Fast Food Nutritionals

Hey guys! How's it going?  Things are good here.  I just thought I would let yall know of a new resource I am working on!!  I am working on a database of fast food restaurants with their calorie counts, fat totals and fiber grams (which of course will calculate the WW points)!!

I have found that most fast food restaurants have this information on their websites.  I have been wanting to do this for a while.  My hubby was asking me this morning about breakfast items at McDonald's and it triggered my memory on wanting to do this and I have decided to just get it done!

So be on the look out!  As soon as I have it done I will make it available to you :-)!!

Have a great day!

Kellie

I know it's been a while

Hey guys!  I know it has been a while!  Life around my house is just very crazy right now!  I am happy to report that even with all the chaos of my son's birthday and a week with family and totally NOT on my diet that I did maintain my weight without gaining and have gotten back on course this week and have already lost 2 lbs!  Maybe I threw my body into shock to start losing again :-)

I did want to share something today.  I am doing a wonderful bible study right now with some other women at church and we are looking at women of the bible that made a difference.  This week we are focusing on Sarah.  There is so much to learn from her!  I do want to share a couple of verses that was in my study today that I thought also apply to weight loss and maybe they will be an encouragement for you in your weight loss journey.

Genesis 18:14(a) says "Is any thing too hard for the LORD?..." 

Mark 9:23 says "Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."

I firmly believe both of these verses can be applied to your weight loss journey.  You may think it is impossible to lose the weight but is anything too hard for the Lord?  NO!  Have you taken the time to ask him for his help in this.  He said if you just believe all things are possible.  Have you put your faith in him to help make it possible for you to lose the weight?

And don't think for one second that God is not interested in such "minor" affairs of our lives as weight loss.  Last night at church my pastor was continuing his sermon series on the Lord's prayer.  Last night he focused on Matt 6:11 "Give us this day our daily bread".  God wants us to ask him provide our physical needs.  Why not start your day asking God to give you wisdom to know what foods to eat that day.  Ask God to help you with your weight loss and then have faith and believe that all things are possible through him because there is NOTHING that is too hard for God!

With God's help you can do it!

I hope you are doing well and again apologize for being absent.  Life around here is just so busy!

Let me know how you are doing.  I pray that you are being successful on your weight loss journey! 

I am fixing to go enjoy me some bean and cheese nachos for lunch...a new favorite of mine.  I bake my whole wheat tortilla to make it crispy then spread it with fat free refried beans and fat free cheese and put it in the microwave to melt the cheese.  Then I cut it into nacho shapes and top each one with a jalepeno and some fat free sour cream!  YUM! YUM!  I feel like I am getting my "junk food" but I don't have to feel guilty about it :-)

Kellie

Recipes and Recipe Book Deal

Hey guys!  Just thought I would let you know that I have published a few recipes on my recipe blog.  (my baby is sick tonight so the grandparents took the boys to church and I have a nice quiet house.  I am able to get caught up on some things!)

Anyways…most of them are Hungry Girl recipes!  Speaking of Hungry Girl…have you heard about her new book that is set to hit the book stands on March 30th!!  It has a bunch of new recipes in it!  I can’t wait!  In fact I pre-ordered my copy, and so can you.  Click the image below to go to the pre-order page on her website.  You can pre-order it for 50% of the retail price of the book!!  You can’t beat that!!!   I can’t wait until mine gets here.  It has a whole section devoted to crock pot recipes!!!

Exercising

Well yesterday I bought me some ankle/wrist weights.  I ended up getting the ones from Wal-Mart because that is where I went due to grocery shopping.  They had the Gold’s Gym brand set of 2 (1.5 pounds for each weight) for $12.97.  I went ahead and got two sets so that I could have them on my wrists and my ankles during my workout.

They also had a Gold’s Gym waist trimmer belt for $5.  I thought, hey for $5 I will try this!!  I came home and read reviews on it and was VERY pleased with the reviews I read.  This thing is getting good reviews and people are saying that it really does work!!  The idea is that it makes your waist area sweat to help you loose water weight in that area!  One girl wrote that she lost 1 inch in her waist in 4 days!!!

