Diet Wars: Surviving Halloween

In Search of..... Fun Foods to Eat Under 300 Calories

Pizza - Who would have thought that you could still eat pizza on a diet? A normal slice of pizza (1/8 of the whole pizza) is roughly 140 to 196 calories, depending on the size of the pizza and what other stuff will on there. I would stick to the thin crust cheese pizza, with maybe one additional topping of mushrooms, chicken, veggies, maybe pepperoni. A slice of pizza and a small tossed salad with fat free dressing can make a great meal.

Grilled Chicken Salads - The BK Garden Salad with Tendergrilled Chicken is your best bet. The whole salad along with the packet of Fat Free Ranch Dressing is exactly 300 calories. A perfect lunch. I never add the croutons to the salad and they probably add a little more. Shoney's has a similar salad along with a side of fruit. A cursory look at several regular restaurants and fast food restaurants shows that in many places you have to be REALLY careful with the salads. You can easily be fooled into thinking you're eating healthfully (which in theory you are) but especially the restaurant salads like you get at O'Charleys, Logans, etc., are going to be anywhere from 500 to 1,000 calories! Yikes! (Thanks to Hungry Girl for that tip)

A Filling Breakfast - I've never been a good breakfast eater and tend to wait until late in the morning, and then stop off at McDonald's for a sausage and biscuit. I've discovered a very filling breakfast for just below 300 calories is a toasted English Muffin with a tbsp. of jam (preferably sugar free), and two boiled eggs. That's more that I would ordinarily eat, but since I'm having to make do until lunch, I figure I should get that protein from the eggs. You could also make your own Egg McMuffins and stay well within range.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Surviving Halloween

This week saw another 1/2 pound loss - not great, but given my body's apparent schedule of dropping a few pounds one week and little or nothing for a couple of weeks I'm still feeling good about it. Plus, this was Halloween week - and while I didn't completely stay away from candy - and the fabulous pumpkin pie my son made from scratch - I still lost and didn't gain, which is really something to celebrate.

And I finally made it out for some activity. I took the grandson out to Long Hunter State Park, where they have a two mile paved trail around a lake that he and I walked around. Well...I walked - and pushed him in the stroller. It was a beautiful fall day, the temperature was perfect and it was a peaceful time for me. However, since it's been a while since I've done that - my 54 year old hips are letting me know today just how out of shape I am! Jenn and I still plan on getting to the fitness center in the apartment complex a few nights a week to walk on the treadmill, so if I can get into that routine, then perhaps I'll see a little more progress.

But getting past Halloween without major damage is a win. Now I can look forward to Thanksgiving with a little less trepidation!