7 Days---7 Fast Food Restaurants---7 Day Fast Food Diet

So, I am on the “going out to eat” subject again. However, I thought it might be good to give some specifics in this blog. I will be in and out of town for the next couple of months, and I won’t have a lot of time to make my meals, or even go to a sit-down restaurant. So I will probably have to depend mostly on fast-food. In order to maintain or even continue to lose weight, it will be necessary that I stay under 1500 calories.

Most diets you review will be 1200-1500 calorie diets. So if you are always on the go and want to lose weight, this diet may help you shed a few pounds. Now, when I say “diet,” most think of something you “go on to lose weight.” However, I am using it in the general sense of “what you eat.” So as you review recommendations, understand that this is not a weight loss diet, but simply a healthier way to eat when eating fast-food that may also help you shed some pounds. But if all else fails in the weight-loss area, this is just a plan to help you maintain your efforts and eat “healthier” at fast-food restaurants. For this plan, I chose 7 common restaurants that most major areas have: McDonalds, Sonic, Wendy’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, Arby’s, and Taco Bueno. When reviewing this plan, or rather MENU, take in mind that some items may seem to be unhealthy (i.e. burgers and fries), but we have to look at meals in terms of the whole day, and calories for the whole day.  Take that in mind when planning your own meals…

1200-1500 Calorie Fast-Food Diet Menu

Day	Breakfast	Lunch	Snack	Dinner	Total Calories
1	Arby’s Chicken Biscuit- 360 Orange Juice-140	Burger King Whopper Jr.-340 Value onion rings-150 3 packages of ketchup-30 Diet Drink-0	Wendy’s Apple slices-40	Taco Bell          2 Fresco Crunchy Tacos-300 Mexican Rice-120 Bottled Water	1480
2	Sonic Steak and Egg Breakfast Burrito-280 Bottled Water	Taco Bueno Bowl of Chicken Tortilla Soup-237 Party Taco-143 Bottled Water	Sonic Apple slices with caramel dipping sauce-150	McDonald’s Premium Southwest Salad with grilled chicken-290 1 carton of milk-100	1200
3	McDonald’s Egg McMuffin-300 Apple slices-35 Bottled Water	McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger-440 Bottled Water	Arby’s Lowfat Chocolate Milk-150	Burger King Garden Fresh Grilled Chicken BLT salad  with dressing-510 Bottled Water	1435
4	Burger King 3 pancakes and 1 oz of syrup-500 Bottled Water	Taco Bell 2 Fresco Grilled Steak Soft Tacos-300 Diet Drink-0	McDonald’s Snack Size Fruit and Walnuts-70	Sonic Grilled Chicken Wrap-390 Mini Chocolate shake-230 Bottled Water	1490
5	McDonald’s Southern Style Chicken Biscuit-410 Bottled Water	Arby’s Roast Turkey and Swiss Wrap-500 Bottled Water	Burger King soft serve ice cream cup-140	Taco Bueno 2 Flame Grilled Chicken Fajita Tacos-420 Bottled Water	1470
6	McDonald’s Fruit and Maple Oatmeal-290 Bottled Water	Taco Bell Express Taco Salad with chips-580 Bottled Water	Sonic 1% Milk-110	Wendy’s Homestyle Chicken Go Wrap-350 Bottled Water	1330
7	Burger King Breakfast Muffin Sandwich-Bacon, Egg, and Cheese-250 Bottled Water	Sonic Sonic Burger with Mustard only-330 Small tator tots-130 3 ketchup packages-30 Bottled Water	Taco Bueno 12oz strawberry smoothie-195	Arby’s Roast Beef Classic-350 Chopped side salad-80 Balsamic Viniagrette Dressing-130 Bottled Water	1495

Now I will say, this will be expensive. But if you are already “on the go” several days a week and have to live like this, hopefully this menu will provide a little bit of direction. Oh yes, the other thing I can’t promise you is that this is healthy in terms of fat or sodium, as most fast-food items are processed and will most always contain a lot of fat and sodium. But what I can say is that the calories are accurate to my best knowledge; so if calories matter to you, and you take these suggestions into consideration, you are probably on the right track.

Until next time…
-Jenelle N. Robinson

Nutritional Information obtained from the following sites:

www.mcdonalds.com

www.burgerking.com

www.sonicdrivein.com
www.tacobueno.com
www.tacobell.com
www.arbys.com
www.wendys.com

Overeating Out...

Last year, I traveled to California to do multiple health and nutrition seminars. It was the greatest experience for me as  I had an opportunity to do what I love and eat some of the greatest foods I have ever eaten. I also got an opportunity to gain a lot of weight. I would speculate that during that 6 month time period of travel, I gained at least 15 pounds. And if it were not for the fact that I DID workout when I went out of town, I probably would have gained even more.

