Sunday lunch is hard to get around!
Cor! Get a load of that!
Roast Dinner
This is a typical Sunday roast. Very rarely are they not yummy if your mummy has made it! It is eaten in homes across the country and is seen as quintessentially British. Traditionally, the roast dinner was the Sunday treat and the rest of the joint of meat (or a chicken) would be used over the forthcoming week. Bones could be used for stock, giblets can be used for… well, use your imagination and do your own research, I’m starting to feel queasy!
The calories in a roast dinner will obviously vary depending on the trimmings you have with them. Green veggies are good for you and don’t have many calories in so we can discount them comfortably. The problem comes in with your potatoes, parsnips, yorkshire pudding, gravy, sauces (e.g. bread, horseradish, cranberry), stuffing, crackling etc. Then of course, there is dessert which might typically be bread and butter pudding, lemon meringue or a warm apple crumble with ice cream. In food heaven just thinking about it aren’t you? We need to snap out of it! I make my bread and butter pudding with Bailey’s Irish Cream and it is incredible! It’s moist, alcoholic and I could happily munch on it now at 9.38am!
How many calories do you think there are in a roast dinner? Sit down because I would hate you to faint with shock… roast dinners can vary from around 750 calories to 1500 calories! Have you got the shakes? I have! You could be consuming over half of your daily allotted calories before dessert! Then factor in a glass of wine if you’re being social with the family around the dinner table… It is a dieter’s nightmare!
How can you get around the calories in a roast dinner?
First of all, if you’re only eating a roast dinner once a week and being ‘good’ for the rest of the week then don’t get too upset about it, you are allowed some normality! You should not forgo eating with your family because of your diet. How many times do I have to tell you? Dieting is meant to enhance your life, not limit it. There are steps you can take to make your Sunday roast more diet friendly.
- Avoid sauces or don’t pile sauce on your plate. Do you really need a tablespoon of Bernaise or Hollandaise when a teaspoon will suffice?
- Depending on how you make it, gravy isn’t too awful for dieters but do try and cut down as home made gravy can contain up to 162 calories per serving. Onion gravy is better for dieter than say, a meaty gravy but it is all down to preference. I don’t even eat gravy with a roast and most people find that rather strange.
- A Sunday roast dinner could be made up of almost 3/4 carbohydrates! Try and limit your potatoes, parsnips and yorkshire pudding and fill up on your steamed green veggies.
- Be social as you eat. Talk to your fellow diners and savour your food. If you put your knife and fork down between mouthfuls and chew your food properly you will probably feel full before you actually finish what is on your plate. Too often I feel uncomfortably full after eating a roast dinner and that is usually because I have eaten too quickly and didn’t recognise that I was becoming full.
Nobody cooks a big roast dinner just for themselves. A Sunday dinner is usually a social family event and should remain as one. If you are conscious about being on a diet and feel guilty for eating a roast, encourage your family to do something active after dinner. If you need a half hour nap after eating, have your nap and then as a family do something active like go for a long walk, go for a bike ride or play a ball game down at your local park. Family time doesn’t just have to revolve around food, you can all spend time together being active, bowling, go-karting, skiing or just paddling in the sea is great!
Now for Sunday’s food diary:
Breakfast: None – woke up too late
Lunch: Bread, pate and hummus. Roast lamb chop, carrot (raw) and mashed potato. Apple pie, warm strawberries and single cream followed by black coffee. (I had a glass of red wine with my meal)
Dinner: A slice of toast and I picked at Sunday roast leftovers so a little bit of chicken, a parsnip, cooked carrot, broccoli and a roast potato. Then a medium sized slice of coconut cake.
Proactol: Only 2, I forgot to bring the packet with me to dinner.
Exercise: None, I was resting after a very busy Saturday!
Holy cow! I had no idea that roast could contain so many calories. That’s as bad as some of the fast food meals! Thanks for pointing out the great ideas to save some calories and still enjoy the meal!