We all lead busy lives and finding the time to eat right can often be a challenge.
When looking for a nutritious, hearty meal, can visiting a fast food restaurant be a healthy choice?
You might be juggling taking the kids to school, working an eight-hour day, taking the kids to after-school activities, hitting the gym, and that often means finding food on the run have to.
If you haven’t taken the time to prepare a packed lunch (and the kids!), you will most likely end up visiting a fast food restaurant at some point.
Most people know that fast food doesn’t equal healthy food, and the typical fare served up by these establishments are real diet and health killers. Huge burgers with cheese, bacon, and dressings, rotisserie chickens and steaks, cheese-laden pizzas, burritos, and tacos, all washed down with large or extra-large sodas and milkshakes.
Some meals can contain so much fat and sugar that a single meal would exceed your recommended daily allowance for the whole day!
Well, if you’re a healthy eater and rarely frequent fast-food restaurants, a burger or two or a slice of pizza won’t hurt you. However, if, like 40% of Americans, you consider the local fast food restaurant your second kitchen, it’s time to take a look at your diet and take a look at your health.
When you find yourself in a fast food restaurant, careful selection and common sense can still mean you can find a tasty, healthy meal. The best rule of thumb is to avoid any food where the calories from fat make up more than 30% of the total product. To calculate this percentage, multiply the fat grams by nine (the total fat calories) and divide by the total calories.
So that you no longer have to take a calculator with you to every meal, you can quickly get used to which foods and preparation methods should be avoided. If the food has been breaded, fried, or grilled many times, it is sure to contain a lot of fat. Note that they not only have burgers, but also chicken and fish.
Many modern fast-food restaurants also have salad bars, so choose a fresh green salad to accompany your main meal. But again, be sure to add greasy extras like cheese, dressings, and mayonnaise. Low-calorie dressings, if available, are the best alternative.
Restaurants are now offering nutritional information for their meals and foods so that the health conscious eater or dieter can find out what is in their food and the calories and fats it contains. If the nutritional information is not clearly visible or available, do not hesitate to ask a member of staff as they should provide it to you.
Eating on the run is something we can’t avoid at some point in our lives, but luckily we can make healthy choices instead of keeping fast-food restaurants taboo.
Thanks to Jack Prime
