Test Your Calorie Smarts

Who doesn't love to eat out? I know I sure do!

Americans are eating more and more of their meals in restaurants... there just isn't time to cook much anymore. Of course for those of us watching our diet, it can be hard to gauge the calories we eat from all that restaurant fare.

Think you are an expert calorie sleuth? Its often tough! So, just for fun, I put together a little quiz to test your calorie smarts. Let me know how you do!

Which one of the following pairs of foods has more calories*...

1. a) a Cinnamon and Raisin Whole Grain Bagel from Starbuck's, or

b) a Krispy Kreme Glazed Whole Wheat Doughnut

OK, you probably figured I throw a tricky one in here. The doughnut of course, right? Wrong. The bagel has 310 kcal, almost twice as many as the doughnut at 180 kcal. (The doughnut has more fat, though.)

2. a) a Starbuck's Carrot Cake Muffin, or

b) a regular size Dairy Queen Mocha Moolatte

Think this one is a no-brainer? Just because its a muffin doesn't mean it has few calories! The Carrot Cake one is the winner here, with 680 kcal compared to the Moolatte at 568 kcal. (The muffin has two times the amount of fat that the DQ treat has!)

3. a) a Chocolate Thunder from Down Under dessert from Outback Steakhouse, or

b) a Whopper with Cheese and Mayo and a medium size order of french fries from Burger King

Are these getting tougher? I really found this one hard to believe. The Whopper meal contains 1119 kcal, which is almost half of most women's daily calorie requirement, but get this, the Outback dessert wins hands down...1220 kcal. That's right. 1220 kcal in only a dessert! Add that to the rest of you meal, and you'll probably be way over your calorie needs for the day!

OK, let's try one more.

4. a) a Double Meat 6 in. Steak and Cheese Sandwich from Subway, or

b) a Grilled Steak Caesar Salad with toast from Applebee's.

This is probably the easiest one yet, right? Well, maybe. If you guessed the Subway sandwich, you'd be right. This one weighs in at 540 kcal, while the Applebee's selection contains over twice the calories, at 1295. Just because its a salad doesn't make it low calorie!

So, how did you do? Any surprises, or are you a calorie counting guru?

*Source for all calories: http://www.calorieking.com