Despite our best intentions for eating a healthy
diet, workday demands and cravings send us in search of fast food.
Fortunately, over the past few years, fast food chains have been adding
healthier alternatives to their menus.
These days, it is possible to grab a quick meal
and stick to a healthy, low calorie diet. The key is to chose to the right foods and
condiments. We'll tell you how.
Fast Food Chains:
Quick Tips
-
Always refuse cheese. Cheese contains a high level of fat and
adds unnecessary calories to sandwiches and
salads.
-
Go for grilled over fried. Fried foods have
more calories, more fat, and often more sodium. A salad containing
fried chicken and regular dressing can equal the number of calories
in a hamburger and side of fries.
-
Choose water over soda. Sugary soda contains
too many calories per serving. Diet soda contains aspartame, which
we recommend avoiding.
-
Wheat bread is best. On average, wheat bread
will be the lowest calorie bread at most restaurants.
-
Mustard instead of mayonnaise. Mustard is
simply healthier. If you don't like the taste of mustard, ask for
low fat mayonnaise or ask the restaurant to go easy on the
mayonnaise.
-
Low fat dressing on the side. Regular dressing
contains a surprising high amount of calories. Balsamic is generally
low, though many chains offer other low calorie options if you ask.
If you pour on the dressing gradually, you'll use less and the
lettuce will stay crispier longer - a double bonus.
-
Finally, if you cave and order fries, ask for
the them to be unsalted. They'll be cooked fresh and will have
considerably less sodium.
To further help you make better choices when ordering fast
food, here are some menu suggestions for the popular chains. (We are gradually
adding to this list, so check back periodically. For general diet and weight
loss advice, we strongly recommend Weight
Watchers® .
Orginal Baja Taco - The tacos at
Baja Fresh are a decent option. The chicken and shrimp tacos have just 200 and
210 calories respectively. The steak tacos have a higher percentage of fat, but
at 230 calories (70 from fat), you could do far worse. Just say no to the
complimentary chips (210 calories).
Baja Ensalada - The charbroiled chicken
and the shrimp salads are both low calories, though high in sodium (1210mg and
1110mg respectively). The pork carnitas won't bust your gut either at 370
calories, though the sodium count is even higher. Just opt for the fat free
salsa verde dressing; the ranch dressing and olive oil vinaigrette are high in
calories and fat.
It is possible to get a salad for under 350
calories. Order chicken, fajita vegetables, tomato salsa, and lettuce. Two
ounces of the vinaigrette will add 282 calories to the meal. (In comparison, the
chicken only has 219 calories.) Avoid the tortilla, avoid the sour cream,
guacamole and cheese.
Baja
Fresh nutritional information
Hamburgers - The Whopper Jr. is the
only burger you want. Take advantage of having it your way by saying no to the
mayonnaise and opting for ketchup or mustard. The sandwich will have 290
calories, 150 of which come from the buns. Insider tio: the Whopper Jr. has less
calories than any of the chicken sandwiches.
Salads - The Tendergrill Chicken Filet
salad is the way to go. Including Ken's Light Italian, the salad has just 300
calories if you knock off the cheese and avoid the croutons. With the
"works", the salad still has only 420 calories. Just beware that the
dressing is high in sodium.
Burger King Nutritional Information
Burrito - The regular size tortilla
has 330 calories by itself (and no, this not a typo). Add rice (240 calories),
black beans (130), fajita vegetables (100), tomato salsa (5) and you have an 800
calorie meal. Chicken or Steak, cheese, sour cream and guacamole only add to the
caloric count.
Salads - It is possible to get a salad for
under 350 calories. Order chicken, fajita vegetables, tomato salsa, and lettuce.
Two ounces of the vinaigrette will add 282 calories to the meal. (In comparison,
the chicken only has 219 calories.) Avoid the tortilla, avoid the sour
cream, guacamole and cheese.
Chipotle
nutritional information (pdf)
Salads - The Grilled Chicken
Caesar Salad is the best choice of anything on the menu with 220
calories and 6 grams of fat. (Without chicken, it is just 140 calories).
Newman's Own Low Fat Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing is a good choice at
40 calories and 3 grams of fat. The Newman's Own Low Fat Family Recipe
Italian Dressing is a viable alternative at just 50 calories.
Just be aware that adding grilled chicken to a McDonald's salad
raises the sodium content by 710 mg or about 30% of the recommended
daily intake. This does not include the additional sodium that is
present in dressing, bacon bits or anything else you choose to add to
your salad.
The low fat dressings offered by McDonald's
aren't any better, each offering around the same level of sodium.
Hamburgers - The basic hamburger contains
250 calories and 9 grams of fat, including the bun. The bun accounts for 150
calories and 7 grams of fat by itself.
