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Fast Food Health
By Matt Wolfe | October 17, 2007
Once again, Joe and I are flip flopping. I’m giving some words of fast food wisdom here and he’s discussing a debt related story over at our other site, How I Will Be Rich. Take some time and enjoy both posts.
So what do you do when you are on the go, in a hurry, and hungry? You stop for some fast food of course. One out of every four Americans has done that already today. That’s the actual statistic of how much we eat fast food. It doesn’t take a nutritionist to know that eating fast food is not the healthiest choice. However, if you order right, you can definitely find healthy alternatives on that drive-thru menu. Sometimes you just don’t have time to pack your lunch and it’s true that it’s worse for your body to just not eat at all. You’ve got to eat something.
There are some healthier fast food restaurants out there. Subway, Sub Marina, Panera and the various sandwich shops can be fairly healthy if you avoid excessive cheese and condiments. Sometimes you don’t even have those options. Maybe all that’s around is McDonald’s or Wendy’s or Carl’s Jr. Then what? Eat as healthy as possible
When you do stop, avoid these:
- Chicken Nuggets – This is not an alternative to real chicken. This is deep fried and who the heck knows what actually goes in to them.
- Onion Rings – Deep fried and absolutely terrible for you.
- French Fries – Greasy, Salty and Fried. Need I say more?
- Soda – Soda is just empty calories. A large soda typically has about 310 calories. Not to mention they are loaded with sugar and promotes diabetes and tooth decay. (My recommendation is to cut soda out of your diet completely.)
- Avoid excess condiments – Mayonnaise, nacho cheese, tartar sauce, sour cream, gravy. Avoid putting too much extra junk on your food.
- Salad Dressing – The salad is good. The dressings, not so much. Caesar dressing itself adds about 200 calories to you salad.
- Shakes – Shakes are loaded with fat and calories. Big no nos.
Here’s what I recommend:
- Grilled Chicken Sandwich – Usually about 420 calories but very low in fat and a good source of protein.
- A Regular Hamburger – Only 250 calories and low in fat with out cheese and condiments.
- Salad – The salads are good. Get the dressing on the side and use it sparingly. If they offer it, request a low fat dressing.
- Fruit cups – Most fast food places offer fruit cups or fruit and yogurt cups. These are good choices.
- Chicken Wrap with Grilled Chicken – Low carbs, low calories, high in protein.
- Grilled Fish Sandwich – It’s good if it’s grilled as opposed to deep fried.
- Baked Potato – Order it without cheese or sour cream but with as much veggies as you like.
So if you are on the go, didn’t have time to make lunch the night before and all that is available to you is the various fast food joints, you do have some options. Don’t starve yourself. Your body needs some sort of food to keep you going and if fast food is your only option, then you’ve got to take what you can get. I’m not a fan of fast food and I very rarely eat it but if you are like Joe and myself, you want to maintain a healthy lifestyle even on the go. I hope some of these pointers help.
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