Ever wondered if there are calories in toothpaste? The short and simple answer is yes, most toothpastes contain calories. In fact, a typical toothpaste from your local supermarket contains about 1 calorie per 100 grams. From a dietary perspective this is a negligible quantity, especially if you don’t swallow when you brush.
So don’t worry, even if you eat a whole tube every day (please do not eat toothpaste!) you will not add anything to your daily calorie count.
Which Toothpaste Ingredient has Calories?
Even so, it is interesting to think about calories in toothpaste. Why would there be calories in toothpaste? Are there carbs in toothpaste? Sugar? Fat? Let’s take a look the ingredients list of a common big brand toothpaste like Colgate:
If you’ve read our post on emulsifiers, you will recognise the carrageenan and cellulose gum right away. We know that many of these types of food additives are manufactured from seaweed, so perhaps they’re the source of the calories? Nope. They do contain food energy, but they’re in such tiny concentrations in toothpaste as to make their calorie contribution undetectable.
Carbohydrates in Toothpaste
To the untrained eye, none of the other ingredients look like calorie containing compounds. However, any first year chemistry student will immediately understand that the glycerin is the most likely source. Glycerin, or Glycerine, or more properly Glycerol, is classed as a carbohydrate. It has a calorie count similar to that of common household sugar (sucrose).
Glycerol belongs to the Polyol, or sugar alcohol, chemical group. It complements the saccharin to make toothpaste taste sweet. Unlike sugar it does not feed the mouth bacteria which cause tooth decay. It also acts as a humectant and solvent in the toothpaste.
Glycerol, then is the main source of calories in toothpaste. If your toothpaste does not contain glycerol, it is likely substituted with some other sugar alcohol like xylitol or sorbitol. All of these polyols have sugar-like calorie counts.
Our simple list of low carb bread available in Australia, ranked from lowest to highest carbohydrates per 100 grams. We pulled up over 2000 types and brands of bread available in Australian supermarkets, restaurants, corner shops, artisanal markets and online stores. In keeping with our focus on everyday food for regular people, we chose only the breads widely available almost anywhere in Australia.
Lowest to Highest Carbs in Australian Bread
We sorted the data by carb content from the lowest to the highest and chose the top seventeen. Then, we added the one at the bottom of the list (most carbs per 100g) for comparison purposes.
Macro Lower Carb Linseed & Sunflower Bread Rolls
Whilst not actually a loaf of bread, we could not very well leave these lowest carb bread rolls out on a technicality! Macro Lower Carb Linseed and Sunflower Bread Rolls contain a measly 4.5 grams of carbs per 100g. They’re high in protein with about 85% less carbs by weight than typical bread. Each serve contains 20 grams of protein.
Herman Brot Lower Carb Bread
Herman Brot Lower Carb Bread contains just 5.4 grams of carbohydrates per 100g, making it the second lowest carb bread in Australia. Impressively, this loaf delivers fully 25.6g protein per 100 grams.
Burgen Bread Wholemeal & Seeds
There is a massive step-up from the second to the third-least carbs bread in Australia. Even so, Burgen Wholemeal and Seeds bread boasts a low 23.2 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams.
Burgen Bread Soy-Lin
Another Burgen bread comes in at number 4, probably indicating that they keep things uniform over at Tip Top. Burgen Soy-Lin has 24 grams of carbs per 100 grams, just managing to stay below the quarter mark.
Helga’s Low Carb Wholemeal & Seed Bread
Helga’s Lower Carb Wholemeal & Seed has 30% less carbohydrate (27.2g/100g) and 50% more protein (12.9g/100g) than Helga‘s Traditional Wholemeal Bread (carbohydrate: 40.6g/100g, protein: 8.1g/100g).
Helga’s Lower Carb Bread 5 Seeds
Next up is Helga’s Lower Carb 5 Seeds, which has 30% less carbohydrate (28.2g/100g) and 30% more protein (13.4g/100g) than Helga‘s Mixed Grain Bread (carbohydrate: 42.7g/100g, protein: 8.4g/100g).
