Hard Truths that Set You Free: Fast Food Reloaded
Let’s face the facts. If you eat less than you burn, you’ll lose weight. If you eat more, you’ll gain. Most people have nothing but a rough estimate of what they are eating, and usually it is way off. The first step towards fat loss is taking control of your food. This article will show you how to dissect your food and make it work for you and what to do when faced with the dreaded drive through window, being repeatedly asked, do you want to supersize that.
If you are serious, get a food scale and weigh everything. It’s not that you have to track forever, because I know it is tedious, but that you have to develop awareness. You may think that a giant bowl of chips is a serving, when a serving is a handful. You may also not know that your bowl is giant.
The pleasure of eating
Eating should be a pleasure. Dieting is not an excuse to exercise your masochistic tendencies, rather, it should make you lose fat, as painlessly as possible. Unfortunately for many people fast food is one of their biggest indulgences. I had a client recently casually report eating a chipotle burrito, which he thought was at least a healthy alternative. After the total calories were tallied in it was a staggering 2100! I showed him the errors of his ways and now he can indulge without the consequences.
Fast Food Reloaded
We selected five popular fast food joints, scoured their menus, weighed the options and found the best selections. Obviously you will need more or less calories based on your diets so work that portion control. We tried to get the most protein while minimizing fat and carbs while at the same time getting the most nutrition.
Chipotle
With chipotle you can use this nifty calculator. Goal is to get a balanced meal and maximum amount of proteins while keeping the calories low. Start with a bowl if you’ll want guacamole or extra sauces, otherwise you could go for the hard tacos. Add either pinto or black beans, since unlike rice they have more protein and are lower GI. The meat choices are pretty much the same so get what you like. The Salsas are pretty low in calorie (15-20-40) so go hog wild. Be careful with the extras -guacamole, cheese, sour cream- as adding all three will bump you up another 375 calories. Chips, as usual, are terrible at 570 calories 73g carbs and 27g fat.
Our Choice
Burrito Bol
Black Beans
120 kcal
23g carbs
7g protein
Steak
190 kcal
7g fat
2g carbs
30g protein
Tomato and Hot Salsas
60 kcal
12g carbs
3g protein
Guacamole
150kcal
13g fat
8g carbs
2g protein
Total
520 kcal
22g fat
45g carbs
42g protein
KFC
So they are healthening it up a bit themselves, with the new Kentucky Grilled, and 395 calories for $3.95. It’s not bad, if fast food were your only option. But if you’ve got a kitchen, there’s no reason not to make a tasty Kentucky feast of your own. You can’t go wrong with the Kentucky Grilled but if you don’t want to die from rabbit starvation, get a side dish along with it. Any of the side dishes should be ok as long as you stick to one.
Our Choice
2 breast + 1 drumstick
430 kcal
80g protein
0g carbs
Mashed Potatoes (No gravy)
100 kcal
16g carbs
Green Beans
25 kcal
5g Carbs
Total:
555 Calories
82g protein
21g carbs
Burger King
BK was really a tough one. All the burgers were loaded with carbs and fat and it was difficult getting close to 50g protein without breaking 800kcal. Your best bet is to stick with the tendergrill chicken sandwich with an extra chicken breast or two. Getting it with mustard instead of mayo will save you 100 calories. And if you want to cut the carbs in half throw away half the bun.
A proper burger
Our Choice:
Tender Grill Chicken Sandwich
No Mayo
With Mustard
Extra Chicken Breast, Tomatoes and Onions
530 kcal
15g fat
57g carbs
43g protein
Skip the fries and dessert and drink water. If you must, opt for diet coke or if you REALLY need it get 3/4th diet coke and 1/4th regular as a last alternative.
McDonald’s
We found better choices at McDonald’s; their menu seemed more balanced. We skipped the beef burgers because they’re pretty low on protein for the calorie buck. The chicken sandwiches are better, with the grilled chicken classic leading the way with 420kcal, 10g fat, 51g carb and 32 g protein. If you pull the double breast and no mayo all on one bun trick, as with BK, you can get even better numbers. In the end we were drawn to the salads with the impressive “Premium Bacon Ranch Salad with Grilled Chicken” 260 calories, 9g fat, 12g carbs, and a staggering 33g of protein. Although the total calorie is low it allows for wiggle room if we want a side dish or dressing. A double order of chicken brings up the protein even more making the salad even more filling.
