It dawned on me recently that along with my kids, I haven’t eaten as much fast food this past year. In the past, with 2 young kids and their hectic schedules (and mine) I would occasionally stop at the usual fast food places. Not this last year. After reading a recent article in Health magazine about fast food, even the “healthy” fast food options make me now understand why America isn’t losing weight.
Fast food places, like Chipotle, carry long lines out the door, with kids and their parents, believing they have found a new lower calorie, healthy alternative to fast food. A few years ago after the movie, Super Size Me, came out my kids decided that they would no longer eat fast food. The movie painted a very bad picture of fast food, and what it can do to your weight and overall health. It seemed that many kids decided to stop eating fast food as a result of watching this movie. Then in NY a few years ago, restaurants came under fire for serving unhealthy choices, and not alerting their customers about the nutritional contents. As a result, NY restaurants are now required to post all nutritional information in a highly visible place for their customers to see when ordering their fast food.
How should you navigate your way around fast food? It is inevitable that we will need to grab fast food once in awhile.
FAST FOOD MYTHS
Mexican fast food places, like Chipotle, are often viewed as offering healthier options than the traditional standby’s, McDonald’s and Wendy’s. Chipotle lets you decide what you want on your burritos, which makes people feel like they are eating fresh made, made-to-order food that isn’t processed. Here’s the bad news and the startler–if you look at this wonderful nutritional post for Chipotle you will see what the fat and calorie count is for the exact type of combination you order. The average burrito has over 1,500 calories, and many options have over 2,000 calories. The Burrito Bowl is a better way to go, so you can skip the fattening tortillas, but get all the protein and other healthy ingredients–just watch the cheese, sour cream, guacamole and, of course, leave off all the onions.
McDonald’s has gotten a bad rap since the Super Size Me movie came out. Since then, McDonald’s has gone to great strides to beef up their health contents. Rated by Health magazine as one of America’s healthiest fast food options, McDonald’s actually now cooks their fries in Canola Oil, and offers smaller portions than some other fast food chains. Some of the healthier options at McDonald’s include the Egg McMuffin, grilled chicken sandwich and wraps. Stay away from the Super Sized options.
Italian food and noodles have gotten a bad reputation in the past few years for being high in carbs. But Health magazine says Noodles and Company is actually one of the healthiest fast food chains around. With high protein options, and whole wheat pasta dishes, you can’t go wrong here. For picky eaters, like my son, Edward, there are Asian dishes, Italian dishes and American. The pasta dishes aren’t prepared in much oil. Watch the desserts here, though.
Sandwiches have become popular as a healthy fast food alternative offered in places like Corner Bakery, Au Bon Pain and Panera. If overstuffed, those sandwiches can inch up towards 1,000 calories. These chains do offer reduced portions, though, a huge plus. Au Bon Pain has a nice selection of soups and appetizer-sized plates worth trying.
Image Credit: asbalyan @ Flickr
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