July 21st, 2008
On the path towards weight loss and adapting healthy eating habits, making good choices in restaurants and at fast food chains is important. If you missed my Fast Food Traps post, be sure to check it out for a list of some of the worst possible options in fast food.
Below are some tips and best options so that you have a list of safe options for your next visit to a fast food establishment or restaurant.
- Salad (low fat dressing on the side) with grilled chicken is often a safe choice. Avoid the croûtons and take you own Kashi crackers to enjoy on the side. Add a 250 mL Skim milk or chocolate milk.
- Try the Tim Hortons Turkey or Black Forest Ham on whole wheat wrap or small bun – with mustard instead of mayo, and 250 mL Skim milk or water.
- Consider Tim Hortons’ Hearty Vegetable or Chicken Noodle or Turkey and Wild Rice soup or Minestrone soup with ½ bagel and 250 mL chocolate or skim milk. (Beware that these still contain a lot of sodium.), or ½ whole wheat bagel with peanut butter or light cream cheese and 250 mL chocolate milk or water.
- Another safe choice is McDonalds’, Wendys’, or Harveys’ grilled chicken burger without sauce and a side garden salad with low fat French dressing. Use some of the dressing on your salad and the rest on your sandwich. Water to drink.
- Wendy’s Chili with a side salad with low fat French dressing, and water to drink, is a good meal.
- At Swiss Chalet, your best choices are Chicken on a Kaiser (white meat) with Chalet Soup or Salad with low fat dressing OR
- ¼ Chicken (white meat, no skin) with baked potato and salad or vegetables OR
- ½ Chicken quesadilla with salad
- At Subway, order the 6” wrap with turkey, ½ cheese, light mayonnaise, and veggies with water or skim milk – if you want a snack, pretzels are the best choice (but they are still high in sodium). Try bringing an apple with you to have instead of extra snack.
Choose Water Instead of Soda
1 can of coke has 36 grams of sugar (3 pieces of bread) and 180 calories.
1 can of coke per day for 1 year is 12.6 kg of sugar – nearly 30 pounds of sugar!!!!
At Restaurants
- Ask for dressing or sauces on the side
- Don’t feel you have to finish everything on your plate!
- Ask for veggies cooked in water instead of oil
- Choose dishes with chicken or turkey
- Request double vegetables and less rice/potato/pasta
- Request only ½ quesadilla or pasta dish
Now it’s your turn:
Do you have any other tips that help you make healthy choices when eating fast food or at restaurants ?
**********
Noelle is a guest blogger on personal nutrition at defining someday. She is the founder and president of a nutritional consulting company, Registered Dietitian Services.
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July 18th, 2008
Two epic Harry Potter events occurred at the same time this summer; J. K. Rowling’s publisher announced that she had passed the 400 million copies sold milestone, and I (finally) just finished reading the entire series. When I realized that these two events occurred simultaneously, I was like, “Well, then 400 million people are wrong. The series was not that great!”
So it’s no secret - I didn’t enjoy reading Harry Potter as much as I thought I would. I don’t know how Rowling managed to sell so many copies. Ok, I sort of know. Once you have read the first page of the first book, there’s no going back. You have to find out what happens, and it takes 7 books and 3,400 (UK versions. US versions are even longer!) pages to get there.
My Messed Up Harry Potter Journey
I waited until I was done university to read the series because I was too scared too busy to read it before then, and I wanted to get through the whole series at once - none of this waiting a year for the next book to get published nonsense! For seven months, Harry Potter was a part of my life. That’s one book per month. Here are some adventures Harry and I encountered along the way:
I brought the second book with me on vacation and ended up having to use it as a shield charm when - much to my dismay - my least favorite person in the entire world ended up on the same plane as me. I saw her in the airport and was like, “No big deal, there are thousands of people going to hundreds of different places today.” What are the chances that someone you have purposely decided not to see - ever again - ends up on the same small plane going to the same small place? Seriously, she must have been stalking me and trying to ruin my vacation. I needed some Polyjuice Potion at that point, and my very own Hermione Granger to make it for me. No such luck. Harry Potter: 1, Elle: 0.
I read an entire wrong version of the 5th book, and then had to go and re-read the entire right version. Now you know - in China they even sell fake books! Who in their right mind would bother to write 800 pages of fake Harry Potter? I thought Rowling was mad to write so much of the magic-mumble, and she made millions doing it! From the start I was a little confused - why was Harry suddenly all grown-up and making out with so many different girls? Harry Potter: 2, Elle: 0.
I threw up on one copy of the final book, and had to pay the library $45 to replace. Ya, gross. It was on another trip, at another airport, where the garbage cans were all covered and I had sudden-onset nausea. (Warning: too much information forthcoming!) I vomited on the ground and there was no magic stopping Harry Potter from landing in the puke pile. That book is now buried in a garbage dump somewhere. I guess that means Rowling will sell 4,000,001 copies. Harry Potter: 3, Elle: 0.
