I've been back at school for about a week now and I'm getting back into that familiar 'never have enough time' pattern. I grew up in a pretty lackadaisical household so I feel like in general, I'm just lazy/unorganized/prone to being unhealthy in every aspect of life. I eat poorly, forget to brush/floss my teeth, hardly exercise, and spend too much leisure time and not enough homework time. I'm working to try and change myself on all these aspects (I've been brushing/flossing/mouth washing like a fiend since getting my first cavity a few weeks ago) but DAMN is it hard to take on all that plus 5 classes, work study, and have a social life. The blog has been so low on my priority list that I've been struggling just to get myself to do a post a week! That's a far cry from when I was in Salem with nothing to do but eat, blog, and watch stuff on Hulu.
Tonight I was doing some homework with Maria in our apartment and she had Bravo on. A new show came on during our tenure on the couch which is called Thintervention with Jackie Warner. I have to admit the whole show really hit me close to home and actually made me want to work out for once, which is quite a feat, but on the whole I feel like this sort of show is pretty negative and damaging on people such as myself trying to lose weight. It really gave me this hopeless feeling like I'll never be able to change and get to where I want to be weight wise. Jackie tasked the participants with throwing out everything in their house with more than 5 grams of sugar in it (I'm hoping this is PER SERVING, because otherwise it's pretty impossible). This got me to thinking about all the do's and don't's of eating and exercise and it just got me super bummed because it's like no matter what I do, it's never enough -- in terms of how hard I'm exercising, or how much I'm cutting down on X or Y there's always Z to worry about.
There are so many guidelines of what we're supposed to be eating and not be eating. If you take all of them into consideration, a normal grocery store probably contains less than 10% of the stuff we should be eating versus what products they make and market. Once again, I don't believe that blaming companies who make bad for you products on my unhealthy habits, but I'm starting to recognize more and more how our culture and attitudes towards food fuel these companies to make these bad things and the cyclical nature of it all. As I learned during my time as a Journalism major, most things imitate life and companies will only produce and market what their audience wants our would accept. Take Oreos for example. Sure they have a reduced fat Oreo, which is still pretty awful at 150 calories and 4.5 grams of fat per 2 cookies, but compare that to the amount of products they churn out that are even more unhealthy than the last. Colored oreos for the seasons? Loaded with dyes that people claim cause this or that disease. Peanut butter filled Oreo Cakesters? Two of these will set you back 220 calories and 10 grams of fat! How about White Fudge Covered Oreos? One cookie is 100 calories and 5 grams of fat. That's almost a full snack's worth of calories and about 10% of your daily fat allowance (assuming you go with the FDA's upper limit for fats at 65 grams per day). To top it off, the white and milk chocolate fudge covered Oreos are marketed as 'Limited Edition' which spurs consumers to buy these and try them right away. Companies continually release 'Limited Editions' as a strategy to get us to buy because gosh, those oreos look so yummy and if you pass it up today, it's uncertain if they'll be around tomorrow. Multiply this one Oreo example by every Lunchable, Cracker, Frozen Pizza, etc and you get so many irresistible offers to try insanely unhealthy foods it's mind boggling. Clever, but ruthless.
While I'm on the subject of the FDA guidelines, take a look at the sodium recommendation of 2,400 milligrams or less per day. That sounds like a lot, right? WRONG. Anything frozen or processed (which is probably 90% of most people's diet, me included) is usually loaded with sodium to enhance and protect taste as well as lengthen shelf life. Diet foods are often the worst offenders because as you remove the fats (aka flavor) there's a tendency to pack in the sodium so that we don't notice we're eating colored cardboard sucked dry of everything we crave. Then factor in what health gurus and professionals recommend we actually intake for sodium, fat, calories etc and your head will really be spinning. It's like everything you could possibly eat is the enemy, waiting to split the seam of your favorite pants or stop your heart in a few years. What pressure!
