decent dose of vitamins A and C, the best thing about a peach is the fact that it acts as a good source of fiber.

So do you eat peach skin, and if not, why not?

To find out all about the nutritional values, and calories found in a peach, please click the below link.

http://www.calories-in-foods.com/calories-in-peach.php

New site developments

As we aim to make the www.calories-in-foods.com site more user friendly and straight forward, we are implementing menus for the different types of foods that we have listed.

The two latest menus feature calories in nuts and seeds, and also calories in fish and seafood.

They make it incredibly easy for the user to distinguish between different foods, and negate the need to fiddle around with drop down boxes, or having to type in different foods, like they would have to on other sites. All you need to do on our site is click the mouse and read away, it could not be more easy to use.

The following menus are constantly being added to as we strive to make the site bigger and better, if you have any ideas for foods or beverages that you wish to see added, please leave a comment here, or on our facebook page.

http://www.calories-in-foods.com/calories-in-nuts-seeds.php

http://www.calories-in-foods.com/calories-in-fish.php

http://www.facebook.com/pages/calories-in-foodscom/167776159969126

Snack on nuts and seeds

Any time you think of a snack, the first things that come to mind are chips, cookies, and other such tasty treats, even though we all know that they are not good for us. The problem is that they are always so readily available, they fill a gap, and they taste great.

However, the fact is that they don't do us any good at all as they are loaded with sugar, and contain barely any nutrients.

There are loads of foods that are good for you, and taste nice as well, that can act as highly nutritious snacks, and none more so than nuts and seeds.

On my website I am currently developing an extensive menu showing not only how many calories are in nuts and seeds, but also their nutritional values. This is because I feel that it makes sense to highlight exactly how good a food is for you, so that people don't just make a decision on whether to eat something based on the calories that it contains.

Let's look at a couple of examples.

Calories in almonds, and their nutritional benefits

You may look at almonds and think that they are relatively high in calories, this is because in just 1 oz of them there is 164 calories. However, look at the nutritional values that this serving contains:

Vitamin E - 7.3 milligrams, 37% of the total you need in a day.
Protein - 5.9 g, 12% of the total needed in a day.
Fiber - 3.4 g, 14% of your RDA.
Vitamin B2 - 0.3 mg, 17% if all you need in a day.
Magnesium - 75 mg, 19% of all your body needs in one day.
Phosphorus - 136 milligrams, 14% of all you require in a day.
Copper - 0.3 mg, 14% of your RDA.
Manganese - 0.6 mg, 32% of your RDA.

There are some serious nutritional benefits to take note of here, and they are surely enough to positively outweigh the almond calories that you may have initially been concerned about.

Even with there being 13.8 g of fat in this quantity, it is vital to recognise that just 1 g of this is the saturated fat that you want to avoid.

So that is a great example of how the calories in nuts, should not put you off eating them.

How about seeds?

Seeds aren't just something you feed to birds, there are thousands of people into their health foods that will strongly praise the many benefits that you can obtain from eating seeds such as sunflower and squash seeds.

Just like in 1 oz of almonds, there are 164 calories in the same quantity of sunflower seeds. There is also a total of 14.4 g of fat, but again a very small amount of this is saturated fat, 1.2 g to be precise.

But just look at the nutritional benefits of sunflower seeds, before you discount them.

Protein - 5.8 g, 12% of your RDA.
Fiber - 2.4 g, 10% of all you need in a single day.
Vitamin E - 9.3 milligrams, 47% of the total you need in a day.
Vitamin B1- 0.4 mg, 28% of your total daily requirement.
Vitamin B3 - 2.3 mg, this is 12% of your RDA.
Vitamin B6 - 0.4 mg, 19% of your RDA.
Folate / Vitamin B9 - 63.6 micrograms, which works out as 16% of the total you need in a day.
Magnesium - 91 mg, 23 % of your RDA.
Phosphorus - 185 mg, 18% of your daily intake.
Copper - 0.5 mg, this is 25% of the total needed in a day.
Manganese - 0.5 mg, which comes to 27% of your total daily requirement.
Selenium - 14.8 micrograms, 21% of your RDA.

Again there are some massive nutritional benefits to take note of here, and there is no way that any kind of 'conventional' snack would put these kinds of numbers up.

It would be a very wise idea to use nuts and seeds as a snack, and not just on the odd occasion. They are highly nutritious, and there is such variety in them. Why not take a small quantity of them in to work or college with you, and pick on them if you are feeling hungry between meal times.

Additionally, if you keep these stocked in your house instead of sweet snack foods, then they are there when hunger strikes.

To check out our ever growing calories in nuts and seeds menu, please click on the link below.

http://www.calories-in-foods.com/calories-in-nuts-seeds.php

Find out about the calories in salmon

We have just put up a page covering the calories in salmon. On the page we have provided examples using the various different types of salmon that you can buy. These are:

• Atlantic
• Sockeye / red salmon
• Chinook / king salmon
• Keta / chum salmon
• Silver / coho salmon
• Pink / humpy salmon

We have covered the many ways that you will eat your salmon as well, smoked, baked, and even information on the calories in raw salmon.

