Worst Foods in America

Ok, so I know this list came out several months ago, but I thought it was worth mentioning again. It’s a list of America’s Top 20 Worst Foods as ranked by Men’s Health magazine. It was compiled by Matt Goulding who is also the editor of the book “Eat This Not That” which was written by Men’s Health editor-in-chief David Zinczenko.

I think it’s a great reminder for us about the importance of making healthy food choices when we go to restaurants. It also reminds us that not even everything that might sound healthy is necessarily a good choice. Some of these numbers (especially sodium levels) are simply staggering! So, do YOU eat any of these foods??

20. Worst Fast-Food Chicken Meal

McDonald’s Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips (5 pieces) with creamy ranch sauce
830 calories, 55g fat (4.5g trans fat), 48 g carbs

19. Worst Drink

Jamba Juice Chocolate Moo’d Power Smoothie (30 fl oz)
900 calories, 10 g fat, 183 g carbs (166 g sugars)

18. Worst Supermarket Meal

Pepperidge Farm Roasted Chicken Pot Pie (whole pie)
1,020 calories, 64 g fat, 86 g carbs

17. Worst “Healthy” Burger

Ruby Tuesday Bella Turkey Burger
1,145 calories, 71 g fat, 56 g carbs

16. Worst Mexican Entree

Chipotle Mexican Grilled Chicken Burrito
1,179 calories, 47 g fat, 125 g carbs, 2,656 mg sodium

15. Worst Kids’ Meal

Macaroni Grill Double Macaroni ‘n’ Cheese
1,210 calories, 62 g fat, 3,450 mg sodium

14. Worst Sandwich

Quizno’s Classic Italian (large)
1,510 calories, 82 g fat, 106 g carbs , 3,750 mg sodium

13. Worst Salad

On the Border Grande Taco Salad with Taco Beef
1,450 calories, 102 g fat, 78 g carbs, 2,410 mg sodium

12. Worst Burger

Carl’s Jr. Double Six Dollar Burger
1,520 calories, 111 g fat, 60 g carbs, 2760 mg sodium

11. Worst Steak

Lonestar 20 oz T-bone
1,540 calories, 124 g fat

10. Worst Breakfast

Bob Evans Caramel Banana Pecan Cream Stacked and Stuffed Hotcakes
1,540 calories, 77 g fat (9 g trans fat), 198 g carbs (109 g sugars)

9. Worst Dessert

Chili’s Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream
1,600 calories, 78 g fat, 215 g carbs, 950 mg sodium

8. Worst Chinese Entree

P.F. Chang’s Pork Lo Mein
1,820 calories, 127 g fat, 95 g carbs

7. Worst Chicken Entree

Chili’s Honey Chipotle Crispers with Chipotle Sauce
2,040 calories, 99 g fat, 240 g carbs, 4030 mg sodium

6. Worst Fish Entree

On the Border Dos XX Fish Tacos with Rice and Beans
2,100 calories, 130 g fat, 169 g carbs, 4,750 mg sodium

5. Worst Pizza

Uno Chicago Grill Chicago Classic Deep Dish Pizza
2,310 calories, 162 g fat, 123 g carbs, 4,470 mg sodium

4. Worst Pasta

Macaroni Grill Spaghetti and Meatballs with Meat Sauce
2,430 calories, 128 g fat, 207 g carbs, 5,290 mg sodium

I think this one shocked me most! What’s in those meatballs to make it THAT high in calories, fat, and sodium?!

3. Worst Nachos

On the Border Stacked Border Nachos
2,740 calories, 166 g fat, 191 g carbs, 5,280 mg sodium

2. Worst Starter

Chili’s Awesome Blossom
2,710 calories, 203 g fat, 194 g carbs, 6,360 mg sodium

1. The Worst Food in America (drumroll, please ….. )

Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing
2,900 calories, 182 g fat, 240 g carbs

Given how much Americans tend to dine out regularly, is it any wonder we have such an obesity problem in this country? Food for thought … (yes, the pun was intended )

Until next time …

No weigh in

Well, I was a bit lazy this morning and didn’t wake up in time for my WW meeting. It’s probably just as well since I know I would have been up on the scale. Let’s just say that I made less than stellar food choices during the past few days while in my dark place. Oh well, today’s a new day and I’m back on track!