To bring things back a little bit, consider what humans (and humanoid ancestors) ate before true civilization. Roots, grasses, meats, berries and maybe some fish probably made up the majority of their diets. As we evolved and became more civilized, we discovered things like salt. Salt and other spices were good because we could pack them on to disguise the bad flavors of rotting meat and help preserve stuff for long trips before refrigeration. We sort of became dependent on them through the years if you think about it. We can keep stuff fresh now without the aid of preservatives and salt, yet we're so hooked on that flavor and that convenience factor it cripples us. I'm not trying to say that I'm living the twigs and berries lifestyle or converting anytime soon, I just feel that it's important to me that I identify the factors in my life that facilitate my obesity. Of course low calorie and fat frozen entrees aren't the most healthful thing for me to be eating, but it's such an enormous to make eating changes for me I can't help but try to use these resources despite their inherent flaws.
Alright, so I:m rambling a bit and it's getting pretty late so I'll have to wrap this up. In any case, my first class is canceled tomorrow meaning I get to sleep in a bit and (hopefully) motivate myself to get some exercise. I admit I was pretty bad today and had a chimichanga from a new Mexican place in town but I did make the effort to ride my bike for an hour around campus and challenge myself to some moderate uphill inclines. I know it wasn't enough to offset the dinner I ate but I feel that part of my lifestyle change is trying to enjoy things like exercise for what it is and not just use it as a means to an end. Part of me has always wanted to enjoy something like going on runs but my weight gives me shin splints and other difficulties which equals pain which equals not enjoying the activity but resenting it. The gym is a new torture in itself -- unflattering clothing and jiggling around while svelter, gym-loving skinny people watch? Ick! Not to mention the whole American way of hiding our shames, which is something I can't do by going out to the gym (it's so public!)
Ok, ok, rambling again. I'm cutting myself off here. Last note: had a great weekend, saw my favorite band live in concert, got more compliments on the Hello Kitty bike today.
Showing posts with label Fast Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fast Food. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Crawling Up the Walls
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!
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!
Monday, August 9, 2010
How's This for Some Hidden Truth?
This past weekend I went down to visit my boyfriend, Matt, for his birthday. I tried to eat healthy(er) but in the end I wasn't uber successful, which is a major bummer since this coming weekend won't exactly be a super healthy foods time either since we'll be on vacation at the Cape. I was hoping to go easy this weekend in anticipation of the vacation, but when it's birthday time and everyone wants to go out to dinner, have cake, etc I find it pretty impossible.
I started off well enough (or so I thought) Friday. I came in around 1:30 PM and we both opted for a bite at Bruegger's which is a bagel chain that also serves Panera-esque stuff like salads, soups, and sandwiches. I opted for their Turkey Chipotle Club, which is super delicious, but as I found out afterwards laden with 800 calories and 51 (yeah, 50-freaking-1) grams of fat. I honestly thought it was a typo looking at their website. Not that I count sodium much, but it had a killer 1,840 milligrams of that as well. Add on the side Caesar Salad I split with Matt, and I clocked in at about 1,100 calories and 61 or so grams of fat for that one meal. Honestly, I almost would have been better off going to McDonald's and getting my old standby meal of a 4-piece McNugget meal and Double Cheeseburger which clocks in at about 960 calories and 46 grams of fat in total. Heck, I would have saved around 200 calories, 15 grams of fat and $5!
I think most people that go to these sorts of chain bakery/deli combos expecting that whatever they could order will be vastly more healthy than anything from a fast food place. While it stands to reason that chipotle mayo and a little bacon aren't exactly healthy, there's no reason that Bruegger's needs to make a sandwich THAT bad. It was delicious, yes, but I've had lower fat mayo that doesn't taste horrible. People always slam 'the fast food industry' for making America fat. I think it's the restaurant industry as a whole, to be honest.
