If the idea of Fazoli’s conjures up images of cheese laden, high calorie dishes to you… REJOICE! There is hope! The Fazoli’s menu actually has nineteen choices for 600 calories or less! These days they actually have a “400 Calories Or Less” section on their menu. In today’s world where going out to eat often means busting your calorie budget, this is a breath of fresh air without a bun! And if you check your mailbox, you will likely find Fazoli’s coupons with the grocery store sales fliers.

With most entrees you will be given their famous breadsticks, unless you specify otherwise. Specify otherwise. With garlic sauce on them, they are 150 calories each (dry are 100). They are unlimited if you dine-in… so you might want to take your food to go to avoid temptation.

In 2009 Fazoli’s was recognized by Parent’s Magazine as one of the ten best menu’s for kids of all fast casual dining restaurants. They offer five kid’s menu selections, and they are all under 300 calories! Obviously these could work for you, too, if you go through the drive-thru. That might be a good strategy if you just have to consume a breadstick. Another cool thing about Fazoli’s is that they have a “Friendly Reader Program,” in which they will give your child a bookmark; after they read five books and fill out some information about them, they will earn a free kid’s meal.

Let’s talk pasta. The Fazoli’s menu has plenty of low-calorie options.

• Ravioli with Marinara – 450 calories
• Ravioli with Meat Sauce – 570 calories
• Spaghetti, Fettucine, Penne or Bowtie with Marinara – 560 calories
• Whole Wheat Penne with Marinara – 560 calories
• Toasted Ravioli (quantity 6) – 340 calories

Yes, you can actually have pizza from the Fazoli’s menu for 600 calories or less!

• Cheese Stuffed Pizza Sticks – 270 calories
• Pepperoni Stuffed Pizza Sticks – 280 calories
• Pepperoni Classico Pizza – 300 calories
• Triple Cheese Pizza – 290 calories
• Tuscan Chicken Flatbread Pizza – 480 calories
• Chicken Broccoli Florentine Flatbread Pizza – 500 calories

There is even a sandwich on the Fazoli’s menu that will please your daily calorie count.

• Vegetable Fresco Piada (an open-faced sandwich that resembles pizza) – 590 calories

Sometimes a good, hearty salad is in order. There are several options on the Fazoli’s menu.

• Cherry Almond Chicken Salad – 480 calories
• Citrus Apple & Roasted Chicken Chopped Salad – 510 calories
• Fazoli’s Italian Chopped House Salad – 600 calories

If you would like a combination of several menu items, a sampler from the Fazoli’s menu is available.

• Roasted Chicken Platter (whole wheat penne marinara with basil pesto, broccoli and roasted chicken) – 600 calories

Now on to their new, attention-drawing “400 Calories Or Less” menu.

• Chicken Mushroom Alfredo Bake – 400 calories
• Chicken Penne & Peppers – 340 calories
• Three Cheese Baked Ravioli – 340 calories

If you’re thinking of trying one of their popular Italian Ice drinks, don’t. They’re all around 200 calories. That may seem like a bargain compared to their desserts, which are all over 500 calories!

Registration begins August 7.
Group starts August 28 and runs through November 13, 2012

Who:
This group is specifically for the “I know what to do I just don't do it” individual who wants to explore a reasonable (body/mind/spirit) approach to dieting that will result in significant focused weight loss, with most clients establishing a goal to lose 20 pounds in 12 weeks.
There are no foods to buy and no gimmicks to swallow.

We will explore the truth that there is no one right diet that is right for everyone, but that you can find a way to successful weight loss that works with your temperament, nutritional needs, lifestyle and family situation. We will help you do just that!
You will learn –

– When to embrace diet and when to embrace “lifestyle” change — what the difference is, what the positive and negative of each is.
– How you can use the best of both (dieting and lifestyle change) and devise your own diet/lifestyle change.
– Learn to transition from times when you can have focused weight loss, to periods of slower trending down, to maintenance.
– How to use calorie counting effectively and easily and when and how to use using “clean eating” with no calorie counting.
– To explore the many reasons why you eat and be given specific tools to help you establish mindful, non-sabotaging eating practices.
–  To use he brain science behind comfort eating and learn how you to re-program your brain.

