Healthier Fast Food
Healthier Fast Food
You’re hungry and short on time. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make healthy food choices. Here are tips on how to choose wisely at restaurants, at the grocery store, or in your own kitchen.
Quick Pick
Healthier Choices...Eating On The Run
Your body can’t wait for your life to slow down...Eating on the run has become the rule these days. We grab a sweet roll and coffee for breakfast, eat take-out at our desks for lunch and pop a frozen entree into the microwave for dinner. We tell ourselves that the low-fat, low-calorie, low-salt diet we meant to follow will just have to wait till we get home. But our bodies aren’t waiting. Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women, and our diets can be part of the problem — or part of the solution. We can clog up our arteries with bad fats, or help them stay open with foods which provide helpful vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. We can burden ourselves with extra pounds, or fill up on foods which lighten our loads.
The fact is we can make healthier fast food choices no matter how pressed we are for time. Here’s how to increase your energy and reduce your risk of heart disease, many cancers, diabetes and other diseases with healthier convenience foods.
Get A Taste For Knowledge
Pick A Number
Average daily caloric needs women—1600 calories, men—2500 calories
Average fast food restaurant hamburger, shake and fries—1200 calories
McDonald’s Super Size French fries—540 calories
American adults who are overweight or obese —over 60%
Try to eat less than a third of your daily calories per meal so that you can have a light snack as well.
Rise And Dine!
In The Beginning: BREAKFAST!
Breakfast eaters learn better, control their weight better, and have lower blood choles-terol. On the contrary, breakfast skippers are grumpier, as their blood sugar levels take a nose dive. Sound like your family or co-workers in the morning? Breakfast should give you a third of the day’s good nutrients with fruit or fruit juice, lowfat dairy products, and whole grains that will stick to your ribs for awhile.
Home And Away, Healthy Morning Choices
High fiber, whole-grain cereal (like Cheerios, Raisin Bran, Grape-Nuts, or Wheat Chex)
Low-fat milk
Fruit or orange juice
Lowfat yogurt
Bagel with jelly
Banana
Instant oatmeal
Fresh or frozen blueberries
Lowfat milk
Peanut butter on whole-wheat toast with jam
Low-fat milk
Apple
1 poached egg
Whole-wheat toast
Orange juice
Each meal averages 500 calories and has a maximum of 15 grams of fat.
McDonald's
Lowfat Apple Bran Muffin
Low-fat milk
Orange juice
Starbucks
Grande nonfat latte
Bagel with jelly
Hardee's
Three pancakes
Orange juice
Dunkin Donuts
English Muffin
Glazed donut
Orange juice
Afternoon De-LIGHT
Four Healthy Fast Food Lunches Or Dinners
Eating out doesn’t mean you have to give up on your health, but you do need some “sales resistance.” Avoid supersized meals — they’re no deal at all, unless you split one with a friend. Generally, plain poultry, salads with reduced fat dressings, and meatless pizza are good choices. Also, adding lowfat milk, broccoli, or tofu can help you get the nutrients you need. These meals are much better than most, but fast food meals tend to be high in salt. If you’re on a salt-restricted diet, you may need to do more homework by checking the sodium content of fast foods —ask to see the nutritional information the next time you’re at a fast food restaurant.
Each meal below averages 500 calories and has about 15 grams of fat
Arby's
Arby’s Roast Chicken Salad
Reduced Calorie Italian Dressing
Potato Cakes
Iced Tea
Boston Market
Skinless Rotisserie Turkey Breast
New Potatoes
Steamed Vegetables
Fruit Salad
Chicken Soup (lowfat)
McDonald's
Chicken Caesar salad
Fat Free Herb Vinaigrette
4 piece chicken nugget
Low-fat milk
Subway
6” Cold Sub — choose from: Ham, Roast Beef, Turkey Breast, Turkey Breast & Ham, Veggie Delight
(use light mayo, oil/vinegar, mustard, or ketchup)
Veggie Delight™ Salad
Fat Free Italian Dressing
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
Fast Food menus designed with the help of Dr. Amy Brown, a Professor of Nutrition at San Diego State University and a registered dietitian.
Shopping For Healthy Meals
Most of us don’t have time to prepare fancy recipes — we need to get something on the table quickly. However, having some of the items listed below in stock will allow you to prepare a variety of healthy meals.
Grocery List
- fresh precut broccoli spears, cauliflower, asparagus, bell peppers, mushrooms
- cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, zucchini
- prewashed salad greens or shredded cabbage in a bag
- frozen vegetables and fruits
- vegetable juices (carrot, tomato)
- fresh apples, oranges and bananas
- applesauce
- pure fruit juices (cranberry, apple, cherry)
- dried fruits (apricots, dates, raisins, prunes)
- nuts and seeds (spreads: peanut butter, sesame butter)
- baked beans
- fresh or frozen fish (orange roughy, halibut, haddock)
- skinless chicken breast
- ground turkey or lowfat beef
- soups (chicken noodle, tomato, split pea, chili)
- spaghetti sauces
- frozen pizza (cheese, vegetarian)
- whole-grain breads and crackers
- white rice, bulgur, cous cous
- pasta (try whole wheat or spinach)
- tortillas (corn or flour)
- baked tortilla chips
- whole-grain breakfast cereals
- lowfat dairy or soy yogurt
- 1% dairy or soy milk
- lowfat graded cheddar cheese
- nonfat sour cream
- salsa
- wine vinegar
- olive oil
- pickles
- pretzels
- lowfat croutons
More Than A Mouthful
Five Fast And Healthy Home Dinners
- Tomato soup made with lowfat milk; steamed baby carrots and broccoli; whole-wheat toast with melted cheese; seasonal fresh fruit salad.
- One-half pound lowfat meat, spaghetti sauce; pasta (try whole-wheat or spinach); salad with olive oil dressing; instant pudding made with 1% milk.
- Large salad with dark green leafy lettuce, carrots, sliced olives, bell peppers, gar-banzo or kidney beans, sliced almonds, grated cheese, roasted soybeans, lowfat croutons, and olive oil dressing; split pea soup; lowfat frozen yogurt.
- Baked or broiled skinless chicken breast; canned peas or green beans; applesauce sprinkled with cinnamon; lowfat milk.
- Veggieburgers; whole-wheat buns; ketchup, lettuce, sliced tomatoes; pickle chips; lowfat vanilla or lemon yogurt.
Olive Oil Salad Dressing
Olive oil is being widely recognized as a health food — a fat that’s actually good for you, helping to reduce “bad” cholesterol. Work it into your diet as dressing for garden, pasta or rice salads.
- 2 tablespoons honey mustard
- 2 tablespoons wine vinegar
- 6 tablespoons of olive oil
With a wire whisk, mix mustard and wine vinegar. Gradually whisk in olive oil until thick and creamy.
For More Information
National Restaurant Association
www.restaurant.org
American Dietetic Association
www.eatright.org
A PUBLICATION OF THE
Wellness Councils of America
9802 Nicholas Street, Suite 315
Omaha, NE 68114-2106
Phone: (402) 827-3590
Fax: (402) 827-3594
www.welcoa.org
©2006 Wellness Councils of America
The information contained in this brochure has been carefully reviewed for accuracy. It is not intended to replace the advice of your physician or health care provider.