Summer is upon us and if you're like the millions of Americans who are fighting the battle of the bulge, you know what a drag it is to count calories. Yet there's no getting away from the fact that portion control and exercise are the key ingredients to any successful diet. But take heart! There are virtually "0" calories and no fat in a cup of coffee, even the flavored K-cups from OCC that you use in your Keurig! You'll also be happy to know that coffee has no carbohydrates, no sodium and no cholesterol. In fact, coffee is exempt from Federal food label programs precisely because of this plethora of zero's. The only time coffee becomes fattening is when we start adding other "stuff" to it. For example, one tablespoon of heavy whipping cream adds 52 calories; a tablespoon of table sugar, 49 calories; the same tablespoon of either half-and-half or fat free milk will add 20 or 5 calories, respectively. Some gourmet coffees from specialty chains have so many added calories, just one cup can use up over 700 of your daily calorie allotment!
Newest aids on the diet scene? An ingeniously clever, although not entirely perfect, app for your iphone or ipad called Meal Snap that allows you to take a picture of your meal and get a calorie count before you eat it! The app also allows you to indicate whether your snapshot represents a specific meal or a snack and keeps a running tally of your daily caloric intake. Next step to calorie control? How about a robot that eats your food for you and another that energetically performs your exercise routine - sounds perfect to us just as long as those robots keep their paws off our cup of coffee!
