As soon as the commercial ended I went online to see the nutritional information on the veggie and turkey burgers. The veggie burger stat line was very good (320 cal, 7g fat, 1g saturated fat–without mayo) but the turkey burgers numbers weren’t as good as I had hoped (470 cal, 21g fat, 4g saturated fat-without mayo). The Whopper without cheese and mayo is also 470 calories with 17g of fat and 7 g of saturated fat (with cheese and mayo it’s 630 cal/35g of fat/10g saturated fat). By comparison, the Triple Whopper with mayo (evidently they didn’t want the calories to be too high so they cut out the cheese) is 1020 calories, 65g of fat and 23g of saturated fat–and that’s without the extra large fries and soda!

I no secret that Burger King–or any fast food restaruant–is not the healthiest place to get a meal With that said, the purpose of the Fit Fast Food blog is to outline the better, healthier options in the event that you have no other choice. Here are the following menu items that I recommend from Burger King:

BURGERS (without mayo and cheese)

• Whopper Jr.: 260 cal, 10g fat, 4g saturated fat
• Veggie Burger: 320 cal, 7g fat, 1 g saturated fat
• Grilled Chicken Sandwich: 400 cal, 11g fat, 2g saturated fat
• Alaskan Fish Sandwich (without tartar sauce): 360cal, 9g fat, 1.5g saturated fat

GARDEN FRESH SALADS (the nutritional info on the website includes dressing but ask for the dressing packet on the side and only use half, it will save about 100 calories and 10g of fat–nutrition facts below include dressing)

• Chicken Cesar Salad (with Tendergrill chicken): 530 cal, 32g fat, 5g saturated fat
• Chicken BLT Salad (with Tendergrill chicken): 550 cal, 37g fat, 10g saturated fat
• Chicken Apple & Cranberry Salad (with Tendergrill chicken): 560 cal, 30g fat, 7g saturated fat

GARDEN FRESH SALAD WRAPS

• Chicken Cesar Wrap (with Tendergrill chicken): 380 cal, 18g fat, 4g saturated fat
• Chicken BLT Salad (with Tendergrill chicken): 420 cal, 22g fat, 6g saturated fat
• Chicken Apple & Cranberry Salad (with Tendergrill chicken): 430 cal, 18g fat, 5g saturated fat

WRAPS (these are similar to getting a burger, ask for dressing on the side and use only half the packet to save about 100 calories and 10g of fat–nutrition facts below include dressing)

• Ranch Grilled Chicken Wrap: 350 cal, 18g fat, 5g saturated fat
• Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken Wrap: 370cal, 19g fat, 5g saturated fat

SIDES

• Side Ceaser Salad: 220 cal, 20g fat, 3.5g saturated fat (ask for the dressing on the side and use half the packet to save about 100 calories and 10g of fat)
• Side Garden Salad: 230 cal, 21g fat, 5g saturated fat (ask for the dressing on the side and use half the packet to save about 100 calories and 10g of fat)
• Value Onion Rings: 150 cal, 8g fat, 1.5g saturated fat
• Apple Slices: 30 cal, 0g fat, 0g saturated fat

DESSERT (gotta include dessert!)

• Soft Serve Ice Cream Cone: 160 cal, 4g fat, 2.5g saturated fat

BREAKFAST

• Original Oatmeal: 140 cal, 3.5g fat, 1g saturated fat
• Breakfast Muffin Sandwich with Egg, Ham & Cheese: 150 cal, 9g fat, 4g saturated fat
• Breakfast Muffin Sandwich with Egg, Bacon & Cheese: 250cal, 11g fat, 5g saturated fat
• Croissan’wich with Egg & Cheese: 280 cal, 15g fat, 7g saturated fat

Based on these recommended menu items, here are a few sample meals:

