Fast Food Nutrition Menus

The good thing about all this talk these days about America's obesity levels, healthy vs. non-healthy foods, and calorie counting, is that a great number of chain restaurants and fast food places now have their nutrition information easily available. On a recent trip to Chili's, my husband wanted to know the calorie count of a certain menu item that wasn't among their Guiltless Grill choices. The manager was very accomodating, took only a few minutes, and after apparently being on the computer to their home office, came back with the calories, fat grams, and carbs of the entree he was curious about along with the sides that went with it. Lovely!

But a sit-down meal isn't always possible when you have hungry kids in the car, perhaps headed to or from a soccer game or swim meet, and you need to pull in to grab something fast. It's even tougher when those kids will only eat 3 items from one particular place and refuse to consider anything else. What do you do then? Combine your efforts.

If you know your children will only eat at a one or two places, provided they're chains, you can go on line to those websites ahead of time, find the restaurants' menu and nutrition listings and print those off to have with you in the car or in your purse all the time. Or, you can just take a look at the list and make a mental note as to which items are lower in calories so when you do have to swing through the drive-thru, you'll know ahead of time what to select for yourself.

Yes, calorie counting takes some planning. It takes some effort. You might argue that you don't want to have to think that much about what you eat. But not thinking about it is what got you to this point, isn't it? Not thinking enough about it? And you are worth that extra effort, aren't you?

A Word About Eating Out

Bowing to outside pressure as there is more concern about America's growing girth, many more restaurant chains these days are starting to include healthier choices on their menus. It's a welcome change, but don't assume that just because an item is listed as "healthy" or "smart," it's going to be lower in calories. For example, a recent check of the popular baked goods chain, Dunkin' Donuts, shows they have a line of items dubbed "DDSmart." These are items that are billed as "Better For You Choices That Keep You Running." That may well be, but take it upon yourself to do a little investigation.

Listed under their bakery items, Dunkin' Donuts has a Reduced Fat Blueberry Muffin. That sounds good. But the muffin is listed at 400 calories, 45 of those from fat. Right below the muffin is listed a Cheese Danish. I would think it would be much higher in calories but instead, it's only 340. However, it gets 200 of those calories from fat. Certainly the muffin would be considered healthier because it contains less fat, but note that it is higher in calories. Listed under bagels, the "DDSmart" item is the Multigrain Bagel at 380 calories, 50 of those are from fat. Multi grains are great, but the Plain Bagel listed contains 320 calories, 25 of those from fat.

This is why it's important to actually have the nutrition information on items and not simply rely on those little menu logos that mark items as healthy or low fat or heart healthy. And for those restaurant chains that don't bother to give nutrition information, you can't assume you can just look at something and tell, or assume that since similar items you might eat at home aren't that high in calories, the ones in the restaurant chains aren't going to be either. Be responsible for what's important to you. If you need to eat low fat, fine. But if you're assuming things that are listed as low fat are also low calorie, think again.

Afternoon Snack Idea

I think it's important not to get in a rut when it comes to snacks and foods in general, although I admittedly eat quite a few nutrition bars. They're healthy, I like them, and until I can't stand them anymore, I'll continue to fill in meals with them because they're easy. But I digress. As I've said before, calorie counting should not be about deprivation but instead it's about control: getting control of our eating, control of our portions. The challenge is to be creative with foods that taste really good but don't "rob" your calorie bank for the day.

If you're looking for something hot for an afternoon nosh instead of cold cheese and crackers or a cup of yogurt, you might consider an English muffin pizza. It's not high in calories, not the way I do it. And I find it very satisfying in flavor.

I had some leftover pasta sauce from the previous night's dinner and we always keep English muffins and cheese on hand so it was quite easy to throw together in a matter of minutes. I'm going to give you the name brands of the products I used because it makes a difference in calories, but you can use any you like, just check out the nutrition label for your numbers. Here's what I did:

I first toasted a Thomas Original English muffin. They're 120 calories. (Thomas also now offers lite English muffins at 100 calories each, but I've not tried them.) The leftover pasta sauce I had was Classico's Fire Roasted Tomato and Garlic Sauce at 50 calories for a 1/2 cup serving. I didn't need but 2 tablespoons, one for each side of the muffin, so that brought the calorie count down to 12.5 which I rounded up to 13. (Always round up, just in case!) The third element was the cheese. I like those little Babybel originals. They are 70 calories each.

Once the muffin was toasted, I spread 1 tablespoon of the pasta sauce onto each side, then topped it with the cheese which I grated. It's a semi-soft cheese, but if you work quickly, you can grate it fairly easily. I popped the whole thing into the microwave for 30 seconds and it was perfect. I could have also put the 'pizza' in a 350 oven for 5-10 minutes, but I didn't feel like waiting. Toasting the muffin first, gave it the sufficient crispness I wanted. In the end, my calorie total was 203. Very doable and much more tasty than some of the cardboard-consistency frozen pizza for one creations I've come across. Plus, this way, I got to control what was on my pizza. If you wanted to add sliced olives or a couple of little rounds of pepperoni sausage, you could do that, just be careful because those food items add up quickly. But that's it! Quick, tasty, and lite.

