Diets and Calories

Over 4,000 British people were surveyed by tastecard.co.uk on their eating habits during lockdown. One of the strangest findings was the weird food combinations people are coming up with while stuck at home. I cant say I've tried any myself, and not likely to!

Easter eggs are everywhere now and it's hard to avoid those shiny wrappers vying for your attention. I love Easter eggs but never buy the big ones any more - too much temptation. But, I couldn't resist these mini Easter eggs from Maltesers, Terry's Chocolate Orange and Cadbury Daim mini eggs. https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2021/03/mini-easter-eggs-maltesers-mini-bunnies.html

Here's the link to my latest review - Kelloggs All Bran Oaty Clusters prebiotic breakfast cereals. These cereals are still high in fibre like the original All Bran, but they're also low in sugar (a bonus), and are boosted with prebiotics. https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2021/02/kelloggs-all-bran-oaty-clusters-low.html

It's hot cross bun time - well not quite, but like every occasion, supermarkets start selling early. I recently purchased a pack of Sainsbury's Be Good to Yourself hot cross buns then compared the nutrition content with their regular hot cross buns to see whether they really are healthier in any way.

https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2021/02/sainsburys-hot-cross-buns-be-good-to.html

Do you buy smoothies? Some of them have scary amounts of sugar and may not be as healthy as they seem. https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2021/01/smoothies-are-they-as-healthy-as-they.html

Have you got a favourite vegetable that you insist must be served with Christmas dinner? For me, it's always broccoli. But according to a survey by Matalan (https://www.matalan.co.uk/christmas/christmas-day-plan), the UK's favourite vegetable to serve with Christmas dinner is...

the Brussels sprout!

How amazing is that! Still, with all the wonderful plant based recipes available online, there are so many delicious ways of preparing Brussels sprouts rather than just boiling them, means they can be enjoyed rather than tolerated once a year.

Just discovered this interesting insight into the calorie consumption around the world from 1961 to 2017. You can click on any of the countries for more information and look at information for other countries not shown on the map. You can plot any countries you like on the map as well.

https://ourworldindata.org/food-supply

Kombucha - the healthy alternative to fizzy drinks. Latest blog post review on a low calorie, naturally healthy drink - this one by KeVita.

https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2020/10/kombucha-healthier-alternative-to-fizzy.html

Do you count calories to lose weight?

Here's the link for your £250 discount. https://bit.ly/3173XJI

Bread can be part of a healthy diet and I for one could never give it up. But can it make you gain weight? Take a look at my bread slice comparison guide to see how many calories are in your bread.



https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2020/10/how-many-calories-in-your-sliced-bread.html

Question...
When we lose weight, where does it go?
(p.s. 98% of surveyed health professionals got this wrong)

Did you know...

Manufacturers can understate or overstate the calorie count on food products by 20%. If you're a calorie counter, try overestimating the calories you eat on a regular basis and you may be surprised at the extra weight that falls off. I do this all the time and it really does help with managing weight.

It's Light & Free again, but this time it's cottage cheese. A new fat free, high protein cottage cheese was found in a branch of Waitrose. Varieties are Plain or Grilled Vegetables and Thyme. Like the yogurts, they're 0% fat. But what are they like?

https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2020/08/light-free-oat-fat-free-cottage-cheese.html

Light & Free Fat Free Cottage Cheese Review | Diets and Calories

Light & Free have a wide range of different flavoured dairy yogurts. Now they've brought out a new 0% fat yogurt which is oat based, making it suitable for those following a vegan diet. I tried the Vanilla flavour. Hit or miss - find out below.

https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2020/08/light-free-oat-based-yogurt-review.html

Light & Free Oat based vanilla yogurt.

The last few months I've been snacking more often than normal. Mostly it's boredom when I'm procrastinating at my laptop. This is when I find my fingers reaching into my desk draw for my little box of crackers or chickpea snacks. And the annoying thing is, this quickly becomes a habit and before I know it, I've finished the whole box of crackers.

And so the weight starts creeping up.

I find the best thing to do when this happens is to recognise that this is becoming a new habit and to do what I can to break it, fast. I did stop buying the crackers for a while but decided to try an take control instead because I like them too much. :-)

The crackers are now kept in another room and I am trying to change my snacking into something less addictive. At the moment I'm finding that eating those mini Babybel light cheeses is actually helping.

They have just 42 calories and 5g of protein in each one. The lack of sugar and the protein help keep blood sugar levels from going all over the place and stop the need to munch on something for a while.

https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2011/01/mini-babybel-light.html

Mini Babybel Light | Diets and Calories

So many people are trying out a vegan diet. Whatever your main reasons for doing this, it's really important to be aware that you may be missing out on vital nutrients. Here's a look at what these nutrients are and where you can find them...

https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2020/05/disclosed-4-vital-supplements-for-vegan.html

DISCLOSED: 4 Vital Supplements for a Vegan Diet Most important vitamins for vegans. The top 4 vitamins vegans must be sure to include in their diet.

Have you noticed there are different versions of Heinz Tomato Soup? This post outlines the differences - calories and nutrition.

https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2020/04/heinz-tomato-soups-comparison.html

Heinz Tomato Soups – Comparison Heinz Tomato Soups - Original, Organic and No Added Sugar - how do they differ?

I'm a snacker which means if I want to avoid weight gain, I need to keep an eye on how many calories my snacks have. There are loads of new so called healthy snacks appearing in stores each week and you really need to be aware of not being caught out by the clever marketing on the packets. I was caught out recently as I share in my latest blog post.

https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2020/03/i-thought-i-was-savvy-when-it-comes-to.html

Crunchy Sh*take Mushroom Snacks - Healthy or not? Crunchy Sh*take Mushroom snacks - healthy or not?

