This week's business trip took me to Memphis, TN.  Now, this was my third trip to Memphis, and on my two previous trips, I didn't see anything other than the airport, hotel and my client's office. (People who don't travel for business think business travel is fun and glamorous.)  

I don't mind business travel, especially if I get a chance to experience something of the local culture.

I've heard that Memphis is famous for Elvis, blues music and ribs.  I've seen the signs for Graceland on my travels from the airport to the hotel, but it's always been too late to go for a visit. 

The last time I went to Memphis, I tried to find a ribs restaurant but ended up in a shady part of town and was afraid to get out of the car.  This time, I did a bit of Googling in advance and tracked down a variety of restaurant options in the Beale Street area.  My flight got in around 7:30pm and by the time I got downtown and found a parking space it was about 8:30pm.  I asked the parking lot attendant to point me to Rendezvous Ribs, the restaurant President Bush ate at in Memphis.  To my disappointment, he said the place was closed on Mondays. 

I looked down the street and saw BB King's and Blue's City Cafe and decided to try the latter.   It turned out to be an excellent choice.  I had a half slab of ribs, cole slaw and baked beans.  I passed on the french fries and garlic toast.

Based on my newly-learned skills to measure approximate portion sizes with every day items (six-ounce serving of meat is about the size of your fist), I estimated the meat on my ribs was about one serving; maybe less.  And, the ribs were grilled so a majority of the grease had already cooked out of them.  Plus, I'd already walked about 20 miles through the Chicago and Atlanta airports (somewhat of an exaggeration).

If it sounds like I'm trying to justify my meal choice; I am. 

But, bottom line, I got on the scales this morning and I'm down about a half pound from my pre-Memphis weight.

Now, if my client will just sign the contract, I'll consider the trip a total success!

Bruce went with me to the grocery store this evening and he actually took the time to read the nutrition labels before he added food to our cart.  

He wanted to get some lunch meat.  After he read that one slice of bologna had 170 calories, he opted for the sliced turkey instead.

He wanted some Lean Pockets until he saw the fat content.  He selected the light garlic toast over the garlic toast with cheese. 

This is the first time *ever* that we've made it out of the store without a can of Spam or a package of Little Debbie Nutty Bars mysteriously making their way onto the checkout lane and into our shopping bags. 

I found a box of Sugar Free Black Cherry Jell-O in the pantry this morning so I mixed it up.  It's 4pm now and I made my way to the refrigerator to see if that jiggly goodness was ready for me to devour! 

Oh, yea... it's ready alright.  I took a quick look at the nutrition label... only 10 calories per serving; 4 servings per box.  So, I'm eating the whole thing!  No guilt, all pleasure.

Oops.  Sorry, Bruce.  Did you want some of that???

I thought Baked Lay's Potato Chips were a safe bet for satisfying my craving for something salty and crunchy.  They offer these at Subway as their healthy alternative to regular potato chips. 

I took a close look at the nutrition label of three different types of Lay's Barbecue potato chips at the grocery store yesterday and found Lay's Light are a better choice. 

So, don't always trust the front of the packaging... even if "0 trans fat" is shown in bold type.

Lays Barbecue Potato Chips

• 150 Calories
• 10 grams fat
• 1 gram fiber

Baked Lay's Barbecue

• 120 Calories
• 3 grams fat
• 2 grams fiber

Lay's Light Barbecue

• 75 Calories
• 0 grams fat
• 1 gram fiber