The average person/family eats out 3-4 times a week due to busy schedules, laziness, and lack of knowing how to prepare meals. The calories that you may be consuming will shock you. I recently came across a book called Restaurant Confidential: The Shocking Truth About What You're Really Eating When You're Eating Out. Obviously, some of the better choices were Subway 6 gram of fat sandwiches and a Chicken Caesar from McDonalds with fat-free herb vinegarette dressing. But, check this out…if you ever have a craving for a mushroom cheeseburger - I would think twice. It contains 900 calories and 57 grams of fat. They say that if you added onion rings to this meal it would be like eating "5 strips of bacon, 4 Twinkies, 3 slices of pepperoni pizza, 2 banana splits and a Big Mac." WOW - that's enough to make me want to throw up.

The key here is to try to eat at home as much as possible. You will know how your food is prepared and you will save money and caloric intake in the long run.

--Wendie Pett, Fitness and Wellness Coach, www.wendiepett.com