Chocolate is the Devil

If you’re a parent or grandparent, you always know when “fundraiser time” comes around.  Kids are sent home loaded with boxes of stuff to sell to friends and family.

Well, I’ve got a problem with that — I actually like the stuff!  I especially love the chocolate almonds from World’s Finest and always buy several boxes.  To me, these things are like potato chips – you can’t just have just one.  Unfortunately, having more than one is exactly what I end up doing.

I usually pop a chocolate-covered almond in my mouth as I’m working on the computer and before I know it, the box is empty.  How did that happen?  I start looking around to make sure none of them accidentally rolled out of the box when I wasn’t looking.  It’s only after shuffling papers around for a while and not finding any that I have to admit to myself that I must have eaten them all.

So the next time I opened a fresh box, I counted them.  There were 14 in the box I had.  I would venture to guess that if you opened several boxed and counted, you’d probably find this same amount, plus or minus 1 or 2 due, I guess, to the differences in the sizes of almonds.

In my opinion, 14 is not nearly enough.  With only 14 in a box, they’re gone before you know it.  With only 14 in a box, you’re only teasing the “chocolate monster” that lives within us all.

It was while I was counting my little chocolate “gems” that I took a good look at the back of the box and started reading the nutritional label.  Oh, my, God!  I had to read it twice to make sure it wasn’t some cruel joke.  It was then I realized that chocolate, especially in the form of chocolate-covered almonds, was the devil!

Get the “chocolate haze” out of your eyes for a minute and take a look at what indulging in these babies is costing you nutritionally.  I’ve added red highlights to the areas that immediately hit me right between the eyes.

When reading any nutritional label, you first have to make sure you understand the serving size.  Most food manufacturers want the number of calories on the label to look “reasonable,” which usually means in the 100 to 250 calorie range.  They’ll hit this range by adjusting the number of “servings” printed on the box.

Looking at our label at the right, there are 220 calories per serving.  Now, you would think that since the box is kind of small, the entire box would constitute one complete serving.  But that’s not the case.  At the top of the label, you see that there are “about 2″ Servings Per Container.  So “one serving” is actually only 7 almonds, not all 14.

That means that if my internal “chocolate monster” demands that I eat all 14 almonds, I’m not eating 220 calories, I’m eating 220 calories per serving TIMES 2 servings per container or 440 calories.  Ouch!

Do you realize how much cardio-kickboxing I have to do in order to burn off 440 calories?  A bunch!

But wait, there’s more bad news.  Notice that out of the 220 calories per serving, 130 of them are “calories from fat.”  So using a little basic math, that means that 130/220 = 59% of the calories come from fat.  59%!!!  That’s FIFTY-NINE-PERCENT!!!

Does this mean you should throw out all your boxes of chocolate?  Does this mean you should slam the door on the cute neighbor’s kid that came over to ask if you wanted to support their fundraiser?  Not at all.  But you do need to use some common sense.  Otherwise, you might as well run down to Wal-Mart and buy a bigger belt.

Here are a couple of tips that will help you keep your chocolate, and other snacks, under control:

1.  Read the label first. Find out the nutritional cost (or benefit) BEFORE you eat an item, not after.  Obviously, looking up the number of calories or fat content after you’ve eaten something only brings on the guilt trip.  Check the label before you eat.  Then make your choice.

2.  Determine the  “Serving Sizes.” Changing the serving size is a “game” food manufacturers play in order to keep the calories per serving in a reasonable range.  You’d probably stop and think if a bag of chips was labeled 500 calories.  That’s a third of your daily intake if you’re trying to stay around 1500 calories per day.  However, if it’s labeled 200 calories per serving, it doesn’t sound so bad.  It’s only if you look close that you realize that there are 2.5 servings in the bag.

3.  Pre-measure your servings. Do not eat right out of the bag (or box) because you’ll hit bottom without even realizing how much you’ve eaten.  If they’re individual items, like my chocolate-covered almonds, count out the exact number that make up a serving.  If it’s a bag (like chips), get yourself a kitchen scale and measure out the appropriate number of ounces into a baggie or resealable container.

4.  Keep snacks in their place. Contrary to what some people may think, snacks are not a food group.  There are way too many people in this country having chips for dinner.  Keep snacks in their place as something you eat very little of and only occasionally.

5.  Balance the bad with some good. Let’s be realistic.  None of us are going to give up eating chocolate.  The “chocolate monster” must be appeased!  Same applies to ice cream, chips, or any other snack or “comfort food.” Therefore, make sure you balance out the high fat content food with something really healthy.  Eat a couple of chocolate-covered almonds for a morning snack, for example, and then have a healthy salad for lunch.

You shouldn’t beat yourself up over eating chocolate or other snacks but you do have to be smart about eating them.  Going too far can fill your body with a lot of the wrong type of calories.

Hiram
Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach and
Personal Fitness Trainer (NESTA)

Technorati Tags: chocolate covered almonds, snacks, chips, fat, serving size, nutrition. calories, fat content, nutritional label

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