Be creative, don't get in a rut, venture out with tasty ideas that are satisfying but not high in calories. Yes, it takes a little thought and effort, but you can do it. Don't let someone else determine whether you can get into those smaller sized jeans you've been eying! It's up to you.

Calorie Counting Cookbook

I'm always on the lookout for new cookbooks. I have quite a number lining my kitchen shelves, cabinets, drawers, you get the idea. But my favorites have two things in common, colorful photographs of the recipes, (how am I supposed to know what I've fixed looks the way it's supposed to if there are no pictures?), and the nutrition information.

A new cookbook written by Duncanville, TX cooking teacher, Karel Anne Tieszen, has both. It's called "In Your Own Kitchen" and it's her first venture into writing down what she's been doing in the form of her adult cooking classes for years. On her website, it states that the classes "emphasize realistic food preparation for 'regular' people..." And that appears to be the approach of her cookbook, too.

She came up with the more than 150 recipes for the cookbook after years of seeing which ones her students favored. In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Tieszen said, "If you know the reality of what the calorie count is going to be, you know how to accommodate it into your day." Amen to that! It's nice when a cookbook author realizes the importance and benefit of providing it for you. The cookbook is offered through Amazon but is currently sold out and there's a waiting list. It can, however, still be purchased directly from Tieszen's website, http://www.kitchen-friends.com/

Another bit of good news: On a quick shopping stop at a Super Target yesterday, I was encouraged to see that many of their packaged baked goods, the ones from their own bakery, now include nutrition labels complete with calorie count! In the past, I was tempted to buy some of their specialty breads but resisted since I had no idea how to figure them into my day. Another store I like to frequent, Texas-based Central Market, has a large heavenly aromatic bread-baking section which I still avoid for that same reason. As people become more mindful of their calorie intake, hopefully, such stores will eventually 'get' how important that factor is to many of their customers.

Are You Hungry?

What does hunger feel like? And how do you keep it from ruining your day?
First, the feeling of hunger: Do we really know what that is? Are you truly aware of what it feels like to have that grinding tugging feeling in your stomach? Many of us have forgotten what hunger feels like because we’ve got used to reaching for food anytime we’re bored or need a little comfort or we’re celebrating something wonderful. We reach for food so often we never really get a chance to ‘need’ food because we eat whenever we ‘want’ it.

There are some health experts that believe when we think we’re hungry our bodies are often simply in need of water. Drink a glass of water and your urge to eat may actually go away. When calorie counting, you have accepted that you are no longer going to reach for just any food in any amount at any time you want. You have agreed to be in better control of those mindless wants. But that also means, especially at the beginning, that there will be times when you feel actual hunger pains because for the first time in a long time, perhaps ever, you’re denying yourself a little bit. Don’t panic. You’re not starving. We need a reminder of what real hunger feels like. I’m not saying you should make yourself double-over in a quivering blood sugar low. I’m simply saying that by calorie counting, limiting your portions, and limiting the times when you take in those portions, you are allowing your body to need food before you feed it. If we waited until we actually needed food instead of grabbing something just because we’re too bored to do anything else, we wouldn’t be in the shape we’re in now. We are a society of instant gratification. Everywhere we turn, we’re bombarded with TV commercials, billboards, fast food signs, all implying that if we love ourselves, we'll treat ourselves to a mouth-watering this or that because we deserve it. Well, I say just as you discipline a child out of love in order to mold them into a better person, we should discipline ourselves out of love, too. Aren't we worth it?

But how do we keep hunger from ruining our day? Well, here's something you might find interesting. A recent study published in the July issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience suggests that hunger actually makes us feel happy. Apparently when we're hungry a hormone called ghrelin increases, but what scientists now believe is that the hormone may also reduce stress, increases motivation, and may make us more social; at least that's what it did for lab rats. So be a little hungry and be happy.

Weekend Party Challenge

Parties can be a particular challenge when you're trying to be responsible about what and how much you eat. Go to a party out of town, requiring an overnight stay, and you're also dealing potentially with meals on the road, etc. It can mean eating food that someone else has prepared and you have no idea about calorie count. Thus was my test this weekend.

I was invited to a friend's surprise 50th birthday party Saturday night at a Mexican restaurant in East Texas. As I've said here before, Mexican is among my favorite foods, and of course, among the most calorie laden.