Today was the first day I tried out my new “toys”.  I can say that the wrist and ankle weights worked real well for exercising with the Wii.  With them strapped to your wrist and ankles they stayed out of the way…you didn’t have to worry about holding them or figuring out how to told them while holding your remote. You just strap tihem on and exercise as normal.  I really felt the difference after the work out.  I could tell that they provided another level of working out my leg and arm muscles.

And I wore my waist trimmer belt and YES my belly area sweated a bunch!!  The cool thing is that during the exercise I was unaware of it.  The belt felt very comfortable…did not constrict…in fact I think it helped me keep the right posture during my yoga exercises.  When I took it off my waist was drenched.  I thankfully followed advice that I read online and wore it under my clothes so that my worked out clothes didn’t get completely drenched in that area.   I am really excited about this thing and hope to see results that I read about others getting!!  And to think – it only cost $5!!!!  What a deal!!!

Kellie

Make Your Own 100 Calorie Packs

I don’t know about you but those little 100 calorie packs are LIFESAVERS on a lot of days for me.  They help to satisfy my munchie craving without ruining my diet!

But lately I have been thinking about all the money that I have been spending on those 100 calorie packs and the fact that some of them really don’t even taste like the real thing (for instance the Oreo crisps!) and I have been wondering why in the world can’t I make my own 100 calorie packs.

Well that is exactly what I have done this week.  I went to the store and bought those little snack size ziploc bags and bought me some yummy treats to make into 100 calorie packs.  I came home and spent a little bit of time figuring out how many of each treat would equal 100 calories and made my little 100 calorie packs.  I put them all in a plastic tub and put in the pantry so that I can grab them as needed.  I was able to make about 92 100-calorie packs and I only spent $15 to do so!  If I would have purchased that many pre-made 100 calorie packs it would have been almost $40!!  That is what I call a real savings! 

Here are the packs that I made!  (note that all 100 cal packs were all under 2.5 points approximately)

Mini Nutter Butters (they come in a snack bag for $1.98 at my Wal-Mart).  7 of those minis would equal about 100 calories and I was able to make 10 100-cal sets from that bag. 

Mini Oreos (they come in a snack bag for $1.98 at my Wal-Mart).  7 of these minis would equal about 100 calories and I was able to make 10 sets from that bag.

Mini Chip Ahoys (they come in a snack back for $1.98 at my Wal-Mart). 3 of those (they are bigger) equal about 100 calories and I was able  to make 12 sets from the bag.

Reduced Fat Cheez-It crackers (I got a box that cost $2.50 at my Wal-Mart).  You get 14 of those for each 100 calorie set and I was able to make 14 sets from that box.

Mini Pretzels (I got a bag of these for $2.15 at my Wal-Mart).  18 of those make a 100 calorie set and I was ablez to make 17 sets from the bag I bought.

Hershey’s Kisses with Almonds (I got a bag for $3.97 at my Wal-Mart).  4 of those equal about 100 calories and you can get 29 100-cal sets from that bag (I got the ones with almonds at my hubby’s request…the amount will probably vary with the different types of kisses you get.  I realize this is a very small treat but sometimes those 4 little kisses can curb your chocolate craving!  I would rather have 4 than none at all :-) )

Have you made any 100 calorie treats?? If so please share!  I hope to continue to explore this with different snacks!

Weigh In Monday

Hey guys!  How was your weekend?  Were you really good and stayed on your diet…or were you like me and had fun eating and are ready now to get back on course :-) 

Don’t forget to weigh in and get your measurements.  I am happy to say I had a good week last week and lost 3 pounds!!  My first loss in a few weeks!!  So I am pretty happy!

I have gotten pretty consistent in my exercise routine!  In fact I am fixing to purchase a set of ankle/wrist weights.  Target has a set of 2 (either in 2 lb or 3 lb) for $9.99.  I think I am going to go ahead and pick up two sets – one 2 lb and one 3 lb.  These will work very well with the Wii fit (just don’t weigh yourself with them on – HA!) because they velcro around your wrists and ankles so you can still hold the remote!  This will just step up the exercise a bit…especially the yoga and strength training!  I really am seeing results from the exercising!  And when you can see results it sure helps to motivate you to keep going doesn’t it?!?!

I am praying for all of you in this group…that you will have a successful week this week in your journey for a healthier lifestyle!

Have a great week!  I am hoping to converse with you a bit more this week :-)

Kellie

Resourceful Tuesday – On Thursday!

