Eating fewer biscuits
Fat - The Basics
“Eating a few biscuits could add the calorie-equivalent of a 4th meal to your daily eating plan!”
“The calories in a single biscuit can range from 25 calories for a Rich Tea finger to 90 plus calories for a large chocolate digestive, or a premium/luxury/finest type. That means three of these contain more calories than a low calorie sandwich (about 250 calories)”, points out nutritionist Pinal Patel.
“The trick is to make sure you have an alternative to hand – having biscuits in cupboards, draws at work or even out on the shelves in tins, makes it all too easy to grab ‘just one’ as you pass by”, warns Pinal.
“Not having them around, not buying them and a little (okay a lot!) will power is going to really help you cut down ‘snacking’ on biscuits. Work out the danger times and places when you’re most likely to eat biscuits and adopt an alternative habit e.g. having a low calorie drink, such as water, fruit/herbal tea” adds Pinal.
Common Fat Myths and Misconceptions
- “I need to eat something to take my medication” – Certain medication should not be taken on an empty stomach (some medication though is designed to be taken without food). Speak to your local pharmacist and ask them if your particular medication should be taken on an empty stomach or with food. Prescription medication will have this information with the dosage instructions.
Fat - Tips and Tricks
- Not keeping biscuits in the home is an option worth considering – keeping biscuits in the cupboard is creating a temptation that is so easily given in to.
- Low fat biscuits are low in fat but not necessarily low in calories – compare the calories per 100g with a standard version of the biscuit to see if you are actually getting fewer calories for your money, or paying more money for the same calories!
- As a guideline, low fat biscuits contain around 15g fats per 100g (with a calorie content of 447kcal per 100g). A single low fat biscuit is about 0.8-1.5% fat (containing 25-40 calories each biscuit).
- The workplace is not an environment you can control as easily as your home – colleagues may not share your enthusiasm to ban biscuits from the tea club! Chances are though that at least some of them would like to manage their weight, so it may be worth discussing an agreement to support one another to eat more healthily.
- If you eat biscuits several hours before breakfast to take your morning medication, check with the pharmacist whether you can take the medication on an empty stomach – if not, delay the dose until your breakfast meal.
- Buying smaller biscuits such as Rich Tea Fingers as opposed to the larger Rich Tea round biscuit may help control your overall calorie intake from biscuits.
- Buying biscuits in packets of two-three could help with portion control. Examples of biscuits available in 2-3 items per pack include McVitie’s Go Ahead, Weight Watchers, and Sainsbury’s Be Good To Yourself.
- Make an effort to eat regular starch-based meals to help keep your blood sugar level stable and reduce the risk of going for the biscuits to feed the need.
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