Weight Loss

So I've been trying to loose weight recently, and I think I'm finally starting to realize why weight loss is a multi-million dollar industry! It's freaking HARD! Everywhere you look food is taking over. There are fast food restaurants everywhere, each one just as unhealthy as the next. If you eat out a lot, be it fast food, or at a nice "healthy" sit down restaurant, you're going to gain weight eventually!

Atlanta Bread Company:
My favorite saladhas 330 calories, and that's not including the 150 calories worth of dressing (for 2 tablespoons of dressing), they'll put 4 tablespoons on most salads. The bread bowl that Matt always gets has a whopping 550 calories, and that's just for the bowl. Add anywhere between 100 and 300 calories for the soup.

Chick-Fil-A
If you get a regular chicken sandwich, medium fries, and a medium lemonade you'll be injesting about 975 calories. 410 for the sandwich, 350 for the fries, and 220 for the lemonade. You'll also be getting 1465 mg of sodium, thats 3/4 of what you're alloted in a day (which isn't a healthy amount to begin with!) Add a milkshake for dessert and you'll be getting 750 more calories, and 600 mg of sodium!

Denny's
3 buttermilk pancakes will run you about 420 calories, that's not including any syrup or butter. Add 2 sausage patties for another 300 calories. And of course you'll be injesting over 2000 mg of sodium.

Even "cooking" at home is bad for you. Frozen meals pack in the cholestorol and sodium, even the "healthy" ones. Anything that comes from a can probably has more sodium than you're supposed to have in a day. Anything lowfat probably has a whole lot of sugar added to it, and anything sugar free has a lot more fat than the other stuff. Unless you're eating fresh vegetables and fruit and maybe some lean meat with no sauce, it seems like its going to be a TON of calories.

I'm only supposed to injest about 1,500 calories a day. Going out to eat I can easily eat this in one meal. Cooking, or dorm style microwave cooking isn't always much better. If it's been processed, I might as well not eat it! Since I'll have an apartment in the fall I'm going to try a LOT harder to eat healthy. I'll cook in large quantities with fresh (or frozen) fruits and veggies. The frozen veggies and fruit are awesome because they don't need to add a lot, but read the labels. I'll freeze my leftovers, so I have my own microwave meals for when I'm in a crunch. When I do eat out I'll do a lot of the same stuff I do now. If you know where you're going, check online for nutrition facts and find healthier things that you will enjoy. I rarely eat my whole meal when I go out to eat, and I'll often grab a healthier snack and eat it on the way out the door. I heard a tip to ask for a to go box right when you get your food, so you can put away some before you start eating, so you don't accidently eat more than you should. I'm not going to deprive myself of food, in fact I really enjoy eating healthier. I'm just going to pay a whole lot more attention to what I eat!

Wish me luck! Give me tips! Tell me I look gorgeous! Steal some of my food! Bring me fresh fruits and veggies!