So I just read an article that really chaps my hide. "Diet" items from Taco Bell, meals from Chilis, and many other restaurants have way more calories and fat than advertised. I'm bummed :(From the article:
"TV stations all over the country recently got together and tested a bunch of dishes from chain restaurants and fast food places to see if the nutritional information they were advertising actually matched the food. The report targeted menu options from chains such as Applebee's, Macaroni Grill, Taco Bell and Chili's that were marketed as healthy. So did the calories in the food match the calories on the menu? Nope. Of the items tested, all but one were way over on calories, or fat content... or both.
For example, the Pollo Magro Skinny Chicken from Macaroni Grill was supposed to have 500 calories and 6 g of fat. It actually had 1022 calories and 49 g of fat. (This total includes the bread and huge vat of cheese that comes on the side) Chili's Guiltless Grill Salmon claimed to have 480 calories and 14 g of fat when it actually contained 664 calories and 35.5 g of fat. Taco Bell's Fresco Grilled Steak Soft Taco is billed as having 160 calories and 4.5 g of fat. Watch out if you plan on eating a few of these, because the sample they tested contained 297 calories and 19.6 g of fat."
Click here to go to the site.
On to other not so happy news. I weigh-in today. I hopped on the doctor's scale at work yesterday afternoon and it looks like I'm up 2 pounds. I never allow a full on melt-down until the real weigh-in but I'm prepared for a gain. I hope it's less than 2 pounds though. And I know what's caused it. No exercise, not tracking, poor food choices. This past week I ate a pint of Häagen-Dazs dulce de leche light ice cream (you gotta admit, that ice cream looks good), a huge bowl of Kettle Corn popcorn, and other stuff I can't remember. So, I am going to start tracking today. I think I said that last week but it didn't stick. This time it will.Buuut, I'll admit I'm not feeling 100% on my ability to do that because we're going camping this weekend! Woo-hoo! I love camping. The food choices I make while we're camping might be kinda iffy though. It's obvious already I'm giving myself permission to make questionable choices. I need to think about that tonight while I make up the menu.
So, I'm off to my meeting. I'll post an addendum when I get back.
Update: I gained 1.2 pounds. Not bad, right? Hopefully it will be gone by next Thursday. AND, when I went to the gym yesterday I was able to jog for 15 straight minutes, so I'm getting there! Tonight I'm running errands with Miguel preparing for our camping trip. Super Excited, that's me!
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I do the tests for those nutritional labels in my lab. On packaged food you are allowed to be up to 20% off. On restaurant food the allowance is even larger because of the differences in people who prepare it. When I count calories I always go high on restaurant stuff. If Taco Bell says it's 250 I'll go at least 300.
ReplyDeleteI was bummed to hear about that same study. I recently had the guiltless salmon at Chilis... I guess eating out needs to be a treat and not something I rely on for clean nutrition. Darn.
ReplyDeleteI'm bummed! I LOVE Taco Bell and was thinking about eating some this weekend BOOOO...
ReplyDeleteHave a blast camping! Glad to see you're on the mend.
Shoshana
So, you're still well within the 160s..yeah!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear how quickly your running strength is returning
Have a great time camping this weekend!
Somehow I ended up on this site from other sites. The title grabbed my attention. Looking at the pics, I like to look at pictures before I read, all I can say is WOW!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWow, Wow Wow. You are, were, and will always be beautiful.
Love from an admirer,
Paracaidas
PS My greatest admiration to you (bowing as I leave)
This is pretty eye opening. I was reading a few days ago about popular drink items and how calorific they were. Like some heathbar crunch drink at Dairy Queen I think it was has 108 grams of fat in it!
ReplyDeleteThis is even worse though, as these items you are talking about are toted as lowfat and healthy. It's kind of like vitamin water and gatoraid. They have a ton of sugar in them but gulp them down thinking they are better for us than soda.
I agree with you about the cheat days LOL because I started remembering how when I would do a cheat day sometimes I would be ok, but other times it would turn into a cheat week and sometimes took two or more weeks to finally get back on track, sending me two steps backwards and having to lose that 3lbs again that took me two weeks to lose in the first place ;)
I think I try and make it over complicated at times. I mean yes, in a perfect world we'd all eat some sort of grilled protein, vegetable and wholegrain at every meal but we don't live in a perfect world and we crave variety and get bored really easy. Sometimes I freak out if my meals were perfectly balanced all day and then have a small side of mac and cheese with my grilled chicken for dinner instead of a baked potato or other whole grain. I need to stop doing that. As long as I eat healthy most of the time and workout, I shouldn't be so worried about depriving myself, putting myself in that "diet" mode.