Fast Food Foibles

 Trying to lose weight or keep weight is tough in a drive-thru society.  Ask yourself how many times you and the family eat out.  I know… my family, too.  Remember there are always healthy alternatives, these are not those.  Here’s the 19 Worst Drive-Thru Foods in America according to MSNBC

Worst drink: Sonic Minute Maid Cranberry Juice Slush (“Route 44”–extra large) 616 calories 165 g sugars

Worst value-menu item: Burger King Spicy Chick’n Crisp Sandwich 450 calories 30 g fat (5 g saturated fat) 810 mg sodium

Worst Mexican entree: Taco Bell Grilled Stuft Beef Burrito 680 calories 30 g fat (10 g saturated fat) 2,120 mg sodium

Worst hot sandwich: Sonic Chicken Club TOASTER Sandwich 742 calories 46 g fat (11 g saturated, 0.5 g trans) 1,742 mg sodium

Worst crispy chicken sandwich: Hardee’s Big Chicken Filet Sandwich 800 calories 37 g fat (6 g saturated fat) 1,890 mg sodium

Worst Roast Beef Sandwich: Arby’s Roast Beef and Swiss Market Fresh Sandwich 810 calories 42 g fat (13 g saturated fat) 1,780 mg sodium

Worst Chicken Strips: Dairy Queen 6-Piece Chicken Strip Basket 1,270 calories 67 g fat (11 g saturated fat) 2,910 mg sodium

Worst drive-thru breakfast sandwich: Jack in the Box Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit 740 calories 55 g fat (17 g saturated fat) 1,430 mg sodium

Worst side: Arby’s Large Mozzarella Sticks 849 calories 56 g fat (26 g saturated fat) 2,730 mg sodium

Worst milkshake: McDonald’s Large Triple Thick Chocolate Milkshake 1,160 calories 27 g fat (16 g saturated fat) 168 g sugar 510 mg sodium

Worst potato side: Jack in the Box Bacon Cheddar Potato Wedges 720 calories 48 g fat (15 g saturated fat, 12 g trans fats) 1,360 mg sodium 48 g carbohydrates

Worst salad: Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Strips Salad with Buttermilk Ranch Dressing 800 calories 60 g fat (12 g saturated fat) 1,745 mg sodium

Worst dessert: Dairy Queen Large Strawberry CheeseQuake Blizzard 990 calories 39 g fat (24 g saturated fat) 114 g sugars

Worst fish sandwich: Burger King BIG FISH Sandwich with Tartar Sauce 640 calories 32 g fat (5 g saturated fat) 1,540 mg sodium

Worst cheeseburger: Hardee’s Monster Thickburger 1,420 calories 108 g fat (43 g saturated fat) 2,770 mg sodium 230 mg cholesterol

Worst healthy meal: Arby’s Roast Turkey and Swiss Market Fresh Sandwich 708 calories 29 g fat (8 g saturated fat) 1,676 mg sodium

Worst grilled chicken: Jack in the Box Chipotle Chicken Ciabatta 690 calories 28 g fat (9 g saturated fat) 1,850 mg sodium

Worst drive thru meal: Carl’s Jr. Double Six Dollar Burger with Medium Natural Cut Fries and 32 oz Coke 2,618 calories 144 g fat (51.5 g saturated fat) 2,892 mg sodium

Why is yummy food so bad for you?  Eat responsibly. LOL

Bring on the Batter…

As many of you know, I’ve been working on some weight loss for over a year.  With the help of Slim 4 Life, I’m 40 pounds lighter than I was at this time last year.  I’m at the weight I should be now and pretty much just have to watch my portions and be careful of the food I eat.  As I tell my 8-year-old, you never stop being on a diet.

The hardest thing when watching your weight is eating out at restaurants.  Now the truth is, any and all restaurants have healthy(er) options on the menu for you to choose.  These are NOT those options… I came across a list of the Worst Food in America of 2009 according to Men’s Health magazine.  Keep in mind while reading this that the average adult should consume about 2,000 – 2,500 calories DAILY!

