How to Make Fast Food Menus Work for Your Diet

Learning to make fast food menus work for your diet can be helpful, especially because many of us have to eat on the run these days and we all love it that fast food prices fall within our range. The key is to prepare yourself with knowledge about fast food nutrition. Here are some steps to help you make fast food menus less unhealthy, and to do so without depriving yourself of the tastiness.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Know where to find the nutritional information of these menus so that you can weigh your fast food options carefully. Fast food chains came under immense pressure in recent years to make the nutrition facts about their menu items accessible to customers, in order that people could make informed decisions about their food. But those brochures with nutritional information that became readily available at the menu counter seem to have vanished. Visit the fast food chains' websites, where their information is still available. Become familiar with what is in their food.

2. Order salads and other healthy options. Some fast food chains also offer fruits and yogurts. Always know what you're eating by referring to the nutritional information. Grilled options are also available but be aware that sometimes they can contain more calories than, say, a cheeseburger. However, this is a trade-off because while a grilled chicken sandwich may contain more calories than a cheeseburger, the cheeseburger is worse for your cholesterol.

3. Avoid the fried options. French fries, nuggets and onion rings, folks. These additions to your meal, calorically speaking, could be a meal in and of themselves. These project the image of a side dish, but trust that what you are ordering as your entree is probably plenty.

4. Steer clear of milkshakes! All of these steps come back to knowing the nutritional information, but items such as a McDonald's milkshake warrant a paragraph all on their own. Some of these milkshakes are calorie-rich enough to exceed half of what your calorie intake should be for the entire day, and these shakes achieve this without even providing much actual nutrition. One certain shake on the McDonald's menu is over 1160 calories.

5. Remove one of the sandwich buns. Cutting little corners here and there, such as taking off the top bun of your sandwich, can really add up (or actually, subtract down) in your favor. Use tricks like this one and resisting the urge to add things like french fries to your meal, and you begin to tip the scales (literally) back in your favor somewhat.

6. Be mindful of how these menu items can add up. Seriously, a double quarter pounder with cheese, a large fries and a milkshake is pretty much the equivalent (in calories, not nutritional content) of what your eating limit for the day should be.

7. Know that you're being manipulated. Fast food tastes good -too good. It's all based on studies of what tastes and smells best and which visuals work best on us. Some (or perhaps many) of these flavors and smells are engineered through chemicals in test tubes by some laboratory in New Jersey. Even fast food logos are designed with certain hunger-inspiring colors in mind. Worst of all, the fast food industry wants you to order that day's worth of calories (a double quarter pounder with cheese, large fries and milkshake) and to view it as "one meal." They know you'll be more prone to think of your food as one fast food order - "a sandwich, drink, and side dish" -as opposed to "2400 calories." And they're counting on it. Your health is not the priority of these restaurant chains -fast food sales is. If you want fast food menus to work for you, you need to take care not to fall into their traps.

Tips & Warnings

• Controlling caloric intake is no substitute for finding healthier food alternatives. Cutting down on calories is not necessarily the same as cutting down on cholesterol or sodium, or addressing any other possible health concerns. There are doctors that say you should only have fast food once a month, or never, if possible.

Resources

• Eat This, Not That: Thousands of Simple Food Swaps
• Eat This, Not That: Supermarket Survival Guide
• Eat This, Not That: The Best (and Worst) Foods in America
• Fast Food Nation

[cajungurl1947]

on 8/31/2009 Makes good sense. Thanks for all the tips and the research.

[jeansmith99]

on 8/30/2009 Great, very extensive article! 5* and recommend!