We will provide program material, daily and weekly support, tried and true ideas, motivation, and accountability. This program is based on The Reasonable Diet's Lose 20 Pounds in 12 Weeks program, which Sandra has used successfully with her clients for nine years – now with an additional component of mindfulness practices to help specifically with impulse control. We will get to the root of why you are overeating.

Guarantee:

You are guaranteed to lose 20 pounds in 12 weeks — or your money back! If you comply with 3 simple rules.
1. Attend at least 10 of the 12 weeks sessions.
2. Record the food you eat (not saying you have to count calories, etc…. just asking you to write it if you bite it!)
3. Participate with the  private online group at least 2 x per week.
Cost:

Fee for the group is $240 per month x 3 months.

There is an early bird discount reducing it to $157 per month if you join prior to 8/14/2012.

This program is likely eligible for HSA and a medical deduction on your taxes.
To be sure check with your plan administrator or tax accountant.

Fee  include:
~~ Weekly 1-hour group teleconference session at 7am or 8pm on Mondays. (Also recorded.)
~~  Morning Motivation — a daily 5-minute motivation /check-in call at 7am – that is also accessible as a recording anytime day or night.
~~ Program Binder and material
~~ Online support (facebook and member website)

BONUS:~~ 4 CDs with a daily motivational message (Six Minutes of Sanity Seven Days/ Week) These are a compilation from Sandra's top rated iTunes Podcast.
~~ Workbook
Please click here to express your interest in the group.  I’ll call you to discuss the program and we can decide if we are a good fit for each other and discuss any payment plans or allowances that you may need.
Thanks!

Thanks for your interest. Filling out the form below is for information only. This is not an acceptance into the group and implies no commitment on either your part or my part. I’ll personally call you back within 24 hours or send you and email to set up a time so that we can talk by phone.

A support group co-facilitated by
Angie Patton (Licensed Practical Counselor)

and
Sandra Ahten (Life, Diet and Wellness Coach/owner of Reasonable Diet.)

Virtually all  insurance accepted.
Sliding scale accepted.

Free Intro Session April 17 6pm (Must RSVP)

When: 6-7 pm, Weekly on Tuesday April 24 – July 10, 2012

Where: Kevin Elliott Counseling, 44. E. Main St., Suite 406, Champaign IL 61821

Who: This group is specifically for the “I know what to do I just don't do it” individual who wants to explore a reasonable (body/mind/spirit) approach to dieting that will result in significant focused weight loss, with most clients establishing a goal to lose 20 pounds in 12 weeks.

There are no foods to buy and no gimmicks to swallow.

We will explore the truth that there is no one right diet that is right for everyone, but that you can find a way to successful weight loss that works with your temperament, nutritional needs, lifestyle and family situation. We will help you do just that!

You will learn –
– When to embrace diet and when to embrace “lifestyle” change — what the difference is, what the positive and negative of each is.

– How you can use the best of both (dieting and lifestyle change) and devise your own diet/lifestyle change.

– Learn to transition from times when you can have focused weight loss, to periods of slower “trending down”, to periods of “maintenance” and then back to “focus” again. (Getting rid of all-or-nothing thinking.)

– How to use calorie counting effectively and easily and when and how to use using “clean eating” with no calorie counting.

– To explore the many reasons why you eat and be given specific tools to help you establish mindfulness based eating habits. You will get rid of the self-sabatoge by learning to practice techniques to curb “impulse control.”

–  To use the brain science behind comfort eating and learn how you to re-program your brain.

We will provide program material, daily and weekly support, tried and true ideas, motivation, and accountability. This program is based on The Reasonable Diet's Lose 20 Pounds in 12 Weeks program, which Sandra has used successfully with her clients for nine years – now with an additional component of therapeutic processing and mindfulness practices being offered with clinical therapist Angie Patton.

We'll get to the root of why you are overeating.

Cost:

Do you have Health Insurance or HSA?
You will only be responsible for your weekly co-pay or deductible. Call today to have Stacie ( Kevin Elliott Counseling office manager) check your insurance benefits. She can find out what your plan will pay and let you know what your co-pay or deductible will be. (217-398-9066)

Sliding scale for uninsured or self-insured.
Fee for the group is $39 per session. Sliding scale will be considered. Payment plans available. Credit card accepted.

This program is likely eligible for HSA and a medical deduction on your taxes.
To be sure check with your plan administrator or tax accountant.