HA!!  Maybe I should just do away with the daily themes and just post each of those topics when I can :-)  I think seeing those on the left hand column are what make me feel like a failure more than just not getting to the posts!  So how about that…how about we scrap trying to have a certain theme each day and I just post what is on my heart when it is on my heart??

I have received some encouragement from yall and I thank you!  Thank you Mom and thank you Keri!  It feels good to know yall are liking this site and liking the posts!  I will keep going with it – I promise!  Just have some patience with me when I am running around rugged trying to keep up with 3 little ones!

The only weekly theme we will keep on a certain day is our Weigh In…we will still have Weigh In Monday.  I still want to hear from you on how you are doing (if you want to share!).  Even if you don’t share it is a very good habit to have to weigh yourself once a week at the same time, same day…so you can keep up with your progress.

So – for this resourceful post (that will no longer have to be just on Tuesdays – ha!) I thought I would share step 2 from my Light and Delish magazine (if you need to refresh your memory on step 1 click here for that post).  Side note – I am loving this magazine!!  If you haven’t yet you need to see if you can find a copy of it at the store – it is called Light and Delish.  It is a magazine created from the website delish.com.   The recipes in there are WONDERFUL and very healthy and very diet friendly!  I wish they would make this magazine an on-going subscription!!

Step 2 To Losing Weight Without Even Trying

Pile On The Produce

How It Helps You Lose

To speed up weight loss, consider doubling, if not tripling, your intake of fruits and vegetables every day.  Less than 2 percent of Americans eat the recommended nine daily servings, which is a major missed opportunity for shedding weight.  Produce is made up mostly of water, so it’s low in calories (meaning you can eat a lot without putting on pounds) and high in fiber, which helps curb hunger.  Bonus: Numerous studies have shown that fruits and veggies are also great disease fighters.

I know I am personally trying to do this…making the veggies the biggest portion of our meal – how about you?

In fact Seth and I are making a Broccoli Mac and Cheese tonight!  We got the recipe from Rachel Ray’s show today…but you know me…I am going to make a few changes to make it even more healthy and hopefully very tasty!!  If it is I will make sure to post it to the recipe blog (which I know…I am behind on as well…but I have posted a few recipes this week if you haven’t gotten a chance to check them out!)

Until next time,

Kellie

Get Your Subscription Today

I thought I would share something I ran across today!  I am taking advantage of this deal!!  You should too!!

Would you like a year’s subscription to Weight Watcher’s Magazine for only $3.75 for the whole year!!

Go to this link - http://www.bestdealmagazines.com/title.asp?title=WEIGHT+WATCHERS and choose the 1 year subscription. When it is added to your cart and you continue to check out you can enter WKLYSPEC for the coupon cod and get 20% off the price – which makes it $3.75 for the years subscription (that is 6 issues for $3.75)  You really can’t beat that!  The magazine will provide you with all kinds of weight loss tips, advice, recipes, etc!   So go get your subscription today!!  And you better hurry because I have no idea how long this coupon code is good for!

Kellie

Weigh In Monday

Ok – so I owe you all an apology…I was completely missing from this blog last week and I am soooo sorry!  It was just not a good week for me to have time to get on here and make my posts!  But I did personally hear from my mom and my aunt that they missed me on here and that made me feel good and gave me motivation to come back…you see when everyone is quiet I do wonder if I am just writing these posts for myself or if anyone is actually reading these and looking forward to the next post!  So if you really do read these and find them helpful and look forward to the next post please let me know!!!  It would make my day and it would give me the motivation I need to keep going!  :-)

So how are you doing on your diet?  Are you being successful?  I am hitting my plateau and it is becoming harder and harder to lose those last 10 to 15 pounds that I want to!  The good news is that I am not gaining any…and I have gotten into a very steady, very consistent exercise routine.  And I feel great and have good energy so I guess that is what matters.  There are still a couple of areas, mainly my c-section belly, that I still want to see some major improvement on…but I know it will slowly come if I remain consistent.

So let me hear from you!  If you are enjoying these post and if they are helping you then I will find the time to keep making the posts!  Let me know what you are getting the most out of so I know what posts to concentrate the most on making sure I get up!!

Kellie

Resourceful Tuesday

I came across a really good magazine in the check out line at Wal-Mart today.  It is called Light & Delish!  It is FULL of yummy recipes – 138 to be exact – that are 400 calories or less!!!  That even includes some dessert recipes!!! YUM!!! 