• Veggie Burger with Side Ceaser Salad (1/2 dressing factored in): 440 cal, 17g fat, 3g saturated fat
• Whopper Jr. with Value Onion Rings: 410 cal, 18g fat, 5.5g saturated fat
• Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Apple Slices: 430cal, 11g fat, 2g saturated fat
• Ranch Grilled Chicken Wrap with Side Garden Salad: 480cal, 28.5g fat, 7.5g saturated fat
• Any of the Garden Fresh Salads with 1/2 packet of dressing
• Any of the Garden Fresh Salad Wraps with 1/2 packet of dressing

TUESDAY: Timed Full Body 2

WEDNESDAY: Cardio-Core 2 | Advanced

THURSDAY: Timed Full Body 2

FRIDAY: Timed Cardio 4

SATURDAY: 30+ minutes of physical activity: walk outside, bike ride, cardio machine, basketball, anything as long as you’re moving!

SUNDAY: 30+ minutes of physical activity & full body stretch: Lower Stretch | Upper Stretch | Core Stretch

I happen to really like stuffing and don’t feel that it should only be served on holidays–which seems like is the only time it’s served. Now I understand homemade stuffing or the fancy kind you stuff the turkey with is the best but when you need a quick fix there are plenty of options you can get at the grocery store. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was a low-sodium version available which has 25% less sodium then the regular version. The directions on the side call for 1/4 cup of vegetable oil but you can go ahead and cut that out. Frying it in the frying pan will bring out the flavor and you can use an oil spray to keep the oil content to low and subsequently the calories too.

There are plenty of frozen vegetable options to choose from including some that have onions and peppers, both of which are found in an authentic hash. If you can’t find a frozen option that you like you can always saute your choice of fresh vegetables using an oil spray. I went the lazy route and finished off the other half of the Japanese Blend I used for the Macarroni and Cheese with Tuna ST Instafit Meal.

Boneless, skinless chicken breast is, in my opinion, the best protein source to buy. Although it may be more expensive, when you actually do the math, the cost per 4oz serving of chicken breast vs. the chicken leg, thigh or wing is only about $.50 more. PLUS you don’t have to pay for the bones. So unless you eat chicken bones, you may want to take that into consideration the next time you’re thinking about picking the leg, thigh or wing over the breast. The breast is also lower in calories, lower in fat and has more protein than the other parts of the chicken. By comparsion, the breast has only 120 calories per 4oz serving vs. 163 calories for the leg, 173 calories for the wing and 157 calories for the thigh—all three of which include the bone in their 4oz.

COST PER SERVING: $2.11

INGREDIENTS

• Chicken Breast (4oz): 120 calories
• Stuffing (2 servings, without vegetable oil): 220 calories
• Frozen Vegetables: 30 calories
• 4 servings of oil spray (1 for chicken and 3 for hash): 28 calories

The total calorie count for one serving (above) is about 398 calories. Depending on how many calories you should be taking in each meal, below are some examples on how to adjust the ingredients to get your calorie count:

• 300 calories per meal: cut out 1 serving of stuffing
• 400 calories per meal: use above serving size
• 500 calories per meal: add 1 serving of stuffing or 1 serving of chicken breast

PREPARATION

• boil 1 1/2 cups of water in medium sauce pan and heat up a large frying pan
• while water is boiling and frying pan is heating up, microwave frozen vegetables so they are thawed
• bring water to a boil, stir in stuffing then remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes
• once frying pay is hot, spray oil spray to the pan then add chicken
• while chicken is cooking, fluff stuffing with a fork and remove vegetables from microwave
• when chicken is done, remove from heat and dice it into small pieces while keeping the frying pan on low heat
• once chicken is diced, spray oil spray into frying pan then add stuffing, vegetables and chicken to frying pan
• as you mix the hash around add several sprays of oil spray (3 per serving) to fry contents

To read more about ST Instafit Meals CLICK HERE.