Helga’s Lower Carb Bread Soy & Toasted Sesame
Another Helga option, this Soy & Toasted Sesame one also has 28.2 grams of carbs per 100 grams.
One 80g serve of Macro Ancient Grains Wholemeal Bread is made with ancient grains and sprouted seeds. A high protein and very high fibre bread that comes in at just under 30 grams of carbohydrates per 100g.
Burgen Wholegrain & Oats Bread
The final Burgen bread on this list is Burgen Wholegrain & Oats. It contains 29.8g carbs per 100g.
HAS NO Gluten Free Seeded Bread
This creatively named bread has no gluten and is the first of the bunch to crack into the 30g carbs per 100g range.
King Henry’s Bakehouse Rye Bread
King Henry’s Bakehouse Rye bread is made from whole rye meal flour and contains 30 grams of carbohydrates in each 100 gram weight.
Coles Gluten Free Soy & Linseed Bread
Coles Gluten Free Soy & Linseed Bread is 30% carbohydrates by weight (30g carbs/100g).
Aldi Kornig Seeds & Grains Bread
“Kornig” means “grainy” in German, as in “Aldi Grainy Seeds & Grains Bread”. This wholegrain bread has 31 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams of bread.
Coles Gluten Free Five Seed Bread
The Five Seed variant of Coles’ Gluten Free bread range contains 31 grams of carbs per 100g. This means that it has just 3% more carbs than the Soy and Linseed product.
Tip Top 9 Grain Wholemeal Bread
2, 3, 4, even 5 grains not doing it for you? Here’s 9! Tip Top 9 Grain Wholemeal Bread has 30.6 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams. Now, if only there was a 10, or 11, or 12, or….
La Famiglia Garlic Bread Entertainer Slices
This La Famiglia Kitchen Garlic Bread (32g carbs/100g) is a cheeky addition, because the flavoured butter topping dilutes the carb content even whilst taking the overall calorie count into the stratosphere. The actual bread content of this product is not low carb. We included this to give you an insight into why food labels alone can be deceptive. Any bread can be part of a low carb diet if it makes up a relatively small proportion of said diet.
NOT Low Carb! Coles Bakery Multigrain
We’ve included this final entry to give you an idea of what high carb bread looks like. With a massive 64 grams of carbs per 100g, Coles Bakery Multigrain Bread has the most carbohydrates by weight. This is exactly twice as many carbs as the garlic bread featured on our list.
Low Carb Bread can be Deceptive
When you are following a low carbohydrate diet and refuse to give up bread, there are some real options like the first two items on this list. However, for all the others, the real issue becomes one of portion control and food choice. If you eat one hundred grams of low carb bread, you are eating the same carbs as someone who eats 50 grams of the high carb type. Thus, 50g of high carb bread plus 50g of roast beef (100g) has the same carbs as 50g of low carb bread with a 50g topping of banana (also 100g). In both scenarios, you would eat about 30g carbs!
Pecan versus walnut, which to choose? Pecans and Walnuts are from the same Hickory fruit family and thus often mistaken for each other. Pecans are more popular, probably because they are generally cheaper, sweeter, and smaller. In some ways walnuts are more nutritious, but they’re bitterer and less versatile. Here’s how these two nuts compare in calories, nutrients, taste, and origin:
Pecan VS Walnut Taste
Pecans have a rich, creamy flavour whilst walnuts taste fruity, with a bitter edge. Both are usually cooked (toasted or roasted) before sale to reduce bitterness, kill fungus, and enhance their natural nutty flavours. The milder taste of pecans makes them ideal for sweet desserts, whilst walnuts do better in muesli and savoury dishes. Both walnuts and pecans taste less bitter when their brown skin is removed. A recent poll in Box Hill North, Melbourne found that most people prefer the taste of pecans over walnuts.
Pecan VS Walnut Nutrition and Calories
Pecans and walnuts have a similar amount of calories. Depending on the way each has been processed, any given batch of walnuts might have a higher calorie count than an equivalent batch of pecans, and vice-versa. The difference depends on water content (the drier the nut, the more calories by weight it has). For the most popular types of walnut and pecan sold in Australia, pecans have 712 calories (2980kJ) per 100g, whilst walnuts have 717 calories (3000kJ).
