Trying to get a “summer body” before summer? You have all spring to prepare! Or maybe you just want to lose a few pounds for fun. Or maybe you’re fine with just the way you are but you just want to be healthier! Regardless, food is food and it’s a part of life to eat! Having a healthy lifestyle can’t hurt you though!
For those who are just sitting at work sipping on your boba, snacking on some chips, nibbling on some cookies, eating your ice cream, pay extra attention!! If you do this often, the amount of calories will just keep increasing! Next thing you know… you’re saying goodbye to your summer body…╮(╯_╰)╭ Let’s take a look at some scenarios that probably happen to us on any hungry day!
Day 1. Let’s say you’re at In-N-Out. It’s lunch time and you haven’t eaten all day, so you order a double-double. Fresh out of the oven French fries? Sign me up! Craving something sweet to go with all that salty? Yes! Chocolate shake it is. Do you know how many calories you have just consumed? Let’s take a look!
| What did you order? | Calories |
| Double-double with onion | 670 |
| French fries | 395 |
| Chocolate shake | 590 |
| Total consumed | 1655 |
Jump to Day 2. You’ve had a long shift, worked overtime, and wow… fried chicken just sounds so delicious!! You’re craving the Original Recipe Chicken and Extra Crispy so you go to KFC. You add a side of mashed potatoes and gravy because it’s so warm and creamy and tasty! But little did you know… it comes with a biscuit too! And a drink so that you don’t get thirsty! You end up getting lemonade, and then refilling it with Coca-Cola afterwards. How many calories does it come out to?
| What did you order? | Calories |
| Original Recipe Chicken, breast | 360 |
| Extra Crispy Chicken, breast | 510 |
| Mashed potatoes and gravy | 120 |
| Biscuit | 180 |
| Lemonade, regular 16 oz. | 180 |
| Coca-Cola, regular 16 oz. | 194 |
| Total consumed | 1544 |
You’ve just consumed all these calories from just one meal! On average, an office worker should consume 1500 – 1800 calories a day, which means that the one fast food meal you had took up an entire day’s worth!! You’re eating more than you should be, sitting at work for 8 hours straight… but what happened to getting that summer body? Losing some weight? Staying healthy? But… but… food is so tempting! We know! So for those of you food lovers, the only option to being healthy isn’t just to stop eating.
Doing activities such as dancing, swimming, mowing the lawn, running and playing sports can burn just as many calories! Anything that gets your body moving is considered physical activity, and physical activity can improve your health! Though exercising 30 minutes a day can keep you healthy, it won’t be enough to help you lose weight! So, let’s find a way that will help! For someone who is around 130 pounds (58.967kg), they can do each activity for one hour and burn off the same amount of calories! For the In-N-Out case, they could:
| Activity | Calories |
| Clean the house | 207 |
| Dance, aerobics | 354 |
| Play tennis | 413 |
| Jog | 413 |
| Bicycle, stationary | 295 |
| Total burned | 1682 |
How can I eat fast food without gaining weight?
Though fast food has its reputation for being unhealthy, did you know that it has its healthy options as well? The following includes fast food options that are under 500 calories, fairly low in saturated fat and cholesterol, and include more than 15 grams of protein to fill you up!
| Fast Food Restaurant | Healthy Option | Calories |
| Chipotle | Chicken Burrito Bowl with brown rice & pinto beans, NO cheese or sour cream | 500 |
| Starbucks | Spinach and Feta Wrap | 290 |
| In-N-Out | Cheeseburger with onion, ketchup, and mustard, NO spread | 480 |
| Chick-fil-A | Grilled Chicken Cool Wrap | 340 |
| McDonald’s | Artisan Grilled Chicken Sandwich | 360 |
| Subway | 6-inch Turkey Breast Sub, Add avocado, NO cheese | 300 |
With a healthy meal and the right amount of routine exercise, your abs might just start becoming less shy! Whether you’re trying to lose weight, get abs, it’s important to have a healthy lifestyle so start making some changes today!
At KCAL Insurance Agency, we would like to remind you that under your health insurance plan, you have free annual health check-ups! To make sure your body is doing well, eating healthy is definitely one option, but you can also get a health check-up. If you haven’t used it yet, schedule one now! If you find yourself eating a lot of fast food, you may want to consider getting a cholesterol screening—especially for men over 35 and women over 45, as they are at higher risk for lipid disorders and heart disease.
KCAL Insurance Agency does not endorse any of the products or foods mentioned in the article. Sources are from Kaiser Permanente’s Fast Food guide to healthier choices in which nutritional analyses are provided by the food distributors.