Session fees include:

~~ Weekly 1-hour group in-office sessions with facilitator
~~ Morning Motivation — a daily 5-minute motivation /check-in call at 7am – that is also accessible as a recording anytime day or night.
~~ Program Binder and material
~~ Optional online support (facebook and member website)

BONUS:
~~ 4 CDs with a daily motivational message (Six Minutes of Sanity Seven Days/ Week) These are a compilation from Sandra's top rated iTunes Podcast.
~~ Workbook

Please click here to express your interest in the group and find out more.

Thanks!

What is a Life Coach?
Coaching starts from a premise of sound mental health and helps the client move forward from there.

The difference between therapy and coaching is perhaps more in mindset than in method. Coaches are trained to help the client look to the future more than the past; toward the client's positive attributes and strengths more than the areas that need healing.

Sandra Ahten has been a trained coach since 1998, in private practice since 2005, and certified since 2006. Her specialties are:

~~ Couple's strength building
~~ Diet and wellness and health issues for individuals or couples
~~ Dissertation/degree completion
~~ Project completion
~~ Career changes, especially toward self-employment/entrepreneur
~~ Life after addiction
~~ Parenting challenges
~~ Thriving through mid-life

Fees include weekly or bi-weekly sessions and unlimited email support, and range from $280 and $480 per month for private individual or couples coaching.

An initial 20-minute phone consultation is free for the potential coaching clients. Click here to request consultation. During this consultation both Sandra and the potential client will assess whether they feel there is a good match between coach and client, and agree on the coaching program, fees and meeting schedule.

Lynn A.
Dallas TX

It’s a new year, and I am reflective. I want to say that working with Sandra as a weekly coaching client has been a highlight of the last year. She helped me maintain a 20 lb. plus weight loss, which, as I’m sure most of you know, is the other, crucial side of dieting–keeping it off. This has been during the most stressful time of my life as I am in the throes of finishing my doctoral degree. On every call I feel heard, challenged, accepted, and inspired–and I hang up with a sense of hope and resolve. Week in and week out Sandra has nourished in me the ability to create new stories of my life, and the benefits have extended way beyond the weight loss. Sandra has helped me: navigate a dissertation, maneuver a challenging psychology internship, parent with integrity, and rise to the demands of a two-city marriage. It all intertwines, of course, with the weight loss/maintenance. So, to Sandra I say, MANY MANY THANKS. And to anyone who is considering personal coaching with Sandra, I say GO FOR IT!!

Cynthia M.
Paris, France

By working with Sandra as a life coach, not just a diet coach, we addressed these unanswered (and really, unasked) questions about what I wanted in life and why.  I had never really undergone this process and it was quite revealing and gratifying to finally define what I envisioned would make me happy in life.  Finishing my dissertation was just one of the things that I wanted in life, but it was swallowing up many of my resources (time and thoughts, at the very least). Without Sandra coaching me through this time, I honestly don't know what would have happened.  I had been floundering for so long, it's almost like I couldn't feel my own legs anymore.  Sandra got me standing upright and allowed me to feel confident about my decisions by reminding me of what I had designed as my intentional life and the actions that I had detailed for getting there.

This is the carrot cake I expected! Now imagine a smaller piece with the strawberry cut in half ...and then shave a bit more off of that. For FOURTEEN DOLLARS!! (Image by Alex Ado)

I was four days into my San Francisco vacation having held off on any extravagant dessert. Yes, I was nibbling on dark chocolate and I’d had two cookies, but I was ready for a wedge of heaven and for me that is spelled:  c.a.r.r.o.t c.a.k.e.

I stopped in one swanky restaurant and enquired about their dessert offerings. They had six, including a caramel apple strudel ala mode and even a flourless chocolate cake, both which sounded tantalizing, but I was hopeful that with the concentration of eateries down at the wharf that I could find my true desire.

On just my second stop I spotted it at the top of their menu. But one catch … $12.00. Okay, so I wasn’t in Kansas anymore, and California prices were, well California prices. The description made it sound like it was bounty enough for two: “a 10-inch cake, 7 layers, 5 inches high — sure to be a real show stopper.” The rest of the desserts were nine dollars so I deduced that this must be a shareable size. They clearly said “show stopper.”