Of course, being nuts (or more correctly nut-like stone fruit seeds), both walnuts and pecans are high calorie foods. You can read about why that is so here, in our post about cashew nuts. In a nutshell, they contain lots of oil/fat.
Protein is the Difference
Walnuts have 50% more protein than pecans (15g/100g compared to 10g/100g). Pecans on the other hand have less saturated fat (5g/100g) than walnuts (7g/100g). Both walnuts and pecans contain a massive 72 grams of fat in total per 100 grams. Pecans have more sugar (4g compared to 2g), perhaps explaining why they are sweeter.
Micronutrient Dense
Both Pecans and walnuts are packed with micronutrients, especially B vitamins and magnesium, zinc, copper, phosphorous, and iron. Walnuts tend to have more than twice the folate and Vitamin B6 than pecans, whilst the reverse is true in the case of Vitamin A and E. In either case, 100 grams covers just about the entire daily recommended dosage of B vitamins and magnesium, copper, and zinc.
They both also contain phytochemicals like polyphenols which may have health benefits like cancer prevention. It is a good idea to include phytochemical-rich foods in the diet, in moderation. Whilst there are many benefits to eating them, too-high concentrations of specific compounds may interfere with hormonal balance.
Pecan VS Walnut Colour and Appearance
Whole walnuts are generally bigger than pecans. They’re also rounder, paler, and shaped more like a brain. Overall, walnuts appear wilder, with fractal protuberances on the surface. Pecans have a distinct straight ridge running down their middle. Even though they look quite different in raw form, pecans and walnuts are often confused for each other when chopped up in a salad or baked in a pastry. When shelled, both have a bumpy surface covered in a smooth, thin brown skin which can be peeled off. Pecan skins are usually of a darker hue than walnuts.
Pecan VS Walnut Tree
Pecans and walnuts are the inner parts of the seed of different varieties of Hickory fruits. This means that neither walnuts nor pecans are true botanical nuts, even though some experts choose to disagree. To the layperson, pecan and walnut Hickory trees are virtually identical until they start producing fruit. Both grow to a height of about 40 metres and lose their leaves in autumn.
Technically, both walnut and pecan husks develop from the bracts and bracteoles, but walnut husks also grow from the sepals, or sometimes the sepals only. Enough to say that you’d have to be a botanist to figure out the exact differences between the two trees.
Pecans VS Walnuts in Baking
Given their similar origin, fat and water content, and nutritional profile, it is perfectly safe to substitute pecans for walnuts and vice versa in any recipe. Walnuts, being less sweet, may require slightly more sweetener. Their higher protein content may make for a chewier bake than a pecan variant. Walnuts are also bitterer, hence the vastly greater popularity of pecan in baked goods compared to walnut pie. Walnuts tend to be folded into breads or dispersed throughout cake or muffin batter, rather than concentrated in pie filling or tart topping in the the way pecans are.
Conclusion
The choice between pecans and walnuts comes down to two things: personal taste and protein. If you are keen to get as much protein as you can from the nut component of your diet, chose walnuts. Otherwise, choose whichever tickles your tastebuds more. Either way, you will be eating a high-calorie, nutritious, Hickory fruit seed packed with vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals.
Freemans Organic Farm, located in Queensland’s Currumbin Valley deep in the Gold Coast Hinterland is nothing short of a national treasure. The farm has been growing some of the finest fruit and vegetables in the country for generations (since 1915 in fact!).
Organic produce, unlike the regular type, is produced according to certified standards of practice involving the cycling of resources, promoting ecological balance, and conserving biodiversity. In Australia, the NASAA standards apply.
All well and good, but what sort of calorie counts do organic fruit and veg of the type produced by the Freeman’s have? After calculating your calorie deficit, you will want to know how much of this good stuff you can eat per day. Use the calcount Food Search Box or take a quick look at this table:
As expected, the calcount database holds that organic fruit and vegetables are low in calories and nutrient rich. One expects that the depth of micro-nutrients found in organically grown produce exceeds that of “regular” produce. In the case of Freeman’s farm, the highly arable volcanic soil undoubtedly transfers a plethora of minerals into the product of their sustainable labour.
