Go easy on these 5 summer favorites
By Leslie Garcia
The Dallas Morning News
Ah, spring. Picnics and ball games and potato salad and milkshakes and hot dogs -- enough to give winter calories a little competition. But during spring and summer, you can’t camouflage the resulting poundage with parkas and overalls.
That said, we present, for your gastronomical pleasure, five of spring’s most fattening foods, plus suggestions for making them healthier. We found these on www.webmd.com.
1. Ice cream. Even more than the cold treat, it’s the waffle cones, waffle cones with sprinkles and waffle cones with sprinkles dipped in caramel sauce that’ll get you. Oh, yeah, and the extra chips and candy-bar chunks and whipped cream. Order ice cream plain and in a cup. Even better? Try sorbet or frozen yogurt. At home, go for low-fat versions of ice-cream sandwiches and ice-cream bars.
2. Hot dogs. Yummy as they are, they’re also full of fat and sodium. If you’ve got to have one (and at a baseball game, who doesn’t?), have one. As in ONE. With relish, mustard and onions. Skip the cheese and chili.
3. Toppings, sauces, dressings. Yes, honey. You can have asparagus without hollandaise sauce. Strawberries without whipped cream. Broccoli without melted Cheez Whiz.
4. Coconut. We love coconut: Coconut shrimp, coconut pie, coconut-infused ambrosia. Food for the gods, indeed. But, alas, it is awful for you. One ounce has 129 calories and 8 grams of not-good fat. If you must have some, try a mere sprinkle.
5. Salads. We are about to share a deep, dark secret: Calling something a salad, doesn’t make it low-cal and low-fat. If you’re making potato salad, substitute low-fat mayonnaise for the real stuff. Or use ample amounts of mustard and plain yogurt. For green salads, go easy on croutons, cheese and sunflower seeds.
Comments (0)