But what I thought I would share on here were the 7 tips it gave for losing weight without even trying!  (I KNOW you are on the edge of your seat now!!)  I thought I would share one tip each week for the next 7 weeks.  I think they are all awesome and as I was reading the article was thinking that I so needed to make sure that follow each step in my lifestyle…and that I needed to concentrate on one new one at a time so that I can work them all into my lifestyle with ease…learn one and then add another one.  And then it hit me!  Yall probably would love these tips as well…and if we introduced one a week we could all work on working these into our healthy lifestyle!

So here it goes with Step 1:

Step 1: Build a Better Breakfast

How it helps you lose

A well-balanced meal at the start of the day is a key part of any stay-slim plan.  Research shows that breakfast eaters typically consume about 100 few calories per day and weigh less than those who forgo food in the morning.  This strategy works long-term, too.  Nearly 80 percent of participants in the National Weight Control Registry, which charts dieters who have kept off 30 pounds f

I know that I need to still work on a better breakfast routine.  I am getting a lot better than I used to be.  Reading this today has motivated me to do even better.

How about you?  Are you one that forgos breakfast?  If so, has this motivated you to do better about eating breakfast?  Or are you already good about eating a good breakfast every day?  If so, do you have any tips to share with us people that have stuggled in this area?

Let me hear your comments!  I love your feedback.  And as always be sure to let me know whether to keep it between us or share it with the group :-)

Good luck this week on eating your breakfast!

Oh!  Here is a recipe they gave with this point.  It is a recipe for Granola-Yogurt Parfait (originally from Good Housekeeping).  This recipe is, per serving, 255 calories, 3 grams of fat and 5 grams of fiber (4.35 ww points)

Serves: 1 Yields: 1 parfait Total Time: 5 min Prep Time: 5 min

Ingredients

1/2 cup(s) fresh or frozen (partially thawed) raspberries or other favorite berry

3/4 cup(s) vanilla low-fat yogurt

2 tablespoon(s) low-fat granola

Directions

1. Into parfait glass or wineglass, spoon some raspberries, vanilla yogurt, and granola. Repeat layering until all ingredients are used.

Kellie

Motivational Tuesday

Ok – so I figured out I had some water weight on me.  I increased my water intake yesterday and I was 1 1/2 lbs lighter this morning!  WHOO HOO!!  I figured it was water weight!

I heard from a couple of you!  One of you lost a pound last week (way to go) and another has lost 10 pounds so far (began the diet about the same time I began this blog)!!  YEAH!!!  Keep up the good work!  It will pay off.

Please bear with me as I seem to get very busy and forget to make posts here…I am going to try my best not to forget to posts on here!  In fact I am fixing to write a good Resourceful Tuesday post!  It will be up as soon as I finish typing it!  :-)

Weekly Weigh In

Oh boy…It is hard for me to write this post this morning.  It seems your motivator needs some motivation herself today!  I am up 2 pounds from last week :-(  But I wasn’t very good this weekend…plus I am a woman…it could be water retention!

I can say on a positive note that in all measurement areas I stayed the same except for the waist…which I went down 1/2 inch!!

Of course it could also be the fact that I did work out EVERY DAY last week so I could have some muscle build up happening…which muscle does weigh more than fat!

I just need to not focus so much on the scales!

Can you tell I am trying to motivate myself?!?!  (it doesn’t help either that it is such a dreary, cold, wet, rainy day today!)

So have you weighed in this morning?  Were you pleased with your results?  Please share…remember you can email me or you can leave a comment on this post…you can even leave an anonymous comment!

Have a great day!  I will be focusing on keeping my points low this week!!

Kellie

Scripture Blessings

I thought for today’s scripture blessings we would concentrate on why we should concentrate on our health.  Here is the scripture I want us to look at.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

If you are a Christian than your body is not yours.  Christ is living inside of you.  He has taken permanent residence in your body.  And yes, this body is temporary (THANK GOD) and it will fail you in the end. But while it is still living it is used as God’s vessel.  A picture of a boat at sea just came to mind as I am writing this.  That ship would not be able to successfully carry the passenger(s) on board if it was beat up with holes, or if the motor was sluggish due to crud built up on it or yucky dirty oil in it due to lack of someone caring for it and taking the responsibility to do the upkeep required.  And why am I thinking of a boat as the vessel? Probably because if that boat fails…not only would it not be able to carry the passengers…the passengers would drown!