The next time you are up Tomewin Mountain Road, why not stop over at this magnificent 25 acre organic farm and sample some of the produce? The crew at Freemans Organic Farm have been conducting guided tours and manning their stall for years. Head on over to their website for more information!
Next time you do a pantry refill, consider this list of low calorie snacks from Coles. Arranged from low to high, these Coles brand snacks contain less than 100 calories per serve. Remember that, whilst the per serve calorie count might be low, the standardised 100g count could be much higher. In other words, stick to the one serve recommended on the pack to get the low calorie effect.
100 calories is about 5% toward a daily target of between 1500 and 2000 calories. None of the pantry snacks listed here would make any nutritionist’s “most nutritious foods” list, but there are many worse options out there. People in the real world eat snacks bought from the supermarket and stored on shelves in their home. Such people, like us, have the option of choosing low calorie items rather than high calorie ones like these 289 calorie behemoths.
Click the food name to visit its calcount Nutrition Facts panel:
Coles Original Rice Cakes have 24 calories per serve. They might be the lowest calorie snack, but they are quite insubstantial. It is very hard to eat just one serve.
With 41 calories per serve, Coles Wafer Thin Original Crackers are an archetypical diet food. You will be satisfied if you like your crackers bland and crunchy.
Coming in at twice the calories (56 per serve) of rice cakes, Coles Gingernut Biscuits are possibly the lowest calorie properly flavoured bikkies available.
For those who like their low calorie snacks to be fancy, there is Coles Finest Artisan Kale and Caramelised Onion Crispbread. The name’s a mouthful but the product packs just 85 calories per serve.
Coles Honeycomb Whirls Chocolate Biscuits have 86 calories per serve.
The key takeaway from this list is that, to stay below 100 calories per snack, it is important to eat just one serve. Of course you will do better to eat raw carrot sticks or celery or apple instead of bikkies and microwave popcorn, but you can still manage a low calorie plan if you stick to the serving suggestion!
Overcooked bacon might not be appetising, but there’s an overwhelmingly good reason you should prefer it to perfectly done bacon. And don’t be put off by its appearance, there are ways to make it look and taste better.
Bacon Calories
There’s no way to sugar-coat it (although sugar-coated bacon is a thing): bacon is a staggeringly high-calorie food. One single 28 gram rasher of untrimmed raw middle bacon contains a heart-stopping 87 calories! That’s one reason why a burger with bacon packs way more calories than one without. In our view, anything you can do to reduce the calories in bacon (assuming you cannot resist eating it) is a good thing!
Cooked Bacon has Fewer Calories
So things can get confusing when you look at nutrition data for cooked and uncooked versions of the same food. On a weight-for weight basis, cooked bacon has far more calories than uncooked bacon. 100 grams of cooked bacon has 432 calories, whilst 100 grams of raw bacon has “just” 312. This is true, however for practical purposes misleading. Since most people do not eat raw bacon, we need to compare calorie values for cooked versus uncooked weight. Bacon loses 60% of its weight when “cooked to perfection”, so the 100 gram raw bacon (312kcal) becomes 40 grams of cooked bacon worth 172 calories!
In the example of a single 28 gram (raw weight) rasher, the calorie count drops from 87 calories to 48 calories in an 11 gram cooked rasher. The cooked bacon has lost water and oil through the cooking process, making it more concentrated nutritionally, but with fewer calories overall thanks to the reduced fat content.
Overcooked bacon has even Fewer Calories!
The more you cook bacon, the more fat is rendered, until you are left with nothing but the bits that don’t melt. If you cook it really slowly, the bacon will not burn to an inedible crisp of carbon, even if by most accounts it will be overcooked. That is the one overwhelmingly good reason to prefer overcooked bacon to the normal version. Each gram of lost weight through cooking results in a calorie lessening at the rate of more than 2 per gram. There’s probably a loss curve with diminishing returns, but you get the point.
