Best and Worst Food at Chili’s

You can enjoy delicious food at Chili’s that won’t be an entire week’s worth of calories! You can also order a meal that is your entire day’s worth of calories – and then some! You just need to know what to order and what not to order.

Chili’s has a “Guiltless” line of food that may not be completely healthy (hey, it’s not your delicious homemade food, ok?!), but it is still a much better choice when you compare it to the other meals on the menu. I guess you can consider this a little splurge, but not completely over doing it?

What does “Guiltless” Mean?

If you check out the Chili’s menu, this is what they have to say about their Guiltless line of food:

“Guiltless Grill choices for your healthy lifestyle are featured on HealthyDiningFinder.com and meet HEALTHY DINING’S nutrition criteria: not more than 750 calories, 25 grams fat, and 8 grams saturated fat.”

If you know you are going out to eat at Chili’s, just plan on a single meal being 750 calories (or less!), and plan your other meals accordingly.

Guiltless Meals at Chili’s

Here’s a list of delicious food that is “Guiltess” and Chili’s. As you can see, a lot of them are less than 750 calories!

Note: Many of these meals you will need to ask for the “Guiltless” version, since the original is loaded with additional ingredients that make it have much more calories and fat.

Chicken & Green Chili Soup

Made with rice, green chiles and tomatoes. Topped with cilantro, avocado, and a lime wedge.

The information below is for the cup, not the bowl. If you want the bowl, it’s just double the amount as the cup. My only concern with the bowl is the amount of sodium.

Calories: 100

Total Fat: 4 g

Protein: 8 g

Sodium: 620 mg

Carbohydrates: 11 g

Fiber: 1 g

Santa Fe Chicken Wrap

With steamed broccoli. Served with low-fat ranch.

Calories: 680

Total Fat: 25 g

Protein: 37 g

Sodium: 2110 mg

Carbohydrates: 80 g

Fiber: 8 g

Grilled Salmon with Garlic and Herbs

Served with steamed broccoli and rice.

Calories: 480

Total Fat: 17 g

Protein: 49 g

Sodium: 1590 mg

Carbohydrates: 37 g

Fiber: 5 g

Grilled Chicken Sandwich

With steamed broccoli and Guiltless Grill honey-mustard dressing, wheat bun. No bacon or cheese is included on the “Guiltless” version.

Calories: 610

Total Fat: 13 g

Protein: 43 g

Sodium: 1320 mg

Carbohydrates: 78 g

Fiber: 8 g

Classic Sirloin

Served with carne asada rub,  pico de gallo, and steamed veggies on the side. My main concern with this meal is the amount of sodium in it (see below). I am still including this on the list since I think it can be a simple fix. Simply ask for the restaurant to use less of the carne asada rub, which is where most of the sodium comes from.

Calories: 370

Total Fat: 9 g

Protein: 53 g

Sodium: 3680 mg

Carbohydrates: 20 g

Fiber: 6 g

Worst Food at Chili’s

Now that I have listed some of the better options, here are a couple of foods I would absolutely avoid. I decided to have a little fun with this, and list the “winner” for the meals  with most calories, fat, sodium, and “most deceptive”!

Most Calories: Southern Smokehouse Burger w/ Ancho Chile BBQ

If I want to maintain my weight, I need to eat about 1,500 – 1,700 calories a day (with exercise!). This one meal exceeds the amount of calories I am supposed to eat in an entire day! No wonder people are gaining weight. Imagine eating this type of a meal every day. The calories add up, and so the pounds (of fat).

This meal comes with not only a ton of calories, but a ton of fat and sodium too.

Calories: 2290

Total Fat: 139 g

Protein: 93 g

Sodium: 6500 mg

Carbohydrates: 163 g

Fiber: 11 g

Most Fat AND Most Sodium: Jalapeño Smokehouse Burger w/ Ranch

That’s right, you read it right. This meal won two awards; most fat and most sodium! It almost won “most calories” too! Can one meal really be that unhealthy for you? Yes.