If you buy Alpro plant based alternative to dairy milks, you might have noticed they've recently changed the packaging design. Alpro say 'don't worry, it's the same yummy taste.'

But as a long time Alpro Soya Light drinker, I was worried! Even more so when I noticed the ingredients are different. So what's changed?

The calories: not much change, the new version has 28 calories per 100ml instead of 27.

Sugars: New version - 1.5g per 100ml instead of 1.4g,

Ingredients: New version - 5.6% soya beans compared with 4.1% soya beans in the old version. They have also changed maltodextrin to soluble corn fibre, but I discovered this is really the same thing. It's generally used to replace sugar in lower calorie foods, or to improve or thicken the texture. It does have a high GI value so can cause a spike in blood sugar, but the overall sugar levels in Alpro Soya Light are very low at only 1.5g per 100ml, just a third of a teaspoon of sugar.

And the taste: It tastes just the same to me so I'm happy. 🙂

Here's my latest blog review - Oppo individual ice cream sticks. Lower sugar than regular chocolate covered ice cream sticks and lower calories. Read about them here:

https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2019/10/oppo-ice-cream-sticks-review.html

Oppo Ice Cream Sticks Review Oppo Ice Cream stick review - how many calories, what do they taste like?

Deliciously Ella Nut Butter Balls Review Deliciously Ella Nut Butter Balls review - how many calories, what do they taste like and are they healthy?

Have you tried kombucha yet? Not only is it naturally low in calories, it has all sort of health benefits, especially for gut health. Here's my review on one brand of kombucha by Pro Fusion.
https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2019/09/kombucha-drink-by-pro-fusion-review.html

Kombucha Drink by Pro Fusion Review Kombucha low calorie healthy and natural fizzy drink. Just 18 calories per 100ml. Review of Pro Fusion Organic Kombucha

Protein balls are all the rage, but are they healthy? And what about the calories - will they ruin your diet? Check out my latest review for Missfits Protein Wonderballs

https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2019/09/missfits-protein-wonderballs-review.html

Missfits Protein Wonderballs Review Missfits high protein balls review - nutrition and calories. Cacao protein balls just 20 calories each.

Mochi Ice Cream Little Moons Vanilla Review Calories in mochi ice cream balls. Vanilla mochi just 73 calories each. Read my Little Moons Vanilla mochi review.

Lotus Biscuits are still so popular. They were one of the first biscuits I ever wrote about and here is the French version - Speculoos!

https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2011/01/lotus-original-caramelised-biscuit.html

Lotus - The Original Caramelised Biscuit Lotus biscuits review, nutrition and calories. Only 37 calories per biscuit.

Sainsbury's Apple & Cinnamon Rice Cakes review - each large rice cake has just 35 calories.
https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2019/08/sainsburys-apple-cinnamon-rice-cakes.html

Sainsbury's Apple & Cinnamon Rice Cakes Review Rice Cakes Apple & Cinnamon, low calorie, low fat. Review for Sainsbury's Apple & Cinnamon rice cakes.

This week I tested the new Cadbury Dairy Milk 30% less sugar chocolate bar. Find out how it compares with Cadbury Dairy Milk regular chocolate - calories, nutrition and taste!

https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2019/08/cadbury-dairy-milk-chocolate-30-less.html

Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate 30% less Sugar Review Cadbury Dairy Milk less sugar chocolate. How many calories in Cadbury less sugar chocolate? How does Cadbury less sugar chocolate compare with regular Dairy Milk? Check out my nutrition comparison to see how they compare.

If you love ice cream but are concerned about the calories, there lots of lower calorie ice creams which taste 'almost' as good as the original full fat, full sugar version. Halo Top have a great range of ice creams in tubs and now these Halo Top Ice Lollies. They all have 100 calories or less per lolly.

https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2019/08/halo-top-peanut-butter-ice-cream-sticks.html

Halo Top Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sticks Review Halo Top Low Calorie Ice Cream sticks review - peanut butter swirl. Just 100 calories per stick and less than 100 calories for other flavours

Kinder Ice Cream Sticks - 62 calories each - review on the blog today

Revamped Marks & Spencer alternative to dairy milks - new Plant Kitchen nut, oat and soy milks.

https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2019/07/m-plant-kitchen-alternative-to-dairy.html

M&S Plant Kitchen Alternative to Dairy Milks Marks and Spencer alternative milk range - plant kitchen dairy free milks calories and nutrition and ingredients

Be Quick!
Do you want to earn £5,000 while eating your regular diet? If you eat mainly 'beige' food, a supplement company is offering 3 people the chance to earn £5,000 to test their multi vitamin supplement for one month while eating their usual food.

https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2019/07/earn-5000-if-you-eat-beige-food-be-quick.html

Earn £5,000 if you eat beige food - be quick! Earn £5,000 for testing a multi vitamin pill - if you eat a beige diet.

Have you tried the new Alpro Caffe range? There are 2 delicious flavours - Hazelnut or Caramel. Low in sugar, low fat, and the Hazelnut has just 31 calories per 100ml. https://www.dietsandcalories.com/2019/07/alpro-caffe-coffee-hazelnut-drink-review.html
😋😍

Alpro Caffe Coffee & Hazelnut Drink Review Alpro Caffe drinks review. Alpro caffe with hazelnut drink only 31 calories per 100ml.