TUESDAY: Anywhere-Anytime Cardio Workout 6

WEDNESDAY: Dumbbell-Bench Workout 1

THURSDAY: Anywhere-Anytime Cardio Workout 5

FRIDAY: Anywhere-Anytime Cardio Workout 6

SATURDAY: 30+ minutes of physical activity: walk outside, bike ride, cardio machine, basketball, anything as long as you’re moving!

SUNDAY: 30+ minutes of physical activity & full body stretch: Lower Stretch | Upper Stretch | Core Stretch

Making this meal is relatively easy. You take a few frozen bananas (make sure they are very ripe before freezing), add some Carob powder (I’ll explain this in a minute), throw it all into a blender and what you get is something that tastes remarkably like ice cream. It’s sounds crazy, I know…which is why you gotta try it! A little side note, make sure to peel the bananas before freezing them. This may sound intuitive to a vegan but I am not a vegan so it was not intuitive to me. Peeling frozen bananas while getting laughed at by a vegan was not one of my more memorable ST Instafit Meal experiences but the banana chocolate “ice cream” was!

Carob powder is a healthier and vegan alternative for cocoa powder. Both are derivded from a tropical pod and packaged as a brown powder but that’s where the similairites end. While cocoa powder comes from the cocoa bean, the carob powder comes from the pulp which is roasted then ground into a powder. Carob powder does have twice the amount of calories and carbs as cocoa powder (25cal/6g carbs vs. 12cal/3g carbs respectively) but it also has three times the calcium and no caffeine.  Although raw carob powder is naturally sweeter than cocoa powder, it does have a subtle veggie undertone that only a vegan could love. Regardless, I still think it’s worth trying at least once…I think I’m up to seven now.

COST PER SERVING: $.60 (The only place I can think of where you can get an ice cream for $1 or less is IKEA)

INGREDIENTS (2 servings)

• 4 Medium Bananas: 420 calories (105 calories each)
• Carob Powder (4 tablespoons): 100 calories (25 calories each)

The total calorie count for one serving (above) is about 260 calories.

PREPARATION

• Take frozen bananas out of freezer and let thaw for until middle is no longer frozen, otherwise it wont blend properly
• Add bananas and carob powder to blender
• Blend until texture is smooth and even, similar to gelato

Other than being quick and convenient, frozen food does have some tangible benefits. For starters, frozen produce and meat is flash frozen at it’s peak condition and freshness keeping the nutritional value as high as possible. Some may argue that frozen food is not as good as fresh. My rebuttal to that would be frozen vegetables is better than no vegetables and frozen meat is better than processed meat. In addition to retaining it’s nutritional value, frozen produce can be more cost-effective as you can store it longer without it going bad. If that’s not enough, freezing food also stops microbial, fungal and bacterial growth from occurring. That sounds pretty gross right?! “Would you like some fungus with that or would you like to try the bacteria?”

I am a huge fan of this frozen vegetable/potato/sauce concept! It’s pretty much saving you two steps in the cooking dinner process–you can’t get much more convenient than that. The instructions call for you to microwave the bag but I prefer cooking it in a frying pan to give it more of a grilled flavor.

Buying fresh salmon can get a little bit expensive. I’ve seen it ranging between $7-$9 a pound at the regular grocery stores and over $15 a pound for the organic, wild (or whatever fancy BS adjective they use to jack the price up) salmon at the expensive grocery stores. Frozen salmon on the other hand, is much more economical and you still get most of the benefit of adding fish to your diet. They are individually packaged and vacuumed sealed to maximize freshness.