As of tomorrow, I will have 24 weeks to go until my first triathlon. I’ve decided to set myself a goal of losing 24 pounds by then. I think that’s a very safe realistic goal since it will mean basically losing 1 pound per week. Would I like to drop more by then? Sure! However, I decided it would be smarter to set a realistic goal that I have a good chance of reaching than to set a very aggressive goal and being disappointed if I don’t make it. So, I went for the SMART goal:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely

I finally started feeling a bit of mojo again for my stitching. I should be working on my Hannah Beeby since this is designated week of April for it in our Hannah stitch-a-long. I just didn’t feel like tackling a large project right now though, so I’ve been working a bit on a Curtis Boehringer model for my LNS.

Well, I guess that’s it for now. Until next time …

One Perfect Day

Kathy has thrown down the gauntlet and challenged those of us in the weight-loss blogging world to make today a “Perfect Day” on our food plans. I LOVE this concept and immediately tossed my hat into the ring. Today is actually day 50 of my 50 Day No Cheat Challenge, and I can’t think of a better way to end it than with a bunch of other weight loss bloggers all striving for a perfect day, too.

As my regular readers already know, I’m using the Flex Plan from Weight Watchers for my eating plan. For me, it’s easy and doesn’t require a lot of thought. The most important part though, it works for me. I know that no one program is the right plan for everybody, but I’ve definitely had more success with WW than any of the other myriad of diet plans I’ve tried over the years. So, if it ain’t broke, don’t fit it.

In light of the Perfect Day challenge, here the “rules” of the Flex Plan.

1. Stay within your points budget (daily points target, any earned Activity Points, plus a weekly points allowance of 35 points).
2. Track what you eat and its points value.
3. Follow the Good Health Guidelines:
   • At least 5 servings of vegetables and fruits
   • Whole-grain foods whenever possible
   • 2-3 servings of dairy products
   • 2 tsp. healthy oil (canola, olive, safflower, etc.)
   • 1-2 servings of protein
   • Limit added sugar and alcohol
   • Drink at least 6 glasses of water
   • Take a multiple vitamin-mineral supplement

Based on those requirements, here is my plan of action for the day:

1. Reach my daily points target of 30.
2. If I’m still hungry, use earned activity points or weekly points allowance as needed.
3. I will journal my food for the day here on my blog.
4. I will drink a minimum of 48 ounces of water.
5. I will incorporate all of the Healthy Guidelines.

One Perfect Day Diary:

Breakfast:
Fat-free yogurt - 2
Coffee with 1 tbsp half-and-half - 0.5

Snack:
Banana - 2

Lunch:
Salad - 0
1 tsp. salad dressing - 0.5
Carba-Nada pasta with tomato sauce & mushrooms - 4
Gardenburger Mama Mia meatless meatballs - 2

Snack:
String cheese - 2
Z-bar - 2

Dinner:
Black Bean & Chipotle veggie burgers - 2
Salad - 0
Olive oil (2 tsp.) & balsamic vinegar dressing - 2
WW Giant Latte ice cream bar - 1

Snack:
2 cups skim milk - 3.5
Baker’s Double Chocolate Chunk cookie - 6

Total Points: 29.5
Exercise: 27 mins stationary bike - 5 miles (2 AP)
Weekly Points balance: 31.5
Water: 80 oz
Consecutive Days OP: 50

Also, as in my usual way, I will close with my WW stats from yesterday:

Total Points: 29
Exercise: 2 miles wogging - 3 APs
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 64 oz
Consecutive Days OP: 49

Until next time …

Weekly Weigh In

Well, not much to say about it this week. Even with staying 100% on program, I maintained this week. I get that’s payback for that 2.2 pound loss last week when I was taking the Prednisone.

It’s been a pretty quiet day for me thus far. I’ve been trying to do a big of spring cleaning. I have just become completely disgusted with the amount of clutter I have in my home. My goal for this spring is to do some major decluttering of my life. I have tons of old books, clothes, shoes, etc. that I just need to get rid of since I’ll never use them again. I’ve been putting together piles of things worth donating/giving away and those things that will just need to be trashed.

Part of this purging is going to be a major portion of my stitching/stamping stash. I simply have too much stuff for the amount of space I have. After going so many years when I was married of not having the money for stash, I seem to have gone overboard in the past 4+ years. I have lots of things that while I really like them, I know I’ll likely never stitch. Given that fact, there’s little need in me keeping it. So, as I sort through my stash, I’ll be creating a page with things up for sale. I hope to get that list started in the next week or two, so be sure and check back.

Here are my WW stats for yesterday:

Total Points: 28.5
Exercise: 26 mins stationary bike - 5 miles (2 AP)
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 64 oz
Days OP: 47

Until next time …

Ta-Da! & Lots of Other Stuff

Ok, so I’m a few days late posting this, but I had a needlepoint happy dance earlier this week. I finished this piece on Monday and really like how it turned out. I’m planning to put it into the lid of a wooden box. This means I’ve now completed 4 out of 10 projects for my WIP Killer Challenge.

