Healthy Tips: Healthy Fast Food

Healthy fast food, is this an oxymoron? Can we get a healthy meal at the McD’s? You sure can because even these outlets have been jumping on the healthy eating bandwagon.  There are options available to eat healthy when you visit the golden arches.  Note that I would never condone always eating fast food, but sometimes life gets busy and it's the easiest choice. 

Here are some things you can have instead of french fries:

Salads
• Some outlets now offer meal sized salads. These salads are great in that they are fresh and have the option adding a grilled chicken breast.
• Be wary of the dressing as well as the portion size. Try using only half or a quarter of the dressing pack.
• My personal favourite is the Mcdonald’s Mediterranean salad, here is the calorie breakdown for it:

Healthier sandwiches
• Have a whole grain bun instead of the regular white one.
• Opt for no mayo or creamy sauces as they are very high in calories and saturated fats
• Try the grilled options instead of the deep fried breaded ones

Drinks
• Have water instead of pop. Water quenches your thirst and contains zero calories. Pop is quite the opposite as it’s loaded with sugars.
• If you must have the pop, try a smaller size with a diet variety

Substitutions
• Opt out of the fries and try a health substitute, such as a side salad.

Also, most of the fast food joints have calorie fact sheets available for public viewing. If you don’t know how many calories are in an item, look it up. Arm yourself with knowledge and you can enjoy healthy eating via fast food.

Here’s a few sites for nutritional information:
Mcdonald's
Subway
Wendy's

You always have choices in life, so make the best ones to help you meet those goals