Besides covering the calorific values of what is an incredibly popular seafood, we also highlight what the nutritional benefits of salmon are, as this is a fish that is a fantastic source of protein, as well as the minerals selenium and phosphorus.

Check out the latest page of the website via the following link:

http://www.calories-in-foods.com/calories-in-salmon.php

We are going to be making a specific seafood section in the coming month in order to cover a wide range of fish and shellfish, showing the calories they contain and the nutritional benefits that they can bring to your diet.

You can always leave your feedback on the page/site here on the blog.

 

Why should you eat carrots?

Ask anyone to name their favorite vegetable, and I guarantee you that a large proportion of the answers will be the carrot. The bright orange vegetable is one that is even promoted by celebrities, well if you can call Bugs Bunny a celebrity that is.  The main reason that a food is favored by anybody is the fact that it tastes good, hence why so many millions of people eat nothing by junk food these days. However, other reasons include the nutritional benefits that can be obtained from eating a food. Lets look at some of the main features of the carrot:

Number of calories in carrots:

In a large raw carrot weighing 2 oz there are just 32 calories

The three main nutritional benefits of carrots:

1. Vitamin A - You are going to be aiding the health and longevity of your vision by getting enough vitamin A. In just 100 grams of carrot you can get 835 milligrams of vitamin A, which is over the entire total that your diet requires in a day. So carrots are one of the best sources of vitamin A that you are going to come across.

2. Vitamin K - Another important vitamin that you need for a variety of reasons, these include to ensure your ability to absorb other nutrients, and to help blood to clot when needed. You can get a massive 13.2 micrograms of vitamin K in 100 grams of carrot, that is 16% of the total you should be eating in a day.

3. Vitamin C - You are able to get a brilliant dose of vitamin C through eating carrots. In fact just 100 grams of carrot will provide you with 10% of the total required in a day, equating to 5.9 milligrams. What an easy way to contribute to an critical vitamin that helps to keep your immune system strong, eating an incredibly tasty carrot!

High in fiber and water, and low in fat, what more can you want from a food that genuinely tastes fantastic?

There are many more vitamins, and also minerals that the carrot contains, and this makes it a very effective contributor to the nutrient levels in your body.

Eating foods that taste great such as the carrot, really is the simplest of way to keep yourself healthy and to avoid any nutritional deficiencies.

If you would like to learn more about carrot calories and the various other nutrients that the carrots contain, please visit the following page of my website:


http://www.calories-in-foods.com/calories-in-carrots.php

Double bubble

A lot of hard work has gone into the site over the past month in order to increase the number of foods and beverages that we have covered. We now have in excess of 100 pages crammed with not only information on calories in foods, but also the nutritional values that come with them as well.

We are aiming to build upon this in the coming weeks and months in order to make the site as simple and informative as possible.

We are also trying to focus on this blog to make it as topical and interesting as possible for people who are interested in the subject of calories, diet and weight loss.

If you are happening to have a quick read of this why not submit a comment and let us know what you think of the site and what you would like to see on there?

Wimbledon has arrived, and that means strawberries!

Unfortunately this year I am not going to be able to make it to the Wimbeldon tennis championships, which is a real shame as this is usually the highlight of the sporting calender for me. However, that does not mean that I can't enjoy all of the action from SW19 from the comfort of my living room while I am working on my laptop. One other thing that I would also have been enjoying there, along with the glut of top class tennis, is some strawberries!

Strawberries are without a doubt my favorite fruit, and it is a shame that they only pop up in England for a few months over the summer, and then seem to disappear for months on end. They are one of few foods that I can literally taste with my eyes, and even looking at pictures of them online makes me hungry! At Wimbledon they go through a horrendous amount of strawberries,  some 35 tonnes I believe, over the two weeks that the tournament is on. That and a hell of a lot of cream to go with them too, as this tasty combination are synonymous with Britain's biggest annual sporting event.

In a 5 oz cup of strawberries there are some 45 calories, which isn't a lot, but then when you go adding cream or sugar to them, that tasty treat becomes bulging with calories. Just one tablespoon of sugar to go on your 5 oz portion has another 45 calories in, and in a serving of fresh double cream there are several hundred calories. So unless you like your strawberries on their own, you could be exceeding 400 calories!

Fortunately I don't do cream, and I will have to limit the sugar to a teaspoon, which itself is 16 calories. So 60 calories a couple of times over the two weeks will just have to be a treat, or currently a replacement, for the beer consumed while the European football championships were on. I think once the summer of sport is over I will need to be getting back on that exercise bike.

To find out about strawberry nutrition facts and calories check out my page devoted to the sumptuous fruit on my websites.

Is cantaloupe fattening?