Just remember that the calories have not disappeared, they are simply in the pan grease. Make your cooked bacon even less calorific by blotting it with a paper towel before tucking in!
Overcooked Bacon is Better
Overcooked bacon does not have to be tossed out. Unless it is properly burned to an acrid crunch, you will enjoy the extra crispiness and it is not in any way “bad” for you. There is some research which indicates that any sort of charred meat should be eaten sparingly, but the jury is still out. Best of all, you can crush it to make “bacon bits” which infuse anything with that distinctive bacon flavour and aroma.
How do the calories and macros in My Muscle Chef’s 7 most popular meals stack up? Let’s peel back the vacuum-sealed polypropylene and start counting!
Who or What is My Muscle Chef?
NSW-headquartered My Muscle Chef is in the business of delivering microwavable ready-to-eat packaged meals. Their ideal customer is someone who wants to take the grunt work out of meal planning and prep yet still eat proper food according to a right-sized macronutrient plan.
My Muscle Chef Meals
They have a rapidly expanding menu of almost 100 different options, but according to our research seven meals stand out. In ascending order of popularity:
1 Spinach Ricotta Ravioli in Pumpkin Sauce
The seventh most popular meal delivered by My Muscle Chef is Spinach Ricotta Ravioli in Pumpkin Sauce. Simply, it is ravioli stuffed with ricotta and spinach filling, coated in chopped spinach and pumpkin sauce.
Calories in My Muscle Chef Ricotta Ravioli in Pumpkin Sauce
There are 441 calories (1850kJ) in each 300 gram serve of My Muscle Chef Ricotta Ravioli in Pumpkin Sauce. The calories come from 51.7 grams of carbohydrates, 18 grams of fat, and 14.6 grams of protein. The carbs include 6.9 grams of sugar, and the fat includes 8.7 grams of saturated fat.
As with most other My Muscle Chef meals, food additives (in this case MSG, Alginic Acid, Disodium Inosinate) are included.
2 Vegan Chicken Satay with Cauliflower & Quinoa Rice
My Muscle Chef sells this Vegan Chicken Satay with Cauliflower and Quinoa Rice for less than 10 bucks. An authentic nutty satay sauce coats the soy-based “chicken”. These saucy textured strips sit on a bed of “rice” made from crumbled cauliflower and quinoa. Broccolini adds green.
Calories in My Muscle Chef Vegan Chicken Satay
One 320 gram serve of My Muscle Chef Vegan Chicken Satay contains 456 calories (1910kJ), 30.3 grams protein, 26.9g fat, and 19.8g carbohydrates.
A meal that blends textured “plant meat” with ancient grains and traditional South East Asian satay flavours feels frantic. We count at least 33 distinct ingredients!
3 Poached Barramundi With Tomato, Kaffir Lime & Vegetables
Yup, My Muscle Chef delivers a popular packaged fish meal which somehow manages to retain its proper flavour and texture. Poached Barramundi retains its structural integrity much better than when steamed or fried. The smothering tangy tomato sauce compensates for any microwave flavour destruction. Standard everyday veg and rice lend reassuring familiarity to the surprisingly tasty Barra.
Calories in My Muscle Chef Poached Barramundi
Weighing a relatively hefty 380 grams, one serve of My Muscle Chef Poached Barramundi contains 319 calories, equivalent to 1330 kilojoules. Macros are 42.7 grams of protein, 19.2g carbs and just 6.3 grams of fat (3.5g of which is saturated fat).
The meal has simple ingredients. Even the complex sauce is basically just tomato and onion mixed in coconut cream and lime juice.
4 Mongolian Beef with Asian Greens & Brown Rice
It is apparent that Asian cuisine options are the most popular meals delivered by My Muscle Chef. This classic Mongolian Beef with Asian Greens and Brown Rice combines the Mongolian Beef from your local suburban Chinese restaurant (complete with the same flavour enhancers and colours) with brown rice, broccolini and bok choy.
