We often hear “everything in moderation” except when it comes to condiments.
Lets say you had maple syrup at breakfast, ranch dressing or mayo at lunch and bbq sauce at dinner. Considering people can easily use 2-4 tablespoons of each at once, that adds up to an extra 230-600 calories a day just from sauces! 300 calories per day can amount to 3lbs of fat over a month and 36 lbs of fat over a year!! (3500 calories =1lb)
Considering as little as a 200-250 calorie surplus or deficit per day can be the difference between losing weight or gaining weight, it can amount to sabotage. These sauces are often high in sugar, saturated + polyunsaturated fat which makes them potentially unhealthy as well, especially when consumed in a caloric surplus.
Ignorance when it comes to sauces wont cut it as you can see from this chart https://www.calories.info/food/sauces-dressings , it's something that must be tracked and/or altered as the math will show.
Here are some of the most common saboteurs: (Per 1 Tablespoon)
Tartar sauce (30 calories per tbsp)
BBQ sauce(30 calories per tbsp) Syrup (50 calories per tbsp) Ranch (73 calories per tbsp) Creamy pasta sauces (75 calories per tbsp) Mayo (94 calories per tbsp)
Strawberry jam (50 calories per tbsp) Honey mustard (73 calories per tablespoon)
So what can we do? Lets hack it of course!
1. You can choose fat free and lower sugar options to lessen the calories
2. If you're a regular sauce user , start tracking and read labels! Awareness drives discipline
3. We often become accustomed to adding sauces without tasting the food first, You may find the food doesn't need it
4. Experiment with different seasoning combinations for home made sauces
5. Dilute popular sauces and condiments to “stretch” them further
6. Mix popular sauces with lower calorie healthy alternatives mentioned below
7. Find lower calorie options of your favorite sauces (mayo light, fat free ranch, low fat sour cream etc)
Alternatives and Ideas
Mustards (0-5 cals per tbsp)
Salsas !!!! (5-10 cals per tbsp)
Low sodium soy sauces(8 cals per tbsp)
Using plain greek yogurt or cottage cheese as a base and then mixing sauces in!!!! (10 cals per tbsp)
Flavored hot sauces (sriracha, franks) (0 cals per tbsp)
Taco sauce (10 cals per tbsp)
Popcorn seasoning (0 cals per tbsp)
Low calorie/sugar ketchup (10 cals per tbsp)
Tomato sauce (5 cals per tbsp)
Sugar free syrups, sugar free great tasting sauces such as walden farms (0 cals per tbsp)
Other ideas
Green chilli sauce (5 cals per tbsp)
Homemade sauces (0 cals per tbsp)
Lemon juices (0 cals per tbsp)
Taco seasoning packets (0 cals per tbsp)
Hummus (not very low in calories but more filling therefore will incentivize less consumption)
When you apply these alternatives in conjunction with each other it gets even better!
NOTE: More ideas for hacking your diet will be apart of my volumizing diet program which will be available soon.
Which ones did you like or do you already use?
Let us know in the comments and please subscribe to be notified of future articles!!!
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