Having discovered the wonderful fruit that is the cantaloupe for the very first time a few months ago, I have been wondering whether this delicious melon-type example is too good to be true. I have checked out it's nutritional benefits, the number of calories in cantaloupe, whether it has any common side effects or irritations, and I am unable to find a chink in it's armor. One of the things that looked up first was whether cantaloupe is fattening.

It is common knowledge that fruits and vegetables are the the best examples of nutritious foods that we are ever likely to come across, and with the cantaloupe fitting into this bracket, there is a whole list of nutritional benefits that promote it's goodness. But how about the fat content, is the cantaloupe fattening at all?

Well the answer is no, plain and simple.

In a 3.5 ounce serving of cantaloupe there is less than 0.2 grams of fat, which is literally nothing. There are also just 35 calories in the same size serving, again a very minimal amount. Just like other types of melon, the cantaloupe has a high water content, and as we all know water is calorie and fat free.

What's more is that cantaloupe is crammed full of nutrients, just like other natural foods, so the only effects that the fruit is going to have on your body, your diet, and your weight, are positive ones.

In that same 3.5 ounce serving you can get almost half of the vitamin C that you need in a whole day and just under a quarter of the vitamin A that your body requires a day too.

I would recommend to anybody that is looking to make their diet a little more interesting by trying new foods, to give the cantaloupe a go. It tastes absolutely fantastic, can help towards topping up the levels of pretty much every vitamin and mineral that your body makes use of, it is not fattening, low in calories, helps to hydrate you due to it's high water content and provides energy due to it's potassium and sugar content.

If you don't know what to look for when it comes to the cantaloupe then check out the picture below, which shows a picture of what is rather a unique looking fruit. You are unlikely to get this mixed up with anything else, especially the regular watermelon.

So hopefully this post has been able to encourage you to try a new fruit today, especially with the summer months drawing on and fruits such as the cantaloupe being as prominent as ever in shops and at food markets. I also hope that you are no longer unsure as to whether or not cantaloupe is fattening.

For more information on cantaloupe calories, and exact figures of the nutrients it contains, please check out the cantaloupe page on my calorie site, via the link below.

http://www.calories-in-foods.com/calories-in-cantaloupe.php

Euro2012 football is on - Time for a beer

One of the biggest events in world football is currently going on over in Europe, as the countries of Poland and the Ukraine host the Euro2012 football championships. Hundreds of thousands of fans will take the trip to these nations to witness a glut of the world's finest players compete arguably the biggest international football trophy, after the FIFA world cup. Millions more fans like myself will tune in from the comfort of their living rooms at home, and if there is one thing that the average football fan likes, it's a nice cold beer.

I am not normally one to drink at home, but this is an excuse to relax and watch the game with a selection of beers with my football fanatic friends. One thing did cross my mind a little bit though, and that was just how much 3 weeks of casual beer drinking was going effect my daily calorie intake. So naturally I had a quick check on the number of calories in beer, updating my website as I went along, as this is obviously something that many calorie counters out there will be interested in.

I normally sit down with a Budweiser and in a bottle of their regular beer I was consuming 145 calories, which is fine, but then 6 or so of these soon adds up and does no good at all when you are watching your calories. Six of these regular Bud's have 870 calories in, that's quite a lot!

So looking at the figures I decided to see what the difference is in the calories found in regular beer and light beer, as you always see a box of Bud Light or Coors Light in the supermarket when you are purchasing your favored drink.

In the same sized bottle of Bud Light there were just 110 calories, so when you are putting away a six pack you are saving yourself on 210 calories, which is approximately a quarter of those from the regular Budweiser beer.

It just goes to show that making the odd simple change to your diet, can have a significant effect on the calories that you are consuming. If you sit and watch any sport once or twice a week at home and enjoy a nice cold beer at the same time, then just think about the number of beer calories you could be cutting out in the long run.

With the Euro2012 tournament drawing to a close and my beloved England, failing to make it very far once again, I will not be sat watching too many more games. However, with Wimbledon and the Olympics blitzing the television schedule for the next month or so I am sure that I will be sat with a beer in my hand a fair few more times before the summer is over, a light beer I might add!

If you would like to find out more examples of the calories found in popular beers such as Bud Light and Coors Light, please check out the link to my calories website below.


http://www.calories-in-foods.com/calories-in-beer.php

What do you want to see calories in?

If there is a specific food that you see vacant from www.calories-in-foods.com, please feel free to leave a comment so that we can add this.

Also feedback on the information and layout of the site in comparison to other calorie related sites would be much appreciated.

We are currently in the process of almost doubling the size of the site in order to include a wider selection of the calories found in popular foods, and are always looking for extra ideas from the people who visit and use the information on the site.

Thanks in advance

Steve

Low calorie snacks - A good habit

Snacking is something that we are all guilty of to some degree. It is almost impossible to go throughout the week without having a day or two where we have felt the need to eat between mealtimes. For many people that is not a problem, but for those who are watching their weight, this can be a major issue.