The piece is called Dazzle and is by local designer Margaret Bendig. She is in the process of having a website created, so once it goes live, I’ll post a link.

I’ve also been spending some time on my lunch hours this week on my latest diversion. It’s a crossword puzzle I received from Nick. It’s literally titled the “World’s Largest Crossword Puzzle” and contains over 28,000 clues. Thankfully it isn’t in one huge piece. It’s made up of 6 different panels each measuring 2.33 feet by 3.5 feet. I taped the first panel up onto the wall behind my cubicle. It’s become pretty popular with a couple of my office mates as well, so it should be fun to see how long it actually takes us all to finish it.

Warning: What follows in the next section is a bit of a plus size clothing rant. If you aren’t interested in hearing my rant, skip this part.

[rant on]

Why is it that plus size clothing, most especially activewear for exercising, is so fucking expensive?! Yes, I realize that there are more costs in making larger sizes as it requires more fabric, but come on?! It surely can’t cost double, yet that’s what I find myself paying. It just ain’t right, I say!

For example, I have been wanting to get a running skirt. I happened to get a catalog from Champion which listed their Women’s 14″ Performance Skort at $25. Of course, it’s only offered up to a size 16. I need a size 22/24. So, instead I ordered a QuikWik® Power Play Skirt from Junonia which set me back $50. I ordered the skirt, a pair of QuikWik® running capris, and 2 QuikWik® t-shirts. With shipping, it came to nearly $200 for 4 freakin’ items.

It just seems SOOOOO wrong to spend that much money on workout gear, but there just aren’t many options for those of us over a size 16/18 when it comes to activewear. I guess that should just help inspire me all the more to get rid of the extra pounds, but it just frustrates me more than anything else! But, since I need the proper type of wicking clothing for training, I pony up the money they ask. (sigh)

[rant off]

I realized today that I’ve been very remiss in updating my status on my 50 day no cheat challenge with my eating plan. Yes, I’m still on track and going strong. Today is day 46 for me. I can’t believe it’s been nearly a week since I posted my stats! So, in closing, here they are for the past 5 days:

Saturday:

Total Points: 29.5
Exercise: None - rest day prior to tomorrow’s 5k
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 64 oz
Days OP: 41

Sunday:

Total Points: 36 (used 5 APs and 1 WP)
Exercise: 5k race (54:24) - 5 APs
Weekly Points balance: 34
Water: 64 oz
Days OP: 42

Monday:

Total Points: 26
Exercise: Post-race rest day
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 64 oz
Days OP: 43

Tuesday:

Total Points: 32 (used 2 AP’s)
Exercise: 27 mins stationary bike (2 AP) & 18 mins brisk walking (2 AP)
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 80 oz
Days OP: 44

Wednesday:

Total Points: 29.5
Exercise: 27 mins stationary bike (2 AP)
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 48 oz
Days OP: 45

Until next time …

Cool new shirts & Weekly Update

I ordered a couple of new tech shirts recently from the Run Athena website. They arrived earlier this week, but I’m just now getting around to posting about them. Here’s a photo:

For those not into the crazy world of endurance sports like marathon running or triathlons, there is a separate category at races for those us who are *ahem* larger than the typical athlete. For women, that category is called the Athena category and is compromised of female participants in excess of 150 pounds. Please don’t even get me started on what a ridiculously low weight that seems to me for an “Athena”. Oh well, at least Athena sounds pretty cool. For men over 200 pounds, their category is called “Clydesdales”. Yeah, Athena sounds much better.

Anyway, back to the shirts. I was really pleased with the quality given they were only $12 + s/h each. The shirt itself is from Bike and they come in size L and XL. I ordered the XL knowing it would probably be a bit before I could actually wear them. Well, I was really surprised when I tried them on to see that it won’t be long at all! They are cut quite generously. It actually fits me already, but it’s tighter than my current comfort level would allow for me to wear in public. I’m think they’ll be just about right in about 10-15 more pounds. I will wear them proudly!

I’m still in the (hopefully) final stages of recovery from the tonsillitis/sinus infection. I still have a bit of congestion, but it’s a lot better than it was last weekend. As a result of still being in recovery, I didn’t get in very much training this week. I got in 4.05 total miles of walking/wogging (walk/jog combo) and 3 miles on the stationary bike.

My wogging miles will definitely increase tomorrow since I’ll be doing the Coaster Run 5k with Darla. I went by and picked up my race packet earlier today, so I’m all ready to go. After the race is over, we’ll be heading over to the LNS for an all day stitch & bitch and potluck, so tomorrow should be a really fun day all around.