Later than night, Matt chose Applebee's for his birthday dinner. We got Boneless Buffalo wings and their Potato Twisters for apps which I limited myself on as I ordered the Asiago Steak in an effort to be healthy and didn't want this to go to waste. For those of you unfamiliar, Applebee's has about 6 or 8 entrees that are 'under 550 calories' for the health conscious. Since I didn't want a salad and don't love seafood, that left me with the steak or a chicken choice. My entree was quoted at 390 calories with 14 grams of fat, including the sides of steamed veggies and potatoes. The steak itself was a little rough, texture wise, because I felt that it was kind of fatty and chewy but I applaud Applebee's for at least making the effort.
Saturday was a wash from the start, as Matt's buddy Louie was having a BBQ that consisted of home smoked ribs and pork tenderloin, coleslaw, potato salad, dips, and this delicious cheesy potato casserole. Topping it off there were brownies and homemade ice cream for dessert. Since we spent all afternoon and night there and I got my drink on, I didn't care much what I ate. There wasn't much in the way of better choices there save for some apple sauce and crushed pineapple to go with the pork.
By Sunday, I was pretty much ready to go back to salads and lighter choices, as I was tired of eating heavy foods and I was still prepping myself for the weekend ahead. It was just my luck that Matt's mom brought home all kinds of pastry and cupcakes for his birthday, but also that we went to hibachi later that night to yet again celebrate with friends. I managed to share half of a reasonably sized chocolate cup cake and avoided the other delicious confections, but I confess I did have filet mignon at hibachi and loved every friggin' bite!
So it's now Monday and though this weekend wasn't the best 'turn over a new leaf' experience, I've been trying to repent by ordering the lowest fat/calorie breakfast sandwich from Au Bon Pain with a water.
In my last post, I touched upon how frequently my boyfriend and I ate out and that I wanted to start cutting down on that bad habit. Looking up the nutrition information from what I ate this weekend just reaffirms this. I am honestly having trouble wrapping my mind around how many calories and fat are in typical restaurant foods. I definitely feel that the Food Industry as a whole needs to start making big changes. I hated the 'no trans fat' oil push (the oil they use at Dunkin' Donuts now to make their donuts with leaves a funky taste in my opinion), but beyond just making skin-deep changes like that what have they really done?
I don't fully blame these places for 'making me fat' -- it's mostly the choices I've made that have landed me here, but I do think that they could do a major overhaul of their recipes and methods and reduce a good portion of calories and fats without sending out bland or funny tasting foods. Especially in the example I gave with Bruegger's, there is absolutely no reason that that sandwich needed to have that amount of fat and calories in it. For Christ's sake there isn't even any cheese on it, so imagine what that would have added! I now support and appreciate places that have nutritional information easily available on their menus because I think that we need a wake-up call. Understanding exactly how many calories is in this or that dish can put it all into perspective, but I do recognize that sometimes, you just wanna splurge at the Cheesecake Factory. To me, it now makes way more sense to go all out and enjoy their tasty food instead of wasting a thousand or more calories on substandard burgers and unimaginative pasta bowls from TGIFriday's or Bugaboo Creek.
In closing, I'll definitely be looking for some exercise opportunities in the next few days to reduce the impact that last and next weekend are having on me. Curse me and my fat genes!
I started off well enough (or so I thought) Friday. I came in around 1:30 PM and we both opted for a bite at Bruegger's which is a bagel chain that also serves Panera-esque stuff like salads, soups, and sandwiches. I opted for their Turkey Chipotle Club, which is super delicious, but as I found out afterwards laden with 800 calories and 51 (yeah, 50-freaking-1) grams of fat. I honestly thought it was a typo looking at their website. Not that I count sodium much, but it had a killer 1,840 milligrams of that as well. Add on the side Caesar Salad I split with Matt, and I clocked in at about 1,100 calories and 61 or so grams of fat for that one meal. Honestly, I almost would have been better off going to McDonald's and getting my old standby meal of a 4-piece McNugget meal and Double Cheeseburger which clocks in at about 960 calories and 46 grams of fat in total. Heck, I would have saved around 200 calories, 15 grams of fat and $5!