My biggest problem then and now was going out to eat. It is a lot harder to control your eating when you go out to eat. Everything looks good to eat! And if they put bread on the table, it is a done deal. As always, we need to “govern” ourselves when we go out to eat. We have to develop standards for eating out if we are ever going to be successful at eating healthy and just not being plain gluttons. So here are 4 tips for not “overeating” when you eat out…

1. Have a strategy already in place when you go to a buffet. That strategy can include only eating on small plates, or only eating one plate of food and not several plates, or having only water to drink but eating whatever you want within reason. The point is: you know where you need to cut back. Buffets usually promote overeating. But just because it is a buffet doesn’t mean you should think that is license to eat more. If anything, I would eat less, simply because of the sanitary conditions of some buffets (I don’t like how little kids are allowed to walk around and put their nasty little hands on everything…no offense to parents who allow their kids to do this…just make sure their hands are clean). As a general rule for buffets, always make sure to start off with a salad and put at least 2 vegetables on your plate/s (French fries don’t count). I already know it would be failure to ask you to not eat dessert, but can I tell you to only eat one dessert? I am confident that you can at least do that…

2. When at a “sit-down” restaurant, or even a fast-food restaurant, look to see if they have healthier options available. A lot of restaurants now have special items that they highlight as healthier options because they are lower in calories, fat, or carbs.  

3. Don't be afraid to special order- “hold the mayo and the cheese!” Taking mayo, cheese, and bacon out of the equation equals less fat and less calories. For example, a Burger King whopper with cheese and mayo has 760 calories, and 46 grams fat. Without the cheese and mayo, this same whopper has 510 calories and 23 grams of fat (that is half the fat, so you see where most of the fat is coming from…the cheese and mayo). 

4. Never eat your whole meal (unless it is a huge salad that you didn’t add a lot of high fat and caloric salad dressing to).  Don’t be afraid to only eat half of your food and take the rest home to eat at a later meal.  Or another option is to share your meal with someone else.

I hope this helps you when eating out…until next time…

-Jenelle N. Robinson

The Greater Revelation within the Weight Loss Process…Fruit of the Spirit

I was walking around the neighborhood a couple of days ago thinking about how slow my weight loss has been. I have loss close to 20 pounds in the course of over 3 months. As I have shared in another blog, endurance has been key. Well, in addition to endurance, what I heard from God while walking was a GREATER REVELATION of my weight loss journey…

Many times we are so focused on our weight loss goals that we don’t recognize the virtues that are being tested and worked during the process. During the process of my weight loss journey, I have had to learn and practice 6 specific virtues that are biblically termed FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT (Galatians 5:22-23):

1.       Love. I have learned to love myself at any weight I am at. During this process, I have come to the understanding that women can be beautiful and love themselves at any weight while getting to the place they want to be. Realizing God’s love for me no matter my size was a huge help to me. In actuality, His love helped me reach my goal. This same love I realized and was able to practice is needed in other areas of my life. I need love to deal with the stresses of life, difficult people, and even difficult situations. In fact, only through the eyes of love can I truly make a difference in the world…

2.       Joy and Peace. Joy and peace are two virtues down deep on the inside that help us to be content even when our situations don’t look pleasant. Several times during my journey, I have looked at the scale and been disappointed. But soon after, I allowed my heart to be at peace and then be joyful, knowing that the number on the scale did not determine my day, nor my destiny. Your weight should not have that much power over your life as to cause you to be doom and gloom for days because of what it says. This same peace and joy that I allowed to emerge in spite of what the numbers said is the same peace and joy I will need when facing future situations that have the potential to cause me to be angry or depressed.

3.       Longsuffering. Longsuffering may also be termed patience. Patience is not something you just pray for and automatically get. Patience is something that has to be practiced. Patience only comes through being in a situation that requires it. The patience it took for me to wait weekly for this weight to SLOWLY diminish is the same patience I needed when completing my dissertation. It will be the same patience that I need when completing even greater tasks or working with certain types of people.

4.       Faithfulness. As I have told you in a previous blog, I have been on the Weight Watchers Diet. In order for me to be successful, I have had to be faithful to the plan. I have been diligent in recording my food and activities. In addition, I have been faithful to working out at least 5-6 days of the week for at least an hour at each workout. This same faithfulness will be needed when I have to complete the writing of future books. Likewise, this same faithfulness will be needed when I get into a committed relationship.

5.       Self-control. During my process, I have had to control myself from indulging in certain foods at excess. That same self-control was needed when I dealt with rude students who I wanted to go off on. That same self-control was needed when I wanted to buy something I didn’t need. That same self-control will be needed in the future when I get upset about something and want to act out.

The other three fruit of the spirit include kindness, goodness, and gentleness. Though I didn’t get an opportunity (or revelation) to practice these in reference to my weight loss journey, my point in all these virtues is that they have to be practiced in order for them to become routine in our lives. During a weight loss journey, we are able to practice many of the “fruit” needed to succeed in everyday life. The “fruit of the Spirit” are characteristics that cause us to become more like God, and enter into His Divine Will for our lives. Instead of complaining or getting agitated because our weight does not line with what we will, enjoy the process of being conformed to be more in HIS WILL through practicing the “fruit of the Spirit.”

Until next time…

-Jenelle N. Robinson