Calories in My Muscle Chef Mongolian Beef
A standard 330-gram portion of My Muscle Chef Mongolian Beef with Asian Greens and Brown Rice contains 394 calories (1650kJ). Of the 330g, 42.2g is protein, 39.5g is carbohydrate, and 5.8g is fat.
For one single good reason, Mongolian Beef is one of the most popular “Chinese Food” dishes in Australia. That reason is, simply, the distinct, familiar, deliciously oniony Mongolian Sauce flavour. The sauce is made from a wide range of natural spices and common food additives.
5 Lemongrass Turkey with Cauliflower & Quinoa Rice
Like number two on the list, this meal rests on a base of My Muscle Chef’s Cauliflower and Quinoa “rice”. What is resting on the pelletised cauli? Turkey! But, how can dry, bland, chewy turkey be popular? It seems that My Muscle Chef has found a way to make the high-protein lean goodness of turkey palatable by mincing it and stir-frying with lemongrass puree. The result is a tasty, textured wholesome meal.
Now, if only they could only find a way to make it look less like livestock fodder…
Calories in My Muscle Chef Lemongrass Turkey
A 330 gram pack of My Muscle Chef Lemongrass Turkey with Cauliflower and Quinoa Rice has 378 calories, or 1580 kilojoules. This comes from a healthy 43.5 grams of protein, 19.5g carbohydrates, and 13 grams fat.
The good protein count in this meal is because fully 40% of it is minced turkey breast. Lemongrass and shallots provide the flavour interest, whilst broccolini and green beans play second and third fiddle to the cauliflower for veggie rep.
6 Chicken & Cauliflower Bake
Chunks of baked chicken breast, cauliflower, and broccoli covered in a cheesy mustard sauce makes for a satisfyingly low-carb meal made for repeat customers. Simple flavours and easily understood nutrition account for its popularity. The lightly browned chicken and cauliflower is nicely offset by green broccoli and red capsicum.
Calories in My Muscle Chef Chicken and Cauliflower Bake
Do not be fooled by the lightness of this 300 gram serving, because each one packs 450 calories (1880kJ). The calories come from a whopping 46.1 grams of protein and 21.1 grams fat. Carbohydrates account for just 14.9 grams, more than half of which (9.9g) is sugar.
A simple meal with simple ingredients, it somehow remains interesting thanks to a flavourful sauce made with two types of cheese, Dijon Mustard, garlic, and nutmeg.
7 Beef Rendang with Vegetables & Ancient Grains
Beef Rendang, a dense curry, is the most popular meal offered by My Muscle Chef. Served dry, dark, and super spicy, Beef Rendang is a traditional Indonesian dish. Thankfully, My Muscle Chef has adapted the recipe for our local palates to make it saucier, creamier, lighter, and less hot-spicy. Even so, this curry captures the big meat chunk aesthetic and heady tropical flavours of the original.
The curry sits on Freekeh, which My Muscle Chef makes from wheat, brown rice, and quinoa (Freekeh is the product of roasting, rubbing and drying grains such as green wheat).
Authentic, nutrient-measured curry ready to eat at home in 3 minutes for less than $11? Popularity assured.
Calories in My Muscle Chef Beef Rendang
Fully 400 grams per serve, this is the biggest meal on the list. Each pack of My Muscle Chef Beef Rendang contains 616 calories, equivalent to 2850 kilojoules. The meal boasts 68.2g protein, 39.2g carbohydrates, and 18.9g fat, of which 9.7g is saturated.
Common Features
A quick review of My Muscle Chef’s 7 most popular meals turns up a few common features:
Good Portions
The meals (apart from the Rendang) hit the 300g-330g serving size mark. Considering that one single Triple Whopper from Hungry Jack’s weighs 426g, we think that the My Muscle Chef meals are big enough to fill the gap, yet small enough to encourage good habits.
Recurring Ingredients
These meals are made in a mass production facility so of course the company will try to leverage bulk purchases of raw ingredients. Thus, the most popular meals feature many of the same side ingredients (cauliflower, bok-choy, quinoa, broccolini). This is the main reason we would not recommend that any single food company become the sole provider of nutrition to anyone for an extended period.
