(the) Jebbica

Earlier this month there was a sale on Campbell’s Select Harvest canned soup, so we bought several different varieties.  They were all good, but one of them is a clear winner in my book. The Light Southwestern Style Vegetable is absolutely delicious!  And best of all, it has only 50 calories a serving!  That means the entire can is only around 100 calories, and it’s much more filling than most of the 100 Calorie snack packs I have tried. Did I mention better for you?

Weight Watchers suggests that you eat a small meal at dinner before your main course that’s around 100 calories or less. This will keep you from stuffing yourself. One serving of this soup as the precursor to your meal is a healthy and delicious option. It’s also great at lunch with a sandwich or salad, or as a snack.  Truly, this soup is Mmm Mmm Good!

Last night The Boyfriend and I had a delicious meal of baked salmon and veggies: snap peas, red bell peppers, and just a couple of slices of red-skinned potatoes.  The entire meal was less than 5 grams of fat and 250 calories (and why I got to have a little bite of that yummy Edy’s ice cream for dessert!).

When you get salmon at a restaurant, you think you’re really doing the right thing. There’s always the big juicy steak, the chicken fingers, the fettuccine alfredo.  So salmon seems like a healthy option, like you’re really doing good, right? I know that is generally what I get when we go to Logan’s Roadhouse, though if you’ve eaten one of their rolls there, you’re already screwed! But my healthy staple there is to go and not eat rolls, drink water, and get the salmon with baked sweet potato (no butter or sugar) and grilled veggie skewer or broccoli (no butter).  However, if you’re thinking about doing this at Outback Steakhouse, DON’T!

Women’s Health Magazine just named Outback’s Atlantic Salmon the #1 worst food for women.

1. The Worst Food for Women

Outback Steakhouse Atlantic Salmon (9 oz.)
1640 calories

There may be a few foods with more calories, but after wading through hundred of menus we can honestly say that there is no entrée in America as misleading as this frightening fish dish from Outback. Its description-a “seasoned and grilled fillet with fresh steamed veggies”-sounds like textbook healthy eating, a nutritious island in a sea of steak and stuffed potatoes, but what emerges from the kitchen is a plate that packs more calories than eleven orders of onion rings from Burger King. What happens to the poor fish behind closed kitchen doors is anyone’s guess (bacon-grease bath? Melted-butter injections?), but the end result should be avoided at all costs. Add on a serving of bread and butter and a simple side salad, and you’re topping the charts at nearly 2300 calories-more than any other item on our list.

Eat This Instead!
Two Lobster Tails
670 calories

There are lots of other things on the list too…you’d be amazed at what is on there and how much fat and calories places can cram into one dish!  Even Outback’s salad wrap has 1100 calories! If the healthier options pack on that much chunk, I’d hate to see what a Bloomin’ Onion would look like on the nutrition scale!

Check out the whole list of the 20 worst foods for women by Women’s Health Magazine here.

This weekend we agreed to let The Boyfriend’s nine-year-old niece stay over with us.  We’re really only used to dogs, and since she is such a handful, we thought it might be good practice for when we eventually decide to have children of our own. Not to mention we like having her around, and when she throws a temper tantrum, it provides the best kind of birth control.

She loves pretending she’s a horse, so I’m going to call her Horsey on this blog.  Horsey stayed last weekend, too, and we promised her that this weekend we would have some ice cream in the freezer for her and we’d have a little ice cream party. That was before my diet started, but I figured that if my willpower totally gave out at the site of my most favorite indulgence, I could at least buy some for myself that was low-carb or low-calorie, so at least I wouldn’t be totally off the wagon.

We went to the store, and Horsey chose chocolate. A favorite of mine, too.  But The Boyfriend doesn’t really like chocolate, and we only had enough money and freezer space for two different kinds. Guess my low carb variety was out of the question. He had his heart set on Edy’s Vanilla Sandwich flavor, so I sighed and gave in. “I’ll just eat bran flakes,” I whined. (Sidebar: Are Edy’s and Dreyer’s the same brand? We don’t have Dreyer’s here, but I think it’s the same thing.)

It wasn’t until we got home and I was about to give in on eating the chocolate that we checked out the nutrition facts.  Ice cream is fattening, we all know that. But I was surprised to see actual nutrition facts on the Vanilla Sandwich flavor. 4 grams of fat and 130 calories per serving! And it wasn’t even listed as low-fat or anything.

And it was good.

So, maybe it wasn’t the best thing to eat when trying to lose weight.  But, if you’re going to cave or have a little weekend cheat, it really isn’t a bad option. Sometimes life surprises you in a nice way.