Final Thoughts: Reading Harry Potter is exhausting! In order to read the Harry Potter series, you will have to lug 7 oversized books around with you everywhere you go for years months on end. You will not be able to sleep at all until you have finished each of the books. You will have to learn a whole new magical language, and keep track of 10,000 characters with varying magical abilities. You will have to learn the rules of some mad-hatter sport called Quidditch. Your life will be cursed with worst-enemy encounters and the sudden urge to vomit in public. And the whole time, you’ll be worried sick that the scrawny bastard is going to get himself killed by some crazy-eyed snake-wizard.
If you haven’t invested half your life any time into reading it yet, skip it. It’s really not as great as 400 million readers would suggest. I pushed through and read all 7 books because I had it on my list, and didn’t want to give up. But I wish I hadn’t put it on my list in the first place. Harry Potter: 4, Elle: 0.
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July 16th, 2008
In order to write about different ages, I am going to have to make some assumptions. I’ll do my best to make explicit my assumptions so that you can determine how well my suggestions fit with your personal situation.
Assumptions: In your 30s, you are established in your career and starting a family. You likely have some residual student and other debt associated with college or university. This is a stressful time because you are settling down, starting a family, buying a home, buying newer cars and incurring many other major costs. You aren’t at the top of your game yet, but you are making a lot more money than you were in your 20s… unfortunately, your expenses have grown much faster than your income.
Here are my suggestions for financial moves in your 30s that will set you up to be financially stable later in life (Several of these are the same as when you were in your 20s):
1. PAY OFF YOUR DEBT
If you still have lingering debt, you’ve got to get rid of that. The way to pay off your debt depends largely on the type of person you are. For most readers, I suggest paying down your debt using the Snowball method. Essentially, list all debts in order of smallest to largest. If two debts are close, then put the higher interest rate debt above. Commit to paying the minimum payment on every debt, and then start paying off the smallest debt first, working your way down the list until you are debt free.
The central benefit of the Snowball method is the psychological benefit of seeing results. In MBA-lingo, this is all about building momentum toward change.
If you are a person with a history of financial discipline, you will get ahead quicker by NOT following the Snowball method and instead paying off your debts in order of highest interest to lowest interest. This means you will pay less interest in paying down your debts.
Note that once you get to the low-interest loans, it may be in your best interest (haha a pun!) to just pay the minimum monthly payment and invest at a higher rate elsewhere. Consider also whether the interest payments you are making are tax-deductible, as this lowers the effective rate of interest you are paying.
2. DON’T ADD HIGH INTEREST DEBT
While you are paying off your debt, make sure you aren’t adding other debt just as fast as you are paying off your current debt. Cut up your credit cards if you have to. At the very least, hunt for a credit card with a lower interest rate. Buying with Credit Cards should be a LAST RESORT.
3. INSURANCE
It is time to start looking at insurance. The earlier you buy insurance, the better. The longer you wait, the more likely you will have problems (cancer, heart disease) that might make you uninsurable. If you start early, you can get good rates that are locked in, or give a guaranteed option to increase the insurance at a set rate, which allows you to increase if you get sick. Investigate life insurance options with an insurance broker or online.
4. SAVE FOR THE KIDS
As soon as you have kids, you should open an education savings account (tax deferred), like an RESP (in Canada) and start putting aside a regular amount. The earlier you start, the better!
5. RETIREMENT SAVING
If you work for a company with a share purchase plan or a retirement plan, take advantage of this. Many employers match their employees’ share purchases, which is fantastic. If your employer does not offer such a plan, ask your financial institution to set you up on a similar automatic-savings plan. The transfer of your funds into these plans is often automatic, which means the amount you are investing or saving comes right off of each of your paycheques before it is deposited in your account. This reduces the psychological hurdle of seeing that you have money in your account, and then mustering the willpower to take it out and deposit it somewhere safe where you can’t spend it. I call this manual saving, which is hard and does not produce consistent results like those you can expect to see with automatic savings.
When you get a raise, if you set it up so that the raise automatically goes into a savings program, you will just keep living like you were before, but saving more!
6. WHO CARES ABOUT THE JONESES?
Don’t fall into the “Keeping up with the Joneses” mentality. This is where you feel obligated to buy new cars, buy new homes, etc, just because other people your age are doing so. This is a surefire way to get in over your head and wind up unhappy. Make decisions because they work for you.
Check out my post on Renting vs. Buying to see if it makes sense for you to buy or rent. Too many people rush to buy when it doesn’t make financial sense.
Do you have anything to add? What advice would you give someone in their 30s?
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Frank is a guest blogger on personal finance at defining someday. He hosts a finance-related blog at frankvoisin.com.
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July 14th, 2008
Hopefully you’ve been following along on our quest for optimal nutritional choices! If you missed my Nutrition 101, you can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here. Now that we’ve covered the basics, I’d like to move on to a more challenging issue in food - fast food!
On the path towards weight loss and adapting healthy eating habits, fast food can be a major obstacle. It’s fast, easy, and often very cheap. Making healthy food choices is difficult without knowing good from bad fast food choices. Next Monday, I will offer tips and your best options when you must eat fast food. Today, let’s look at some numbers in order to get a clear idea of the biggest traps (or the worst choices) in fast food.*
Wendy’s
The new Baconater has 830 calories and 51 grams of fat, with 22 grams from saturated fat!!!!!!