The Worst Food in America: Baskin Robbins Large Chocolate Oreo Shake 2,600 calories 135 g fat (59 g saturated fat, 2.5 g trans fats) 263 g sugars 1,700 mg sodium

Worst Pasta of 2009: Romano’s Macaroni Grill Spaghetti and Meatballs with Meat Sauce 2,430 calories

Worst Appetizer of 2009: Uno Chicago Grill Pizza Skins (full order) 2,400 calories 155 g fat (50 g saturated) 3,600 mg sodium

Worst Pizza of 2009: Uno Chicago Grill Chicago Classic Deep Dish Pizza 2,310 calories 162 g fat 123 g carbohydrates 4,470 mg sodium

Worst Ribs of 2009: Outback Steakhouse Baby Back Ribs (full rack) 2,260 calories

Worst Sandwich of 2009: Quizno’s Tuna Melt (large) 2,090 calories 175 g fat (31 g saturated fat, 2.5 g trans fats) 2,190 mg sodium

Worst Breakfast of 2009: Bob Evans Stacked and Stuffed Caramel Banana Pecan Hotcakes 1,543 calories 77 g fat (26 g saturated; 9 g trans) 2,259 mg sodium 198 g carbs 109 g sugars

Worst Burger of 2009: Chili’s Smokehouse Bacon Triple-The-Cheese Big Mouth Burger with Jalapeno Ranch Dressing 2,040 calories 150 g fat (53 g saturated) 110 g protein 4,900 mg sodium

Worst Mexican Entrée of 2009: Chili’s Buffalo Chicken Fajitas with The Works (Ranch Dressing, Guacamole, Sour Cream, Cheese, and Pico de Gallo + 4 tortillas) 1,730 calories 117 g fat (31 g saturated fat) 5,690 mg sodium

Worst Chinese Entrée of 2009: P.F. Chang’s Tam’s Noodles 1, 678 calories 93 g fat (17 g saturated fat)

Worst “Healthy” Sandwich of 2009: Blimpie Veggie Supreme (12”) 1,106 calories 56 g fat (33 g saturated fat) 2,831 mg sodium

Worst Breakfast Sandwich: of 2009 Hardee’s Monster Biscuit 710 calories 51 g fat (17 g saturated) 2,250 mg sodium

Worst Dessert of 2009: Romano’s Macaroni Grill Dessert Ravioli 1,630 calories 74 g fat 33 g saturated fat 1150 mg sodium 223 g carbohydrates

Worst Kids’ Meal of 2009: Chili’s Pepper Pals Country-Fried Chicken Crispers with Ranch Dressing and Homestyle Fries 1,110 calories 82 g fat (15 g saturated) 1,980 mg sodium 56 g carbohydrates

Worst Fast-Food Chicken Meal of 2009: Dairy Queen 6-Piece Chicken Strip Basket 1,270 calories 67 g fat (11 g saturated

Worst Salad of 2009: T.G.I. Fridays Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad 1,360 calories Fat: unknown (The company refuses to disclose the nutritional content of the food they’re serving you.) Sodium: unknown

I eat at all of these restaurants and love their food.  You should too, but make smart choices!  And drink lots of water.

Waiting Patient-ly

I went in for my annual physical with my doctor yesterday.  Is there anything more frustrating than going to the doctors office and waiting for EVER!  If YOU are five minutes late, God help you.  But if you show up on time or even early… get ready for some quality alone time.

I had an appointment at 1:00pm yesterday.  I arrived at 12:45pm.  It was 1:30 before the nurse came to get me.  She took my weight, blood pressure and left me to sit in the examination with the normal paper toga.  Almost a full FORTY FIVE MINUTES LATER, the doctor comes in.  After about two minutes of “how are you feeling?”, the nurse comes in and tells her she has a phone call.  Terrific, another 10 minutes of reading ancient magazines in a paper toga.  Good thing they took my blood pressure early, because I’m thinking it was pretty hopping by this point.

As for the physical, my doctor was pleasantly surprised that I’d dropped 30 pounds, but still wants me to get more exercise.  I go in for some routine bloodwork later this week.  The doctor asked if I’d been fasting, but I said no.  I didn’t know I was supposed to?!?  My wife says that I’m old now and should just expect that every time. 

Nice.

The Upside of Being Down

Weight that is.

You may have heard me talking about being on the Slim 4 Life diet on the air, and it’s worked great.  At the beginning of the year (and you can go back and read the blogs) I was tipping the scales at just over 200 pounds. I go in for my final official weigh in today, but on my unofficial scale at home this morning… 168!

