As I started going on about in my last post, I'm going crazy with boredom stuck in my room here in Salem. My closest friends (geographically) are either not here (one's at my regular school down in RI, another out of the country), leaving for someplace soon (the Cape, where I will be Saturday), or at work. Now I'm not saying that I necessarily need a friend in order to go out or enjoy myself, but I guess I just don't see the point in schlepping it an hour to Boston just to wander around aimlessly spending too much money and eating a million calories.
I'm not sure if this is a quirk unique to me, but I find the more bored I am the more in actuality I have to do. Right now I could be cleaning my room, washing dishes, starting to pack for the weekend & move out, putting away laundry, showering, or studying for a test I have tomorrow. Yet none of this is fun and I'm a horrible procrastinator. Of course, when I have a million things going on like heading to class that's when I want to organize photos on my computer or make a fabulous meal. Go figure.
On days like this, I usually head over to CinemaSalem and catch a flick. They're a small local theater, with only 4 screens. This means pickings are slim -- this week, the only thing that interests me is Inception, which I saw at CinemaSalem when it first came out. Next week is similar, since I'm not interested in Salt and I don't care much for Steve Carrell. The original French movie of Dinner for Schmucks was pretty good so I also fear that the American version will do a disservice to its forefather. And to be brutally honest, as this point I just want some freaking movie theater popcorn.
I found this article from 2009 pretty interesting. It's WebMD's summary of a report from the Center of Science in the Public Interest on movie theater popcorn from various theater chains in the US. I knew that popcorn was laden with salt and empty calories, but it stings a little to see exactly how bad it is for you. It seems that since most chains use coconut oil to pop their corn, it adds a lot of fat and calories. This is even before butter topping comes into play, guys! Since I have a soft spot in my heart for popcorn, I'm not about to give it up when I go to the theaters, but instead I will share a medium size with my boyfriend and opt for a diet beverage (why add an extra 200+ calories, it's just insult to injury at that point).
While on the topic of nutrition information, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Boston Market, one of Matt's (and mine now too I supposed) favorite places to eat has some decent lower calorie and fat offerings. Usually I won't eat anything off a bone, but when they had their 25th anniversary special I tried their 1/4 white chicken breast plate and found I really liked it. Without the skin, the generous portion of chicken is only 240 calories and 4 grams of fat! I usually only like skin when it's really crispy and freshly out of the oven, so I have no problem skipping on the soft, greasy skin of Boston Market's chicken. I really appreciate their meals under 550 calorie page, which includes 6 different plates (one meat and two regular sides) as well as 3 lunch-minded options (half sandwiches with either a salad, fruit, or steamed potato side).
Of course, there were also some (bad) shocks when I looked up the Market's nutrition facts. For instance, their turkey club/blt also has over 50 grams of fat, just like the equivalent sandwich at Bruegger's I spoke about a few posts ago. Their large meatlof serving by itself has 45 grams of fat and 720 calories (WHOA!) and forget any of their leafy greens - the full sized meal salads range from 570 calories and 31 grams of fat for the Asian to 670 calories and 45 grams of fat for their Mediterranean. I hope that's counting the dressing, because that's incredibly hard to swallow for so called 'healthy' food.
I'm a sucker for most macaroni & cheese out there, and Boston Market has some of the best in the quick service food industry. While a regular side has 300 calories and 11 grams of fat, I expected it to be a lot worse. Compare it to their large coleslaw which weighs in at a whopping 1,070 calories with 103 grams of fat. That's half your daily calories and just about two days worth of fat in ONE side serving. Just what kind of mayonnaise are these people using?!
While browsing through their menus of sides that I would eat, I found several viable alternatives to my usual mac 'n cheese and mashed potatoes with gravy combo. The sweet corn, green beans, and steamed veggies all clock in at 170 calories or under with 4 grams of fat or less, while the cinnamon apples sit at 210 calories with 3 grams of fat. Since I'm cutting down on my Restaurant Dieting, I'll likely still opt for at least one side to be their macaroni and cheese as a little treat, but even the worst combination out of the choices I listed with my 1/4 white chicken breast stand by comes in at around 750 calories and 18 grams of fat. I call that a success considering it's both fast food and a once in a while outing.
I just managed to both kill an hour and pretty much convince myself to go to Boston Market and the movies in Boston all at once. I'm hoping to restrict myself to a small popcorn and am even willing to forgo the mac and cheese in the name of healthy today. Maybe not the healthiest decision I could have made, I'm seriously gonna go crazy if I have to sit here any longer.
Happy Trails!
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