Category: Friday Features/Information

Friday Feature – Half Marathon Bliss

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Half Marathon Bliss_2014-6 | Mimi's Fit Foods

Last weekend was fun times!  I ran a Half Marathon down one of my most favorite canyons.  That alone, usually calls for bliss.  However, this year called for more bliss.  In addition to running with some of my favorite running buddies, my brother joined me for his very first half!  This is utterly amazing and special, folks!

Why you might ask?  Well, this cool dude took a serious turn towards a healthy lifestyle and over the last year or so, he has dropped nearly 200 pounds and he can run like the wind!  He eats incredibly healthy, watches portion sizes like a hawk, and he exercises like a champion.

With his permission, he has allowed me to share his Before-After photo.  A.Maze.Ing!  Need I say more?

Half Marathon Bliss_2014-4

So, needless to say, this Half Marathon was indeed a blissful one for more than one reason.

True to form, this half marathon started bright and early.  Race time was at 6am, and we loaded the busses at 4:30am to be taken to the drop-off point in the canyon.  It was still dark when we got there.

Half Marathon Bliss_2014-1 | Mimi's Fit Foods

Race day is always soooo much more fun when I’m in good company.

 

Half Marathon Bliss_2014-2 | Mimi's Fit Foods

Here I am with my sister-in-law, Becca and one of my best friends, Jen. I love these girls. They totally rock!

 

Half Marathon Bliss_2014-3 | Mimi's Fit Foods

Here I am at the start line with my bro. As you can see, the scenery is gorgeous. Which, makes the run that much more enjoyable!

I ran with my brother throughout the entire race.  We ran the whole way and only stopped at a few of the aid stations for water.  Here we are at mile 9-ish.  We had some family members come to cheer us on.  While they only saw us for a minute, seeing their faces and hearing their cheers was a nice re-charge for us!

Half Marathon Bliss_2014-5 | Mimi's Fit Foods

After crossing the finish line, I was so excited to see two of my most greatest supporters!  My hubby has given up so many Saturday mornings so that I can get my long runs in.  Trust me; this is a huge sacrifice for him.

Half Marathon Bliss_2014-7 | Mimi's Fit Foods

And, my little angel has often times spent more time in the jogging stroller than she would ever care for.  They are both troopers and I’m lucky to have their support!

Half Marathon Bliss_2014-8 | Mimi's Fit Foods

Seriously!  I had such a great time.  One of my most memorable 13.1 miles ever.  We’re all committing to do it again next year.  Come join us!  We would love to have you.  You have a year to get ready.  No excuses!

Top 5 Healthy, No Candy Valentine Ideas

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Top 5 Healthy Valentine Ideas - Mimi's Fit Foods

I know that Valentine’s Day is totally centered around LOVE, but next comes all the candies and the goodies.  I’ve found some super cute ways to send Valentine’s Day Love without the candy.  These ideas are creative, so cute, and still tasty!  All the photos are taken from the sources I’ve mentioned.

These are my favorite TOP 5 ideas I’ve seen!

This first idea comes from Tutto Bella.  I think it’s great!

Healthy Valentine Ideas1 - Mimi's Fit Foods
This next one comes from Craftaholics Anonymous and, as a bonus, you can even download the Fruit Tags for free!  This makes this Valentine WAY easy to put together.

Healthy Valentine Ideas2 - Mimi's Fit Foods

This next one also uses fruit, but a bigger variety.  It’s from Alpha Mom and she also has the Fruit Labels available for downloading.  She mentions putting these cute little tags on the fruit and throwing them in your kiddo’s (or hubby’s) lunch boxes, which is a fantastic idea!  However, these are adorable for Valentine’s Day too!

Healthy Valentine's Ideas3 - Mimi's Fit Foods
This next one is from Bless This Mess.  She has several fun and healthy ideas, but I really loved this one.  It uses a stick of string cheese!

Healthy Valentine Ideas4 - Mimi's Fit Foods
And, last, but certainly not least (as this might be my favorite of the bunch), is “Love Juice” from At Second Street, via Tatertots & Jello.  This idea is so fun and she’s made it SO adorable.  She even has a free printable so that you can make it cute  too without even trying!

