I had to ask . . .

In the battle of the bulge two powerful weapons are motivation and information.  

In an effort to be aware of the amount of calories I was eating every day I decided to check on the nutrition facts of my favorite fast foods.

I was not too surprised by the total calories in my favorite McDonald's burger, the Angus Bacon/Cheese Burger. 800 calories. Yow!  800 calories! And that is without the fries (380) or drink. Luckily I rarely get this meal since I started the weight loss challenge at work but I admit I use to get it all the time when my daughter and I went to the playground at Donald's (as she would call it). Now I order the grilled chicken sandwich with a small fries. I still get the taste without so many calories. 

I liked Panda Express because they put a lot of vegetables in their dishes. Not a veggie fan until I found out that I could eat anything if it came with a spicy sauce.  My usual two entree plate included Kung Pao Chicken and Beijing Beef.  Kung Pao Chicken isn't bad. Only 240 calories. But then the Beijing Beef? 690! Oh and don't forget the rice. Basic white rice . . . 380. It's white rice. Hardly anything to it, so how can it be 380 calories? But it is. I've decided to stay away from Panda Express as long as possible but when I do go I still get my hot and spicy Kung Pao, skip the beef and ask for half the rice. Realized the meal was still filling. Some sacrifice there but really not so awful.

My favorite Chipotle meal wasn't to bad at all. I was told a long time ago by a nutritionist to skip the tortillas and just get a bowl. She was so right. A burrito bowl with brown rice (better nutritional value than white rice), chicken 2 scoops of mild salsa, cheese and lettuce. A very filling, very flavorful and healthy 470 calories I could knock another 100 calories off by skipping the cheese and often do. If I had all that wrapped in a burrito tortilla? Add 290 calories!Or 3 soft taco tortillas? Add 270 calories or 90 calories. So I skip the tortilla and save myself a lot of calories. But it doesn't stop there. 

The tears came when I saw how many calories were in that trendy bag of salty chips. 570!!! The chips alone more the doubles the calorie total of the meal! Can I say I never let a Chipotle chip pass my lips again after finding out? No, I'm not a saint. But I do eat half the chips I did before and give the other half to my daughter. It's good to share. 

For more information on how many calories you should consume each day visit www.HealthyCalculators.com. Offers a great calorie intake calculator among other calculators. Enter requested information such as your current weight and height and the calculator will let you know how many calories to take in to maintain your current weight or lose weight.

Be excellent to each other,

Barbara