Wendy's

In a pinch before our trip to the zoo yesterday we needed to make a stop for lunch. Bridget and I had a conversation about how well Wendy's was doing at providing a healthier menu. The kids both got kids meals, and instead of fries Sydney had yogurt and Aiden had orange slices. Instead of soda they had 2% milk. Bridget and I each had taco salads with low fat sour cream and dressing. For their main course the kids did split a burger and chicken nuggets, which are obviously not the healthiest....but neither was my root beer float or Bridget's frostee.

Even though we didn't eat everything low fat or low cal, at least we cut fat and calories out of what we would have usually ordered. I would probably go for a double cheeseburger with bacon, fries, and a diet coke...look at the difference:
Taco salad - 380 calories - 19 grams fat - 28 grams carbs - 26 grams protein
Burger option w/ fries - 1050 calories - 53 grams fat - 107 grams carbs - 41 grams protein

All of that info came from www.fastfood.com, which I just found on Google. It seems like a pretty useful tool in researching what you eat. Maybe if I would have researched my meal before hand I would have found something even healthier!

Big day!

I've been on a strict diet and exercise plan since October 25th. I reached my goal today, I have lost 75 pounds and a whopping 25% of my initial body weight! Here are some more numbers from my dramatic weight loss:

Since Oct. 25th I have:
Lost 75 pounds
which was 25% of my body mass
Body fat dropped from 31.34% to 19.49%
Fat mass 43 pounds now, 95 pounds then
lean mass now 181 pounds, 208 pounds then
I lost 8 and a half inches from my belly!

Pretty crazy, huh? But you may be asking yourself, is he done? Heck no! I am switching things up though, I am returning to the Body for Life plan which is my favorite diet and exercise plan that I recommend to everyone. I have set another goal of 15 pounds to lose by May 15th. That would put me at a svelt 210 pounds. Just for reference, when I graduated from CSU I weighed 225 pounds, when we moved to Omaha (2 years after graduation) I weighed 260 pounds. When I left Rochester I was 300 pounds, and I maxed out in Rochester at 315 pounds! So that goal of 210 pounds by mid-May would represent 105 pounds less than my highest weight ever...now that's what I call crazy!

Has McDonalds gone too far?

I read the other day that McDonalds was releasing a new burger. It is made with Angus beef which is nothing new, Burger King and Arby's already have Angus burgers, but the scary part is that it will be it's biggest burger yet. At over 600 calories and 1/3 pound of meat is there no end? Add cheese and even bacon and you burger is over 800 calories. Still doesn't touch BK's triple Whopper with cheese and mayo which tops out at 1230 calories and 82 grams of fat! I guess my question is, do restaurants have a responsibility to protect its consumers when it's consumers are not protecting their health for themselves? In other words, I think ALL restaurants should be forced to publish on the menu the calorie, fat, carbs, and protein content, this way consumers may be swayed to pick the lesser of two evils and go with a slightly better Big Mac (550 calories). Instead of only trying to make a buck, perhaps they should work to do their part to help America's waistline!