Healthy Valentine Ideas5 - Mimi's Fit Foods

So . . . there you have it!  You can create and deliver healthy Valentines and feel totally awesome about it!  What other ideas have you had?  Please share!!

Spartan Race Winner Announced

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The Spartan Race Giveaway time has expired and a winner has been chosen!

Congratulations to Alberto who said, “My favorite workout activity is running but starting to really like CrossFit.”
You have 48 hours to email me at mimisfitfoods(at)gmail.com to claim your prize.  You get free entrance/registration into any open heat in any 2014 Spartan Race in the continental US!

And, for those of you who had hoped to win and didn’t.  You still get a prize.  Follow this special link and any of you will receive 15% off any Spartan Race.  Woot!

Friday Feature – Giveaway: Spartan Race!

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I FINALLY created a FaceBook page for Mimi’s Fit Foods!  I know  . . . it’s long overdue, but at least it’s up now!  Hopefully this will help you to find and save healthy recipes even easier.  I would LOVE it if you would go like my page.  And, as I start posting stuff I would also LOVE it if you would like, comment, and share anything that you find great!  This helps me to gauge what you all like and then I can offer more recipes/posts that you’ll love.

In order to celebrate the new FaceBook page, I thought a GIVEAWAY would be fun!

How many of you love doing the obstacle course races?  Here’s a race that you’re bound to love!

If you aren’t familiar with Spartan Race, it’s been voted the #1 obstacle race by Outside Magazine and is the global leader in obstacle racing since 2005.  One of the cool things I like about Spartan is that they have different levels/distance races.  You can do a Sprint (3+ Miles/15+ Obstacles), Super (8+ Miles/20+ Obstacles), a Beast (13+ Miles/25+ Obstacles), or an Ultra Beast (26+ Miles/50+ Obstacles).  Thus, there is really a race for anyone at any level.  Plus, there’s always an opportunity to go bigger and better than the last Spartan Race you may have done.

This video gives you a taste of what it’s like.

Cool, yeah!?

You can find a Spartan Obstacle Race just about anywhere now days!  Like, how cool would it be to to head to Arizona to participate in the Arizona Spartan Sprint (February 8th & 9th)?  Or, how about the Nevada Spartan Super (April 5th)?

If either of these events interest you, you can go to the Spartan Events page to register.  You can also visit the page to see if there is a race near you, or a destination race you might want to travel to.

Now for the GIVEAWAY fun!  I’m giving away one free registration to any open heat in any 2014 Spartan Race in the continental US.  This holds up to $185 in value.  You can use it yourself or gift it to a friend! 

Entering the contest is easy!  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite workout activity (running is mine, but I also love rollerblading!).

There are ways to earn 2 more entries.  Head on over to my Facebook Page and like my page then leave a comment here on the blog telling me did so.  That’ll give you one more entry.  And, for your 3rd entry, comment on and share the Spartan Race Giveaway on your page.

SO . . . let’s recap the ways to earn entries.

  1. Leave a comment here on this post telling me your favorite workout activity.
  2. Like my FaceBook page, and leave a comment here on the blog telling me you did so.  (If you’ve already liked my FB page and you want to be entered into the contest, just leave a comment here telling me you’ve already liked my page.)
  3. While in FaceBook, comment on the Spartan Race giveaway AND share the giveaway on your page.

That’s it!  You have until midnight on Thursday, January 30, to enter.  The winner will be chosen at random and announced the morning of Friday, January 31.

GOOD LUCK!

And, because I love you all and think you’re awesome and can do a Spartan Race, I was able to secure a discount for everyone!!  Follow this special link to get you a 15% discount on any Spartan Race!  Yay!

Friday Feature – Success Story: Katie

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It’s a new year and I know A LOT of us make some sort of healthy-related resolution.  So, for a little inspiration . . . I bring you Katie!

Katie is one of my dear friends.  She’s had two beautiful children and once she was done nursing that second baby she decided to work hard and pull her weight back down.  She would tell me how she was skinny once and how she even loved running and she wanted to get back to that awesome place.  So, she buckled down, started exercising diligently, and also started eating right.

Needless to say (because the pictures pretty much tell you what happened) she did it with smashing success.  Her pictures tell a lot of her story, but here are a few of her stats:

  • She dropped 67.5 fat pounds!
  • She dropped over 21.3% in body fat!
  • She melted a total of 61.75 inches off her body!

