Eight Most Fattening Fall Foods
Sad about the mashed potatoes and apple pie.
From Newsweek:
Oct. 1, 2007 - The leaves start turning, the wind gets cold, and all you want to do is curl up with delicious but heavy autumn treats. And even though our fall favorites aren't exactly known as diet foods, their calorie counts might still surprise you. Turns out Thanksgiving essentials aren't the only figure-busting culprits. Here's a list of the worst eight:
1. Halloween candy With all the bowls and bags of bite-size treats around the house, it's all too tempting to steal a few. But those tiny chocolate bars are more of a trick than a treat. Eat just four "bite size" bars and you're up to 320 calories. Twenty pieces of candy corn will cost you 100 calories, and just 25 jelly beans add up to 140 calories.
2. Mashed potatoes They are the quintessential comfort food for fall. But watch out before taking seconds: weighed down with milk and butter, mashed potatoes usually have about 200 calories in a half-cup serving.
3. Venti Pumpkin Spice Latte Starbucks drinks are notoriously high in calories, and their autumn special is no exception. The Venti Pumpkin Spice Latte weighs in at 510 calories and 20 grams of fat.
4. Apple pie A Thanksgiving dinner is never complete without a slice of apple pie. But with more than 400 calories and 20 grams of fat, this might be one dessert you shouldn't be saving room for. Add a scoop of ice cream (who doesn't?) and you're up to 530 calories. It might just be enough to last you until next fall.
5. Cider Who doesn't love a cup of warm cider? You might not want to skip this traditional treat altogether, but with a sugar-laden 200 calories in 16 ounces, the sweet drink should probably be considered a dessert substitute rather than a beverage.
6. Stuffing At 358 calories and 18 grams of fat per cup, there's a reason they call it stuffing. The high-carb turkey companion may be appearing on lots of menus this fall, not to mention its starring role on Thanksgiving Day, but take it easy if you're trying to keep the fall weight gain to a minimum.
7. Candy apple An apple alone is a pretty healthy fall fruit somewhere in the 60-100 calorie range. Coat it in caramel, however, and you have quite a different story. A large candy apple with caramel usually weighs in around 540 calories. Avoiding this autumn treat will be a boon for your dental bills and your figure.
8. Turducken This combo wonderbird is a trendy entree you might want to forgo. It contains turkey, duck and chicken wrapped together for a new twist on the usual Thanksgiving meal. In terms of your diet, that twist may be for the worse: one serving of Turducken has 749 calories and 34.5 grams of fat. Try limiting yourself to one bird and skip the crispy skin. A three-ounce serving of skinless turkey has 130 calories.