COST PER SERVING: $3.47

INGREDIENTS

• Salmon Filet (4oz): 187 calories (7 calories added for Pam cooking spray)
• Vegetable, Potato & Sauce Mix (1/2 bag): 125 calories

The total calorie count for one serving (above) is about 312 calories. Depending on how many calories you should be taking in each meal, below are some examples on how to adjust the ingredients to get your calorie count:

• 300 calories per meal: use above serving suggestion
• 400 calories per meal: add 1/2 serving of salmon
• 500 calories per meal: add 1 serving of salmon or 1/2 serving of salmon with 3/4 serving of vegetable/potato medley

PREPARATION

• place 2 medium frying pans on medium-high heat, one for salmon and one for vegetable/potato medley
• once pans are  hot, spray Pam cooking spray on one pan and place salmon into pan (skin side down if using steak with skin) and add vegetable/potato medley to other frying pan
• as salmon is cooking stir vegetable/potato medley
• if cooking salmon with skin, cook skin side for 6-8 minutes than cook other side for 2-3 minutes so skin side is crispy
• if cooking salmon without skin, cook both sides for 3-4 minutes

To read more about ST Instafit Meals CLICK HERE.

TUESDAY: Cardio-Core 1 | Advanced

WEDNESDAY:Timed Cardio 1

THURSDAY: Cardio-Core 1 | Advanced

FRIDAY: Dumbbell Timed Full Body

SATURDAY: 30+ minutes of physical activity: walk outside, bike ride, cardio machine, basketball, anything as long as you’re moving!

SUNDAY: 30+ minutes of physical activity & full body stretch: Lower Stretch | Upper Stretch | Core Stretch

My main issue with the whole concept of a cheat meal is the connotation the word “cheat” has. It gives the impression and the mindset that you’re doing something you’re not supposed to be doing or that it’s bad. In actuality, the cheat meal, when combined with consistent healthy eating and regular daily exercise, can actually be beneficial to long-term healthy weight management. This may sound counter-intuitive but there are several benefits to a cheat meal. So, instead of thinking of a cheat meal as something negative, let’s put a positive spin on it. Think of it as a reward for staying consistent with your healthy eating habits and daily workouts—we can call it a reward meal!

The major psychological benefit to a reward meal is that it allows you to keep your mental sanity! If you have ever dieted or restricted your caloric intake you may have experienced intense hunger pains or tempting thoughts of food all day long…or both! If you have the will power to fight through the cravings and thoughts then good for you. You are mentally stronger than I am. Many of us, myself included, have ultimately succumbed to the pressure and end up binge eating as a result. Afterwards we are left with feelings of guilt and remorse—like we have cheated. Fortunately, in this case, we are only cheating ourselves. By incorporating reward meals you allow yourself to have a healthy and positive mental perspective on food which can prevent resentment towards eating healthy (and then really cheat!) or worse, an eating disorder.

From a physiological standpoint, reward meals can actually raise your metabolism. The body is designed to be as efficient as possible so it will always adapt to whatever conditions you throw its way. Your metabolism can decrease in an effort to conserve energy when on a calorie controlled meal plan. A strategically placed reward meal can actually boost your metabolism and keep it running at a higher level more consistently. Also, because digesting and processing food requires energy, your metabolism can immediately increase after having a reward meal.  This is evident from the sweating caused by the increased body temperature after a large meal. Reward meals have also been known to help break weight loss plateaus and stagnant energy levels.

The other physiological benefit to reward meals is that they replenish your body’s reserve of glycogen, the body’s primary source of energy or fuel which is stored in the muscle and fat cells. With a stock pile of glycogen after a reward meal, you can actually burn more calories during your workout the following day—just make sure you get it in so the extra fuel doesn’t get stored as fat! Remember, food = fuel. Unused fuel will be stored as fat.

The key to incorporating reward meals effectively is to plan ahead. The general consensus is 10% of your meals can be reward meals. If you’re meal plan is for 4 meals a day then that’s 2 reward meals a week and if you’re meal plan is for 5 meals a day then that’s 3 reward meals a week. Here are a few guidelines when planning your reward meal:

• Keep the reward meals at least 2 days apart, ideally 3 or 4.
• Pick the day and decide what you are going to have in advance. Choosing days that are holidays, special occasions or days that you have a party, date or event is best.
• Don’t skip any meals or make smaller meals on the days you have you have your reward meal.
• Keep the reward meal time under 60 minutes.
• Avoid eat past full and avoid buffets.
• Make sure to work out the day of and after a reward meal. Doing extra cardio is encouraged.
• Make sure that the other meals the day of and after a reward meal are healthy and the appropriate amount of calories based on your daily caloric intake.
• Try to have the reward meals at night so that you don’t eat again after.
• If you are still full the next day you can skip your first meal but only if you are not hungry.
• Enjoy! You deserve it!