Our bodies are the vessels to carry God’s light.  We need our bodies to be healthy in order to be able to fulfill the purpose that God has for each of us on this earth. 

So maybe this will give you motivation to lose your weight, or get in shape.  You are the vessel that is carrying Jesus.  You are the vessel…but He will get you through the turbulent storms!

Take care of your body – you owe it to God to do so!

Have a great day!

Resourceful Tuesday

For today’s resourceful Tuesday post I thought I would inform everyone that I made some adjustments to the recipe calculator.  Click here to access the calculator.  You can also access any time you need to.  There is a permanent link to the calculator in the left hand column of the blog!

What I did was put in the formula the 10 grams of fiber per serving cap.  Remember that you are not suppose to calculate more than 10 grams of fiber per serving when calculating your WW points (and some people don’t calculate more than 4 grams per serving).

I hope you are finding this resource useful!

Kellie

Weigh In Monday

Hey guys!  It’s that day again…time to weigh in.  How did you do last week?  I lost almost a pound!  But considering that I had kind of a heavy weekend as far as food I was very pleased with the results.

How did you do last week?  Let me know!

I am so sorry I haven’t been getting all the posts up for the week.  I seem to run out of time in the day!  Be patient with me as I try to figure out how to fit it all in!  It doesn’t help when I have sick kids to deal with as well!  But hopefully everyone is on the mend now! I have a whole bunch of recipes that I want to get up on the recipe blog as well.

As always…if you would like to contribute and do a guest post for one the theme posts (btw – they are all listed on the left hand column on the blog) please feel free to send me the post.  :-)  I know some of you who are regular readers of this blog have some great insight you could share with the group as well :-)

Have a great week!

Kellie

Snack Attack

I asked for readers to respond with snacks that they enjoy and I did get a response :-).  Here is what one reader likes to snack on.

sugar free chocolate pudding snack pack 1 pt

Fiber one oats and strawberry bars 2pts

Peppercorn ranch sun chips  3 pts for 15 chips

Those sound yummy to me!

Tip for your snacks…to help you stay within your serving size (and a lot of times help you on your grocery budget as well) why not buy big boxes of your favorite snacks and snack size zip loc bags.  Put one serving size in each baggie so you have a quick grab and go snack bag!  If you are not snacking from the big box then you are not tempted to eat more than you need :-)

Have a great day today!

Weekly Weigh In

Good morning and Happy Monday!!  Have you weighed yet this morning?  Are you pleased with the results?

I have to say I am very pleased with my results.  I had a good week last week.  My effort to work on toning my abs and working out paid off!  I lost 3 pounds.  I also lost 2 inches in my waist and 1 1/2 inches in my mid-belly and hips!!  WHOO HOO!!!  That has given me the motivation to continue working out this week!

So did you do well?  Let us know so we can celebrate with you!!  Did you not do as good as you wanted?  That’s ok…let us know so we can encourage you and pray for you to do better this week!!

Speaking of prayer…please say a special prayer for my brother in law this morning.  He is having back surgery this morning.

Have a great day!

Kellie

Weekend Survival Guide

Earlier this week I was asked what was the best fast food hamburger so I thought it might be fun for this edition of the weekend survival guide to show the nutritional information and points for the different popular fast food hamburgers.  You know there are times when you are just in the mood for a good ol hamburger!  And that is not a bad thing…but it is good to be educated so that you can make the smart choice!

Here is what I found in my research on the hamburger!

Burger King

• WHOPPER Sandwich (670 cal/39 g fat/3 g fiber/51 g carbs) 16.5 points
• WHOPPER Sandwich (w/o Mayo) (510 cal/22 g fat/3 g fiber/51 g carbs) 11.5 points
• WHOPPER Sandwich with Cheese (760 cal/47 g fat/3 g fiber/52 g carbs) 19 points
• WHOPPER Sandwich with Cheese (w/o Mayo) (600 cal/30 g fat/3 g fiber/52 g carbs) 14 points
• WHOPPER JR. Sandwich (370 cal/21 g fat/2 g fiber/31 g carbs) 9 points
• WHOPPER JR. Sandwich (w/o Mayo) (290 cal/12 g fat/2 g fiber/31 g carbs) 6.5 points
• WHOPPER JR. Sandwich with Cheese (410 cal/24 g fat/2 g fiber/32 g carbs) 10 points
• WHOPPER JR. Sandwich with Cheese (w/o Mayo) (330 cal/16 g fat/2 g fiber/31 g carbs) 8 points