I was accustomed to show-stopper carrot cake. At home hubster Kevin and I often share an eight dollar piece of carrot cake at our favorite restaurant. Well technically it’s not our favorite, we actually found the entrees a little lackluster, but we are like magnets to metal for the carrot cake. It is a full pound of heaven topped off with cream cheese frosting. In my mind this was that.

A Plan Comes Together…

I decided to go for it as the plan came together in my head. A plan which, by the way, did not include actually sharing the sharable portion, as I was vacationing alone. My strategy was cross the street to Starbucks, purchase an overpriced vente decaf with cream, stroll back down to the harbor, plant myself in the sunshine and dig in. I just hoped I’d have the self-restraint to save the second half for tomorrow or at least later that night.

Tip and tax, I shelled out $14 and bounced out the door and into the sunshine with the goods in my backpack. I took my time and did a little more sightseeing and window shopping and then landed on a bench, took a minute to gaze out to the water, watched the playful seals and then slowly opened the white cardboard container with anticipation.

…and Falls Apart

What in the hell?!! Show stopper? Yeah, it was a show stopper all right. It was stopping my show. It was an ordinary size price of cake minus a couple of bites worth that been shaved off by slicing it so thin on the top, that icing didn't even cover the whole piece. I closed the lid, loaded the cake back in the pack and set off down the pier to right the wrong.

I pictured myself telling the waitress – and her gushing all over herself with embarrassment. I saw her regretting not having looked at the cake before she handed the container to me and thought she'd probably chew out the staff, when she went to the kitchen get my replacement piece.

Then I thought —  there could be another scenario, one in which the waitress isn’t apologetic at all, but instead I have to ask for the manager in order to make things right. My mind continued with a tornado of fantasies and various scenarios as I wound my way back.

I happened to be greeted by the manager. “Yes, as the matter of fact you can help me. I was given an extremely small piece of carrot cake instead of the show stopper that you describe on your menu.”  I opened the box and showed him the sorry little piece of cake.

“That is our regular size piece of cake, ma’am.”

“Really? The one that is $12? The one that with tip and tax I paid $14 for?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“This is the showstopper?  The 10-inch, 5-layer cake on your menu?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Okay, dear reader, at this point I have to confess to you, when I opened up the container to make my point, the carrot cake had grown just a wee little bit. Meaning that, although it wasn’t the real show stopper that I shared with hubster back home and it was in no way, shape or form worth $14.00, it was – well, almost, an average size piece of carrot cake. Almost. My expectations and initial shock made it seem much smaller, now it looked just below average.

Still feeling the sting of being ripped off though, I packed up my cake, turned around and marched out — muttering something about finding their Facebook page and the power of social media.

The Fork in the Road?

Back out in the sunshine I immediately saw that my real problem had only just begun, for now I was at a fork in the road that could prevent me from enjoying sticking the fork in the cake. I was not only ripped off, I was also invested in being wronged and feeling righteous indignation. Crap. I had to make a choice: (one) I stay in my head; stay in my victim mentality and most certainly spoil the experience of enjoying the cake and possibly spoiling a day of my coveted and longed for vacation or (two) find a happier ending by writing a different story.

Could I do it?

Thankfully I had been reading The Energy of Money, by Marie Nemeth she tells of having invested money with someone who didn’t keep their end of the bargain and she not only didn’t get the amazing returns that were promised, she lost all of the money. She says that for years she told the story as a victim, but in order for her to transform her relationship with money and empower herself, she saw that she had to rewrite her version of the story. If my memory serves me right, in the rewrite she took responsibility for not doing due diligence with credit check, going against the advice of others and not having a legal contract. Her situation and mine were not exactly parallel — but it came to mind — and so I decided to let her example inform my thoughts as I tried to find a way to enjoy that freakin' carrot cake.

Carrot Cake Got Me in this Mess, Carrot Cake Can Get Me Out of it.

Note– it was my extreme love of carrot cake that got me into this mess and it was my extreme love of carrot cake that gave me the kick in the a** I needed to get me out of it. I didn’t have an intrinsic altruistic goal to simply get rid of negative thinking; or to absolve the stingy overpriced restaurant; or free myself of the poisonous resentments that would impede to my spiritual growth. I just wanted to fully enjoying my damn cake and I simply knew my petty resentful mind well enough to know that I couldn’t enjoy it while I feeling the way I did.