When you are feeling hungry it can be all too easy to reach for what is available, and when you are out and about that can generally be something that is high in calories, like a bag of potato chips or a candy bar.

A great habit to get into is eating low calorie snacks, if the need to eat between mealtimes really becomes that great. This way you are not cheating yourself, and adding unnecessary high amounts of calories to your daily total, and therefore making it less likely to gain weight.

Here are some examples of low calorie snacks for you:

Fruit - You just can't go wrong when it comes to fruit, it is highly nutritious and low in calories. If you are on the move then maybe you have to go slightly out of your way to find some, but let's face it you can grab an apple, orange, or banana from any supermarket, and even McDonald's sell fruit bags. You can always take some to work or school with you in your bag as well, just in case you do feel hungry during the day. With 90 calories in a small banana, 75 calories in small apple and just under 50 calories in a small orange, you are not causing problems for yourself by eating these. Even having a cup of something like blueberries or raspberries is not going to exceed 100 calories. Bearing in mind that you are going to be consuming over double that in a 1.5 oz milk chocolate bar.


Soup - Soup is something that you can easily make at home and grab while you are out on the move. A cup of soup will generally have somewhere between 100-200 calories in it, and will likely provide you with a range of nutritional benefits as well.


Cereal - Cereal is not just something for the breakfast table. You can have a bowl of cereal any time of day that you want to. Having a high fiber cereal is also going to do you lots of favors as well, because fiber is something that can help to keep you feeling full, and will therefore keep hunger at bay for longer. Taking a box of cereal to work with you may sound like a strange idea, but then it is there for you to use whenever you have a break, or are sat at your desk thinking about heading to the vending machine. Again there are somewhere between 100 and 200 calories in a bowl serving of high fiber cereal.

The key is to try your best to make sure that feeling hungry between mealtimes doesn't happen in the first place. By this I mean that you have to make sure that you are eating your three main meals, and eating enough to satisfy your hunger. This is vital if you are to feel as though you can last several hours until it is time to eat again.

If you do snack, and of course the temptation is there for us all from time to time, then get into a habit where the things that you eat are the right things, such as those listed above.

To find out more about calories in foods, in order to make up your own low calorie snacks, visit my site www.calories-in-foods.com

What is a low calorie cereal?

A couple of posts ago I spoke about how important breakfast is to our diet. What I want to do briefly here is touch on that by covering low calorie cereals, something that I have been looking at myself recently.

I have never been a huge fan of cereal, simply because I can't stand milk and that always made it difficult to eat. Either I used water, yes as stupid as that sounds, or a dribble of milk that was absorbed so I couldn't taste it. Neither of these ideas worked particularly well, but lately I have given in and am trying to see where my limit is when it comes to milk on cereal. There seems to be so many different breakfast cereals out there though so I had to take a careful look around for a low calorie cereal at the supermarket.

The best one that I found was Kellog's all bran, which for a 60g serving(2.11oz) has just under 200 calories in. I chop up a small banana and add this to the mix and that is an extra 90 calories, as well as a dash of milk, and I mean a dash, making the total around about 300 calories. Add a big glass of water (which of course does not contain any calories) and that is a simple but effective breakfast. I am getting energy from the carbs in the cereal, as well as fiber and protein. The banana helps my energy levels as it contains potassium, as well as vitamin C and vitamin B6. This is a great kick start to the day for me so no reason that it can't do the same for you.

Another great low calorie cereal option from Kellog's is their fruit and fiber cereal, this has more calories in but is also more nutritious due to the added ingredients. In a 60g bowl of fruit and fiber you can expect to consume around about 320 calories. But of course there is no need to add the banana as you already have fruit mixed in with it.

Both of these low calorie cereals are wonderful sources of dietary fiber, which is incredibly important to the upkeep of your body.

If you have a bit of room in your calorie allowance and find these cereals, or any other low calorie cereal that you might eat, to be a bit dull and boring, you can sweeten them up with a teaspoon of sugar. This will add an extra 16 sugar calories to the mix, and will also help with an energy boost!

If neither of these cereals are available where you shop, there are bound to be other brand alternatives. To be sure how many calories are in the cereal that you are looking at, always check the nutritional information on the packaging. This information is there, along with information on all of the other nutrients that it holds.

For more information on the calories found in cereal and other everyday foods, check out my website at the link below, where you will find nothing but free and helpful information.

http://www.calories-in-foods.com/

Does sneezing burn calories?

Normally I talk about food calories and the various ways that it is possible to burn them off, but today I thought I would do a quick post on something that is seasonally related.

While sat watching the television last night I noticed an advert for pollen allergy relief during one of the numerous commercial breaks. Now the first thing I thought when this came on was how early it is, especially considering here in the UK it is ridiculously cold for the time of year we are at. However, what I also wondered was how many calories do you burn sneezing? I had an appointment with my GP today, for something totally unrelated to sneezing, but while there I had to ask the question considering the answers I found online were pretty inconclusive.