This morning was also my weekly Weight Watchers meeting. I went to it hopeful for a bit of a loss, but realized that it might not happen since I’ve been on Prednisone for the past 8 days. I was THRILLED when I stepped on the scale and saw I was down 2.2 pounds this week. It’s the first time I’ve EVER lost weight on Prednisone! So, this now brings my total loss thus far for my 50 day no cheat challenge up to 13.4 pounds.

Today is actually day 41 of my challenge. It’s amazing to realize that I’m already over 80% done with it! Things have been going so well lately and I’m feeling so good where I am on my journey that I may just keep going with it for a while. I don’t know that I’ll extend it out to another specific point, but I figure since I’m not really struggling and wanting to have a cheat day then it only makes sense to stick with it. I have just over 6 months until the Subaru triathlon and I would really like to be about 35 pounds lighter by then, so sticking with my no cheat plan will definitely help with that.

Ok, this is starting to get crazy long, so I’ll finish off for now. As usual, I’ll close with my WW stats for the past 2 days since I didn’t get around to posting yesterday.

Thursday:

Total Points: 28
Exercise: Cycling (1 AP) & Wogging (2 AP) - 3
Weekly Points balance: 34
Water: 88 oz
Days OP: 39

Friday:

Total Points: 29.5
Exercise: Walking - 1 AP
Weekly Points balance: 34
Water: 72 oz
Days OP: 40

Until next time …

Health Update

Back from the doctor … again. After not getting any better after being on antibiotics for a few days, actually I’ve been getting much worse, I went back to the doctor this morning. Turns out she kind of misdiagnosed me earlier in the week. While I do have a bit of a sinus infection, that’s not what has been causing the severe throat pain. I was wrong yesterday as well though, I don’t have strep either. I have tonsillitis. So, in addition to the antibiotics, I’m now on Prednisone for the next 12 days, too. Unfortunately, this also means no Carlsbad 5000 for me this weekend. In fact, she told me to hold off on all training for at least 5 days.

Since I know how Prednisone typically affects my weight, I weighed in today instead of tomorrow. I was down another 1.6 pounds this week which brings my total loss to date up to 76.2 pounds.

They also did blood work on Wednesday and I got those results back today. She was VERY happy with my numbers with the exception of my glucose. She said it might have registered slightly high though due to the fact that I hadn’t been on a 12-hour fast prior to the draw since it wasn’t scheduled in advance. Here are my results:

Blood Pressure: 118/73
Triglycerides: 124 (recommended is < 150)
Total Cholesterol: 192 (recommended is < 200) – it was 249 when tested last May
HDL Cholesterol: 49 (recommended is >= 40)
LDL Cholesterol: 118 (recommended is < 130)
Chol/HDLC Ratio: 3.9 (recommended is <= 5)
Glucose: 105 (recommended is 65-99)

All in all, pretty good numbers especially given my current weight. She told me to keep it up with my weight loss and exercise regime and they’ll only continue to drop and get better.

Until next time ...

Blog Catch Up

I’ve been playing a bit of blog catch up tonight. I saw this on Jeanne’s blog and it really struck a cord with me. It goes hand-in-hand with a quote I added into my training log yesterday, too. First the video, then the quote.

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. –Lao Tzu

Here’s a link to a very interesting article I found on Nancy’s blog. While I certainly don’t think this means one should give up drinking water, I do think the research is pretty interesting. Personally, I know I feel better when I’m drinking water vs. drinking a ton of diet soda or something. On the other hand, there are days when I just don’t really feel very thirsty to the point that it becomes a real chore to try and get in the 48 oz. minimum of water that Weight Watchers recommends.

Now, before fellow WW members start leaving comments, yes, I am aware that WW says only half of the 48 oz. requirement MUST be water. The other half can from other sugar-free, caffeine-free sources. I’ve generally always tried to get all of it from water as much as possible. In fact, I usually end up drinking 64 oz. of water which is the amount referenced in the article.

The days when it is usually the biggest struggle for me are on the rest days from my training plan. On the days when I am working out, I generally get in 48 oz. of water easily since I’ll down 24-32 oz. when I’m working out.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree and why? Do you think drinking water aids you in your weight loss? As of person with more of a science/logical background, it’s really difficult for me to argue with documented science. On the other hand, it will be interesting to see if this spawns further research.

