Calories – the dreaded word for anyone trying to cut back, do “good”, or eat better.  Why do we dread that word?  For me, it’s something I have to watch, something associated with things I loved….like cake and chocolate….It wasn’t until I understood the true definition of a calorie that the dread and fear went away.  Did you know that the definition of “calorie” is a unit of energy?  In the past few months, I have found there’s a HUGE difference in calories; good vs bad.  I pack my breakfast, morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack everyday.  My boys tease me and say that I eat all the time – and I really do!  There’s a lot of talk about healthier options at fast food restaurants, and there might be, BUT all that stuff is loaded with preservatives.  Try buying a happy meal and let it sit for a week, funny how it doesn’t change.  My apples change color before noon, their packs don’t change in a week – and I’ve been feeding that to my kids?!?!?  So that got my wheels to turning, unit for unit, calorie for calorie, what do my breakfast, lunch and snacks look like compared to McDonald’s healthier options…..are you ready for this?

Here’s what I eat most days before 5 pm, which is approximately 560 calories.

• Breakfast:  2 boiled eggs
• Am Snack:  Apple
• Lunch:  Tuna pack, Salad and Carrots with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
• Pm Snack:  Grapefruit with 1 pk of Stevia in the Raw

My salads consist of grape tomatoes, sprinkle of feta cheese and loads of spinach.  I make them on Sunday afternoons for the week ahead (I will cover weekly food prepping in another post).

I mentioned Grapefruit with Stevia in the Raw, let me tell you – that grapefruit knife is a time saver.  I love it!

Ok, so that’s what I eat on a regular basis – now to cover what I was eating.

When I would run by McDs for breakfast, I would grab the Egg White Delight.  That’s healthy right?  Well maybe….sort of….not really.  There’s a big difference in the sodium and carbs when compared to my 2 boiled eggs.  Those 2 boiled eggs are 140 Calories, 12 g Protein, 10 g Fat, 0 Carbs, 142 g of sodium.

No morning snack….then I’d run out to lunch…..When grabbing lunch I would always go for the chicken sandwich, regular fry and a large unsweetened tea with 4 Splendas.  Being realistic here, we all know we’re tempted with the up-size, but I’d try to be good and only get the regular fries.  The sandwich and fries alone – 700 calories!  That’s more than I’m getting in breakfast, lunch and two snacks!

McDs breakfast and lunch, without any snacks is 960 calories. Let that sink in a minute….2 meals – 960 calories verses eating every 3 hours, 2 meals and 2 snacks – 560 calories.  Since I got larger than planned by my love for eating, I think I’ll stick with the eating every 3 hours.

If you’re ever curious about calories in fast food, you can find it listed on most fast food chain websites.  This information came from http://www.mcdonalds.com