So does sneezing burn calories according to a qualified physician? The answer is yes it does, but of course not many. It is not as if you can spend allergy season in a field in order to sneeze yourself silly, hoping that you are going to end up slimmed down by the time winter comes round again. Nor is it going to be a particularly good idea to sit and hope sniffing black pepper in order to force your body into sneezing fits.

In reality you maybe burn a couple of calories each time you sneeze, hardly a huge amount, and this could be slightly more for a larger person, and slightly less for a smaller one. But I guess if you are one of the many people who do get hit hard over allergy season, then this may actually do you a little good as far as getting rid of a few extra calories go.

As somebody who doesn't suffer from any form of pollen allergy there is no real test that I can take in order to find this out. But I would be interested to hear roughly how many times people sneeze on an average day when allergy season kicks in, as you can then get a rough idea of sneezes per week and how many calories you may actually be burning by this involuntary action.

Thinking over it myself, I can see it being realistic that somebody with some form of pollen allergy could sneeze a couple of hundred times a day, that's nearly 1,500 sneezes a week, multiply that by two and you have sneezed away nearly 3,000 calories. I really can't say how accurate that is, but if it is possible then surely those wanting to lose weight could do a lot worse than suffer from something like ragweed allergy every summer and fall. As Tesco say, 'every little helps'.

So sneezing does burn calories, how many is uncertain and you certainly won't find a calculator online asking for your age and weight etc.. in order to determine calories burned per sneeze for you, more is the pity.

If you do suffer from any form of pollen allergy such as ragweed allergy, why not check out another site I have on how to deal with this.

Comments welcome and encouraged

With this being a relatively new blog to work alongside my calories in food site, I would be really interested to hear any comments on how readers think the site could be improved, or what they might like about it. Comments would be hugely appreciated and can be placed on this blog or even my Facebook page accessible on the right hand side of the page. Thanks. Steve Wright

Why is breakfast important?

I'm confident that at some point in your life you will have been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and whoever told you this piece of information was not wrong. But why is breakfast important, and why do so many people find themselves skipping it?

In this post I aim to answer both of these questions for you, and give you a better understanding as to why you should be making sure that breakfast is a regular occurrence, as opposed to an inconvenience.

Breakfast is the first meal of the day before we leave the house and head off to work or school. It's purpose is to fuel your body for what lies ahead between then and your next meal. Breakfast is going to make you perform better both physically and mentally, which is why it is so very important that you eat it.

Don't ever be fooled into thinking you are doing yourself a favor by missing breakfast in order to keep your calorie intake for the day down, this is a bad idea and this post will explain exactly why.

If you don't get that breakfast fuel then what is going to happen?

So what happens if you don't eat breakfast? The effects of not eating breakfast are primarily that from the word go you will be hungry, and when you leave the house at 7-30am and lunch is not until 1pm, that is a long time to stave off the temptation to eat something in between. There is a high chance that you are going to end up eating between meals, upping your calorie intake.

While you are asleep during the night, your glucose levels will drop, glucose being the fuel that your cells need to produce energy. Unless these are raised by you starting the day with a decent breakfast you are going to have a lack of energy, and also not be as mentally alert as you would be, had you had a healthy meal to start the day. Tiredness and lack of concentration are also common issues.

There is also another factor that should concern anybody who thinks that skipping breakfast is going to help them lose weight. This is that the longer you leave eating after you wake up, the higher the chances of your body's insulin levels increasing, which in turn leads to your body storing more fat.

Many people rely on high energy drinks, or caffeine loaded drinks such as red-bull in order to give them a lift, but have you ever seen how many calories are in these?

Just to make a point, there are 202 calories in a small 16 fl oz can of red-bull. A large 32 fl oz can of red-bull has 403 calories in it. Compare these to our quick low calorie breakfast example below to see why these are not the answer.

People also rely on coffee to get them through the morning, as this is another caffeine loaded drink. To find out more about calories in coffee please click here.

Why do people skip breakfast?

As breakfast is arguably the meal that is skipped the most, let's talk about the reasons people might have for not eating it.


1. Trying to cut out calories or lose weight - People think that if they skip a meal, or two a day, then they are going to lose weight because they are cutting out the calories that each missed meal would contain. If they were to have a set menu each day and do exactly that then yes this would be possible. However, it is rarely that simple. By missing a meal, you body is going to feel more hungry and this may mean that you at some point give into temptation and snack between meal times, or you end up eating more in the meal that you do have, in order to satisfy your hunger. Either way, you could well end up consuming more calories than if you had just eaten your regular meals. A bigger lunch, or dinner could exceed the calories you missed at breakfast in other words. You may also be so hungry when it does come to lunch, or dinner later on, that you end up eating something less healthy because it is quicker and easier to make, with hunger eating away at you.

