Making good fast food choices...

Panera still rocks for Dick and I...we are regulars. I just read this article about one of their officers that lost 60 pounds by eating at Panera...I believe it! The strawberry salad and summer corn chowder helped me believe I could eat better for life.

If healthy food tasted this good, my life could change for the better.

Panera Bread: Black Bean Soup & Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich

“I always do a ‘You Pick Two,’ which is any two of the following: a half sandwich, a half salad, or a soup,” says Scott Davis, chief concept officer and senior vice president at Panera Bread, who lost 60 pounds last year “pretty much by eating Panera.”

He likes to get the Low-Fat Vegetarian Black Bean soup (a spicy vegetarian broth with onion, red bell pepper, cilantro, garlic, and cumin) with the Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich on tomato basil bread (sweet piquante peppers, feta cheese, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, and cilantro jalapeño hummus).

“It’s the right combination of carbs, protein, and fiber to keep me going all day,” says Davis, who washes down his meal with an unsweetened iced tea.

Nutrition info (for soup, sandwich, and iced tea): 462 cal, 19 g pro, 79 g carbs, 11 g fiber, 8 g fat, 1.5 g sat fat, 5 mg chol, 1,651 mg sodium

McDonald’s: Premium Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken

“Each of our salads provides about 3 cups of greens, so I’m getting a great veggie serving,” says Cindy Goody, PhD, RD, director of nutrition for McDonald’s USA. “I like that it gives me protein from the grilled chicken and beans, plus a variety of vegetables like corn, tomatoes, and chiles.” She uses half of the Southwest dressing packet, which shaves 50 calories off her meal, and her beverage of choice is a small Diet Coke.

Nutrition info (for salad, full dressing packet, and soda): 420 cal, 31 g protein, 41 g carbs, 6 g fiber, 15 g fat, 4 g sat fat, 90 mg chol, 1,320 mg sodium

Subway: Roasted Chicken Sandwich

Subway’s dietitian Lanette Kovachi, RD, has advised the company on nutrition info for the last 8 years—so we were very curious for her take on how to build a healthy, tasty sammie. Her secret: Mound it with all the fresh veggies—doing so provides 2 full servings. Kovachi orders the 6-inch oven-roasted chicken on 9-grain bread (one of the more fiber-filled options) with water and baked potato chips. “I love the way this tastes, plus it fills me up,” she says.

Nutrition info(for sandwich and chips): 382 cal, 25 g protein, 79 g carbs, 8 g fiber, 7 g fat, 1 g sat fat, 25 mg chol, 1,180 mg sodium

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Cooking Light Fast Food survival guide

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Prevention has a formula that tells you how many calories a day you should be eating and what you need to do to lose weight....

go here to check it out.

You need to eliminate 500 calories a day to lose weight.

They told me...

"We recommend you do that by a combination of diet and exercise,

eat 200 fewer calories and

burn 300 calories through exercise."

Then always remember these FREE websites

http://www.thedailyplate.com/

http://www.sparkpeople.com/

For great recipes with calorie counts

http://www.myrecipes.com/

Take control and by spring there could be a new you!

Quiz:Are you ready to change your life?

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Note: If you do decide the treadmill is your form of exercise...don't do what Dick did on the treadmill yesterday....the splits. Very hard to watch your loved one quickly sliding off the treadmill while trying to hold on.(every one's worst nightmare at the gym)

I went through all the emotions...scared, anxious, to.. bless his little heart... to sad, and then Mad when I found out he was trying to keep up with the 25 year old girl next to him! His leg is skinned from his ankle to his knee!!

Please don't let this stop you from getting exercise.....it's just one man's experience! :-)