How Many Calories Are In Fast Food?

Ohhh I don't wanna know. DON'T wanna know.

Somehow I ended yesterday at under 1,700 cals, even though my kids begged their Dad to go get Burger King take out. In their defense, it had been a long time, so I agreed.

You can find most caloric values on-line simply by Googling, and I was impressed to find that Burger King actually has their own nutritional summary for their menu items.

This is where you need to bother checking, because something as harmless seeming as their Tendergrill Garden Salad has 460 calories. That's a lot for a salad, on a calorie restricted diet! (I'm not even going to mention  the Triple Whopper With Cheese value meal at 1,710 calories, which is more than I try and eat in an entire day - oh wait, I just did mention it ;)  OMG

I opted for the 6 piece chicken fries at 250 cals, plus a Dutch Apple pie at 320. While I know this is more than the salad and not as nutritious, this way I got to have a "junk fix", complete with dessert, and not blow my calorie count.  I had a few fries too (maybe 8-10), so I called it a total of 700 cals just to be safe.

It's so deceiving, isn't it? Fast food is not really that much food, and yet it's packed with so much of the stuff we're trying to avoid.I can't imagine eating this food more than once or twice a month, and yet many people do. This brings me back (yet again) to the issue of caloric awareness. If fast food chains had a caloric value by each item, say right next to the price, I wonder what kind of effect it would have on sales?



TenGone Home
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21 Days To Make Or Break A Habit

We've all heard it - it takes 21 days to make or break a habit.

I'm noticing now how true this is, in regards to my eating habits. I am a "recovering binger" (is that a real term? ;) I say this because after years of struggling with overeating, I'm beginning to acknowledge the fact that food addiction is real. There is a biochemical component (cravings) and a behavioral component as well (hence the title of this post).

This was my old habit:

I'd wake up every day, determined to turn my eating habits around. I'd do fairly well until mid-day, at which point the snacking would go a little overboard. I'd try and compensate at dinner with smaller portions, but then in the evening would be my downfall: my craving for ice cream, at about 11:30 pm. It was a craving so in control of me that I would simply not care about the health implications, and think to myself "I'll start my diet tomorrow".  I'd then wander into the kitchen and concoct a scrumptious, 700-800 calorie bowl filled with everything from ice cream to chocolate chips to peanut butter to caramel syrup... (omg Y.U.M.M.Y.)  Did I mention I have a sweet tooth? ;)

Here's how I changed it:

I started going to bed at about 10:00 pm. Isn't that funny? Such a simple thing. Just go to bed before you would normally eat the ice cream...

So far so good - I'm about 12 pounds lighter now. I had some ice cream last night, but it was the first time in about two months, and I had to talk myself into it. Why would I do that? Because I am determined to be in control of my eating impulses. I can indulge in a sweet treat once in awhile without letting it get out of hand.

I have a new habit now.

TenGone Home

My Own Cookie Diet

I called them 75 calories each (because really, my diet is calorie counting ;)  Most packaged cookies I've ever eaten average about 75, so I thought this was safe. They might be more, they might be less, but the important thing is that because I'm assigning a caloric value to them, I eat maybe one or two a day instead of ten. I was intrigued by the concept of the cookie diet - not as a meal replacement necessarily, but as a concept - eating cookies while you diet!! How cool.  The key would be that they would have to provide me with some health benefit, in order to be worth wasting precious calories on. Here's what I did. I took a recipe for pumpkin cookies and modified it:

1. The first step was reducing the sugar. The recipe called for two cups (are you kidding me?) so I used one. (Btw, they tasted great).
2. I then replaced half of the white flour with other stuff: wheat germ, quinoa, flax, oats, and coconut. I'm guessing the calories of these ingredients replaced the calories taken away when I reduced the sugar, but you know what? Healthy, so worth it.
3. Just for fun, I added chocolate chips. (Hey, fun is an important component of health ;)

Delicious, nutritious, and somewhere around 75 cals each! The only problem now is that I've run out. Must do more baking...

TenGone Home

A Treat Trick

Halloween is over, and we have soooo many leftovers!! I don`t know how many calories I ate yesterday (in excess of 4,000 I think), but I`m back to counting today. Which means I have to deal with all the mini chocolate bars everywhere... so much temptation!!

Not a problem (you`re my witness ;)  I`ve bagged them according to caloric values, and will allow myself maybe one or two per day. I`m optimistic that I`ll do ok, since it`s almost noon and so far I`ve had only one: a 40 calorie mini Aero bar...

TenGone Home

The Problem With Take Out...

...is that it makes me crave pop. This time, in particular, Root Beer (one of my weaknesses!). I just finished a Tandoori chicken sub, which I'll call 500 calories just as a guess, and now I WANT SOME ROOT BEER. sigh. I should have known this was coming ;)

I'm not going to cave in though, because so far for today I'm at 1,630 calories, which is low enough considering all the walking I've done. If I can tough it out and resist the Root Beer, I'll be able to wake up tomorrow feeling like today was not just another delay, but instead, actual progress!