McDonald's
nutritional information
Muffins - The Banana Nut Muffin has 230 calories and 11 grams of fat.
If you need to eat breakfast on the go, this is not a bad option. The fruit cup
is better, however.
Fruit Cup - It's 70 calories and full of
vitamins. A good choice anytime of day.
Bread - You can specify whatever bread you want with any meal or
sandwich. So go with the Lower-Carb Italian Herb loaf or our favorite, the Pumpkin
Seed loaf. They are 80 and 90 calories per slice.
Sandwiches - The Smoked Turkey
Breast is just 380 calories if you opt to have it on the Lower-Carb Italian herb
bread. Say no to the mayonnaise and save even more calories. The Mediterranean
veggie can work if you don't have the feta cheese on it and go with lower carb
bread. Make sure to ask for fruit (or at least the baked chips).
Salads - The Fandango salad is listed at
390 calories, but actually has much less if you say no to the cheese. Ask for
the Fat-Free Raspberry dressing (50 calories and just 110mg of sodium).
Panera
Bread nutritional information (pdf)
Sandwiches - Quiznos provides
nutritional information on just two sandwiches: the small Turkey Lite and the
small Honey Bourbon Chicken. The Turkey Lite has 334 calories, but over 1900mg
of sodium (about 75% of the recommended daily intake). The Honey Bourbon has 359
calories, but 1500mg of cholesterol. If you get either sandwich, do not order
chips and/or watch your sodium intake throughout the rest of the day.
(Quiznos has removed the limited amount of
nutritional information they provided on their web site. The above information
was gathered before Quizno's changed their web site.)
Coffee - A grande
Cafe Au Lait
contains 140 calories and eight grams of fat.
If you simply request nonfat milk in your coffee, you can cut out all of the fat
and more than 40% of the calories. The daily dose of coffee will still cost you
90 calories, without sugar, but given the lack of fat, it won't increase your
waistline.
For those of you who opt for soy instead, a grande
coffee contains 110 calories and three grams of fat. Just don't order the breve
with your coffee, it jacks up the calories to a gut busting 300 calories.
Starbuck's
nutritional
information
Tacos - The Fresco Style Chicken Ranchero Taco and the Regular Style Chicken Ranchero Taco have just 170 calories and four grams of fat, if you order correctly.
The key is to request only the followig ingredients: chicken, fiesta salsa, lettuce and tortilla. Those of you on low sodium diets should note, however, that the tacos contain
560mg of sodium each (24% of the recommended daily allowance).
Salads - the regular style Express Taco Salad, which includes seasoned ground beef could be a decent option if the chips are not eaten. The salad is about 500 calories
with the chips and we are guess thing that the chips could account for about 20% of the calories. Sodium is still a factor, however, at 740mg. However, we can't tell how much of
this is related to the chips
Taco Bell
nutritional information
Sandwiches - In general, stick to the 6 grams or less menu
and you'll get a sandwich with 330 calories or less. The exception is
the Chicken Teriyaki at 380 calories, 100 more than the Veggie Delight.
The bigger secret is choosing the right condiments. Best options are:
vegetables, vinegar (1 calorie), the mustard (8 calories/no fat),
honey mustard select sauce (28 calories). Say no to the cheese and do
not ask for oil.
Subway
nutritional information
Salads - The Mandarin
Chicken Salad (our favorite) and the Spring Mix Salad have 170 and 180
calories, respectively. The seemingly innocent Chicken BLT salad
has 330 calories! As far as dressings, the Fat Free French has the
fewest calories (80). The Reduced Fat Creamy Ranch has 100
calories, but 8 grams of fat. Low Fat Honey Mustard is the only
other viable option at 110 calories and 3 grams of fat.
Hamburgers - A plain Junior
patty (2 oz) without a bun has 100 calories and 7 grams of fat. With
bun, ketchup, mustard, pickles and onions, the sandwich is 280 calories
and 9 grams of fat. The Classic Single patty (4 oz) has 210 calories and
14 grams of fat. The plain bun has 160 calories, 2 grams of fat,
and 31 grams of carbohydrates.
Sandwiches - The Ultimate Grilled Chicken Sandwich can be a
decent choice if ordered correctly. As featured on the menu, the
sandwich has 360 calories and 7 grams of fat. 40 calories and 2.5 grams
of fat can be eliminated by simply requesting a plain bun instead of the
Kaiser roll that normally is used.
Wendy's
nutritional information
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All of the calorie, carbohydrate, and fat
measurements were gathered from each restaurant's web site.
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NetSweat.com - The Internet's Fitness Resource 1996-2007
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