Back to taking my own inventory, al-la the bad investment example: So she had someone help her see that it was her own judgment and actions that led up to the loss. Yes, it was the investee that screwed her over, but she herself had allowed her judgment to be clouded by promise of a higher than believable return on her investment. She was the one who wrote the check; ignored her own gut; ignored her friends, etc.

My inventory didn’t have the exact same parallels, but once I just took ownership of the fact that my crazy obsession for carrot cake seduced me into parting with enough money to prepare dinner for a family of four, I was able let go of the white knuckle grip I had on my role as victim in the story. I was the one who decided to pay $12 bucks for a piece of carrot cake. Me. It was a choice I made.

The Rip-Off Was a Favor in Disguise

In all likelihood, had I got the gargantuan slice that I deemed worth $14, I would have indeed eaten the whole damn thing. Now maybe, just maybe, I would have saved half of it for the next day, as was my angelic intention, but if you know me, or any sugar addict like me, you’ll know that the likelihood is pretty thin. Thinner than that slice of carrot cake, let me just say. And even if I had been able to resist eating it all in one setting, I would have had a persistent preoccupation with when to have it, until I gave in and abandoned that angelic intent with a “the devil made me do it” shrug of my shoulders.

Then I shined another ray of logic on the situation: I often paid $6 for carrot cake of that size without getting (too) bent out of shape — hence I’d only blown $8. Not the first time I'd wasted $8. As the matter of fact a certain pair of heels that cost $80 and that I couldn't walk in and would never wear again, came to mind.

Ya da ya da ya da. Bla bla bla. I was boring myself by even having to go through this thought process and was found myself ready to simply let go of the resentment so that I could just get on with eating the cake already.

Cut to the chase … the carrot cake, on the pier, in the sunshine, free of guilt over eating too much, free of torment over deciding how much I should eat, feeling a little silly — but grateful to have such luxury problems, free of all resentments and actually feeling very centered and in the moment led me to one of the most enjoyable carrot cakes experiences ever. Ever!

Preach it Sister!

Okay, so I could stop there and just let the story speak for itself. But you know me… I have to get a little preachy. So I can't resist asking you – as I am asking myself:

~~ Where else can I write a different story and let loose of my victim mentality?

~~ Am I willing to keep my eyes open for challenges in my life that present me with a fork in the road – and choose the one that will allow me to meet my Higher Self instead of taking the road I've usually traveled?

~~ Do I desire to live on a more mindful level? If so, am I willing to take some deep breathes between my knee jerk reactions and my actual actions?

If enjoying carrot cake is the result – Yes! is my answer. Can I get an amen?

Let’s be honest. Probably no one thinks of Taco Bell when they ponder a healthy meal. Thinking outside the bun, generally speaking, is no better than ordering a cheeseburger and fries at the fast food restaurant next door. However, whether they are willing to admit it or not, most people are quite fond of the rather economical, tasty fare they offer.

As fast food goes, most items on the Taco Bell menu have over 400 calories per item. Few people have the ability to go there and just order one burrito, taco, etc. But, calorically speaking, the Taco Bell menu does have a little bit of redeeming value here and there, if you plan well. Just ask Christine Dougherty! She is the spokesperson for their “Drive-Thru Diet” and managed to lose 54 pounds over two years by swapping her normal fast food lunch to their “Drive-Thru Diet Menu,” which has seven “fresco” items that each boast under 9 grams of fat. Let’s investigate.

Drive-Thru Diet Menu

• 150 calories – Fresco Chicken Soft Taco, Fresco Crunchy Taco, Fresco Grilled Steak Soft Taco
• 180 calories – Fresco Soft Taco
• 340 calories – Burrito Supreme – Steak
• 350 calories – Bean Burrito, Burrito Supreme – Chicken

If tacos are your favorite, many on the Taco Bell menu won’t blow your daily calorie allotment.

• 200 calories – Crunchy Taco Supreme
• 230 calories – Soft Taco Supreme – Beef
• 250 calories – Grilled Steak Soft Taco
• 270 calories – Crispy Potato Soft Taco
• 320 calories – Double Decker Taco
• 350 calories – Double Decker Taco Supreme

Don’t worry, non-taco lovers, there’s something for everyone on the Taco Bell menu!