2. No time to eat breakfast - Not everybody is a fan of getting up in the morning, and this can often mean that people will happily sacrifice the time spent preparing and eating their breakfast, in order to get a little bit more of a lay in. If you don't have time then get up a bit earlier, we are talking like half an hour maximum here, there is no excuse not to be able to make that time for something so important. If you genuinely don't have time then there is always the option of preparing something like a fruit salad the night before so you just get up and eat it, or you can take it with you and eat in en-route to work or school.


3. Lack of hunger - First thing in the morning can be a time when people are not hungry, but this is generally immediately after waking up. Take a shower or do a bit of light exercise after waking up and you will find that your body responds with feeling hungry. If you are still not hungry at least try and eat something, because you can guarantee that you will end up famished before lunch time.

Now that you know why breakfast is important you are going to make sure you do not fit into the above three categories right?


What should you have for breakfast?

There a variety of foods that you should eat for breakfast, but the most important things that these foods should contain are protein and fiber. Fiber is found mainly in natural foods such as fruits, whole-grains and vegetables, whereby protein can be got from dairy products, meat, and nuts.

Something that people often forget is that you don't need to take ages to prepare breakfast, it is not like standing in the kitchen for an hour making a big evening meal. There are plenty of ways to have a very quick breakfast so that it need not delay you in the morning.

Here is an example of low calorie foods to eat for breakfast:

* A medium sized banana - 105 calories in a medium banana
* A bowl of oatmeal - 150 calories found in an 8.3 oz serving of oatmeal
* A glass of orange juice - 1 regular cup of orange juice has 112 calories in
* A yogurt -In a 4.4 oz non-fat fruit yogurt there is 118 calories

Total breakfast calories - 485 calories

If you add a dash of low-fat milk to the oatmeal and a teaspoon of sugar you will add approximately 20-25 calories.

Earlier in this post I mentioned that one large can of red-bull that people often drink in the mornings to give themselves a lift, contained 403 calories. Now that may provide a lift in the sense that it boosts their alertness and concentration, all be it temporarily, however it does not satisfy hunger. So anything eaten in addition to that is going to have to be pretty meager and low in calories in order to be as effective as actually having breakfast in the first place.

The above is just an example of what you can have for breakfast, below is a list of other healthy foods that you can eat in the morning:

* Cereals
* Fruit
* Milk
* Low-fat cheese
* Wholemeal toast
* Wholemeal bagels
* Eggs
* Water
* Nuts
* Peanut butter
* Fruit juices

To find out how many calories are in fruits that can be eaten on their own, or with cereal at breakfast time, please check out on my page dedicated to fruit calories.

What shouldn't you have for breakfast?

When it comes to the foods that you make up your breakfast with, there are always going to be plenty of right options, as well as plenty of wrong ones. Of course eating something is better than not eating anything at all, but where possible try to avoid the following foods:

* Sugary foods
* High calorie foods - To find out more about high calorie foods click here.
* Foods containing saturated fats
* Anything high in sodium

Now you know why breakfast is important

So in summary, although there are plenty of reasons why people skip breakfast, it is a bad and unhealthy idea that is only going to have a negative effect on how you feel during the day ahead. There is no excuse not to make sure you have something for breakfast, even if you just grab a piece of fruit as you rush out of the door.

My advice to you though is get organized, either prepare something simple the night before or go to bed that little bit earlier so that your alarm going off half an hour before you are used to does not hurt so much!

How many calories in a Big Mac meal and how easy is it to burn them off?

No matter where you are in the world (unless you are in the Arctic, dessert of jungle), you can't go more than a few miles without seeing the golden arches of McDonald's. Having been born and raised in England I have grown up being used to it, as there is one or more in every big town, as well as being dotted down every major road in the country. However when I spent several months living over in America I was shocked at just how many restaurants of the fast food giant there were. I lived and worked some twenty minute drive apart, and I would pass no less than 3 in this journey. Just to make this point early on, I have nothing against McDonald's and there were just as many Burger Kings, Wendy's and the like there as well. I am just using them as an example as they are surely the most popular.

With this being the case it is safe to say that I have had my fair share of McDonald's in the past, and there are thousands of people out there who can say the same thing, and many who still eat there on a regular basis.

You don't need to be a quantum physicist to know that this is not healthy, and that the majority of the foods that you will eat at McDonald's are loaded with calories. Burgers and fries are just not good for you, no matter how much salad you put with them.

In this post I just want to simply highlight how many calories are in a Big Mac meal, their premier sandwich that probably sells in it's millions each and every day. What I also want to point out is what you would have to do in order to burn the calories consumed off.

I just want to point out that the regular size meal in the USA is the same size as the large meal in the UK. The USA large is the Super Size that the UK had to abolish a few years back due to it contributing to the serious obesity problem that we have here.

So what do you get in a regular Big Mac meal:                

The Big Mac itself - 576 calories        
Regular fries - 354 calories
Regular coke -  210 calories

Total calories in a regular Big Mac meal at McDonald's = 1,140 calories !

