We all know that eating fast food isn’t the best option if you’re watching your weight and physique. Unfortunately, there are times when it’s your only option; maybe it’s the only thing you can get late at night or it’s the only thing you have time to grab when you’re traveling. In cases like this where you’d rather not eat fast food, but don’t really have any other choice, there are ways to still make relatively healthy decisions about what you eat. Below, I’ve compiled four tips for reducing your calories and eating healthy at fast food restaurants that you can implement the next time you’re in a situation like this.
1. Choose Grilled over Fried
One of the best ways to save calories is to choose grilled over fried foods, if that’s an option. Frying is one of the worst ways to pack on additional calories, because the oil makes your food very calorie-dense without making it any more filling. When you choose grilled, you can significantly reduce the excess fat and calories while still retaining all the volume of the food itself.
For example, at Popeyes, by choosing a grilled chicken sandwich over a fried chicken sandwich, you still get all the volume and protein of a chicken sandwich while saving yourself about 150 calories. It might not have the crunch you’re used to and so desire, but sometimes, as good as a crispy outer shell can be, those extra calories just aren’t worth it.
2. Don’t Add Cheese or Bacon
Pretty much every fast food restaurant offers versions of their signature burgers and sandwiches that come with bacon, cheese, or both. While these add-ons might be tempting, you might want to look past them if you want to keep your meal relatively low in calories. Bacon and cheese can each add as much as 70-100 calories to a sandwich, and when combined, this can come out to an additional 150-200 calories.
This is only made worse by the fact that, at least in my opinion, these additional calories don’t really enhance the experience that much; in fact, I often prefer my burgers without cheese, as I don’t care for how greasy and gooey everything becomes when cheese is added to the mix. I do like adding bacon to my burgers, but it’s not something I need to have if I’m trying to shave off extra calories.
Plus, these add-ons also usually come at a premium, so by opting to forego these calories, you can also save a bit of money.
3. Skip the Soda
It’s common knowledge that soda isn’t very good for you, but just how bad is it? Well, not only does it contain copious amounts of sugar, which itself isn’t healthy, but all of this sugar also translates into an astonishingly high calorie content. At McDonald’s, a large coke has nearly 300 calories. If you then get another refill, you’re practically drinking almost as many calories as you’ve eaten.
Therefore, instead of getting a soda with your meal, opt for just a water cup. If not having a fizzy beverage with your burger just doesn’t feel right, go with other zero-sugar, zero-calorie options like sparkling water or diet soda.
4. Pass on the Fries
If you decide to skip the soda, you might as well skip the whole combo meal altogether, because your meal will also be a lot healthier if you don’t get fries on the side. A large order of fries from Wendy’s often contains almost 500 calories, and considering that they contain nothing but carbohydrates and oil, they are purely empty calories that should certainly be avoided if you want to cut down on calories at fast food restaurants.
In all honesty, I know this suggestion can be especially difficult. Even for me, fries are one of the few junk foods I can never resist. Therefore, if you’re anything like me, and would have a hard time completely cutting fries out from your meal, you can instead stick to a small order of fries or limit yourself to just a portion of the fries and not finish them all.
Keep Your Diet in Your Control
The next time you’re stuck having to get fast food, but still want to have a relatively healthy meal, keep these helpful tips in mind when you walk up to order at the counter. Given that no fast food is really that good for you, this will at least help you make the best of the situation by ensuring you fill up on protein while minimizing the additional calories you end up taking in from sugar and fat.
In the end, however, don’t worry if all of these dos and don’ts get a bit complicated. These aren’t strict rules you must always abide by. Can you never eat another fried chicken sandwich? Of course you can. Can you never order fries with your burger again? I couldn’t hold myself to that, and would certainly never force that upon anyone else!
Rather, these suggestions are just meant to make you more aware of what you’re eating and how much you’re eating. By thinking about some of these things, you’ll begin to pay more attention to the calorie information on menus, better understand where your calories are coming from, and be more mindful of what you order the next time you visit a fast food restaurant.
