I was fooled at Arby's!!

k8smama

I made myself a cheat sheet of okay choices at all the fast food places I sometimes eat at and keep it in my purse. That way if I'm caught off-guard I know at least one meal I can eat there. Also when in doubt, order a kids' meal.

I love the cheat sheet idea, I'm stealing it for myself!!

Ahzuri

I totally agree with everyone on here about fast food salads still not being the best BUT I will say that the salads at mcdonalds(ones with grilled chicken not crispy) are actually the lowest in calories I have found. They have a grilled southern salad which is really good and if you use the whole packet of dressing it comes to like 450 calories i think. BUt if you only use half(which is really all you need) you cut that down 50 calories. It's def not something to eat like everyday but once in a while I think it would be okay. Im not sure about the sodium but im sure its super high.

I know not everyone has a Chick-fil-a around but they have a wonderful fruit and chicken salad that is only something like 250 calories (can't remember how much the ranch had in it but it was awesome with it), the rest of their stuff probably isn't so great considering its all fried fast food lol

Lazyboy09

ive got a pretty nifty app on my phone that lists tons of resturants and fast food places,thier menus and nutritional info.its really cool and helps me make the best decision no matter where im at

Okay, I'll ask. What is this app called and where do you get it?

I normally go look things up on DWLZ.com but that can be a chore on a phone.

FearAnLoathing

the app is called restaurant nutrition and i got it for the android phone for free!
if you have a droid or probobly even an iphone check the app marketplace

scagneti

I've had to break down and eat stuff from fast food restaurants, and while now I hate having to do it, I've decided that it wasn't ONE fast food meal that made me overweight -- it was the thousands of them, combined with eating huge portions and THEN eating sugary desserts. So now you know -- avoid Arby's! And honestly, 700 calories for a lesson learned is really not all that bad. If only all lessons could be that cheap!

(my rule is when I do have to eat at a fast food place, I'm going to eat something that I LOVE. If I go over, I'll workout enough to make up the difference. But I'm not going to break down, eat something from a fast food place that I don't enjoy to save 100-200 calories. I'd rather do an extra hour of Zumba and get something that is worth the "cheating".)

mlb929

Do you have the MFP App on your Phone? I use it often and can check before ordering things that I may think are good and not.

View it this way - Lesson Learned, don't do it again.

I carry Salad Sprinkle with me and always opt for a plain garden salad without cheese or dressing if I'm out and can't get to my own foods. I also generally have one of those 100 calorie almond packs with me too.

I'm not a fast food fan, I view them as no nutritional value foods. My guess is on top of the bread - the meat is juiced, which means extra sugars and fats have been added to it. Unfortunately, fat flavors food.

inpaperclouds

the same thing happened to me sort of.
I got a salad from whole foods that had no cheese and no meat..
the dressing looked like balsamic and vinegar
So i thought this was a healthy choice compared to the other salads.

I LOOKED IT UP AFTER I ATE IT AND IT HAD 30g OF FAT!
That is above my daily goal. I was pretty upset.

I no longer eat ANYTHING without looking it up first.

mapnerd2005

I highly recommend the Eat This, Not That books. They've totally changed the way I look at restaurant and fast food places. I travel for work often, and usually don't have the luxury of being able to cook my own foods. Every now and then we'll get lucky and stay in a place with a refridgerator and microwave in the room, but that's usually not the case. So, often my only choice is to eat out on these trips, and the books have helped me to learn the best choices at almost all of the national chains, plus they have sections on what to eat at home, hidden dangers, and menu decoders.

poisongirl6485

People think Panera is 'healthy' too. Yeah...not so much!

ebgbjo

Yeah, I know what you mean. I went to a restaurant the other day with my son (it was a special treat for him) and really wanted a burger so I order it, cut it in half and ordered half order of fries, and had waitress take other half of burger away

That HALF burger and HALF order of fries was still 1408 calories!!! I about died when I came home to check out the nutritionals! That is ridiculous for a half order of fries and a half burger.

curvymonkey

It's mostly the bread. They're large and they'll grill them. If they grill them, it's on the same place as the burgers and they may add butter on it for toasting.

I wouldn't stress over it too much though. Just keep in mind that anything in a fast food place is going to be high in calories. The good part is that you tried to get the healthiest option, when you could have wound up with a burger and fries. Even when you get a choice that you think is healthy and turns out more calories than anticipated, it's still better than what it could have been. So consider it an achievement that you controlled yourself even then.

curvymonkey

the app is called restaurant nutrition and i got it for the android phone for free!
if you have a droid or probobly even an iphone check the app marketplace

It's available on the iPhone and it's free as well. I'm going to download it now. Thanks!

mrslondon

Thanks everyone. I think I will just stay away from all fast food places from now on. I have the restaurant nutrition app downloaded, phone was dead, that was the problem. Thought I was making a good choice, my mistake! I have added that food inc dvd to my blockbuster list, curious to watch it!!

summerbert

My friend was trying to watch her weight and she realized her panda express meal she always ate was well over 1000 calories and I though she was going to die

NikkisNewStart

Food, Inc. will blow your mind. I will never eat fast food again... Supersize me is mind blowing also... and have you read in the news, I think it was last week, about someone suing Taco Bell about mislabeling their 'beef' tacos because they contain primarily non-beef, and non-food, ingredients. It is disgusting really. I'm ashamed I used to eat that way... I asked myself- how much do I value myself if I am eating a cheap, processed, chemically modified 'food' product that costs a dollar?!? I mean really?!? We work hard for nice homes, nice cars, to send our kids to college, etc... but when it comes to ourselves we buy bottom of the barrel junk that isn't even real food. These fast food and processed food companies are about making $, bottom line... well- it isn't going to come at the cost of my life any more!!! I hope everyone will jump on the bandwagon and just say no to 'fat food.'

Rurouni_Kou

I agree with a previous commenter that you should watch Food Inc. Great documentary. I'll add read "In Defense of Food" and "Omnivores Dilema" by Michael Pollan (one of the makers of Food Inc.). Both excellent books!