Healthy Eating on the Go

It is the middle of the week and you are trying to get all of your errands finished in time to get the older kids off the school bus. You have a hungry toddler in the back seat. QUICK, what do you do?

You do what most moms do at this point and go to McDonald's! You concede to the golden arches yet again, appeasing your little one with fries and chicken nuggets. So, your little one gets their happy meal and you get a "figure friendly" salad. You are proud of yourself for resisting the temptation of the cheeseburger that smells so good. Under the mommy stress, a burger and chocolate shake was dangerously close to your lips. You eat quickly, maybe even in the car, you are less than satisfied, and realize you spent almost ten bucks on lunch, and you're still late! But you ate healthy, right? Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but that was certainly not what you did!

It is a common misconception that if you have salad it is automatically healthy. BUT, do you know when it was prepared, or if the vegetables used were even washed properly? They offer so many different salad options that look healthy but are not. If you get a small salad with cheese and bacon bits you are consuming 140 calories and 7 grams of fat. This is without dressing. All you will be eating is lettuce, two tomatoes, a few shaved carrots, some shredded cheese, and imitation bacon bits. Only forty of the calories are coming from the vegetables. This means that you are eating one hundred calories of fake meat and dry cheese. Still sound healthy? Still sound appetizing? Not to me. This information was found here. These salads typically cost $3.00 and up. Your child probably had a happy meal that consisted of soda and chicken nuggets made of by products and fat, along with greasy fries that will clog their arteries. YUCK! Even if you got the fruit, it is usually smothered in a thick sugary sauce. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say you got the milk too. But it is still a very unhealthy lunch. Did you know that a chicken nugget made at McDonald's will never get moldy? I had one in my van once that must have been there for months, and it looked and felt the same as it did when I bought it. That is not a healthy meal! And it will cost you another $3.00.

You can make a salad at home that is tastier and cheaper!!! A salad made of eight ounces of crunchy and sweet iceberg lettuce, five juicy cherry tomatoes, one cup of peeled and sliced cucumber, one ounce of grilled or baked chicken tenders, and two tablespoons of Kraft fat free Italian dressing 164 calories and 5.97 grams of fat. You are eating more than twice the amount of food than the fast food salad and ingesting more healthy calories and less fat. You can also make your child some of the chicken tenders and offer them cucumber or fruit slices and they will have eaten a healthier meal as well. What about your drink? Water always works for me! On average, at the grocery store you would spend around $6.00 to $8.00 and it is enough for two lunches each. So, you and your child just ate healthier AND you saved $2.00 to $3.00. If you do this once a week you have saved over $150.00 in a year. That was easy! You can visit a calorie counter for help counting calories in your diet.

Packing a lunch when we run errands has become the norm for my family. Whether we have sandwiches, leftovers, salad, or pasta, it gets packed and comes with us. Unfortunately there are times when I do not expect to be out as long as I am and do not have a lunch packed. UH-OH. Mom messed up. Well, maybe not too badly. I always have fruit in my bag, so if we get hungry we can munch on that until we get home.

This has saved my family so much money, so many calories, and maybe even our lives. Healthy eating on the run is simple and can happen. You do have the time, and you can do it!

If you can wait in line for greasy, fatty, unhealthy food, you can pack a lunch or throw an apple in your bag!! No more excuses Moms!!!