Rabbits Don't Weigh 450 Pounds For a Reason

Yesterday, I found myself in a bind when it came time to get dinner for T and I. I finished work at 5pm and immediately jumped into the shower. I hadn’t had a chance to get one that morning and felt horrible so there was absolutely no putting that off. Earlier, I had told T’s dad that I would get his meds picked up (he’s been sick the last few days) so that E (T’s dad) didn’t have to make the trip himself. He was rushing to get to work and I felt like picking up T’s meds at the CVS drive through was at least one thing I could do. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that Tuesday nights were also the night I had to schedule my following week’s worth of work at my second job and that happened at 6pm, which meant that dinner was going to be an hour or two late.

T is very much a stick-to-your-routine kind of guy. I usually start making dinner no later than 5pm so that we can eat no later than 6pm. So, in T’s world if its 5pm and mom is in the shower, T assumes mom has forgotten about feeding him this evening and he goes into panic mode:

“Mom, you in there?”
“Yes sweetie, just taking a quick shower, I’ll be out in a minute”
“umm, ok well its 5 o’clock”
“I know, I’ll be out in just a few minutes”
I can almost hear the heavy breathing just outside the bathroom door. I’m officially being stalked.
“So, what are we going to do for dinner?” T yells through the door
“T, I’ll be out in just a minute honey ok? Can we talk about it then?”
more heavy breathing from the other side of the door.

The conversation went on like this until I had finally managed to finish my shower and by then I was completely frazzled. I promise you, I have not ever ever ever forgotten to feed this child, but he stalked me as if he knew I secretly planned to starve him for jollies that evening.

Because I knew things were going to cause dinner to run late, I figured we were probably going to have to pick something up while we were out getting T’s meds. I asked T what he wanted to get for dinner. His first suggestion was Bill Millers, one of his favorite BBQ places. I have no idea what the nutritional content of their sandwiches are, but I’m guessing it isn’t good. I make a quick stop at the Bill Millers website so that T and I could check out the nutritional value together and discovered that they had conveniently chosen to only share nutritional information on foods most people wouldn’t associate with fattening fare (ie. Salads, turkey breast, skinless chicken…DUH we know those are relatively healthy!). If you get a chance though, take a look at the fat content of some of their salad dressings; unreal!

I turn to T and remind him that we both promised each other that we were going to start making healthier choices and suggested sushi as an alternative. He thought this was a great idea and the evening ended happily with a nice healthy sushi combo from our favorite sushi place.

Later, I started thinking about how I should probably plan ahead for situations like this since these are the sort of situations that usually trip me up. Yesterday was especially challenging because I hadn’t had lunch so I was starving by the time we went to get something to eat! You mix starving + a meal out and it doesn’t usually equal healthy food choices at Chez Supersquared. So what I did, after getting my satiated stalker into bed later that night, was get on the computer and take a look at what I USED to eat and compare it to healthier food choices I might make in the future. Again, while I knew the stuff I typically ate was riddled with fat, I honestly was shocked when I added everything up.

I’ve included some of my typical meals below along with my plans for healthier choices should I find myself at any of these places in the future. Read them and weep (and rejoice in my healthier selections):

McDonalds
Extra Value Meals, Big Mac, with large French Fries & large Coke
Total calories: 1350
Total Fat: 54g

Alternative:
Caesar with Grilled Chicken, without dressing
Iced Tea
Total Calories: 220
Total Fat: 6g

Popeyes
Chicken: Mild, Breast, mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuit, corn on the cob
Total Calories: 900
Total Fat: 39g (13 just from the biscuit alone!)

Alternative:
Mild Breast without breading, Corn on the cob, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans
Total Calories: 500
Total Fat: 9g

Wendy’s
Chicken Club Sandwich Crispy, large French fry, large coke, large frosty
Total Calories: 1930
Total Fat: 65g

Alternative Meal:
Garden Sensations, Cranberry Pecan Chicken, no Dressing with baked potato, plain
Total Calories: 530
Total Fat: 6g

Pizza Hut
Cheese breadstick, 3 pieces of pepperoni and mushroom pizza, two cinnasticks with icing
Total Calories: 1135
Total Fat: 40g

Alternative
2 slices Thin and Crispy Veggie Lovers with very little cheese
Total Calories: 290
Total Fat: 15.5g (wow on the fat, probably won’t eat at pizza hut that much longer)

Jack in the box
Ultimate Cheeseburger, French fries and large coke
Total Calories: 1900 (1010 for hamburger ALONE)
Total Fat: 99g (71g from hamburger ALONE)

Alternative
Asian Chicken, with Grilled Chicken Strips, without dressing or condiments and fruit cup
Total Calories: 250
Total Fat: 1.5g

Notice Jack in the box gives us the best and absolute worst of both worlds. As I looked over these totals, it made me think of an endocrinologist I saw once. He looked me straight in the eye and told me that there was no way anyone could eat themselves up to 400+ lbs. I’m sure he thought that’s what I wanted to hear, but even I knew that was a crock in today’s world. Just substituting a few meals a week at your local fast food restaurant may cause problems depending on your overall eating habits and activity level. It is very easy for me to see how I got to the size I am now. While I do have some biological things going on that make it harder for me to lose weight (minor thyroid problems & PCOS), I have always owned the fact that nobody gets to my size eating celery and lettuce. I have made very bad food choices and LOTS of them. This was a great wake up call for me. Do you have any other tips you might share about how to go about trimming calories when you eat out?

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Pig shower pic
Fat Bunny Unadulterated