10 Week Challenge-A Valiant Effort to Lose 10 Pounds

Chili's Margarita Grilled Chicken
(it actually looks like this)

My personal 10 week challenge is making a decided effort to alter my eating habits for the better. Dumping the deep fried goodness I so love will be easier said than done, but I have faith that this goal remains well within my reach. Now I refuse to commit myself to some crazy fad diet that will only leave me starving, moody and ready to fall off the wagon, and into a bucket of chicken wings, at any moment. Fad diets work, when you starve yourself, your body has no choice but to begin subsiding on fat cells, but in the long run you will more end up gaining the weight back, in addition to ten more pounds.  In college I lived on nothing but raw vegetables for a month because I had to perform in a play in only a slip that showed all of my legs. The diet was a success, I looked great for the show, however after the curtain dropped for the last time I ate like a pig, which led to my ten pound weight gain. Last night I had dinner with a friend who specifically requested Chili’s. Now Chili’s isn’t my favorite restaurant to eat at but I knew that I could get an incredibly delicious low fat dinner there. No, contrary to popular belief (and the author of “Eat This, Not That”) everything at Chili’s is not covered in fat and deep fried in a vat of bubbling grease. There are several options on the menu that keep the calorie count under 600, yet still satisfy even the largest of appetites. One such dish is the margarita grilled chicken dinner; weighing in at 550 calories and 14 grams of fat the margarita grilled chicken is served on a bed of black beans and Mexican rice, topped off with fresh pico de gallo and lime. Honestly, it is the most filling, delicious low fat dish I have ever tasted. It is one of the few dishes I haven’t even felt the urge to douse in cheese... and that is a bold statement for me. I consider cheese it’s own food group. I realize that most of the clientele Chili’s attracts are not interested in improving their health, but this is one healthy option I would take over a burger there any day of the week. Let’s hope the rest of the weeks are just as easy!