I think most people that go to these sorts of chain bakery/deli combos expecting that whatever they could order will be vastly more healthy than anything from a fast food place. While it stands to reason that chipotle mayo and a little bacon aren't exactly healthy, there's no reason that Bruegger's needs to make a sandwich THAT bad. It was delicious, yes, but I've had lower fat mayo that doesn't taste horrible. People always slam 'the fast food industry' for making America fat. I think it's the restaurant industry as a whole, to be honest.
Later than night, Matt chose Applebee's for his birthday dinner. We got Boneless Buffalo wings and their Potato Twisters for apps which I limited myself on as I ordered the Asiago Steak in an effort to be healthy and didn't want this to go to waste. For those of you unfamiliar, Applebee's has about 6 or 8 entrees that are 'under 550 calories' for the health conscious. Since I didn't want a salad and don't love seafood, that left me with the steak or a chicken choice. My entree was quoted at 390 calories with 14 grams of fat, including the sides of steamed veggies and potatoes. The steak itself was a little rough, texture wise, because I felt that it was kind of fatty and chewy but I applaud Applebee's for at least making the effort.
Saturday was a wash from the start, as Matt's buddy Louie was having a BBQ that consisted of home smoked ribs and pork tenderloin, coleslaw, potato salad, dips, and this delicious cheesy potato casserole. Topping it off there were brownies and homemade ice cream for dessert. Since we spent all afternoon and night there and I got my drink on, I didn't care much what I ate. There wasn't much in the way of better choices there save for some apple sauce and crushed pineapple to go with the pork.
By Sunday, I was pretty much ready to go back to salads and lighter choices, as I was tired of eating heavy foods and I was still prepping myself for the weekend ahead. It was just my luck that Matt's mom brought home all kinds of pastry and cupcakes for his birthday, but also that we went to hibachi later that night to yet again celebrate with friends. I managed to share half of a reasonably sized chocolate cup cake and avoided the other delicious confections, but I confess I did have filet mignon at hibachi and loved every friggin' bite!
So it's now Monday and though this weekend wasn't the best 'turn over a new leaf' experience, I've been trying to repent by ordering the lowest fat/calorie breakfast sandwich from Au Bon Pain with a water.
In my last post, I touched upon how frequently my boyfriend and I ate out and that I wanted to start cutting down on that bad habit. Looking up the nutrition information from what I ate this weekend just reaffirms this. I am honestly having trouble wrapping my mind around how many calories and fat are in typical restaurant foods. I definitely feel that the Food Industry as a whole needs to start making big changes. I hated the 'no trans fat' oil push (the oil they use at Dunkin' Donuts now to make their donuts with leaves a funky taste in my opinion), but beyond just making skin-deep changes like that what have they really done?
I don't fully blame these places for 'making me fat' -- it's mostly the choices I've made that have landed me here, but I do think that they could do a major overhaul of their recipes and methods and reduce a good portion of calories and fats without sending out bland or funny tasting foods. Especially in the example I gave with Bruegger's, there is absolutely no reason that that sandwich needed to have that amount of fat and calories in it. For Christ's sake there isn't even any cheese on it, so imagine what that would have added! I now support and appreciate places that have nutritional information easily available on their menus because I think that we need a wake-up call. Understanding exactly how many calories is in this or that dish can put it all into perspective, but I do recognize that sometimes, you just wanna splurge at the Cheesecake Factory. To me, it now makes way more sense to go all out and enjoy their tasty food instead of wasting a thousand or more calories on substandard burgers and unimaginative pasta bowls from TGIFriday's or Bugaboo Creek.
In closing, I'll definitely be looking for some exercise opportunities in the next few days to reduce the impact that last and next weekend are having on me. Curse me and my fat genes!
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