Let’s face it. We live in a world driven by convenience. We are constantly rushing from place to place with barely any time to think about planning a healthy lunch for our trips to work or school. Inevitably, we find ourselves hungry when the only place to eat is a dreaded fast food restaurant. We start to enter but are struck with a strange feeling of guilt like we are doing something illegal. We know we shouldn’t eat here, but there’s simply no time to get anything healthy. We convince ourselves that we’ll pick up the healthy eating tomorrow and proceed to order the Big Mac with large fries. Does this sound familiar? It doesn’t have to be this way. With today’s emphasis on trans-fats, obesity, and heart disease, even the fast food restaurants are starting to provide healthy (or healthier) alternatives. Below is a list of meals and the calories contained in each that you can safely order in a fast food restaurant without feeling guilty.
Chick-fil-A - This is a great restaurant if you have one nearby. They specialize in fried chicken, but also feature some genuinely healthy options. A safe bet would be to order the Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich. At 270 calories, it is a great choice. Plus it comes on a whole wheat bun. Even better would be to get a Chargrilled Chicken Garden Salad. This salad is actually pretty tasty and weighs in at a lite 180 calories. Add some fat free honey mustard dressing and an unsweetened iced tea or water and you’re getting a great meal for the calories.
Wendy’s – This restaurant is starting to branch out into healtier alternatives by offering the choice of replacing french fries with a side of fruit, salad, or a baked potato. Plus, they have an Ultimate Chicken Grill Sandwich that has a great taste and only 320 calories. I would recommend avoiding their recent artisan sandwiches. While they may sound healthy, there is usually loads of mayo on them that raise the calories.
Arby’s – While Arby’s has been trying to branch out lately, it is their original Roast Beef Sandwich that I would recommend. It only contains 320 calories and provides plenty of meat to fill you up.
Taco Bell – While you may not think of Taco Bell having any healthy options, they have some surprisingly low cal choices. You can order almost anything on the menu “Fresco Style”, which means that they will take off the cheese and add some low calorie (and delicious) cilantro salsa to your menu item. This saves you plenty of calories and honestly tastes better in my opinion. One Beef Soft Taco Fresco Style is a measly 180 calories, while the vegetarian Bean Burrito Fresco Style is only 330. Just say “Fresco Style, please”.
McDonald’s – Honestly, it would be best to avoid this restaurant altogether. There are very few healthy choices here. But, if you insist on going, I’d recommend ordering the Grilled Chicken Sandwich (without mayo). This sandwich contains 370 calories (if the server’s remembered to remove the mayonnaise), but is actually pretty small and never really fills me up. Plus, the fries smell so good whenever I walk into McD’s that I try to just skip this restaurant and move on to somewhere else.