The “problem” is none of my clothes fit anymore and my wife has a rule that no one is allowed to buy anything for themselves after Halloween.  So, I’ve been cinching up my baggy pants for quite a while.  Finally, I had enough yesterday.  I went through all my clothes, tried everything on and gave all the clothes that were too big to Goodwill.  That left me with two pair of shorts and the pair of jeans I got for my birthday a few weeks ago.  So, I took my oldest daughter and we went shopping.  I now have enough pants to get me through the week.  That’ll have to do until Christmas. LOL.

Probably should’ve waited until after I gorged myself on turkey tomorrow.  I’ll be wishing I still had my “fat pants”.

New Diet – Week 1

I started a new diet last week, and I’ve been dropping pounds daily! I started the “prep” diet on Tuesday and by my weigh-in on Saturday, I was down 6 pounds.  On the unofficial scale at home, I was down a couple more this morning.

The biggest thing to get used to for me is eating SO MUCH FOOD!  I know it doesn’t make sense, but I’m actually eating more food now than I was before.  Granted, it’s better food – and a lot more veggies, but it’s a TON of food.  For example, last night I had beef roast, mushrooms, a salad, raspberries, and a glass of milk. This morning, a two egg omlete with onions and peppers and toast.

Add that to 80 oz. of water a day and it seems to be working.  The cool thing is, it’s food I make, not meal plan food I have to buy.  I’m hearing from some of you who are working on shedding some pounds as well. Good luck and stick to it!

Here we go again…

As many of you know, I’ve been quasi-dieting for the past oh… 9 months.  I’ve managed to drop from around 205 to 195, but the scale hasn’t moved much below that.  Well, starting today, I’m trying a new program.  I’ve never done a nutrition plan before, but I’m excited about it.  They seem to feel I can lose 3-5 pounds a week and be down to my goal weight in 7 weeks.  At 5′ 10″, I should weigh around 170-175. 

The cool thing is its a nutrition and lifestyle based program, so I won’t have to stay on any miracle pills or live off of special food forever.  They put you on a program to take off the weight, then they teach you how to keep it off.

To get started, you have to do a three day preparation diet – which I started today.  Two eggs and an apple for breakfast and EIGHTY oz. of water a day!  For lunch and dinner, I can eat any meat I like (no breading, sauce or condiments) and as much raw veggies as I like.  Once I do that for three days, I’ll keep you posted as to what comes next.

Giving up my Diet Coke, McDonalds, and Jamba Juice will be the toughest.  Wish me luck.

It’s not so much the heat…

It’s the darn humidity!  I made a trip back to the midwest in the past month and the difference in temperature (upper 80’s there/mid 90’s here) hasn’t been as drastic as the difference in comfort.

So, I did a little research.  Humid heat is worse for us than dry heat, because humidity interferes with our body’s temperature regulating mechanism. When the temperature is very hot outside, the body’s regulating mechanism prevents heat from building up inside by releasing the heat from the surface of the skin through the evaporation of sweat.

On the other hand, humid heat does not allow sweat to evaporate from the skin. This makes a person stay hot longer and prevents the body from cooling down quickly. Thus, you feel hotter.

Here in Denver the relative humidity in the afternoon is around 40%, which up to 90 degrees is pretty much air tempurature.  In the midwest, because the relative humidity is so much higher, it can feel up to 15 degrees warmer!

It’s going to continue to be hot all week, and dry or not, upper 90’s is still hot.  Drink lots of fluids or do what I do… stay inside in the air conditioning.

Hoofing it!

May 12th, 2008 – Well, I’ve been lax at going to the gym lately because of the pain in my shoulder.  I’m heading back today.  Jesse was bagging on me about not running again today.  Then I got this email saying that walking is just as good for you as running.  Check it out…

(From Healthwise)
The U.S. Surgeon General recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity (walking, bicycling, yard work) on most or all days of the week. Walking is one of the easiest ways to increase your physical activity and improve your overall health. Not only does regular walking strengthen your heart, lungs, bones, and muscles, but it also helps your body resist and fight illness. Perhaps the most noticeable benefits of walking are an increase in energy and a positive impact on mood—regular aerobic exercise helps prevent anxiety and depression

Walking and Weight Loss!
 
Three universal goals most of us share are: to live longer, to live free of illness and to control our weight. Interesting enough, normal walking lets us achieve all three. In fact, walking may be man’s best medicine for slowing the aging process. First, it works almost every muscle in the body, improving circulation to the joints and massaging the blood vessels (keeping them more elastic). Walking also helps us maintain both our muscle mass and metabolism as we age. It also keeps us young in spirit. For anyone out of shape or unathletically inclined, walking is the no-stress, no-sweat answer to lifelong conditioning.

