With the long summer job hours I find myself going to the easiest places on my lunch breaks—fast food restaurants. I try to be cautious about what I’m ordering so I don’t easily pack on the pounds. I found this great article on what are some healthy things to order at fast food restaurants.
McDonald’s
- 4-Piece Chicken Nuggets w/ Sweet ‘n Sour sauce (220 Calories, 10 g fat, 2 g saturated fat)
- Hamburger (260 calories, 9g fat, 3.5g saturated fat)
- McDonald’s Vanilla Reduced Fat Ice Cream Cone (150 calories, 3.5g fat, 2g saturated fat)
Taco Bell
- Taco Bell Gordita Nacho Cheese–Chicken (270 calories, 10g fat, 2.5g saturated fat)
- Taco Bell Fresco Style Crunchy Taco (150 calories, 7g fat, 2.5g saturated fat)
- Taco Bell Fresco Style Grilled Steak Soft Taco (170 calories, 5g fat, 1.5g saturated fat)
Wendy’s
- Wendy’s Jr. Hamburger (280 calories, 9g fat, 3.5g saturated fat)
- Wendy’s Large Chili (330 calories, 9g fat, 3.5g saturated fat)
- Wendy’s Jr. Frosty (160 calories, 4g fat, 2.5g saturated fat)
What are your favorite fast food picks? Do you think it’s pointless to try to eat healthy at fast-food restaurants?
sunflower / 318 posts
I LOVE the Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger at Wendy’s and the Fresco tacos are really great as well. My tip is to order from the kid’s menu whenever possible. The portions are much more reasonable.
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I found the Fresco style to be pretty nasty honestly. I wish I had liked it though.
rose / 791 posts
If you’re trying to be healthy, you don’t eat fast food.
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Instead of looking at fat and calorie contents, just realize that all fast food is pumped full of chemicals and is bad for your health. Instead of trying to find low fat or low calorie menu items, just avoid eating it at all. Cook your own food. If you can’t, learn. Don’t have time? Make time. Your health is worth it.
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@Cambios@xanga - I agree I find that the tomatoes have a bit of an off flavor. Perhaps the tomatoes are already chopped and packaged prior to being shipped to the store. (Probably additives added for freshness, as well…which also adds another layer of weird flavor.)
I usually don’t try to “eat healthy” when I go to fast food restaurant. I try to avoid going to them as often as I can, so when I go it’s not a big deal. But you can make better choices when ordering there, probably shouldn’t order everything fried, go easy with creamy sauces and dressings, skip cheese, have water instead of soda or high calorie/sugar coffee drinks and “blended” fruit drinks and to go for smallest sized portion available.
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You’re confusing “healthy” and “low-fat”. You can never eat healthy in a fast food restaurant!
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What about salads?.. I know people say, oh its just as bad as a hamburger!.. Maybe the chicken in it but a regular salad is good..
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I use the eat this, no that books. Chick fil-a is an A- all together and one the healthiest places to eat
orchid / 221 posts
I know I should eat healthier… but when I’m at a fast food joint, I just order what I feel like ordering haha.
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I just don’t eat fast food, period.
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I’ll agree fast food isn’t exactly HEALTHY, but sometimes it’s difficult to bring/make your own food unless you like sandwiches everyday (and I don’t particularly like them all the time), so when I have to eat out, I love Taco Bell’s fresco tacos as well! Obviously Subway is a “healthier” option, but again, I get tired of sandwiches all the time. If I can go anywhere with a salad bar, that’s usually perfect, but it’s hard to find those around here. I miss Whole Foods
There’s nothing near my work that has that type of salad bar.
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I eat at McDonald’s once a week. Sometimes once every 14 days but I can’t go a month without it. I get small fries and a McChicken sandwich or a grill chicken snack wrap. You cant eat healthy at fast food restaurants but you can in small portions.
daffodil / 1601 posts
Sure, if all you care about is a calorie budget those work. But, if you care about actual nutrition, f——-k no!
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Don’t eat fast food, enough said xD. Most likely if going to a fast food we dont keep these foods in mind when there are other tempting alternatives
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How is fast food healthy? It’s fast – gives you quick energy. I’d rather take the time to build myself a proper meal that’ll last me longer.
daffodil / 1525 posts
low calories =! healthy
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If I absolutely have to go out and it’s not at a sit down restaurant, I pick something like Subway over McDonalds.
hydrangea / 74 posts
miss, where is your brain? none of these are “healthy” NONE OF THESE. you will be “packing on the pounds” easily if you eat like this, or you’ll start to waste away and become thin because of malnutrition like I did.
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Oh my, people are being haters, I think healthy at a fast restaurant is impossible, but eating “healthy” is possible if you eat low cal stuff and that is what the point is of this. duh.
Additionally, the salads at most fast food restaurants add up to be around 700 cals without the dressing and with the chicken. So they aren’t really that healthy.
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@corpsegutted@xanga - Agreed.
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If I step foot into a fast food chain, I know I won’t be eating healthy. Although indulging in it feels absolutely great hahaha!
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I try not to have fast food at all, and I’ve been able to keep it down to 2-3 a month. But sometimes in the morning I’ll get a craving for McDonald’s breakfast (bacon,egg,cheese biscuit with hashbrown). Mother of God that is good.
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And the gross amounts of sodium, chemicals, processing? Lo-cal and low fat does not necessarily equal healthy. Not that I don’t enjoy them rom time to time but i know it’s not healthy.
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4 chicken nuggets…a hamburger….and an icecream isn’t going to fill me up!!! And i’m a tiny girl! Neither is that stuff at Wendys…I’d rather be full then healthy
Especially at a yummy place like Wendys..,
But i see this isn’t really about being healthy…just being low calorie…which isn’t healthy for my weight. I say if you want a low calorie meal….eat the crunchwrapsuprime and a burrito and Taco Bell…and wait till it comes out…which happens pretty fast…bam…a 0 calorie meal!
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