Making the Right Fast Food Choices

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 26th, 2010

Every now and then, even with the best of intentions, we find ourselves looking to a fast food restaurant for lunch or dinner. Maybe a lack of time or a lack of planning is to blame for forcing this upon us. Maybe something came up beyond our control that is making us resort to this as a last minute meal decision. Whatever the reason, you will be ordering your next meal by talking into a plastic clown from your car window.

The problem with this is, you know that fast food is notorious for very high fat content and very high calorie count while at the same time being very low in nutrition. Well, as luck would have it, there are actually some things that you can order from a few of the popular fast food places that are somewhat on the healthier side. The main thing is to stay away from the fat laden side orders like the fries and shakes, and go with the broiled and grilled items. Here are some examples of the better fast food choices:

At burger king, go with the BK broiler chicken sandwich or the broiled chicken salad. Also not too bad is the whopper, but it is imperative to order it dry and without cheese and add your own ketchup. All the sauces on the whopper are where most of the extra fat and calories come from.

At KFC, stay with the tender roast chicken and go with the skinless white meat. Fried chicken from anywhere should be avoided like the plague.

At McDonalds, the grilled chicken deluxe and the grilled chicken salad are the best choices. Since just about everything else here is fried or deep fried, these are really your only good choices.

At subway you have a few good choices like the turkey breast sub and the sweet onion teriyaki chicken sub. Most anything from their ?low fat? menu is good, but don?t add cheese or fattening condiments like mayo and stick with the 6 inch ones.

At taco bell, the grilled chicken burrito and the grilled chicken soft taco are good choices. Any of their items made with grilled chicken are ok, just watch out for any added fattening sauces or fried items that might be used in the item.

At Wendy?s, the grilled chicken sandwich and the grilled chicken salad are two very good choices. Here you can also get a baked potato on the side but watch what you fill it with.

As a rule of thumb, always avoid anything fried like French fries or onion rings as these items can add as much as 450 extra calories to your meal which is usually as much as or more than what their signature burgers pack. Items like the milk shakes also come with nearly as many calories as the signature burgers so be careful not to order them as well. Always order your food without the dressings, sauces, mayo or cheese. These only add unwanted fat calories to your item. You can always ask for fat-free dressings and condiments like ketchup and add them yourself when you get your food.

All fast food is not completely off limits, even if you are making an effort to watch what you eat. Just make eating fast food an occasional thing and be aware of what you order when eating there. When in doubt, always go with broiled or grilled chicken items, and avoid most of the sides unless you know they are good choices like salads or baked potato?s.