Now that is an awful lot of calories when you consider that myself as a 29 year old guy of average height and weight, who exercises only lightly throughout the week, should be eating approximately 2,000 calories a day in order to maintain my weight. In fact the mathematician in me says that it is well over 50% of the calories I should be eating the entire day.

Well what if you go large....

The Big Mac itself - 576 calories
Large fries - 500 calories
Large coke - 310 calories

Total calories in a large Big Mac meal at McDonald's = 1,386

As you can see that is almost three quarters of the calories I should be eating a day, crazy!

So what do you have to do in order to negate these calories?

Ok so the easiest form of exercise that we all know about is walking. You can walk for exercise and it is not obvious what you are doing, it is not like you are dressed in your track gear and puffing and panting up the road for all to see. A quick 20 minute walk a day is recommended exercise from any doctor. So burning calories walking is something that is easily done.

But how many calories does walking burn? I hear you ask. Well that depends on your weight and how far you walk, as well as the speed that you are walking at.

If I were to walk say 2 miles at an average speed of 3mph, taking 20 minutes per mile or faster, I would only burn off 171 calories. If I walked 10 miles at the same speed I would only burn off 854 calories, in fact in order to burn off the meal of 1,140 calories I would need to walk 13.5 miles. That is a lot of walking just to nullify one meal!

Doing different, more vigorous exercise will help you to burn calories faster, but I thought using burning calories walking as an example was the best idea as that is something that we all have no excuse for not being able to do.

I worked this out using an online calculator that requires your weight in pounds and the distance you plan to walk, check the walking calories calculator out here.

Also if you are American and work in kilometers instead of miles, there are 1.609344 kilometers in a mile.

I just wanted to use this post as an example of how fast food can take up a huge portion of your calorie allowance each day, and can really contribute to weight gain.

Eating something like a McDonald's meal is something that should be more of a treat than a regular occurrence, as the calories involved are really not going to do you any good if you are serious about maintaining or reducing your weight.

Find out how many calories are found in everyday foods in order to work out what your calorie intake is, at my website www.calories-in-foods.com .

Calories at the Olympics - Not the right message to be sending out

In some 80 days time the opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics will take place, and over 4 years of preparation and anticipation will come to an end as the biggest sporting event in the world(perhaps bar the football world cup and NFL Superbowl), will begin for the second time here in England.

But considering it is a sports event, where spectators will watch some of the most talented athletes in the world compete in numerous forms of exercise, it is rather ironic that what they will also be exposed to is companies trying to pour calories down their throats.

Some of the main sponsors, or partners as they are also called, for the Olympics are companies such as Cadbury, McDonalds and also Coca Cola. All three of them will have absolutely huge exposure, with their names and logos plastered on advertising boards, in magazines and programs, on merchandise, on athletes apparel, in television and media advertising, and probably being mentioned in every type of announcement, to name but a few ways they will get their money's worth throughout the games.

Of course without such sponsors the games probably couldn't take place(ok definitely couldn't), and that is of course the argument that is impossible to overcome,  BUT you do have to see the funny, or perhaps tragic, side of the situation.

What are people supposed to think when they are watching Usain Bolt run the 100 meters, as he charges past the boards showing the golden arches of McDonald's. Is it 'gee I wish I could run that fast', 'one day I am going to be the guy on the track competing', or 'I could murder a Big Mac'. For the advertiser it is going to be the latter, and they don't care that the calories their products contain are more likely to make the onlooking public obese, as opposed to helping them fulfill their dreams of becoming an athlete. As Jessie Jay said, 'It's all about the money...'.

I read an interesting article on the BBC website today about how the advertising at the games will almost be sending subliminal messages to the spectators. They are watching something like the 100 meter sprint, an event that lasts less than 10 seconds, a very short space of time for the brain to actually process what is going on. While watching they will see, but perhaps not note at the time, the advertising in the background, or in their peripheral vision. This will stay in their mind until later on and chances are when hunger or thirst strikes they will end up thinking of one of these sponsors, or be reminded of them when they come across one of their products.

Those that are actually attending the games in London won't be able to miss the world's biggest McDonald's that will be open in the Olympic park either.

Bingo, job done as they hand over their hard earned cash for something that is going to do their healthy no good at all.

Ok, Coca Cola may be able to come up with a zero calorie product, but the other two sure as hell can't!

In my humble opinion the games should be about sport, people at the top of their events coming together from every corner of the globe and competing for possibly the most sought after prize in world sport, an Olympic gold medal. The whole event should also be about inspiring people, especially the younger generation of whom the future competitors will come from. It should not be about money, advertising, and marketing. Pushing products onto the fans that are more than likely going to put paid to any Olympic dreams that they ever have, making them fat instead of fit.