Only post-workout drink you need
Our Choice:
Premium Bacon Ranch Salad with Grilled Chicken (double order meat)
312 calories (estimated)
9g fats
12g carbs
46g Protein
+Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
40 calories
Total
352
12g fat
16g carbs
46g protein
Subway
The supposed king of the healthy fast food surprising has some pretty calorie dense options. The good thing about subway is the customizability of each item. You get to choose everything and watch it being made so there shouldn’t be too many hidden ingredients. Maxing out in a meal can bring your calories above 2000 easily. A footlong with double meat, double cheese, and a variety of sauces, mayo, chips and a drink will do that. Stick to a 6″ or a wrap or even make your own salad and skip the starch vehicle all together. Go for lean but substantial meats such as chicken breast, roast beef, or even the subway club. Get double meat to bring up the protein, giving you a more filling sandwich that is still nutritionally sound. The breads are almost the same but we recommend the ’9-grain wheat bread’ for its lowest calorie (210) and lowest GI.
The cheeses are pretty much all the same, so if you need it, go with your favorite. Sub out mayo for light mayo or even better skip it all together and get some mustard. Sauces can be ok but if you already stacked with cheese/mayo consider skipping them. Your best bet is the fat free honey mustard or fat free sweet onion.
Make sure to stack a mountain of veggies (Read our Codex Of Leanness for more info) and opt for water instead of soda (or get diet) and no chips.
Swole Jared
Our Pick
Roast Beef (Double Meat)
230kcal
8g fat
0g carbs
40g protein
6″ Wheat Bread
200 kcal
2.5g fat
40g carbs
8g protein
Cheddar Cheese
40 kcal
3g fat
0
2g protein
Veggies + Water
approximately 0 kcal
Total
470 kcal
13.5g fat
40g carbs
50g protein
The double meat and the veggies make this sandwich especially filling and nutritious.
Note on Caffeinated Beverages
Soda is single handedly responsible for a large part of the obesity problem. It is used for hydration, taste, energy, digestion aid and everything in between. Ridding yourself of a soda addiction is three fold: combating the caffeine and sugar addiction and finding another source of hydration. Water takes care of the second part REALLY well. As for the caffeine, get your boost from coffee or tea or, hell, even caffeine pills: somewhere where that jolt doesn’t come with 14 tsp of sugar. Eating proper meals will help stave off the sugar addiction.
Here are some comparisons:
- 12 oz coca cola: 140kcal, 39g sugar
- 12 oz coffee w/ 1 fl oz half and half: 40kcal, 0g sugar
- 12 oz coffee w/ 2 tsp sugar: 30kcal, 8g sugar
- 12 oz coffee w/ 1 fl oz half and half AND 2 tsp sugar: 70kcal, 8g sugar
And here is a flexible recipe: (and perfect pre- or post-workout!)
Protein frap
12 oz cold coffee
30g whey (usually 1 scoop)
1 c milk (use whichever fat content suits your macros/goals)
1 c. ice, or less, depending on your blender’s abilities
Blend and serve!
Conclusion
Hopefully now you are better prepared to fight the fast food menace. Remember, fixing your diet isn’t about the perfect macro-split or eating clean all the time, it’s about better choices. So switching to diet coke alone might put you at a caloric deficit and on the road to weightloss. Beyond that, realize that change happens gradually, don’t force a lifestyle on yourself that will make you miserable and set you up for failure. Take your current lifestyle and work on improving it, soon enough you will notice that you have achieved your goals painlessly.
Tags: Diet, Fast Food, Nutrition
Related Posts
This is a really nice article, I don’t always have the luxury of access to my own personal food choices, having an alternative at these fast food joints really helps.
Diet soda may have less calories than regular, but there are still plenty of problems with it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_soda#Health_concerns
Water is still an infinitely better choice.
If you want a *crisp* alternative to soda, one thing I found really useful is carbonated/soda water. It’s nutritionally null but still has that kick to it that pop does.
digital kitchen scales are the stuff that i always use on my kitchen when i weight things ~-`