If that doesn’t inspire you to want to shape up this year, then I don’t know what will!! You want to take a double take, don’t you?  You can . . . check out the pictures (click on the picture if you want to see it a little bigger)!

Katie Before-After Comparison - Mimi's Fit Foods

I love seeing the slimming effect through her mid-section!  Plus, her face and neck are so slim and so pretty!  She seriously can’t go anywhere without people commenting on her awesome results.

When she wrapped up her program with me she had plenty to say about it.  She said to me, “What I loved about this program is that it taught me how to EAT and how to eat like I should!  Food was always my biggest issue.  I could never fully grasp the smaller portions more often in the day, and this NAILED it for me.  I finally can eat the way I have always known I should.  I was fueled all day, never felt hungry, and loved craving the good foods!  The workouts have always been easy for me, but I loved learning new exercises from you and trying new things.  My life is forever changed in how I look at food and how I will put it into my body.  I’ve loved seeing the results and hearing what others have to say about it.  It’s so fun to walk into a room and see people’s jaws drop because I look so great.  I know I still have more to lose, but I am completely happy with these results so far!”

Katie is a rockstar!  She took the challenge to lose the weight the right and healthy way . . . through exercise and proper nutrition.  On top of all of this, she ran two (not one, but TWO) half marathons this past summer/fall!  I’m kind of jealous because one was in California at the Disneyland Resort!  She knows how to have fun and she even incorporates the fun into exercise!  She pretty much rocks!

I think I’ve said it before, but I really L.O.V.E. my job!
If you’re looking for a little extra help and guidance with a program that is specifically tailored to your individual body, feel free to visit my Lose Weight/Get Fit page and/or contact me for more information.  I would love to help in any way I can.  Let’s make 2014 a good and  healthy year to remember!

Friday Feature: Savings on Healthy Stuff

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Save Money - Mimi's Fit Foods

 

From time-to-time I like to share little tips with you that I think you might find helpful.  Today I want to share some of the awesome savings and sales I’m seeing on health and fitness stuff.  Who doesn’t love to find good deals?!

One of the excuses I hear often by people who don’t want to change their lifestyle is that it’s just too expensive to eat and live healthy.  I’m not here to tell you that it’s the MOST affordable lifestyle, but I can truly tell you that it’s possible to eat and live healthy in an affordable manner.  And, if you want to start adding up all the doctor visits/bills, hospital bills, medication, time missed from work for sick days, the money spent at restaurants, etc., it’s pretty easy to defend the side that healthy living is can be more affordable.  But, we can save all that for a different day.

Today, I want to share some deals I’m seeing RIGHT now on healthy stuff (of course these are deals I’m seeing in my area and some of the pricing could vary a little bit depending on where you live).  January is always a great month to stock up on or invest in healthy living.  Retailers know that most people set some sort of healthy resolution and we see healthy food and fitness products go on sale like crazy!  Of course, this list is not all-inclusive, but just know that if you’re looking for anything particular and you want to do a search for it . . . chances are that you’ll find a sale somewhere for it.

This week is Target’s “Get Fit Event” and they have a lot of fitness equipment, activewear, and healthy products on sale.   You can skim through the sale to see if there’s anything you need/want, but here are some of my favorites:

  • All C9 dumbbells are 20% off (I think they range from 2 lbs to 12 lbs).  You can save an EXTRA 20% off of that if you use Target Cartwheel.  (If you shop at Target and haven’t downloaded this app, you’re crazy!  Do it now.)
  • Several resistant bands and other workout equipment is on sale.
  • C9 Kettlebells are 20% off.
  • Lots of activewear is on sale.  If anyone in the family, including kids, need new workout gear, now’s the time to get it.
  • Most boxes of protein bars are on sale for $4.79 (boxes contain 5 or 6 bars).  In addition to this sale, if you buy 4 boxes, you’ll get a $5 target gift card . . . for free.  This makes the bars only $0.70 each (if you buy boxes of 5 bars).  Umm…..that’s awesome.