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Now I have nothing against wild organic salmon, kale, quinoa or any other very healthy foods and meals. I happen to actually like most of that stuff. I just can’t see myself paying that much for groceries or spending that much time in the kitchen making those meals on a regular basis. The idea behind ST Instafit Meals to show people how to make healthier versions of the meals they were already used to making by chosing better ingredients, using healthier cooking habits and adding more fruits and vegetables with a foundation of keeping the meals inexpensive, quick and convenient.

I decided to do a reboot of the original ST Instafit Meal but update it with the current format (I really didn’t have any format or plan when I first posted the blog…I pretty much just winged it!). Versus other common breakfast options such as cereal, a bagel or worse, donuts, oatmeal is a complex carbohydrate which means it has a higher nutritional value then the simple carbs and sugar found in those other breakfast options. Additionally, because your body burns complex carbs slower than simple carbs, you stay fuller longer which can delay the onset of hunger and keep you fuller longer which can prevent over-eating at your next meal.

Some of my health fanatic friends do the steal-cut plain oatmeal which takes 20-30 minutes to make. Well, Ain’t no body got time for that! I prefer instant oatmeal which only takes a minute to heat up in the microwave. I don’t know about you but I can’t do plain oatmeal…to boring for me. I like getting the flavored packets…but the low sugar variety. Although the label says “lower sugar” they are definitely not lower in taste, trust me. The first time I tried it I had to do a double check to make sure I had the low sugar version. The low sugar packets have only 4g of sugar and 120 calories versus 12g of sugar and 160 calories in the regular packets. Quaker has several flavors in the lower sugar variety but you can also go with the generic brand (Publix brand in photo) which costs about a third less.

In addition to supporting healthy weight management, protein has many other health benefits such maintaining healthy muscles, recovery and supporting a healthy immune system to name a few. Contrary to popular believe, protein is not for just for building muscles. I like to add a scoop of protein powder to my oatmeal then add water instead of milk. The protein powder makes up for any loss of taste or texture that milk provides. The recommend amount of protein is .5-.8g for every pound you weigh. That’s roughly around 12-15g of protein per meal for women and 20-25g per meal for men.

COST PER MEAL: $1.18 (add $.13 for name brands)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Packets of Lower Sugar Instant Oatmeal: 240 calories (120 calories each)
• 1 Scoop of Protein Powder: 100 calories

The total calorie count for one serving (above) is about 340 calories. Depending on how many calories you should be taking in each meal, below are some examples on how to adjust the ingredients to get your calorie count:

• 300 calories per meal: use 1/2 scoop of protein powder
• 400 calories per meal: add 1/2 packet of oatmeal
• 500 calories per meal: add 1/2 packet of oatmeal and a piece of fruit

PREPARATION

• Pour oatmeal, protein powder into bowl
• Add water and mix thoroughly. Add less water for thicker oatmeal (bottom left photo) and more water for thinner oatmeal (bottom right photo).
• Place bowl in microwave for 1 minute on high

To read more about ST Instafit Meals CLICK HERE.

TUESDAY: Timed Body Weight 1

WEDNESDAY:Timed Cardio 2

THURSDAY: Dumbbell Timed Full Body 1

FRIDAY: Timed Cardio 1

SATURDAY: 30+ minutes of physical activity: walk outside, bike ride, cardio machine, basketball, anything as long as you’re moving!

SUNDAY: 30+ minutes of physical activity & full body stretch: Lower Stretch | Upper Stretch | Core Stretch