Fat can be healthy for you, if you get it from the right sources. Most -if not all- of the fat listed here is not from healthy sources. This is when fat is bad!

Oh yeah, I even found that this meal has more fat (remember, the bad kind!) than every single one of the desserts on the menu.

Calories: 2210

Total Fat: 144 g

Protein: 92 g

Sodium: 6600 mg

Carbohydrates: 136 g

Fiber: 11 g

Most Deceptive: Bottomless Tostada Chips w/ Salsa

The reason this appetizer won “Most Deceptive” is because  of a couple of reasons. First of all, it’s “bottomless”, which means you can keep refilling your chips and salsa again and again without paying anything extra. This is when the calories really add up. In addition to all of those calories, fat, carbs, and sodium you are consuming, we haven’t even counted your meal’s calories, fat, carbs, and sodium!

Calories: 1020

Total Fat: 51 g

Protein: 12 g

Sodium: 1210 mg

Carbohydrates: 125 g

Fiber: 11 g

You can see why one little meal can completely ruin your entire week’s efforts of trying to lose weight. It’s that easy.

Now that you have this information, both the healthy and not-so-healthy choices, I hope that you feel more confident that you can go out to eat without ruining your health goals completely.

Image Credits: Chilis.com

For More Nutrition Information: Chili’s Nutrition

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Tags: Chili's, Health, low calorie, low fat, low sodium, Nutrition, Nutrition Information, Restaurant, review

Homemade Taco Seasoning

The regular taco seasoning mix from the grocery store is quite…bad for you. The taco seasoning mixes are full of MSG, sodium,  and other unhealthy ingredients. Because of this, I thought it was time I let you know how to make your own healthy taco seasoning mix! It’s a pretty quick and simple recipe, and I am sure you will love it!

Ingredients: 

3 tsp Chili Powder

1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper

3 tsp dried minced Onion

1 tsp Cornstarch

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp ground Cumin

1/2 tsp dried Oregano

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients and use in replace of taco seasoning mix.

Notes:

You can add this healthy seasoning to tacos, burritos, or anything else that you would normally use a typical taco seasoning mix with.  You can make it in bulk and store the mix in a air tight container in the fridge for up to a year.

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Tags: Healthy, Recipe, taco seasoning

Fun Date Ideas…that Burn Calories!

I love dates that don’t involve just eating and sitting. Dinner and a Movie, anyone? No thanks! They are great every once in a while, but I prefer to do something a lot more active when the weather is appropriate!

Why not go hiking and enjoy a picnic at the top of a mountain?

Here’s some fun date ideas that involve burning a lot more calories than sitting at the movies for two hours and munching on popcorn! Oh yeah, I think you will have a lot more fun too!

Canoeing - How fun would it be to go out on a lake with your date for a little canoe ride? Not only will you be able to talk, laugh, and enjoy each other’s company, you will also be able to burn about 320 calories  an hour if you paddle at a moderate speed.

Walking – Go to the zoo, museum, park, or beach and just go for a walk! When you talk and walk you can burn about 210 calories an hour!

Biking - Why not go on a bike ride with your date? You will burn about 415 calories an hour, and if you are adventurous enough to go Mountain Biking,  you can burn up to 600 calories an hour! Talk about a fun workout with your hot (literally) date!

Swimming – You can cool yourself off from the hot Summer sun and end up burning around 270 calories an hour if you just lightly tread water. Of course, you will end up burning more calories if you swim laps, but this is a date, right? Have fun!

Rock Climbing – For those of you who are not afraid of heights, this is the perfect activity for you! You can expect to burn approximately 575 calories an hour from Rock Climbing!

Surfing – If you are lucky enough to live close to a beach, why not go Surfing for a date? If you or your date doesn’t know how to surf, you can always take lessons together! Surfing is a fun way to exercise and burn about 170 calories an hour. Surf’s up!

Hiking - Enjoy the nature together and burn about 420 calories an hour! I am not surprised you can burn that many calories hiking since it’s like a natural stair master, only harder! Perhaps you and your date can hike to a beautiful location and enjoy a nice picnic lunch together?