Pure Protein Bars on Amazon – 6 Bars for only $4.33:  You can get a 6-pack of Pure Protein Bars for only $4.33.  That’s only $0.72 per par.  In order to get the $4.33 price, you’ll need to be sure to clip the 20% off coupon located on the product page AND purchase the bars using the Subscribe & Save option located on the right hand side of the page.  After placing your order, wait until your order ships and then you can go into your Amazon Account page and cancel the order (just click on the “Manage Subscribe and Save link”).  Amazon prices can change at any time, so the deal with coupon can end soon.

There’s a sale on Zaycon All-Natural Chicken Breasts.  It’s only $1.89 per pound!  This is a great price for chicken, let alone chicken without added hormones, additives or artificial ingredients.  You do have to buy a 40 lb box, but if you have room to freeze it . . . totally worth it!  You could also consider splitting it with someone.  You just go over to the Zaycon Foods page to register and it’ll tell you when and how it will be delivered or how you can pick it up.

Amazon is having a sale on Women’s New Balance Shoes.  Prices start around $22.  Head on over there if you love New Balance!  (Prices can change at any time on Amazon.)

Curves on Groupon:  You can purchase 5 classes at any Curves location for only $10.00.  That’s 74% off the regular price.  There are also options to purchase 10 workouts ($29) or 20 workouts ($39).  This is a great deal for anyone who has been wanting to try Curves out without committing to a long-term contract.  (Be sure to look through all the fine print on the deal to make sure you are okay with the terms and conditions and can activate and use the workouts in the time frames listed.)

Utah Golds on Groupon:  Gold’s Gym is up on Groupon right now and for a limited time you can purchase a one-month Gold’s Gym Membership for only $9.99 for 10 individual visits (including Group Fitness) for only $19.99.  That’s up to 90% off the regular price.  Utah locations that are participating in this deal include Orem, Bountiful, Taylorsville, Cedar City, Draper, Provo, South Jordan, Salt Lake, and St. George.  Again, a great deal for anyone wanting to give Gold’s Gym a try without committing to a long-term contract.  (Be sure to look through all the fine print on the deal to make sure you are okay with the terms and conditions and can activate and use the workouts in the time frames listed.)

Treadmills at Walmart as Low as $287:  Walmart has a sale on some treadmills right now.  Some of us don’t care how fancy the machine is, but just that we have place to run indoors when it’s too cold, the inversion is too bad, or for convenience due to other circumstances.  You can go check out all the treadmills online at Walmart and they even ship for free!

Healthy Finds In Costco’s Coupon Booklet (Ends January 26th):  Costco’s Coupon/Savings booklet is loaded with healthy finds.

  • Special K Cereal Bars-50 Count ($5 Off)
  • Special K Cereal ($2.50 Off)
  • Pure Protein Bars-18 Count ($4.50 Off)
  • Baked Lays-30 Count Variety Pack ($3.45 Off)
  • Rickland Orchards Greek Yogurt Bars-16 Count ($3.30 Off)
  • Dannon Light & Fit Greek Yogurt-18 Count ($4 Off)
  • SkinnyPop Popcorn ($1.50 Off)
  • Prego Heart Smart Sauce-2 Count ($2.30 Off)
  • Healthy Choice Chicken Soup-10 Count ($2.50 Off)
  • Seeds of Change Organic Quinoa & Brown Rice-6 Count ($2.80 Off)
  • Hillshire Farm Deli Ultra Thin Turkey Breast-3 Count ($3 Off)
  • Jimmy Dean Delights-12 Count ($3 Off)
  • Grilled Chicken Sandwich-12 Count ($2.30 Off)
  • Healthy Choice Fudge Bars-18 Count ($2.80 Off)
  • Muscle Milk-Several Varieties ($6.70 Off)
  • Combat Protein Powder ($9 Off)
  • Jalapeño Greek Yogurt Dip ($2 Off)
  • Countless Vitamins are also on Sale
  • You’ll also find fitness equipment on sale this month.  They have a nice-looking treadmill for only $699 shipped.

Fruits & Veggies:  This is just a general tip, but you’ll find that most in-season fruits and veggies tend to go on sale.  So, if you buy in-season, then you’ll pay a lot less than if you buy stuff that’s out of season.  Right now you’ll see that you’ll pay less for oranges, broccoli, cauliflower, and grapefruit.  Depending on where you live, you will also see pineapples on sale during this time.

