Maintaining a healthy diet requires you pay attention to your food choices. If keeping your weight down is a goal, the combination of excess calories, carbohydrates and fat can be detrimental, according to the American Council on Exercise. To keep from unintentionally sabotaging your own efforts, it helps to know which foods are high in both.
Peanut Butter and Jelly
The peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a childhood memory for many. It's also high in both fat and carbohydrates. The peanut butter is high in fat, although the fat is primarily unsaturated and heart-healthy. A large dose of carbohydrates comes from the simple sugars in the jelly, and the starches in the bread. While a poor choice for dieters, the PB&J is packed with energy and is often eaten by endurance athletes. A peanut butter sandwich made with white bread, 2 tbsp. of peanut butter and 2 tbsp. of jelly contains 80g of carbohydrates, 16g of fat and about 500 calories
Pizza
Plain pizza is high in carbohydrates due to the dough, and high inf fat due to the cheese and oil. Additional toppings, such as pepperoni, sausage and meatballs, can take the fat content significantly higher. Still more fattening are Chicago-style, deep-dish pizzas, which are thicker, and practically fried in a layer of oil at the bottom of the pan. According to CNN, even John Schnatter, CEO of a Papa John's, popular pizza chain has publicly warned against overindulgence in pizza. One plain slice of pizza contains around 10g of fat, 34g of carbohydrates and around 400 calories.
Muffins
Although quick breakfast food, muffins may be higher in both fat and carbohydrates than you realize. Muffins are high in carbohydrates due to their combination of flour and sugar. Most muffins are also high in fat due to butter used in the baking. Care2.com, a healthy-living website even goes as far as to call muffins "cupcakes for adults." A large blueberry muffin packs over 500 calories, with 27g of fat and 69g of carbohydrates.
Fettuccine Alfredo
Fettuccine Alfredo contains an enormous amount of calories from both carbohydrates and fat. Alfredo sauce gets its high fat content from cream cheese and butter. The fettuccine itself adds a large dose of carbohydrates. In total, a single 10 oz. serving contains 11g of fat, 52g of carbohydrates and 360 calories. Many restaurant servings are considerably larger than 10 oz.
References
- CNN.com: Papa John's Founder Warns Against Eating Too Much Pizza
- "ACE Personal Trainer Manual: The Ultimate Resource for Fitness Professionals, 3rd Edition"; Cedric X. Bryant and Daniel J. Green; 2003
- Care2.com: Top 12 Dangerous Muffins
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