Most of us would rather have a slow-cooked, nutritious yet delicious meal for ourselves and all of our loved ones, three times a day, with healthy, creative, crunchy and salty, sweet and savory snacks which both fill our bellies and soothe our souls, bolster our immune systems and keep us fit and strong.
The reality, however, is that many of us struggle to simply have a few dinners each week this way, and if we do, we feel it’s a huge accomplishment and something that takes tremendous time, energy and money to boot.
It happens all too often that while we’re running errands on a Saturday morning we are off to do something useful and wonderful with and for our children, they’re starving NOW and Dunkin Donuts has coffee and, well, egg sandwiches too.
The Grab-N-Go ease with which dinner, lunch, breakfast, snack time, pick-me-up time is accomplished makes it both a trap and a gift, both cheaper and less affordable than eating at home ... overall, a real Catch-22.
In other words, you may not pay now for your fast food antics, but surely, somehow, you will pay later.
Keeping this in mind, it’s better not to eat at fast food joints at all. However, being human, we most certainly, from time to time, may indulge.
Many of the bigger fast food chains, including McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Dunkin’ Donuts and even Burger King and Taco Bell have picked up on the desire of many folks to have calorie counts on the menus, to have whole grain options, and to have the possibility of eating a salad that actually tastes good.
Therefore, even at the most famous donut shop in the world you now have an option of a toasted flat bread, egg-white with veggies sandwich and they even let you know how many calories it is. Wendy’s offers up baked potatoes, chili, salads galore. McDonald’s has apple slices instead of french fries with their Happy Meals, and juice or milk instead of soda.
The other things to keep in mind when ordering any type of fast food, including Chinese food, pizza, or Mexican, is that portion control and salt are the two major culprits of extreme overindulgence with this food genre.
Keep your portions realistic -- don’t eat until you feel sick, even though it’s tempting, depending on the varieties or the supersizy-ness of your potential meal. Also, feel free to change up certain things you know will add unnecessary calories.
Go cheese- and/or mayonnaise- free. Ask for “no MSG.” Refrain from adding extra salt. Remember, it’s fast food, but it doesn’t have to be all bad.
Sources:
WebMd. Health and Cooking. Fast Food Choices
Retrieved from the internet on November 27, 2011
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/healthtool-fast-food-choices
Health.com. Restaurants and Fast Food.
Retrieved from the internet on November 27, 2011
http://www.health.com/health/restaurants
Aimee Boyle is a regular contributor to Empowher
Edited by Jody Smith