To give myself a choice during my stay, I packed a few nutrition bars so I wouldn't feel forced to eat out if I didn't want to. When making a long drive, I think it can be tempting to use the excuse that since it's a special trip, it's OK to splurge a bit: have that Hostess sugar-coated fried cherry pie at the convenience store where you stopped to stretch your legs. I can struggle with that kind of temptation. But, like a horse wearing blinders, I kept my focus on just getting there, promising myself I would have a snack at the hotel when I could really sit and relax.

Once I arrived and got settled into my room, it was around 3 o'clock. I got a cup of coffee, and instead of having one of my nutrition bars, got a pack of peanut butter crackers from the vending machine. The nutrition label on the side of the crackers let me know exactly how many calories I was having. I thought, "So far, so good." The only hurdle I really had to worry about clearing was the restaurant.

In the banquet room, round tables were filled with lovely decorations in my friend's honor. She would be so surprised to see us all! As we waited for her arrival, party-goers ate chips and salsa from the baskets scattered on all the tables. Knowing how quickly those calories can add up, I sipped water and tea and chatted with my tablemates. I didn't point out to anyone that I wasn't yet eating, I simply focused on them. In spite of it being past the typical dinner hour, I wasn't overly hungry.

Shortly after my friend arrived and was suitably surprised, it was time to go through the buffet serving line. I had no intention of eating like a bird, but neither did I want to go crazy with it. I got a scoop of Spanish rice, one cheese enchilada, one beef tamale, and a taco. I ate slowly, choosing to savor the good conversation with old friends more than the food in front of me. In the end, I left a bite of everything on my plate. It takes a lot of will power for me to do that, especially with foods I love so much. I was pleased, and shall I say even a bit relieved, when the waiter came around to clear the table.

Then it was time for the biggest challenge of all, the cake! Yes, I planned on having some. Nothing can ruin the tone of a celebration more than someone refusing to participate. But we were each served cake at our table, and the slices were enormous! It was, admittedly, wonderful tasting cake. Four layers, filled with icing, and covered in fondant and more icing. For a "sugarholic" like me, it was heaven with every bite. But in spite of that, I'm happy to say, I left quite a bit of it on the plate.

As people left the party, they were handed boxes of extra cake slices to take home. I politely refused and then a friend who had earlier complimented my weight, jokingly accused me of not eating cake in years! Ha. Of course I had, but her point was that I didn't look like it. It was a very nice compliment. Once back at the hotel, I was proud of myself for not overeating. I had no regrets and I could sleep comfortably.

This morning, instead of going downstairs for the hotel's free breakfast, which can include tempting sweet rolls and muffins, I had a nutrition bar in my room with a couple of cups of coffee, and yes, I do take cream. I left early enough to get home before lunch time, so I wouldn't be tempted to stop and get a burger or some other fast food on the way home. In the end, I had fun, saw old friends, and I didn't use the excuse of a special event to overindulge. All in all, it was a very successful weekend.

Bottom line? Your weight is your own private battle. Don't bore friends with talk of dieting, or saying you wish you could eat what they're having, etc., and don't deny yourself the pleasure of good friends and celebrations out of fear you'll go overboard. Even if I had lost myself in the moment, I wouldn't beat myself up today. I would simply start anew. Every day is a new one when it comes to gaining power over food. You can do it!

Why Bother?

When in the midst of trying to lose weight, there comes a time when we're not seeing the scale move, when we feel hungry, when we're angry because we can't have the size slice of cake we want to have, that we are tempted to throw up our arms in disgust and ask, "Why bother?" We look at our overweight friends and family and use them as an excuse to say to ourselves, "They aren't doing anything about their weight and they don't look like they're doing too badly." The truth is, we don't know the inner thoughts of our friends and family, we don't know what motivates them, what is truly important to them, what their will power is like, or whether they even have the will power. Besides, wouldn't you like to show your friends and family that you do have the will power to make positive changes in your life? That you can succeed? And maybe your success will motivate them?

Still, here is one of the most important reasons I know to "bother" with losing weight: our children. Our children are learning from us how to live. We teach them through our examples. And right now, their weight gain and their battles with adult forms of conditions and disease like diabetes and high cholesterol at ages that they shouldn't even know how to spell such words, is showing we're not doing a very good job. The rate of childhood obesity in this country is staggering. With half or more adult Americans now overweight, America's children are following suit by making poor nutritional choices resulting in more than 30% of them in the overweight or obese category. When I was in elementary school, nearly 40-years ago, I can remember only one child in our class who was overweight. One!

It's not enough to tell our children they shouldn't eat junk food when we're holding a bag of Oreos in our hands. Your lifestyle changes: making better low-calorie choices, being mindful of food portions, and healthier snacking, will allow your children and even grandchildren to see not only that it can be done, but that they are important enough, and valuable enough, to make similar changes in their own lives. Hopefully, they won't grow up fighting the same food battles we have. Let's help them see and solve this problem now by showing them we can do it!