Don’t be fooled by salads! The Mandarin Chicken Salad has over 500 calories and 25 grams of fat!
Added croutons, nuts/seeds, cheese, and dressings can add significant calories and fat!
Best Alternative:
The Chicken Grill is a great choice at Wendy’s. It has 320 calories and only 7 grams of fat. You can add a side salad with low fat honey mustard dressing, and still end up with less than 450 calories and 10 grams of fat. This is a great meal out!
Tim Hortons
Try skipping the B.L.T. (450 calories and 18 grams of fat) and choose the turkey breast to save 13 grams of fat. Try broth based soups instead of creamy ones.
A Tim Horton’s muffin has anywhere from 290-430 calories, 11-25 grams of fat, and is likely to leave you feeling hungry!
Best Alternatives:
The Chicken Salad Sandwich has 380 calories and 9 grams of fat, and the Hearty Vegetable Soup has 70 calories and 0.4 grams of fat, but it is high in sodium (1060 mg).
Starbucks
One Starbucks Grande Café Mocha has 330 calories and 15 grams of fat, which is a lot of calories in a drink! If you change to skim milk and remove the whipped cream, it is only 220 calories and 2.5 grams of fat. You can make this simple modification to any of the Starbucks lattes – hot or cold.
At one per day, that is the difference of 10 pounds in one year!
A Starbucks Blueberry muffin has 460 calories and 21 grams of fat – nearly 1/3 of a person’s need for fat in the day in one muffin. A low fat Starbucks muffin still has over 300 calories with 2-3 grams of fat Also, when you are eating one of these (or a bagel), you are actually eating the equivalent in carbohydrates as 4-5 pieces of bread.
Best Alternative:
Ordering your favorite tall drink with skim milk and no whipped cream is your best option.
Subway
Beware of the buns! A 6” bun has the equivalent of 4 pieces of bread in carbohydrates, which means a 12” has 8 pieces of bread!!! Pair this with 500 mL chocolate milk and you have 180 grams of carbohydrates at one meal!!!! We all need carbohydrates, but it is important to balance them throughout the day.
Best Alternative:
Order your favorite sandwich as a wrap with 250 mL of skim milk instead of a 6″ sandwich with a 50 mL chocolate milk.
McDonald’s
The new Angus Burger with Bacon and Cheddar is a terrible choice - 740 calories (not including fries and a drink!) and 45 grams of fat (18 grams of saturated fat!).
Best Alternative:
The Grilled Chicken Classic Sandwich is 360 calories and only 11 grams of fat.
*Please note that these values are all based on Canadian fast food chain nutritional information.
Now it’s your turn:
What is your biggest fast food weakness?
Tell us about the best and worst fast food menu items you have found!
**********
Noelle is a guest blogger on personal nutrition at defining someday. She is the founder and president of a nutritional consulting company, Registered Dietitian Services.
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July 11th, 2008
Wednesday of this week was one of my favorite days of the year; it was my husband, Frank’s birthday. I’m not much for my birthday or commercial and religious holidays, but I do love Frank’s birthday because it is a day when I get to show him how much he means to me by going crazy and planning a whole day full of surprises. More on that later.
In brief, the best part of his birthday this year was when he asked his parents,
“Do you have any advice for me on my birthday?” and they responded with some excellent pieces of advice that we think are worth sharing.
Mom and Dad’s Birthday Advice for Your Mid-Twenties
- Live in a small, comfortable house
- Take day and weekend trips to take advantage of your child-free years
- Visit Europe
- Take courses for interest’s sake
- Take music lessons
- Learn to dance, and then dance
- Learn to cook, and then cook
- Be frugal
- Update your net worth statement every January 1st
- Set and review goals every year on the same date
Collectively, this is such great advice! In our 20s, we don’t need much space, but we do want to have great experiences, and we don’t yet have children to complicate things. These are the years when we have time to invest in and develop our own interests and skills, when our expenses are low, and our health allows us to tackle any adventure.
The only advice I have on the event of my husband’s birthday is for spouses…because birthdays are a great time to show the other person how much you love them.
How to Surprise Your Spouse. All Day Long. (Don’t worry, I promise this is clean content!)
- Take the day off, without telling them you are going to - and if they are also working, see if you can get their boss to give them the day off as well!
- Make their favorite breakfast meal and serve it up in their favorite place (I know, breakfast in bed is so cliché …but seriously, who doesn’t love having their favorite breakfast prepared and served to them in bed?
- Plan an activity, trip, or adventure that they have been wanting to do for awhile - even if it is not your favorite thing to do
- Pack a picnic with all of their favorite foods (and beverages), and keep it a surprise until lunch time
- Bring a camera and make them feel like the center of attention - whether that means they are taking all the shots, or featured in all the shots
- Leave a little room for the spontaneous. You don’t want the day to feel too regimented, and ask for their input about what else they want to see or do
- Take some time to tell them exactly how you feel about them and why
- If it would be important to them, include their important people in some aspects of the day
Now it’s Your Turn: Do you have any advice for someone in their mid-twenties? Do you have any spousal surprise ideas to share?
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