Jack In The Box

• Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger (1090 cal/77g fat/2g fiber/53g carbs/46g protein/2040mg sodium) 28 points  (OUCH!!!!)
• Hamburger (310 cal/14g fat/1g fiber/30g carbs/16g protein/600mg sodium) 7.5 points
• Hamburger with Cheese (350 cal/17g fat/1g fiber/31g carbs/18g protein/790mg sodium) 8.5 points
• Hamburger Deluxe (370 cal/21g fat/2g fiber/31g carbs/17g protein/560mg sodium) 9 points
• Hamburger Deluxe with Cheese (460 cal/28g fat/2g fiber/33g carbs/21g protein/930mg sodium) 11.5 points
• Junior Bacon Cheeseburger (430 cal/25g fat/1g fiber/30g carbs/20g protein/820mg sodium) 10.5 points
• Sirloin Cheese Burger (real swiss & grilled onions) (1070 cal/71g fat/4g fiber/61g carbs/53g protein/1850mg sodium) 27 points
• Sirloin Bacon 'n' Cheese Burger (american cheese & red onions) (1120 cal/73g fat/4g fiber/63g carbs/54g protein/2620mg sodium) 28 points
• Sourdough Jack (710 cal/51g fat/3g fiber/36g carbs/27g protein/1230mg sodium) 18 points
• Sourdough Ultimate Cheeseburger (950 cal/73g fat/2g fiber/36g carbs/38g protein/1360mg sodium) 25 points
• Ultimate Cheeseburger (1010 cal/71g fat/2g fiber/53g carbs/40g protein/1580mg sodium) 26 points

McDonald’s

• Hamburger [3.7 oz] (260 cal/9 g fat/1 g fiber/33 g carbs) 6 points
• Cheeseburger [4.2 oz] (310 cal/12 g fat/1 g fiber/35 g carbs) 7 points
• Double Cheeseburger [6.1 oz] (460 cal/23 g fat/1 g fiber/37 g carbs) 11 points
• Quarter Pounder [6.1 oz] (420 cal/18 g fat/3 g fiber/40 g carbs) 9.5 points
• Quarter Pounder w/Cheese [7 oz] (510 cal/25 g fat/3 g fiber/43 g carbs) 11.5 points
• Big Mac [7.8 oz] (560 cal/30 g fat/3 g fiber/47 g carbs) 13 points

Sonic

• Sonic Burger w/mayonnaise (630 cal/37 g fat/4 g fiber/53 g carbs) 15 points
• Sonic Burger w/mustard (540 cal/25 g fat/4 g fiber/52 g carbs) 12.5 points
• Sonic Burger w/ketchup (540 cal/25 g fat/4 g fiber/54 g carbs) 12.5 points
• Sonic Cheeseburger w/mayonnaise (700 cal/42 g fat/4 g fiber/55 g carbs) 17 points
• Sonic Cheeseburger w/mustard (600 cal/31 g fat/4 g fiber/54 g carbs) 14 points
• Sonic Cheeseburger w/ketchup (610 cal/31 g fat/4 g fiber/57 g carbs) 14 points
• Sonic Bacon Cheeseburger (770 cal/47 g fat/4 g fiber/55 g carbs) 19 points
• Jr. Burger (320 cal/16 g fat/2 g fiber/29 g carbs) 7.5 points
• Jr. Cheeseburger (380 cal/21 g fat/2 g fiber/30 g carbs) 9 points
• Bacon Cheeseburger Toaster Sandwich (690 cal/37 g fat/3 g fiber/58 g carbs) 16.5 points