Uniformity
When unopened, unlabeled, and stacked together, these packaged meals are indistinguishable from one another. They are delivered in no-nonsense boxes on schedule. The nutrient labels are prominent and clearly the focus and purpose of the meal. They give off a very Astronaut or Military “Meal Ready to Eat MRE” vibe. Controlled uniformity can be very appealing to people who are set on taking command of their diets, but it can be dispiriting to people who like their food with flair.
Taste
Whilst the meals include the sort of additives found in just about all processed food, a credible effort to produce “proper” food has been made. The main ingredients are whole foods for the most part and the preparation looks, feels, and tastes fresh. Not like Mum made, but streets ahead of the average supermarket packaged meal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Some oft-asked questions about My Muscle Chef are:
Are My Muscle Chef Meals healthy?
My Muscle Chef meals are much healthier than most convenience foods but less healthy than carefully planned meals made from fresh whole ingredients at home. Nutritionally well balanced, My Muscle Chef meals lean on protein rather than carbs or fat for calories. A limited stable of greens and cauliflower tick the micronutrient box.
Nope, delivered fresh, My Muscle Chef meals can last up to 10 days if stored in the fridge. They last for 12 weeks in the freezer.
Is My Muscle Chef good for Weight Loss?
My Muscle Chef meals are great for weight loss when combined with a calorie deficit plan. Well portioned meals with easily understood calorie counts can be recorded and monitored in calcount Calorie Tracker. My Muscle Chef meals tick all major nutrient boxes so cravings and uncontrollable hunger become less of a problem.
How do you Cook My Muscle Chef meals?
You do not need to cook My Muscle Chef meals. They are cooked and ready to eat. Most people choose to heat the meals using a microwave. Microwave-friendly, single-use containers make up the packaging.
Where does My Muscle Chef deliver?
If you live in a metro area you are probably covered, but check their website to confirm your postcode’s deliverability.
Where is My Muscle Chef made?
300 or so people working in a factory in Yennora, Western Sydney make My Muscle Chef meals.
Is My Muscle Chef worth it?
Yes, if you want to eat nutritionally balanced, high protein food for about $10 per meal for a fortnight or two. The uniform convenience, customer service and decent taste of My Muscle Chef meals make for a worthwhile calorie-controlled experience.
You’ve seen our post on calories in generic pizza by the slice, and the one about Pizza Hut, and now you want to see how Domino’s compares? Here you go, calories in 34 Domino’s pizzas by the slice (click the pic to jump to its detailed Nutrition Facts panel):
1 Domino’s Spicy Vege Trio Pizza
Domino’s Spicy Vege Trio Pizza is its lowest calorie pizza, with 111 calories (463kJ) per slice.
2 Domino’s Margherita Pizza
Domino’s Margherita Pizza contains 115 calories (481kJ) per slice.
3 Domino’s Ham & Cheese Pizza
One slice of Domino’s Ham & Cheese Pizza contains 117 calories (489kJ).
4 Domino’s Vegorama Pizza
Each slice of Domino’s Vegorama Pizza contains 122 calories (512kJ).
5 Domino’s Simply Cheese Pizza
One slice of Domino’s Simply Cheese Pizza contains 125 calories (523kJ).
6 Domino’s Avocado Veg Pizza
The Avocado Veg has just 128 calories (536kJ) per slice.
7 Domino’s Cheesy Garlic Pizza
One slice of Domino’s Cheesy Garlic Pizza contains 128 calories (534kJ).
8 Domino’s Garlic Prawn Pizza
Domino’s Garlic Prawn Pizza contains 129 calories (540kJ) per slice.
9 Domino’s Beef & Onion Pizza
One slice of Domino’s Beef & Onion Pizza contains 129 calories (538kJ).
10 Domino’s Hawaiian Pizza
One slice of Domino’s Hawaiian Pizza contains 131 calories (549kJ).
Let’s take a quick look at calories in the Whopper, that legendary burger which calls Hungry Jack’s (a.k.a. Burger King) home. The Whopper is a famously big burger with at least one large “flame-grilled” beef patty in a sesame seeded bun with “the lot”.