SO . . . these are just a few of the awesome deals I’m finding.  I’ve also seen lots of stuff for sale at Sports Authority and other sporting goods stores too.  It doesn’t hurt to look for coupons too, because you can usually stack coupons on top of sale prices.  Sweet!  If you need something to help with your resolution this year, now’s the time to get it.  Or, if you just want some new stuff, grab it now.

What awesome deals are you finding this month?  Please share with the rest of us.  We could all use the advice and extra help to get and/or stay healthy!

Friday Feature – Success Story: Belinda

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New Year, New You?

It’s a new year and I know a lot of people like to set weight loss goals right now.  So, I figured it would be fun to offer a Friday Feature that included a success story!

Meet my friend Belinda.  She is pretty darn awesome!  She decided that she didn’t want to wake up old and unhealthy one day, so she decided to take care of business now!  Belinda is a BUSY woman.  She’s a mom with VERY BUSY kiddos, she works full time, and still managed to figure out how to fit a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise and nutrition into her life.  Anyone can do it if they TRULY want to, right!?

Needless to say (because the pictures pretty much tell you what happened) we did it with smashing success.  Her pictures tell a lot of her story, but here are a few of her stats:

  • She dropped 57 fat pounds!
  • She dropped over 17.3% in body fat!
  • She melted a total of 42 inches off her body!

If that doesn’t inspire you to want to shape up this year, then I don’t know what will!! You want to take a double take, don’t you?  You can . . . check out the pictures!

Mimi's Fit Foods

I love seeing the slimming effect through her mid-section!  Plus, look at those hot, sexy legs!  Belinda sent me a nice email when she officially wrapped up her program.  She said, “This program has taught me to do what is necessary to remain healthy.  I gained muscle tone and I can wear the same size I did in high school and am healthier than I have ever been at 46!  I feel better than I have in forever!”

Belinda is a champ.  She took the challenge to lose the weight the right way . . . through exercise and proper nutrition.  She pretty much rocks!

I think I’ve said it before, but I really L.O.V.E. my job!
If you’re looking for a little extra help and guidance with a program that is specifically tailored to your individual body, feel free to visit my Lose Weight/Get Fit page and/or contact me for more information.  I would love to help in any way I can.  Let’s make 2013 a good and  healthy year to remember!

Our New Miracle From Heaven

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I hope you’ll forgive me for slacking off on the recipe posts for a minute, because I cannot get enough of my new little love bug! We’ve waited a long time for her to join our family and she’s finally here!  Look at her perfect face!  Can you blame me one bit for choosing to snuggle her instead of cook!?

Evie Savannah was born in St. George last Friday on May 11, at 1:50 p.m. She weighed 8 lbs.,  7 oz.,  and was 20” long.  She was released from the hospital on Sunday afternoon and we arrived home that night.  She is the perfect baby and our little miracle.  We simply CANNOT get enough of her.  Our hearts feel as if they are overflowing with love!

There’s no doubt that we are proud and VERY happy parents.  I feel like I am living one of my most important purposes and dreams as a mama.  Beau turned to me the other day and said, “I love being a daddy.”  Between the two of us, she rarely gets put down.  We believe you can’t spoil a baby or child with too much love.

We love our baby girl.  Oh, how we love her!  We love to snuggle her, we love to feed her, we love to change her diapers, we love to get up with her in the night, and we love to just look at her for hours.  We are mesmerized and completely in love.

We love Evie’s birth mother more than words can say.  Among many things she is brave, strong, and simply a beautiful person inside and out.  We hope and pray that Evie acquires those wonderful traits!  We are excited to have an open relationship with this beautiful woman, as well as with her family.  We’ve missed them since we’ve been home and we are thrilled to make a visit to see them soon.  Evie’s birth mama will be graduating from high school and we can’t wait to share in the celebrations.  I think we’re all counting down the days until we can be with each other again.  It’s impossible to express how much love, honor and respect we hold for Evie’s birth family!  We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect relationship with Evie’s birth mother and birth family, nor could we ask for a more perfect and beautiful child for us.  There is so much love around us we sometimes think our hearts might just burst!

Friday Feature: You In? Come On, Let’s Run!

