What always drives me nuts about following program and tracking is that I ultimately know what to do, but just don't remember to do what I know to do. It's a hind-sight is 20/20 thing. Here's an example of what I mean. First, check out The 7 Rules of Healthy Fast Food. Every one of those rules are things I do all the time but for some reason today I didn't. With the work crowd today we went to Chili's and I ordered one of the lunch combos. 27 PPV total. By simply getting my half sandwich without sauce and asking that the sandwich be grilled without butter and leaving off the cheese I could have saved 10 PPV easy. Those simple adjustments would have allowed for my awesome steamed broccoli and steamed chicken breast Chinese dinner within my DPT instead of using my WPP. Definitely a budgeting lesson.

Honor to the workers. Honor to the workers looking for the work.

The last official holiday of the Summer Season. Bar-B-Que! Problem? It doesn't have to be. Management is key even if it's a craving brought on by a special occasion such as a holiday. For tips check out this article on WeightWatchers.com.

First, I didn't know there was a Whole Foods Market in Mason.


Second, I really hate the "What do you want to eat?" conversation as it usually ends in settling for something and almost never "good".


Third, Jesy's friends said she was a twitter head, but it's not that bad.

Jesy has a great review of some of the prepared foods available. I have in fact had some of them (yes, the burrito is a twofer). I will pretend I didn't read about the dessert bar. Remember to "think first" and keep in mind you are paying a premium to avoid the dreaded conversation. Figure your points value and watch your portion. You may be saving time as well as avoiding mindless grazing while trying to decide on something at home. Solutions are a choice, make yours. Soooooo....anyway, while I was writing this I thought of Weird Al Yankovic singing "Eat It"
I know it's inappropriate, but he does suggest eating bananas!

Link: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/RaiseKids/wallet-vs-waist-fast-food-cost-per-calorie.aspx?slide-number=1

You might want to re-think that choice. Having joined the recently furloughed. [When did we start using that to mean laid-off or having your hours cut?] I have considered the lure of the combo meal to help alleviate financial concerns. Who hasn't?
I'll bottom line it for you -- FAT is CHEAP!
In the slide show "Wallet vs. waist: Fast food cost per calorie" by Smart Money they demonstrate this by calculating the cost per 100 calorie price of some common and popular fast food items. Remember, you have to purchase the whole menu item. If you are anything like me, once it's in our hands it's hard to stop eating when we should. By should I mean when we are satisfied or we have eaten the number of Points we have allocated or are available for any given occasion. Want to lose the bargain appeal? How many more weekly meetings are you willing to pay for and attend to enjoy your combo meal? Two? Ok. That will be $27.99 please. [In case you didn't know that's 2 meeting fees plus the cost of the combo!] Oh, you've changed your mind.

McDonald's Premium Southwest salad with grilled chicken
Cost per 100 calories: $1.47
Calories: 360
Calories from fat: 29%
McDonald's answered the call of health-conscious consumers by adding salads to its menu in 2003. No one can deny that this salad is a more healthful option than, say, a Quarter Pounder, but it will cost you. Once we added some Newman's Own low-fat balsamic vinaigrette dressing (an additional 40 calories and 3 grams of fat) for a little extra taste, this salad became the costliest dish per calorie on our menu.

That's about 7 Points, 1-2 meals, for $5.29

Burger King Double Whopper with cheese
Cost per 100 calories: 49 cents
Calories: 1,010
Calories from fat: 59%
The average person spends around $247 on beef a year, up from $48 in 2001. That amount of cash could buy you 49 Double Whoppers with cheese. And if you chose the Double Whopper over a Big Mac, you'd get a relatively good return on your investment. The Burger King creation’s cost per 100 calories is about two-thirds that of its McDonald’s rival.

This one is about 20 Points, 2-3 meals, for $4.90. I think I'm going to have oatmeal for lunch.....

Link: http://iknowucan.com/blog/media/blogs/IKnowUCan/BajaFishTacos.pdf

In honor of the upcoming celebration, I offer Fish Tacos. I do enjoy these now and again. Salud!