• 0 calories – all Border sauce! Sauce it up, friends!
• 120 calories – Mexican rice
• 170 calories – Pintos n Cheese
• 190 calories – Cheese Roll-Up
• 250 calories – Tostada
• 270 calories – Meximelt
• 290 calories – Original Chicken Flatbread Sandwich
• 300 calories – Bacon Ranch Chicken Flatbread Sandwich
• 310 calories – Grilled Steak Taquitos
• 320 calories – Grilled Chicken Taquitos
• 350 calories – Enchiritos
• 380 calories – Chili Cheese Burrito
• 400 calories or less – all Chalupas
• 400 calories or less – most Gorditas

The Taco Bell menu does not have to be the enemy, if consumed in moderation… and rarely. Best advice: stick to the Fresco items and don’t make Taco Bell a habit!

My friend Jennifer Boykin from Life After Tampons

Lately, I've realized I can no longer afford the “high cost of low living.”  I started with a little inventory of “why I eat.”

I eat when I get discouraged.  I eat when I feel frustrated.  I eat when things don't go my way.  I eat when I'm tired.  I eat when I need to comfort myself.  I eat when I'm . . . unconscious, unaware, ungrateful, and depleted.

None of this is new.  But it's getting too expensive to live this way.  In fact, I find myself priced out of the Self-Neglect market.

Here's why:

I have a dream.  It's a big one.  In fact, it is THE BIG ONE.

Today, I'm launching my Dream Business.  I'm the very proud creator of a MidLife Reinvention site, Life After Tampons. This is the biggest of the biggest secret dreams I've ever had – to create a community and provide all the resources a woman needs to implement the answer to this one question:

“What would you do if you KNEW you could not fail?”

Well, what I would do is build a community of women who were all doing their Big Dream.

But there is a problem.

The way I care for myself has now become a factor in my ability to produce.   To look at me you wouldn't know it.  I'm still cute and at a normal weight.  But I'm tired.  All the time.  For a long time, I have joked that “my body is just a transportation vehicle to take my brain from one interesting thing to another.”  Funny.  And, as I said,  it's worked for me for a long time.

But now it doesn't.

When it comes to choosing between self-care and self-denial, it helps to take an inventory of the “costs” associated with choosing the latter.  In this case, taken to the extreme, a lack of self-care could ultimately cost me my dream.  And I'm not willing to pay that price.

So, even though I have a boatload of writing and networking and designing and such to do, I find myself willing – just for today – to put all of that aside to eat an apple, fetch a glass of water with a lovely slice of lemon, pause for a couple of Downward Dogs and Sun Salutations.

If I want to serve you – and I do – if I want to bear witness to the manifestation of your dream – and I do – then I MUST take time away from you, from my work, from my beautiful brain to take care of the Transportation Vehicle that is moving this whole dream forward.

And the day to begin is today. The moment to begin is now.  Because, at nearly 50, there just isn't TIME LEFT to postpone my joy.  I want to care for myself so I can care for you.  I want to care for myself because I care ABOUT myself.

It's time to make myself and my health a TRUE and LASTING priority in my own life.  Given what's at stake, it's truly the most selfless thing I can do.

Many people consider Subway to be a place where it’s pretty easy to eat healthy. By and large, that is correct – just ask Jared Fogle! There are many, many low calorie options on the Subway menu. Let’s explore their 6″ treasures.

First things first: unless otherwise stated, we’ll assume we’re going to be conscientious eaters and order our 6″ subs without cheese. We’ll be getting 9-grain wheat bread (because any other type may add up to 50 extra calories, except for a wrap which will add 100 calories), lettuce, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, banana peppers, jalapenos, pickles, olives and mustard. Leaving any of those off will only save 0-5 calories, so go veggie wild!

First up on the Subway menu is the lighter fare:

• 230 calories – Veggie Delite
• 280 calories – Turkey Breast, Turkey Breast & Ham
• 290 calories – Black Forest Ham
• 310 calories – Subway Club (adding avocado will net 70 extra calories)
• 320 calories – Turkey BLT, Oven Roasted Chicken, Roast Beef
• 370 calories – Cold Cut Combo, Subway Melt (includes cheese)
• 380 calories – Steak & Cheese, Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki

Next are the heavier hitters on the Subway menu:

• 410 – Italian B.M.T
• 470 calories – Tuna
• 480 calories – Spicy Italian, Meatball Marinara
• 500 calories – Big Philly Cheesesteak, Steak & Bacon Melt
• 570 calories – Chicken & Bacon Ranch Melt (includes cheese)

If you simply must have additional toppings, here’s how they will affect your total caloric intake:

• 5 calories – buffalo sauce
• 30 calories – fat free vinaigrette, fat free honey mustard
• 40-60 calories – cheese (depending on the type you choose)
• 45 calories – olive oil blend, 2 strips of bacon
• 50 calories – light mayo
• 110 calories – ranch, regular mayo (steer clear of these!)