Now that may sound extreme but it is the truth. If you ask any Olympic athletes whether or not they gorged on calorie loaded foods when they were growing up, they will tell you a firm and honest 'no'!

While the athletes are sat in the changing rooms getting ready and eating a banana for some last minute energy, the fans are in the stands drinking fizzy pop, eating burgers and chocolate bars, piling on the pounds.

Now you don't need to be a nutritional guru to recognise that there are less calories in a banana than there are in one of these junk food products! Yet there is absolutely nothing to encourage fans to eat something that is good for them, something that may actually help them become the one the world watches compete, and why is that? It is of course because there is no money in advertising fruit or anything healthy!

Perhaps I can sum this up by saying the message that the Olympics is sending is fundamentally wrong! It is not difficult to see (and many statistics will tell you) that there is already an obesity issue here in the UK, with experts stating that approximately one quarter of Brits have an obesity problem, that is a horrendously concerning statistic.

The fact is that even watching the greatest show on earth from a few feet away, people are going to find it much easier to reach for a burger, beer, chocolate bar, or can of fizzy pop, than they are to let the inspiration of what is going on spur them onto becoming the next Bolt, Kelly Holmes or Michael Johnson. That is what the sponsors, and ultimately the organisers are relying on, and that is why it is all so very wrong!

To find out more about calories in food check out my website, it may change how you see your own diet.

Logic-patience-routine = The calorie counting way to lose weight

When I decided to start up my own blog to go alongside my calories in food website, one of the hardest things I had to decide was how to open it up, what to blog about first? Sure I could repeat what is on the site and explain how many calories are found in many of the foods that we all eat everyday, but in order to avoid repetition I decided against that.

All over the world people are becoming a lot more health conscious, and whereby there are still fad diets floating around that work for the minority, many people are actually waking up to the fact that going back to basics is the way forward when it comes to losing weight.

There is one main reason behind this and that is quite simply logic! If it is possible to work out how many calories that you need to eat each day in order to maintain your weight, then logically if you eat more then you will gain weight, and if you eat less then you are going to lose weight. Of course the scales don't change over night but when you are in a routine of doing this then over time things can, and will, change.

But does it sound a little bit too good to be true? Find your magic number and then work out the number of calories you are eating, before going higher or lower as applicable, sounds a bit too.... well simple doesn't it?

It's true though, working out your metabolic rate with a few quick and easy calculations can come up with a number specific to you as an individual, taking into consideration your age, height, weight, gender, and how active you are, and then churning out your magic number! And then you just apply the logic and go below that number if you wish to lose weight. This of course will occur because the calories that are no longer being consumed to create energy will be replaced by the body burning fat stores.

This is something that is widely covered online but I still speak to people everyday who complain about their weight, yet become sceptical when I explain this to them.... why is it so hard to believe?

At the end of the day, this is no miracle diet that is being sold to you for $29.99, I don't want you to buy my eBook and all that jazz, it is just a fact that is worth sharing with people that want to lose weight, and there are an awful lot of those online.

Other than applying the logic though the other key thing, and this is very very important, is to have a little patience.

When it comes to losing weight most people want the quick fire solution, the secret that nobody else knows, the magic pill. Well sadly these do not exist and it is important to recognise that sooner rather than later, after which you have wasted your time, and possibly also money, to find out for yourself. People will tell you anything to make a quick buck or two, and online with diet secrets and the like, that is something that goes on far too much.

You have to be patient, and in the end good things will come. If you count your calories and make sure you stick below that magic number(even that makes it sounds a bit like a con) then you will progressively lose weight.

You have all heard the term 'the race is a marathon, not a sprint', well that hits the nail right on the head here.

Counting your calories will eventually mean that you are familiar with what is in each food, and then you won't have to be constantly reading the labels and jotting down something's calorie content. You will get into a routine and recognise what you can, and can't eat in order to stay below you magic number.

One tip is that the day you start to count calories, create your own calorie bible. A notebook where you are writing down the calories found in the everyday foods that you eat. As you progress with your days and weeks the bible will get bigger and you can later use it to plan your meals throughout the day so you know that tomorrow you are going to eat certain foods at each meal time, that will keep you below your magic number, simple!

To get into a routine may take a month or so, but if that is what it takes to lose weight then surely it is worth it right?

So basically applying logic to the situation, having a little patience, and getting into a routine is all you need to do in order to be able to lose weight.

For more information on how to get your magic number by calculating how many calories you should eat a day to lose weight, please check out my page giving a step by step guide on my calories in foods site.

In modern society there is an ever increasing emphasis on how important our diet is to both our health and also our weight. There are fad diets aplenty out there but the fact is that controlling the dial on the bathroom scales can be done by counting calories in foods that we eat. With this in mind it is vital to know the number of calories found in everyday foods, and even how you can manage your calories so that you are in control of whether you gain, lose or maintain your weight.

This blog is going to be covering a wide range of topics surrounding calories, so follow me and find out how to keep your calorie counting in check.