Eating Healthier at Fast Food Restaurants
I have to admit that I seldom eat at fast food joints. I much prefer
to eat great food and it’s worth the time to either cook it myself
or find a better alternative to fast food.
Even though I travel a great deal, part of my success in avoiding mediocre food away from home is the same as when I am at home – planning! I am writing this on an airplane today and my lunch was carryon from home. I simply made my sandwich this morning as I usually do. Fast food restaurants are now very expensive and not only did I save money, I had a much better meal: it both tasted better and was better for me.
I have created this list of selected items from common fast food restaurants for you to use when you must eat out. I have kept it pretty straightforward and the only information included is calories and fat. The items listed fall generally under 400 calories or so and under 15 grams of fat. If you are going to be stuck eating at such restaurants this is a fairly good guideline to use for any meal.
Burger King is not the only restaurant that will “let you have it your way”. It’s pretty easy to get substitutions at traditional places like McDonalds and Wendy’s. They will make your meal healthier if you just ask. Subway is a good choice for this because you are in complete control of what is going on your sandwich.
Baja
Fresh [ PDF ] |
McDonald's [ PDF ] |
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Dr. Gourmet Recommends
Eating at restaurants can be full of pitfalls. How do you know what's healthy and tastes good, as well? Dr. Gourmet is visiting common restaurant chains and testing the healthiest options so that you can eat out with confidence.
First restaurant: Ruby Tuesday [ PDF ]
About Salad Dressings
Most people who work at eating better know that the salad bar can be a terrific way to eat out, eat great food and have a healthy meal. There are a few items that can tip the scales as far as fat and calories are concerned, especially if you're trying to watch your weight. A major offender is salad dressings, and I have created a list of the Nutrition Facts for salad dressings from major chain restaurants.
I've included nutrition info that is available on the "big boys" like McDonald's and Burger King but also restaurants like Souplantation and Golden Corral who offer extensive salad bars. I am sure that there's some that I missed and maybe you have a smaller regional chain that you would like to see included in the list. If so, write me at askdrgourmet@drgourmet.com and I'll contact the restaurant and get the information, if it's available. Note that some of the information isn't complete. Many restaurants simply don't report on the complete information so, as always, it's buyer (or eater) beware.
The best part of this is that the information is available here on the Dr. Gourmet website but also as a set of PDF files that you can download. These PDF files have been formatted so that they can be easily read on your Palm or other handheld computer. That way you have the info with you when you're at the restaurant.
Old
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