Bikini Body Fitness

Restaurant Food May Do You In

by Laura Dayton

Most restaurants have added ‘healthy’ and ‘light’ items to their menus. Many have cleaned their kitchens of artery-clogging trans fat. But that doesn’t mean fast-food, packaged foods and restaurant foods are now healthy and safe to eat.

Don’t get sucked in by ‘salads,’ and ‘chicken’ and ‘grains’ that sound healthy. Chances are they are loaded with calories and fat. Sodium is a preservative, and if the food is packaged or sold in bulk, you can bet it’s full of sodium—sometimes up to three times your daily allowance in one serving!

Ujena models that weigh around 110 pounds should eat on average 2,000 calories a day. For good health and a lean physique that means total fat should be less than 60 grams per day, and sodium not more than 1,500 milligrams a day.

That said, let’s take a look at why one expert calls fast-food a “death trap in little cardboard boxes.”

Salads to Die For

Salad consumption has been on the rise for the past two decades. Stores, restaurants and fast-food chains looking to capitalize on our belief in the almighty leaf, have loaded these salads with crumbled cheese, greasy bacon, pan-browned beef and fat-laden dressings. What used to be called rabbit food is now more like pig slop!

Here are just a few of the worst offenders:

On the Border’s Grande Taco Salad with Taco Beef and Vinaigrette Dressing
1,680 calories (most of your day’s allotment)
121 grams fat (40 of them artery clogging sat fat)
2,660 mg sodium (almost your daily double)

Chevy’s Fresh Mex’s Tostada Salad with Chicken
1,551 calories (lunch and dinner rolled into one)
94 grams fat (37 killer sat fats)
2,840 mg. sodium (don’t eat before a photo shoot!)

Quizno’s Chicken with Honey Mustard Flatbread Salad
1,110 Calories (the equivalent of 10 Reece’s buttercups)
74 grams fat
2,030 mg sodium (can we say water retention)

Chili’s Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken
1, 010 calories (almost diet food!)
76 gram fat
1,910 mg. sodium (can we say fat ankles?)

Other fast-foods don’t rate much better. All fast-food chains are required to have nutritional information available, so before you order, check the stats. You may find out why you can’t seem to lose those last five stubborn pounds!

Uno Chicago Grill Chicago Classic Deep Dish Pizza
2,310 calories (ouch!)
162 grams fat (ughhh!)
4,470 mg. of sodium (that’s a three slice serving)

Burger King Triple Whopper with Cheese
1,230 calories
82 grams fat (32 sat and 3.5 trans)
1,590 mg. sodium

Chili’s Awesome Blossom
2,710 calories (and they call this a ‘starter’)
203 grams fat
6,360 mg. sodium (can we say hypertension)

Don’t trust your first impressions of food. Look at the shape the people are in who frequent the restaurant. That’s a good indication. And don’t trust anyone but your personal trainer for information on what’s good for your physique—speaking of personal trainers, have you checked out Ujena Talent’s new Personal Trainer Group? It’s full of more great tips like these. Here is the link: http://www.ujenatalent.com/PersonalTrainers

About the Author: Laura Dayton isone of the country’s leading authorities on women and exercise. Her program, WOW: Women Only Workouts can be purchased at http://www.slimandfit.com/ . She contributes to UjENA Bikini Body Fitness on a weekly basis.

Disclaimer: The information on this site is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, or for medical diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician, or a qualified health care provider before starting a new diet, treatments or exercise programs - or consult with your physician about questions regarding a medical condition. If you are pregnant, always seek the advice of your physician before starting a new diet, treatments or exercise program.

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