Wendy’s

• Jr. Hamburger [2 oz. Patty/Ketchup/Mustard/Dill Pickles/Onion/Sandwich Bun] (280 cal/9 g fat/1 g fiber/34 g carbs) 6 points
• Jr. Cheeseburger [2 oz. Patty/American Cheese Jr./Ketchup/Mustard/Dill Pickles/Onion/Sandwich Bun] (320 cal/13 g fat/1 g fiber/34 g carbs) 7.5 points
• Jr. Cheeseburger Deluxe [2 oz. Patty/American Cheese Jr./Mayonnaise/Ketchup/Mustard/Dill Pickles/Onion/Tomato/Lettuce/Sandwich Bun] (360 cal/16 g fat/2 g fiber/37 g carbs) 8 points
• Jr. Cheeseburger Deluxe w/o mayo [2 oz. Patty/American Cheese Jr./Ketchup/Mustard/Dill Pickles/Onion/Tomato/Lettuce/Sandwich Bun] (330 cal/13 g fat/2 g fiber/36 g carbs) 7.5 points
• Jr. BBQ Cheeseburger [2 oz. Patty/American Cheese Jr./BBQ Sauce/Pickles/Onions/Sandwich Bun] (330 cal/13 g fat/1 g fiber/36 g carbs) 7.5 points
• Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger [2 oz. Patty/American Cheese Jr./Bacon/Mayonnaise/Tomato/Lettuce/Sandwich Bun] (370 cal/17 g fat/2 g fiber/34 g carbs) 8.5 points
• Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger w/o mayo [2 oz. Patty/American Cheese Jr./Bacon/Tomato/Lettuce/Sandwich Bun] (330 cal/14 g fat/2 g fiber/33 g carbs) 7.5 points
• Hamburger: Kids' Meal [2 oz. Patty/Ketchup/Mustard/Dill Pickles/Sandwich Bun] (270 cal/9 g fat/1 g fiber/33 g carbs) 6 points
• Cheeseburger: Kids' Meal [2 oz. Patty/American Cheese Jr./Ketchup/Mustard/Dill Pickles/Sandwich Bun] (320 cal/13 g fat/1 g fiber/34 g carbs) 7.5 points
• Big Bacon Classic [1/4 lb. Patty/American Cheese/Bacon/Mayonnaise/Ketchup/Dill Pickles/Onion/Tomato/Lettuce/Kaiser Roll] (580 cal/29 g fat/3 g fiber/46 g carbs) 13.5 points
• Big Bacon Classic w/o mayo [1/4 lb. Patty/American Cheese/Bacon/Ketchup/Dill Pickles/Onion/Tomato/Lettuce/Kaiser Roll] (530 cal/25 g fat/3 g fiber/45 g carbs) 12 points

Whataburger

• Justaburger (308.96 cal/15.4 g fat/1.31 g fiber/27.94 g carbs) 7 points
• Whataburger Jr. (314.93 cal/15.59 g fat/1.73 g fiber/29.15 g carbs) 7.5 points
• Whataburger (607.01 cal/29.93 g fat/3.33 g fiber/53.28 g carbs) 14 points
• Whataburger w/Bacon & Cheese (809.51 cal/45.33 g fat/3.33 g fiber/53.54 g carbs) 19.5 points
• Whataburger w/Bacon & Cheese: Special Request - NO BUN (472.71 cal/33.58 g fat/1.3 g fiber/4.55 g carbs) 12 points

And for no extra cost I thought I could throw in the information for the fries at these places.  I have only included the small sizes (as you will see, you won’t want any bigger size than the small).

Burger King

• French Fries (small, salted) (230 cal/13 g fat/2 g fiber/26 g carbs) 5.5 points

Jack In The Box

• Natural Cut Fries: small (270 cal/12 g fat/3 g fiber/35 g carbs) 6 points
• Seasoned Curly Fries: small (270 cal/15 g fat/3 g fiber/30 g carbs) 6 points

McDonald’s

• French Fries: Small [2.6 oz] (250 cal/13 g fat/3 g fiber/30 g carbs) 5.5 points

Sonic

• French Fries - Regular (210 cal/10 g fat/4 g fiber/28 g carbs) 4.5 points

Wendy’s

• Medium French Fries [5.0 oz] (440 cal/21 g fat/5 g fiber/58 g carbs) 9.5 points

Whataburger

• French Fries: small (257 cal/13 g fat/2.6 g fiber/33 g carbs) 5.5 points

Now I have only highlighted the burgers and fries from these fast food joints.  All of these have other menu items available and some of the items aren’t as heavy on the calories and points.  I encourage you to educate yourself, you might find an alternative that you may end up loving better than the burger!  :-)  I know that I really love the grilled chicken sandwich at Sonic.  It is on a wheat bun and I get it with mustard instead of mayo and it is only 5.5 points (274 calories, 5.1 grams of fat, 2 grams of fiber). 

