Fall's most fattening foods

While most spring and summer dishes are light, healthy, and full of bright, leafy vegetables, the fall and winter dishes are warm, rich and hearty.

“It’s what the season is all about–you’re starting to pack on the pounds because you’re wearing sweaters.”

But while you may be bundling up for the season, keep in mind that the reason these dishes are so tasty is that many are full of fat or sugar, are creamy and rich, or include tons of extra ingredients.

For example, Greeley says one of the restaurant’s fall dishes is braised short ribs with maple glazed onions and butternut squash.

It sounds scrumptious, and surely is, but a serving of short ribs alone can average about 1,250 calories; add on the extras and the meal can equal about 1,600 calories.

If 1,600 calories doesn’t sound like much, consider this: According to experts, a person who eats just 100 extra calories a day for a year can gain about 10 pounds in that time.

Meanwhile, eating 100 calories less a day for a year will lead to either weight maintenance or even better, weight loss.

We worked with Charles Stuart Platkin, author of The Diet Detective’s Count Down, which contains 7,500 food counts along with their exercise equivalents for burning the calories off, to compile a list of common fattening fall foods.

Some ingredients may be healthy alone, but boiled in cream, sautéed in butter and eaten in large portions, they can add quite a few pounds to your diet.

Fall is a wonderful time to celebrate and to enjoy rich meals with those you love.

-Adam

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