It is important to know just how calorie-dense fast food burgers like the Whopper are. Eating more than a couple of Whoppers per month could be the difference between gaining and losing weight. When you throw in a large fries and a fizzy drink into the mix, these big burgers can obliterate anyone’s daily calorie target.
Whoppers come in at least 16 different configurations. Here they are, ranked from lowest to highest calories per burger. Click on the burger name to jump to its Nutrition Facts panel:
The Whopper Junior with Cheese has 394 calories (1650 kilojoules). The slice of cheese alone contributes 24 calories to this burger primarily made for kids.
The original Whopper is the lowest calorie “full sized” Whopper. It contains 657 calories (2750kJ), which is about one third of the daily recommended calories for the average adult.
The Rebel Whopper is made with a plant-based patty (no meat!). It slightly more calorific than its meaty cousin, with 667 calories (2790kJ) per burger.
The meatless Rebel Whopper Cheese has 738 calories (3090kJ). Click the paragraph title to see the ingredients list and find out what the patty is made from!
The biggest Whopper of them all. One Triple Whiskey River Whopper has 1490 calories (6234kJ). This single burger is fully 72% of the recommended daily calorie intake for an adult.
Seeing all the Whoppers in an ordered list like this helps to put their calorie differences into perspective. The Junior and classic single patty variants have a fraction of the calorie count of the multi-patty Whoppers. If you just love the taste of a Whopper, try to stick with the basic ones to give yourself the best chance of staying within your daily calories.
Many thanks to Hungry Jack’s for the burger pictures and nutrition information!
Lemon zest is the top part of lemon rind after it has been scraped, cut, grated, peeled, or pared off. The rind is the citrus fruit’s skin. It has two main parts: the outer flavedo and the inner albedo, also known as the mesocarp, or pith.
Zest of lemon is a common baking ingredient, think lemon meringue pie and lemon cake. It is also used in just about anything that calls for a bit of zing, like gin cocktails and lemon and herb chicken.
Here’s why lemon rind zest is interesting to people who like to know food and count calories:
More Calories than the Lemon
Lemon rind has far more calories on a weighted basis than either lemon juice or lemon fruit flesh. 100g of lemon rind contains 28 calories, compared to 14 calories for the flesh and 17 calories in lemon juice. Now, of course it is unlikely that you would substitute equal weights of zest for juice but even so, it is surprising to know that the rind of citrus fruit is much more nutritious than the “sweet” centre!
Antioxidants Galore in Lemon Rind
The rind is where the antioxidants live. Lemon peel is packed with Vitamin C and D-limonene which act to reduce the negative effects of “free radicals” in the body. The whole antioxidant field is a huge area of study right now, owing to their potential to prevent cancer and slow the ageing process. Citrus zest seems like a good way to get lots of antioxidant goodness in small, natural, tangy parcels so why not?
A Little Lemon Rind goes a Long Way
One carefully zested medium-sized lemon rind will yield about a tablespoon’s worth of wonderfully fragrant flavedo. This is more than enough to add to a batch of six large blueberry muffins for a fresh aroma and distinct citrusy aftertaste. If you happen to squeeze a lemon, don’t just dunk the peel into the bin. Chop it up to release the scent and deodorise your environment, after all, cooking is about more than just eating!
You can make Candied Lemon Peel
Yes, it is calorie-dense but at least these tangy strips are better for you than store-bought sour worm gummies. To make candied lemon, simply slice up some lemon peel and bring to the boil in a good amount of water, then drain. Repeat with fresh cold water and again, drain.
(Draining and re-boiling will reduce the bitterness of the mesocarp. If you like bitter lemon, then skip the draining part.)
Then, add a cup of water and a cup of sugar to the twice-drained lemon. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer until the peel becomes somewhat see-through. You can then remove the peel, cool-dry it and shake up it in a container of fine sugar. Voila – you’ve just made your own lemon rind candy.
The leftover lemony syrup in the pot can become the base of a fruit stew or something more wickedly decadent.
