Ah choo!

Good morning all!  Happy hump day!

This winter has been a doozy in more than one way.  Yes, we've had tons of snow and lots of cold weather, but I've also heard about more people getting sick than ever before.  I have three friends who have had at least two bouts with something along the lines of the flu.  Usually you get sick once, not this year.  It's odd.

One of my pet peeves is when people say "you're sick because of the weather".  No, the weather does not make you sick, GERMS make you sick.  Perhaps you were under prepared for the weather or chose to act carelessly and therefore compromised your immune system a bit, but it was still the germs, not the weather, that made you ill.

I've had a pseudo cold for about 2-3 weeks now.  It comes and goes and its rather annoying.  It's definitely not bad and I can totally ignore it, but it does cause me to sneeze...A LOT.  And when I'm not sneezing, I have that lovely tickle in my nose that tells me a sneeze is coming.  Eh, it is what it is I suppose.

I thought today might be a good day to share some calorie contents.  The culprit today, salads.  As we all know, a salad is not automatically the healthy choice.  Salads nowadays are loaded up with so much crap that sometimes you're better eating a burger.

Here are the best and worst from a few "fast-food" spots...

Panera
Greek - 380 calories
Fuji Apple with Chicken - 520 calories
It is a little unclear to me whether or not these include the dressings.  But regardless, your best dressing option is the reduced sugar asian sesame vinaigrette (90 calories for 3 tbs)

McDonalds (not including dressing)
Premium Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken - 220 calories
Premium Southwest Chicken Salad with Crispy Chicken - 430 calories
Stick with the balsamic (40) or the Lite Italian (60) and stay away from the others, all between 100 and 190 calories.

Wendy's (not including dressing)
Apple Pecan Chicken Salad - 350 calories (the roasted pecans add 110 calories)

Baja Salad - 550 calories (tortilla chips add 80 calories)
Dressing wise, stick with the Pomegranate Vinaigrette (60), Light Ranch (50), Italian Vinaigrette (70) or Fat Free French (40)

As always, customizing by removing components (specifically cheese or croutons) does help reduce some of the calories.