All it takes is a little time, common sense and a few guidelines. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misinformation floating around regarding fitness walking, weight-loss and dieting. Walking is one of the best exercise for strengthening bones, controlling weight, toning the leg muscles, maintaining good posture and improving positive self-concept. People who diet without exercising often get fatter with time. Although your weight may initially drop while dieting, such weight loss consists mostly of water and muscle. When the weight returns, it comes back as fat. To avoid getting fatter over time, increase your metabolism by exercising daily.

To lose weight, it’s more important to walk for time than speed. Walking at a moderate pace yields longer workouts with less soreness – - leading to more miles and more calories spent on a regular basis.

High-intensity walks on alternate days help condition one’s system. But in a waking, weight-loss program, it’s better to be active every day. This doesn’t require walking an hour every day. The key is leading an active life-style 365 days a year.

When it comes to good health and weight loss, exercise and diet are interrelated. Exercising without maintaining a balanced diet is no more beneficial than dieting while remaining inactive.

The national research council recommends eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Fruits and vegetables are the ideal diet foods for several reasons. They’re relatively low in fat and calories, yet are often high in fiber and rich in essential vitamins and minerals. Remember that rapid weight-loss consists mostly of water and muscle – - the wrong kind of weight to lose. To avoid this, set more reasonable goals, such as one pound per week.

Carbohydrates are high-octane fuel. They provide energy for movement and help raise internal body metabolism. They’re also satisfying. The key is not adding high-fat toppings to your carbohydrates.

It’s everyday habits which define our weight and body composition. A three-minute walk after each meal is worth four pounds less body fat annually. Two flights of stairs a day burns off half a pound of body fat in a year. On the other hand, one candy bar eaten daily will cost you 20 pounds annually.

That last bit is probably my problem.

Cholesterol, My Eye!

Apparently, I’m falling apart!   If you listen to our show, you know that Jesse & I went to a chiropractor last summer and they told me that my right clavicle is dropping.  God only knows how that happens.  Then I go in for a routine physical and get slammed with high cholesterol this past December.  As you know, I’ve been working on getting fit and eating better this year to take care of that.

My youngest daughter came home with a note from the school nurse saying that she had mixed up two colors and needed an eye exam.  My wife lost her reading glasses about two years ago, so all three of us went in for eye exams.  I went in first.  First they put me through the regular charts, glaucoma screen, etc.  Then the doctor came in and looked around the inside of my eye.  He finishes, gives me a look, and asks if I’ve had a physical lately.  I said yes.  He asks if I’ve had any blood work done.  Strange, no?  I said yes and that my cholesterol was a bit high.  He says, “I thought so…”

Ready for it… “I could see the cholesterol building up IN YOUR EYE!”  OMG!  I’ve got FAT EYES!  Not to mention an astigmatism in my right eye and a little near-sightedness.

So I’ve got to find a way to exercise my eyes, and we all walked out with new glasses. (Actually they’re coming in two weeks.)  I think Jesse’s right, I may be dying this year! LOL!  Get your bets in on which day.

Btw… weigh in this morning… 198.6!  Down a pound!

Date Night

I’m taking my wife out on a date tonight, just the two of us.  This is the first time we’ve gone out since last summer.  Why has it been so long?  We had a terrific babysitter who went and left for college.  Damn higher education! 

My kids are super easy to babysit.  At 11 and 7, they’re pretty self sufficient.  Not quite old enough to be left alone though… they’d kill each other.  That being said, Amy & I are still very picky – as everyone should be – about who watches our kids.  Also, being relatively new to town, we don’t really know enough people to have a lot of choices.  We’ve got a new sitter we’re trying out tonight for the first time.  She seems like a really nice kid, and she’s still got 3 years of school left, so I hope it goes well.

Our big plans: Dinner & “The Bucket List”

I may have to have a big steak.  I was really good yesterday.  Amy wanted to go to lunch at Taco Bell, so I tried one of the Fresco Chicken Burritos (only 9 grams of fat).  For dinner, my daughters made chef salad with lots of veggies and I had a nectarine for dessert.  This morning… Cheerios.

I did some cardio and crunches yesterday.  Today, back to the gym for circuits.  We haven’t done a weigh-in on the air in a few days, but I’m still hovering right around 200.  This morning – 199.6

Have a great weekend!