There are also some sandwich alternatives on the Subway menu:

• Salads have 110-200 calories. Fat Free Italian dressing has a mere 35 calories. Beware! Ranch has 290 calories!
• Pizzas have 680-820 calories. Yikes – you may as well get a footlong sub with cheese!

The side orders on the Subway menu are both good and bad:

• 80 calories – yogurt
• 130 calories – baked chips
• 130 calories – yogurt parfait
• 180 calories – yogurt parfait with granola
• 200-220 calories – those famous cookies of theirs – let them keep ‘em!
• 210 calories – Sunchips
• 250 calories – Doritos! (as many calories as some of the sandwiches – pass on these)

So what’s the final grade for the Subway menu? A+ for the wise dieter. If you know you’re going to be eating out at lunchtime, a smart plan would be to pack a couple pieces of fruit and a water bottle in the morning, then go get a delicious sub and easily have a nutritious, filling lunch for 400-500 calories.

Grandma Baby, Grandpa Baby with grandbaby Eli

Does your I-want-what-I-want-when-I-want-it attitude toward food remind you of a baby?

Seems like we are mature adults in every area of our life, but we act like spoiled kids when it comes to food. Why? Your neuro-pathways regarding food and eating are programmed very early in life. And the earlier something is programmed the harder it is to change.

BUT YOU CAN CHANGE!
Science is giving us more and more evidence that the brain is plastic. Meaning it can change. But the bottom line is that you can't bypass doing the right thing as a step to making new neuro-pathways.

Maybe since we are acting like children we could take some advice from our storehouse of tricks that we've used on children to get them to do the right thing.

Imagine you are on your way home from work/school and your 3 year old starts whining about how hungry they are for the (evil) golden arches. What are some tactics you would use?

1. Don't argue with them. Set a rule and be firm. Be consistent.
–Same goes for you! The more consistent you are, the easier your path will be.

2. Distract. Turn on the radio. Make up a game.
–Same goes for you! If you are at home, take a walk. Do a dance. Get out of the kitchen.

3. Be prepared. You wouldn't leave home without a diaper bag when you have a baby or the animal crackers when you have a toddler. Right?
–Same goes for you! Pack your snacks. Being prepared and thinking ahead is essential when you have kids and it's essential for your inner kid too!

4. Offer choices. “When we get home, we are going to have a nice dinner. Would you rather have ranch or French dressing to dip your vegetables in?”
– And you? Would you like to have a bit of blue cheese on your salad or save your calories for some whip cream on your berries?

5. Delay gratification. “I know you want an (un)happy meal right now, but instead we are going to eat at home and after two weeks of eating at home, I'll give you five bucks to spend at a toy store instead of getting a toy from the drive-through.”
– And you? What bargain can you make with yourself that would be meaningful? Can you promise yourself 2 glasses of good wine on date night, if you forego all things fried this week?

DO YOU NEED A TIME OUT?

I know that being perfect parent or a perfect kid is impossible and it's not possible to be a perfect dieter either. Maybe occasionally you have to give your kiddo a time out. As a parenting tactic, perhaps a different sort of timeout before she throws her fit might be a better approach.  Ask her to take three deep breathes and then to talk about her problem. Teach her that pausing and taking three deep breaths in through the nose, then breathing out through the mouth, can allow her to feel clean on the inside — and when we feel clean and clear on the inside it's easier to act better on the outside. Maybe, just maybe, you could even practice that yourself! When you are feeling drawn into diet danger-land ask yourself to take three deep breaths before you make a decision. You'll be amazed at how much easier it is to act better yourself.

WHAT ABOUT MY INNER TEENAGER?

Attempt to keep your head even when you're being challenged by an (inner) crazy hormonally driven teenager. Be reasonable and be willing to compromise without completely throwing in the towel.