To the Editor:

I am a registered dietitian and most of my patients come to me for weight loss. In our discussions of the calories in traditional New York foods, the bagel is at the top of the list.

Patients are shocked when I tell them that whenever they eat a New York bagel, they are eating the equivalent of a quarter to more than a half loaf of bread. This is because a New York bagel, by weight, can range in size from 4 ounces to 10 ounces. The U.S.D.A. determined that a 3.8-ounce bagel has about 302.5 calories.

Each bagel ounce is therefore about 80 calories. The typical New York bagel contains 320 to 800 calories for one plain bagel before cream cheese, butter or seeds are factored in. My nutritional advice to those watching their diets is to eat only the outside of the bagel or just half of it -- and use the other half to feed the birds in the park.

LORRAINE M. EYERMAN

New York