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Half Marathon 2012 American Fork Canyon

This is one of my MOST FAVORITE Half Marathons!  I ran it last year and absolutely loved it.  I knew as soon as I was done running it that I would be back the next year.  Well, it’s the next year and I haven’t changed my mind!  I’ve already registered.

Now, I can’t register and participate in this run all by myself!  I’m a bit of a social person and would LOVE to have more of my friends join me in this endeavor.  I realize we all have different goals and paces, so we may not actually run it together.  BUT, we can go through a training schedule together (while we may not be running side-by-side it will still be nice to know that we have others participating in a similar training regiment), we can meet up and ride the buses together on race day, and we most certainly will meet up at the end of the race to give each other high-fives!

Let me just tell you that this coarse is a BEAUTIFUL course!  The first 7.5 miles is run down American Fork Canyon (one of my favorite canyons, by far).  This canyon is absolutely gorgeous.  This is also a great race for beginners and seasoned runners alike.  It’s a downhill course which helps beginners, and it is challenging enough for seasoned runners to muster up the strength to achieve a PR (Personal Record).  The event is well organized, the apparel is pretty darn good, and we ALL get a medal when we finish!

Here are the details:

Race Date: July 28, 2012
Race Start Time: 6:00 am
Bus Pick-up: 3:40 – 5:00 am
Registration: $67.00 (Until May 30th)

You can get even more details by going to their web site:  http://afhalf.com/timpanogos-half-marathon

So, who’s in!?  Come on and join me for some running fun and a personal accomplishment!  Trust me – for a race like this, the cost is VERY comparable to other events and you’ll be SO happy to know you accomplished a half marathon.  Running a half marathon is VERY doable for most people.  So, don’t EVEN think that you cannot do it!  (For those of you who have already run one before, you know exactly where I’m coming from, right?)

Do you need one more incentive?  If you register for the race, I’ll personally write and design a training schedule just for you!  Yep, no charge – just a little perk for making my summer training and race day MUCH more fun by having you there with me.  The more the merrier, right!?

Once you register for the run, leave me a comment or send me an email to mimisfitfoods (at) gmail (dot) com.  I’ll be sure to hook up with you so I can get you that training schedule I’m promising you.

Now, let’s get running!  You going to join me or what?!

*Note:  This post is in no way sponsored by the organizers of the Timp Half.  They have no idea I am even writing it and all the opinions expressed are entirely mine.  I really do love this event!

Friday Feature: Restaurant Spotlight – Taco Time

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Chicken Soft Taco, Whole Wheat Tortilla, No Cheese

Have you been searching for another fast food option that lends to a healthy choice and is not full of gobs of extra calories?  Look no further . . . Taco Time is to the rescue.  Now, just as eating out is rarely better than eating in (because we have NO control on everything they actually add to the individual components of a dish), you’ll find that the nutritional value is not perfect, but it’s close and offers an option when an option is needed.

I’ve been eating at Taco Time for years because I know exactly what I can order that will give me a balanced meal of carbohydrates and protein . . . AND, will still allow me to stay within my calorie guidelines.  Here’s exactly what I order:

1 Chicken Soft Taco (which is really the size of a burrito when comparing to other taco joints)
Made on a Whole Wheat Tortilla
No Cheese

First, you must know that Taco Time offers wheat tortillas.  So, almost anything you order there can be ordered with a wheat tortilla . . . all you have to do is ask.

You should also know that they have a salsa and onion bar located in the restaurant.  Since veggies are virtually free . . . that means tomato-based salsas.  So, I love to get a little bit of pico and mild salsa to add to my tacos.

So, when you’re out-and-about and you forgot to pack a lunch, or whatever your reason for not being able to make your own lunch for the day . . . let Taco Time be on your list of healthy fast food stops.  Just remember to order correctly and not to give in to any of those calorie-laden options (which Taco Time also has plenty of).

If you need a quick reminder of how and what to order when eating out, click here for a nice guideline.  You’ll quickly see why this menu option at Taco Time is a good choice. 

Nutritional Information Per Chicken Soft Taco
(No Cheese, on a Whole Wheat Tortilla)
Calories:  381
Protein:  29g
Carbs:  51g
Fat:  5g (1.5g = Sat.)
Fiber:  11g