The good thing about a lifestyle change over a diet is the fact that you can eat out and eat what you want!  But you are going to do much better if you keep yourself educated as to how good or how bad those foods are out there.  I challenge you to learn the nutritional information for your favorite eating establishments.  Click here for a pretty extensive list of restaurants with nutritional information for their menu items.  As I have said before I challenge you to write them down and keep them with you, either in your purse or the glove compartment of your car, so that you will be able to make the best decision when you are out!  (hmm….I am thinking of a new resource…I have been wanting to make a master list for my hubby to keep in his car b/c he eats lunch out almost every day…I will just have to share it if/when I can get it together!)

Have fun this weekend!!!  Reward yourself for a good week!

Kellie

Resourceful Tuesday (on Thursday)

I realized that I forgot to do a Resourceful Tuesday post this week.  I am so sorry!  

For this week’s resourceful Tuesday post I am going to go back to the recipe calculator that I shared a couple of weeks ago.  You can click here to get the calculator.  There is also a link on the left hand column of the blog.

I just posted a recipe today on my recipe blog for Pasta Shells Casserole.  I got this recipe from the Rachel Ray Show!  (I love this show by the way!!)

I thought that I could make a couple of changes to the recipe to make it even healthier and lower the points some more as well.  I changed the pasta to whole wheat pasta, used part skim ricotta cheese, reduced fat parmesan, and egg beaters instead of egg yolks.

For all of the ingredients that were not free (your spices are free) I used the recipe calculator to calculate my points for the recipe (which by the way came out to about 10 points a serving – not bad for a pasta dish!)

I have a print out of the recipe with my ingredient changes and my calculated points value and have put the recipe in my recipe binder (I keep a big binder for print out recipes that I have tried and will definitely want to make again).

It was super yummy!  You have to try it!

Have you used the recipe calculator yet?  Did it work ok for you or did you find it difficult to figure out?  Do you have any questions about it?

Even if you are not following the WW points system the recipe calculator could still work for you if you are counting calories, fat and/or fiber since all 3 of those are included in the calculation. 

Is there anything that the calculator is missing for you that you would like to see added to it…or is there any way that you think the calculator needs to be changed to work better for you?  Let me know and I will see what I can do :-)

Kellie

Scripture Blessings

I would like to take the next few weeks of this weekly post theme and think further on the verses that were mentioned in last week’s scripture post.  Click here if you want to refresh your memory on that post.

The first point of the post was that you can lose weight with God’s help. Here is what Proverbs 3;5-6 says:

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Have you taken time to talk to God and ask Him to help you in your weight loss?  The verse says in all thy ways acknowledge Him… I believe this to mean that we are suppose to bring every life question to him and involve him in everything in our life.  This includes our weight loss journey.  He shall direct thy paths  I believe that he can show us what we need to do to have a healthier body if we just trust him and lean on him to help us.

Are you stumped as to how to do this?  Here is what I do…I start my day in prayer and reading the bible.  And before I get up to go do anything else I ask God to help me through my day, to help me make the right decisions in every aspect of my day.  I ask him to direct my thoughts and control my mind so that I may live my day in His will. 

During the day there are times when all of a sudden I have an idea pop in my head that is so very helpful and is so what I need…I know that idea has to have come from God.  There are other times when I go to make a decision about something and I get a feeling of hesitation…I have found if I heed to that hesitation and slow down and think it through, most of the time changing the decision, that everything works smooth.  I also find when I don’t heed to that hesitation that things will get hectic. 

Unfortunately there are a lot of times when I don’t even realize there was a feeling of hesitation until afterwards when everything has gone to chaos.  And I have to admit there are times when selfishness overtakes me and I ignore the “still small voice” and think my way has to be better…and of course it is not.

But that is all part of the process of learning to trust in the Lord with all thine heart.  It is a forever learning process.

So I challenge you to start your day by asking God to direct your paths, to control your mind, and to help you make the right weight loss choices for you!

I would love any feedback or additional thoughts that you have on this verse or this post!

Kellie