"Healthy Options"

It is no wonder we are struggling with our weight. I just read that half of an Americans food dollars are spent on food prepared outside the home. Nothing wrong with that -- I love eating out. But...when we have been taught that we should "Eat Healthy" and that is the only skill we have when eating out -- things get a little more tricky.

That for example the Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad -- I was actually surprised the regular size portion only has 709 calories in it -- not bad but if you are working off the idea that you are getting a salad so you are being health conscious maybe this isn't the salad for you.

Or what about the Panera Full Sierra Turkey on Focaccia with Asiago Cheese (at 970 cals) or the Full Salmon Club Croissant (at 770 cals). Turkey? Salmon? We "know" these are "good" choices for us!! There is nothing wrong with these foods -- the portions are just way too big!! But if our main tool to evaluate our choices is "healthy options" we are going to be lead astray.

Getting back to hunger and fullness. Have you ever eaten one of these items? They are BIG! If is finished one, I would be STUFFED -- a total 10 on the H/F scale. But the idea is that it is easy to order just one -- it takes more work to order a half of a one (mostly because we tend to be worried about being hungry when we finish with the half -- so we order the whole -- promising ourselves we are not going to eat the other half -- and then poof! the whole thing is gone without us even realizing it).

The more you develop your skill of listening to your body and registering your sensations of hunger and fullness, the less you will have to rely on your skills of making "healthy" choices. So if the Panera French Onion soup sounds GREAT, you won't have to tell yourself "no, it is not a healthy choice" -- you can tell yourself "yes" and just eat until it no longer tastes fantastic (then take the rest home).