It’s not often that you get a meal for free, but on Thursday, May 15, 2008, at participating McDonald’s restaurants, between 7 AM and 10:30 AM you can receive a free Southern Style Chicken Biscuit with the purchase of a medium or large drink. Before you get all excited, though, let’s take a look at what this bit of charity from McDonald’s might do to your daily dietary budget. For starters, the words “southern” and “biscuit” might be our first warning!

From their website, the nutritional values for the 5.5 oz breakfast biscuit are: 480 calories, 220 calories from fat, 24 g. fat, 37 % fat, 9G sat fat, 35mg cholesterol, 1,310mg sodium, 47 g carbs, 3g fiber, 4g sugar, 8g protein.

The smaller biscuit, the 5 oz size, is only 60 calories less and there’s very little difference in the other numbers.

The USDA Dieatary Guidelines recommend that we consume less than 2,300 mg (approximately 1 tsp of salt) of sodium per day, so that’s over half in just one meal. And if you’re on a calorie restricted diet, you won’t have much left for the rest of the day, so plan to eat a lot of fiber and drink a lot of water.

I have nothing against McDonald’s and I applaud their marketing strategy in giving away a meal to get us hooked. I think we all have to think about even this seemingly harmless fork in the road and be responsible in making a healthy decision for ourselves. This could be the one thing that makes or breaks our healthy eating habits. So, if you plan to stop by and pick up a free biscuit, drop it off to a friend who can afford the extra calories and feel good about your random act of kindness! Your friend will appreciate it and your waistline will, too!

The most important diet ingredients are:

1. Goals
2. Rewards
3. Encouragement
4. Diet Buddy
   

Setting goals has been talked about so much, but if you haven’t set a goal, how do you know where you’ve been or where you’re going? Even if you don’t really write it down, you kind of know where you want to be when you finish. Right? For now, let’s stick with a short term goal of “I want to lose 5 pounds in 5 weeks. Is that a goal you think is OK for you? Maybe it’s only 3 pounds or 2. Just keep it simple and doable.

Rewards. It’s important that every goal you reach is rewarded, no matter how small. Take a long snooze in your favorite PJ’s, hang a DO NOT DISTURB sign on the bathroom door and soak in that great smelling bubble bath or take the kids on a bike ride if that fills the bill; just do something nice for yourself. Write down what your reward will be for each goal you reach. Weight Watchers use to give out colored paperclips as a visual reminder of each pound lost. As the chain grew longer, it became quite impressive! Simple, but effective.

Encouragement. Be brave about letting other people know what you’re doing and how well you’re doing. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Taking a step to just talk about eating right, losing some weight, and letting others know about it will give you a feeling of taking control of your life. It will give you a sense of power. People will stop taking advantage of you; they will actually start respecting you. You’ll see a positive difference in all areas of your life. Try it for a while and post a comment if it works for you. I just bet it will. You will have the confidence and the courage to move forward in your quest to conquer the next meal. And, isn’t it all about just getting through the next meal? It is for me. Just make it through one more meal, and then the next. Just one more, and then one more.

Diet Buddy. If you haven’t found a diet buddy, I encourage you to look around for someone that you can trust. It’s a real boost to have someone to call on when chocolate calls your name or when you think you just can’t do this anymore; someone who really understands how disgusting we feel sometimes and how depressing it can be.

And, you’ll need that person to help celebrate your successes! Because you will be successful!! Don’t forget to celebrate your diet Buddy’s success, too! Before you know it you’ll be celebrating together so often you’ll both be smiling much more than you could ever imagine!

Remember, it’s not about being thin…although that will be a nice result.  This is all about being mentally and physically healthy, feeling better, and living a longer, happier life.

When a truck in Illinois, hauling about 20,000 pounds of Oreos, crashed Monday (May 19, 2008) on I-80 just east of Morris, the trailer was ripped opened and the Oreos were thrown across the eastbound lanes of the highway. What I wouldn’t give to have been there! I’d help clean up that mess!

As I read the short piece in the paper, my mouth began to water and the familiar memory of milk and cookies passed through my brain signaling a need to race out the door in search of double-filled Oreos and a gallon of whole milk.

Then I remembered…the diet, the calories, the fat, etc. So, I resisted the urge, closed my eyes, drifted back into childhood memories of cooking healthy dishes in the kitchen with my mother; then baking those seven layer chocolate cakes with creamy chocolate icing between each layer………and we’d have Oreos with milk…….uh oh!

BMI stands for Body Mass Index (BMI). Health professionals use it to determine total body fat based on height and weight. Using the chart below, find your height then follow across the line to your current weight. Next, follow that number vertically to the top to determine your BMI.

A BMI of 25 - 34 is considered overweight; a BMI of 35 - 39 is considered obese; a BMI of 40 or above is considered morbidly obese.

The BMI chart is only one of the tools used by surgeons and insurance companies to determine if you comply with their criteria for bariatric surgery. It is also a good tool for your healthcare provider to see how you as a patient rate with the standard population within your height and weight group. Just keep in mind that your BMI is only one of the tools used to help you in your daily health plan, so talk with your doctor about how you can use this information in your own weight loss plan.

Information from USDA

If you happen to live in Florida or on vacation there and happen to be near the Ocala National Forest, keep your eyes open for “Yellow Cake.” The US Air Force launched the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, known as the Raven and “Yellow Cake”, on Tuesday from an open field in Ocala, Florida and it has failed to respond to commands from controllers on the ground.

The real challenge in finding it is that it’s small; the wingspan is only 6 feet and it weighs about 4 pounds. The words “Yellow Cake” are written across its nose. This is not just an ordinary yellow cake…it’s worth about $35,000 with the total system costing $250,000. If you find the Raven or have any information about its whereabouts, please contact Capt. F.D. Friedman at (910) 382-6492.