Food manufacturers play tricks on consumers and dieters

Lean cuts of beef are a healthy option for dieters.

One of the biggest mistakes dieters make is trusting food manufacturers, not reading labels, and not researching nutrition information on unlabeled food items like meats. This can lead to consuming hundreds of extra calories a day. Not only can this stall your diet it can lead to unwanted weight gain. You may think you're eating healthy, yet end up packing on extra pounds.

Food manufacturers play tricks on consumers by commonly marketing products like sodas, candy, and snack foods like chips and cookies, in packages that appear to be single servings. But most are actually two or more servings per package. Few people who eat high calorie, refined snack foods bother to read the nutrition labels. This is one reason so many people are overweight. Simple oversight on how much you're really putting in your mouth is a crime against your waist. 

We assume we're sticking to our diet when we shop the frozen foods section and buy prepackaged diet foods. They're portion controlled for us and low in fat and calories. Well, maybe not.

On example is Michelina brand Lean Gourmet Snackers Baked Pepperoni Pizza. The package is the same size as the other diet entrees. The box front says 8 grams of fat and 230 calories. Then in fine print many would miss is an asterisk and "per serving". If you miss this and eat the whole package, you're getting an extra 1/2 a seving, 115 extra calories, and 4 more grams of fat. Over the course of a month, this kind of calorie oversight can add up to thousands of extra calories and several added pounds.   

Kim Lyons, the former red team trainer of The Biggest Loser fame, could even make this mistake unless she's carefull to choose a product with the lowest fat and calorie content available.

Here's an example: In one episode she said to a contestant, "You're (contestant) allergic to fish. We're trying to stay low calorie so we're limiting beef. So let's choose ground turkey and make tacos."

Limiting beef for weight loss is purely myth. And here's why:

1 Ounce Beef, round, top round, lean only, trimmed to 1/4" fat, select, 34 calories, 1 fat gram 0 carb grams 6 protein grams

1 Ounce Chicken, breast, with or without bone, roasted, skin not eaten, 36 calories, 1 fat gram, 0 carb grams, 7 protein grams

1 Ounce Ground turkey, cooked, calories 65, 4 fat grams, 0 carb grams, 8 protein grams

Nutrition information from Fitday.

The ground turkey is almost twice the calories and 4 times the fat for a measly 2 more grams of protein! Keep in mind these are equal portions of 1 ounce each. If you're a low carber, and not counting fat or calories, all this is a moot point. But if you're on doing a low fat / low calorie diet getting the nutrition facts right is crucial to success. (Extra lean ground turkey products are available. Be sure you're not consuming the higher fat, higher calorie version.)

Never assume one product is automatically healthier. Turkey isn't always a better choice than beef. Much depends on the cut and the fat content. (Fat boasts 9 calories per gram versus 4 calories per gram for protein and carbohydrates. The more fat in a food, the more calories.)

Obviously like Kim Lyons, many of us are operating under several nutrition myths including the "diet foods are properly portioned" myth and the "beef is higher in fat and calories" myth. If you want to cut your fat and calorie intake, choose the 1 ounce of beef at 3 whole grams of fat and 31 calories less than an ounce of regular ground turkey. If you're eating a 4 ounce portion, that's almost 100 calories more. Again, over the course of time, 100 extra calories here and there add up to extra body fat. Be sure you read nutrition labels and take note of the portions in a package to insure weight loss and weight control success.