Hey,
I know you’re probably tired of hearing me say this, but diet is the most important piece of weight loss. The thing you must remember, small things matter. What do I mean by this? Small things can make a difference both ways. Drink a soda and your blood sugar rises rapidly increasing insulin levels and all but eliminating your chance of losing fat. One small soda can sabotage your diet. On the other hand, making better choices at a restaurant like choosing Hot Wings instead of pizza can actually maintain lower sugar and insulin levels and aid in weight loss. Who would have thought Hot Wings could be on a weight loss diet?
Today I want to talk about a favorite restaurant for me and my daughter, Buffalo Wild Wings. I love wings more than any other food and Buffalo Wild Wings is a favorite of mine. As usual potato wedges are off the menu. As good as they are a regular order of potato wedges contain 362 calories and 72 grams of carbs. A recipe for disaster.
However, wings are a go. A 6 count Chicken Wings with the Blazin Sauce provide 430 calories with just 1 gram of carbs. At this point I don’t even care about the calorie count because the carbs are ridiculously low. Eat up. If you prefer Boneless Wings you have to be careful because it can bite you. 6 Boneless Wings with Honey BBQ sauce contain 565 calories and 27 grams of carbs which exceeds my 20 grams of carb rule. However, you can get the 6 piece sauceless Boneless Wings for 530 calories and only 18 grams of carbs. Remember it’s all about the right choice.
Choose your salads carefully at BWW. The Asian Zing Chicken Salad and Chicken Tender Chicken Salad both go way over on the carb count at 80 grams of carbs. However, the Chicken Caesar with dressing contains 756 calories mostly from fat from the dressing and 35 grams of good wholesome carbs. Lose the dressing and lose the calories. The Grilled Blackened Chicken Salad is the best choice with 660 calories, only 23 grams of good carbs and 55 grams of protein. Split these salads with a friend and you are on your way to fat loss, eat the whole salad by yourself and the overall calories become a problem.
I think this goes without saying but beer will kill your weight loss plan faster than anything. The alcohol in beer contains usable calories which can add up fast. However, the biggest problem with beer are the carbs. Even if you drink light beer if you don’t limit it to one the carbs will add up fast increasing your insulin levels and impacting your fat gains and your ability to burn fat. The best choice is always no beer and more water.
Diet is the key to losing weight, but making good choices doesn’t mean bad food. Choose wisely always picking protein and fat over simple carbs. In addition, always ask yourself how many vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants the food provides. That should always be goal number one.
Helping you make great food choices,
Jeff