Dancing – Do you and your date love music? Dancing is a great way to have fun while burning lots of calories! Turn up the music to upbeat songs and have fun burning about 160 calories an hour!

Mini golf – Whether you are on a double date or not, it’s pretty fun to go Miniature Golfing! Enjoy some friendly competition and burn about 135 calories an hour. “Four!”

Roller blading – This is a fun way to burn about 465 calories an hour, and that’s just if you are skating on a flat surface. If you roller blade uphill, expect to burn even more calories!

Volleyball – This is a fun group date activity that let’s you enjoy some competition, have some laughs, and burn 300 calories an hour. If you play Beach Volleyball, you will burn about twice as many calories since the sand makes it more difficult to balance and move on. More fun, more calories burned. Sounds like a win- win to me!

No Gym Required

I hope you realize that you can still have fun while you burn a lot of calories! As you can see, you don’t need a gym to exercise or lose weight, and I hope that you will enjoy the nice weather outside and all of your workout options!

Remember to drink plenty of water and bring food if the date lasts more than three hours. Wear safety gear as needed, be safe, and have fun!

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Tags: burn calories, exercise, Fitness, fun date ideas, Lose Weight, Weight Loss

How to Heal Sunburns

Summer is on it’s way, and for many of us, that means camping, barbecues, fireworks, and a lot more time outside in the sun! With this in mind, I thought I would discuss how to prevent sunburns and how to heal sunburns naturally, if you just so happy to get burnt!

Keep in mind that sun exposure is very healthy for you, and it’s a natural form of Vitamin D, which prevents depression and some types of cancers. Of course, too much of a good thing can become bad, so you will want to make sure you limit your exposure to the sun to prevent burning your skin.

Ways to Prevent Sunburns

Try to reduce exposure out in the sun between the hours of 10am – 4pm, since this is when the sun’s rays are at it’s strongest (during the Summer).

At the beginning of the Season, start exposing your skin slowly to the sun. Start out with just 10 minutes a day, and slowly increase the amount of sun exposure you get in the next couple of weeks. This will help with decreasing your chances of getting a sun burn.

If you are out in the sun during the hottest times of the day, wear protective clothing and accessories! This means wearing hats and sun glasses with UVA and UVB protection. You can also wear a long sleeved shirt (something loose and light for the Summer) to protect your arms.

Heal Sunburns Naturally

Discontinue time out in the sun. This may seem obvious, but I thought I would at least mention it, just in case! If you have a sunburn, avoid the hot sun outside for awhile. You should also avoid hot showers, baths, and hot tubs. You don’t need to add any more heat to your skin right now.

Enjoy cool – but not too cold – baths or showers. This will be a welcome relief to your burned skin.

Put fresh pure aloe vera gel from an aloe vera plant and apply directly to the burned skin. You can buy aloe vera from the store, but it contains alcohol in it which dries out the skin and the burn. I believe the gel straight from the plant is best for the burn. I recommend getting an aloe vera plant and keeping it available, just in case you get burnt while cooking (not that would ever happen to us adults, right?!) or if you happen to get a sunburn.

If you have a sunburn that causes blisters or fever, it’s time to head to the hospital.

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Tags: Heal burns, Natural Healing, Sun Burns

Skinny Tip #6

Exercise without ever going to the gym!

Do the words “exercise”  and “gym” intimidate you, or just sound down right boring? If so, you aren’t alone! You can burn serious calories and get the exercise you need without ever hitting the gym.

You need to find something you love to do. For example, do you like beautiful scenic mountains? Perhaps you will love to go out for a nice walk that will overlook some beautiful scenery. If you are physically able, find a hiking trail and go for a hike! Make sure you take plenty of water, some healthy snacks, and even a camera!

You will end up burning a bunch of calories and have a ton of fun in the process. You don’t need a gym to burn calories. You just need to move more!

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Tags: exercise, Fitness, gym, Weight Loss