Fast food is extremely convenient. Whether you're running out late from work for your lunch break, stopping off between states on an 8-hour journey, or dying from hunger on your way home from the beach - fast food is a wonderfully reliable pit stop to make for great-tasting food ready in less than a minute.
But some of us - not all, but some - hate the feeling we get after eating fast food.
We feel nauseous, bloated, and fatigued from a grease overdose that strays way too far from our regular diet habits to be comfortable. We feel guilty for choosing convenience over health, as though it always has to be a choice.
Well, health can be convenient - that is, fast food can be relatively healthy! You just have to know what to order. I found a list of the healthiest foods to order at 10 different fast food restaurants online at http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=1193.
The list is as follows (see the original article for full nutritional fact listings):
MCDONALD'S:1. Premium Grilled Chicken Classic Sandwich (hold the mayo).
2. Premium Asian Salad with grilled chicken.
3. Fruit and Yogurt Parfait.
WENDY'S:1. Mandarin Chicken Salad.
2. Ultimate Chicken Grill (with lettuce, tomato, and honey mustard sauce).
BURGER KING:1. Tendergrill Chicken Garden Salad (hold the cheese; get with light Italian dressing).
2. BK Veggie Burger (hold the mayo).
TACO BELL:1. Fresco Style Ranchero Chicken Soft Taco.
2. Fresco Crunchy Taco.
SUBWAY:1. Anything from the "Fresh Fit" Menu.
2. 6" Oven-Roasted Chicken Breast.
3. 6" Veggie Delite (order it on Italian bread and it's not only vegetarian, but vegan!).
4. Any of the following soups: Cream of Broccoli, Minestrone, New England Style Clam Chowder, Roasted Chicken Noodle, Spanish-Style Chicken with Rice, Tomato Garden Vegetable with Rotini, or Vegetable Beef.
ARBY'S:1. Martha's Vineyard Salad.
KFC:1. Honey BBQ Sandwich.
2. Tender Roast Sandwich.
3. Roasted Caesar Salad (hold the croutons, use fat-free Ranch instead of Caesar dressing).
CHIK-FIL-A:1. Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich.
2. Chargrilled Chicken and Fruit Salad (with reduced-fat berry balsamic vinaigrette).
JACK IN THE BOX:1. Asian Chicken Salad with grilled chicken strips.
2. Chicken Fajita Pita (hold the salsa).
CARL'S JR.:1. Charbroiled BBQ Chicken Sandwich.
2. Charbroiled Chicken Salad.
Of course, it's unrealistic to expect anyone to memorize this list, or to refer to it whenever he or she may want to order something healthy from any of the places listed above. I have therefore come up with 3 easy health rules-of-thumb to keep in mind when attempting to order something healthy at any fast food restaurant. There are, of course, exceptions to these very general rules.
1. CHOOSE CHICKEN. It is almost always healthier than beef dishes, and also than fish and vegetable dishes, which tend to be more loaded up with additional good-tasting ingredients at most fast-food places.
2. GRILL IT OR BROIL IT - FRY IT TO SPOIL IT! Choose nothing with a fried or breaded outer layer when you could get the same thing grilled or broiled. This added layer is pure artery-clogging material. This IS the stuff that nauseates the healthy eater, like it or not!
3. IF SAUCES ARE THICK, THEN YOU WILL FEEL SICK! When it comes to choosing dressings for salads or sauces for sandwiches, always choose the least creamy options. Hold the Ranch, mayo, bleu cheese, pink sauce, Thousand Island, and so on and replace these with sauces like Italian dressing, mustard, balsamic vinaigrette, or even ketchup and bbq sauce. If there is a fat-free, lite, or reduced-fat option, those are obviously better choices than their fully caloric counterparts!
What are some other healthy fast-food options, perhaps from restaurants not listed above? What about other health-ordering rules-of-thumb?
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Comments (11)
i loved this post, even though i'd probably blacklist any sandwich too since i;m horribly afraid of the havoc processed wheat wreaks in my body. i'd just stick with salads...and f they don;t have a salad. i;d order the chicken dishes and get rid of the bread. also, the last 2 rules are great too. i never EVER eat fried food even if it means i;d starve and the only condiment i use is dijon mustard since other mustards have sugar added to them.
Great post! I really loved how you took the time to explore the menu's and gave us this healthy food guide list :) Thanks xo
subway is the "healthiest" junk food. i love MCDs fruit and yogurt parfait. sooo good.
I worship the BK Veggie Burger :)
i'm totally going to remember this the next time i'm at wendy's!
Now I'm hungry, thanks.
mmmmm
Honestly, the healthiest fast food that I can think of (and what I rely on every time I need something quick)... is Whole Foods. Nothing beats it, seriously. Plus... I always make time to make a meal (& plan in advance) to bring with me too.
fruit and yogurt parfait's sound like they would be good, but they're actually horrible for you.
Awesome post! What a coincidence...I happened to go to McDonalds yesterday for one of their salads.
The fruit and yogurt parfaits are actually not that good for you.
When they're prepared at McD's, they use fat and sugar filled yogurt, which could be replaced with low fat no sugar yogurt. The fruit, though you may think differently, is indeed ordered processed and frozen, which eliminates some of the nutritional value. If that isn't bad enough, it is then thawed in a pot of hot water. Soaking food removes the nutrients from said food, so there goes the remaining nutrients. This makes the parfait nothing but fat, sugar, and soggy fruit.