I’ll close with today’s WW stats:

Total Points: 29.5
Exercise:
Weekly Points balance: 30
Water: 64 oz
Days OP: 32

Until next time …

Siren Song of the Triathlon

OMG! I did it!! I have officially registered for my first triathlon. I’ve wanted to do a triathlon for a long time (since watching the Kona Ironman the first time many years ago). I’ve always put those feelings aside though because 1) I was so overweight, and 2) I didn’t know how to ride a bike.

After volunteering at the Ironman California 70.2 over the weekend, I can’t push down the desire any longer. So, today I plunked down my money and signed up for the Subaru US Women’s Triathlon Series that will take place in San Diego on October 19, 2008. I signed up for the Super Sprint distance which means I’ll be swimming 375m, then biking 13k, and ending with a 3.35k run. In English measurements, that translates to roughly a quarter mile swim, an 8 mile bike ride, and a 2 mile run. So, I have about 6.5 months to improve my swim, finish learning to ride a bike, and build up my running time/speed.

I took a few pictures with the phone on my Blackberry while I was volunteering. Rather than posting them all here, if you’re interested, you can check them out at the link below. I’ll take some time later in the week to write more about the experience and all the cool people I met this weekend.

2008 Ironman California 70.3

Before I headed down to Oceanside on Friday to volunteer, I went by and weighed in at a WW center since I wouldn’t make my normal Saturday morning meeting. I was down 1 pound last week which puts me at 9.6 pounds gone for the month of March when I recommitted to staying OP and started my 50 Day OP Challenge. It would appear that if one actually stays on program that one can lose weight. Who knew?!

I’m also thrilled to report that I did indeed manage to stay on the straight and narrow with my OP streak over the weekend. I was a little nervous about it because I wasn’t actually journaling the couple of days I was down there other than in my head. I even managed to fit in a couple of snack size candy treats! I put it all down on paper when I got home Sunday just to make sure I hadn’t calculated wrong, but it was all good. So, I’ll close this entry with my stats for Friday, Saturday, and yesterday.

Friday:

Total Points: 29
Exercise:
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 64 oz
Days OP: 26

Saturday:

Total Points: 32 (used 1 AP)
Exercise: 7896 steps on WW pedometer (1 AP)
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 48 oz
Days OP: 27

Sunday:

Total Points: 31
Exercise:
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 64 oz
Days OP: 28

Until next time …

WW Happiness

I went to my WW meeting this morning. I was a bit nervous going into it because I had a luncheon on Wednesday at a local Mexican restaurant. That was immediately followed on Thursday with a potluck luncheon in our department at work. I tried to make the best choices I could, but you just never know what you’re always getting with other people’s cooking, KWIM?

Anyway, I was THRILLED to see that I dropped 1.6 pounds this week. That puts me at 8.6 pounds lost since I recommitted myself a few weeks ago. I’m really happy with how things are going again.

I’ll have to get creative the next couple of weeks as far as making a meeting. I’ll be in Oceanside next weekend volunteering at the California Ironman triathlon. I’m heading down on Friday to work the registration tables Friday evening, and then I’ll be on the course in some capacity on Saturday morning during the actual race.

The following weekend, I’ll be heading down to Oceanside again to participate in the Carlsbad 5000 race. That event isn’t until Sunday, so I could swing by my regular Saturday morning meeting before I head down for the expo on Saturday afternoon. I’ll just have to see what’s on the agenda with Terri and her DH before I made any definite plans. She’s also signed up for the race, but hasn’t decided for sure if she’s going to be able to participate due to on-going issues with plantar fasciitis.

My plans for this weekend include getting out for a couple of nice walks and, perhaps, some more time working on learning to ride my bike. It’s going to be GORGEOUS weather here this weekend with temperatures in the low 80’s. (My apologies to those who are still dealing with winter snow!). I’m hoping to do some spring cleaning, too. I’ve got the windows wide open and just enjoying the nice weather. (Again, my apologies to those still dealing with winter.)

On the NCAA March Madness front, yes, my beloved Tennessee Volunteers won their game yesterday. So, they will now face off against Butler in Round 2 of the tournament. The women’s tournament starts today with Round 1 action. The Lady Vols are a #1 seed this year, so they’ll be playing tomorrow against Oral Roberts.

I’ve been really impressed with how well the schools in Tennessee have done this year in hoops. There are 5 teams from Tennessee in the men’s tournament, and 4 teams from Tennessee in the women’s tournament. Given there are only a total of 64 teams in each tournament, those are pretty good percentages for my home state.

Well, I guess that’s it from me for now. In typical fashion of late, I’ll close with my WW stats for yesterday:

Total Points: 30.5
Exercise: None
Weekly Points balance: 26
Water: 64 oz
Days OP: 19

Until next time …