suggestions on low calorie fast food or restaurants?

mish24canada
mish24canada Posts: 152 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi Everyone Im new to my fitness pal and loving it. I was just wondering if anyone has any suggestions on a book or guide to low calorie foods when eating out at fast food places or restaurants. Everything I have found online is mostly American restaurants which isn't helpful when I live in Canada.
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Replies

  • AlexisJ330
    AlexisJ330 Posts: 97 Member
    So I don't like in Canada but as a general suggestion stay away from anything fried and when ordering a sandwich order it without the mayo or "special" sauce as they are usually for fattening and higher in calories than the grilled chicken. Good Luck.
  • janimei
    janimei Posts: 105 Member
    I order a salad with oil/vinegar dressing on the side. Then I add a chicken breast or salmon fillet to the order. When others at my table order dessert, I order a decaf coffee. If there is a fresh fruit cup, I sometimes add that for dessert.

    Another good option: a lean steak or omelet (hold the bread, hold the butter, hold the rice/potatoes), with a side salad (dressing on the side).

    Bringing your own to-go container helps; if the portions are large, you can offload half the food into your container before you have your first bite.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,149 Member
    If they are chain places, you can check for a Canadian website (instead of dot com, look for dot ca) that has nutritional info. I have found info differences between U.S. and Canadian sites. If it's Cora's, they don't provide info at all, even if you ask them.
  • michellechawner
    michellechawner Posts: 892
    I'm in America, but anything grilled chicken sandwich may be a good bet. Anything fried is out. Or, if you order a sandwich, eat it without the bread, that will cut the calories, I've done it before.

    Instead of soda, I get unsweetened tea or water with lemon.

    I know most places here will offer salads (even fast food places). I'm not even sure what is up there in Canada (never been there). I'm unsure of laws up there, but here in America they started putting calorie counts on everything on the menus. Which is nice because you can see ahead of time. Also try checking the business website. Sometimes they have nutritional information on the web.
  • Rynoman2k3
    Rynoman2k3 Posts: 152 Member
    Fast Food = FAT FOOD without the S.
  • SKMC0214
    SKMC0214 Posts: 58 Member
    check menus before you go, your will be totally surprise, how sometimes healthy is so not. :)
  • SKMC0214
    SKMC0214 Posts: 58 Member
    Fast Food = FAT FOOD without the S.

    Love this :)
  • WDEvy
    WDEvy Posts: 814 Member
    I'm in Canada too. A lot of chain restaurants have nutrional guides on their website. You can also request it in the restaurant.

    I find that if I need to eat on the go Timmies is the best option. Their wraps and even the turkey bacon club are pretty decent options when it comes to calories and sodium
  • melindasuefritz
    melindasuefritz Posts: 3,509 Member
    HERES MINE-
    WENDYS-
    SMALL CHILI- 180 CALS....
    4 PEICE NUGGETS- 180
    LARGE CHILI- 270
    APPLE SLICES- 40
    6 PEICE NUGGETS- 270

    MCDONALDS- SIDE SALAD- 20
    LOW FAT BASALMIC VINEGERRETE DRESSING- 40 CAL I THINK
    FRUIT PARFAIT-150
    ICED TEA- PLAIN - 0
    HAMBURGER- 250
    VANILLA ICE CREAM CONE- 170
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    I'm from the UK, but...
    Subway!

    A good few 6" subs under 300 calories.
    Fill up on salad.
    To lower it even more, ask them to scoop some of the bread out - more space for salad too!
  • mmddwechanged
    mmddwechanged Posts: 1,687 Member
    McDonald's hamburgers have about 250 calories I think.
  • melindasuefritz
    melindasuefritz Posts: 3,509 Member
    A & W'S
    BABY BURGER- 90
    HOTDOG- 163
    AND MOR E WHAT EVER RESTURAUNT U WANT TO GO TO TYPE THE NAME OF RESTURANT AND THEN NUTRITION INFO AFTER IT IN BROWSER
  • phetsanie
    phetsanie Posts: 9
    I'm in Canada too. Places like Subway and Tim Hortons have the nutrition info available in store. If you want to look them up online, just google Canadian nutrition information. I've found a lot of them that way
  • melindasuefritz
    melindasuefritz Posts: 3,509 Member
    WHAT EVER RESTURAUNT U WANT TO GO TO TYPE THE NAME OF RESTURANT AND THEN NUTRITION INFO AFTER IT IN BROWSER


    EXAMPLE- mCDONALDS- CANADA - NUTRITION INFO
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    I'm in Canada. White Spot has a few "Lifestyle" options, and they have nutritional info in the mfp data base. But, often I just order the legendary burger without sauce and use mustard and ketchup instead, with a side salad instead of french fries and I order the dressing on the side and I choose the dressing from the lifestyle Asian chicken salad (which is also a good meal). That's all I can think of. A lot of restaurants will have some nutritional info online. IHOP has "simple and fit" options. And I agree about ordering burgers without mayo or special sauce (mustard and ketchup is fine).
  • cathleen73
    cathleen73 Posts: 11 Member
    calorie king books have generic restaurant foods, like average dishes and individual ingredients to help you get basic info . not sure it has more than fitnesspal. what i've done bc i love independent restaurants, is call ahead to places and ask if they have nutritional info. sometimes they'll give you basic info on how they cook things or what substitutions you can make.
  • glennstoudt
    glennstoudt Posts: 403 Member
    None of the fast food outlets in any country are a good option. If you must, you must.
    My suggestion is to try to find a better way to eat.
    Having years of experience in fast food and now not, my conclusion is that there is a better way to eat and try to find your own way to it.
  • SteveMcBean
    SteveMcBean Posts: 3 Member
    Pita Pit. Tim Hortons food is gross and full of preservatives (chicken tastes like rubber).
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    There's a whole series of books called "Eat this, Not that" which often compare options between different fast food restaurants or within the same restaurant. I am pretty sure there's a website too. Google it, you will find information for sure!
  • MarisaDLS2
    MarisaDLS2 Posts: 108 Member
    Denny's - Fit Slam - ask for side of veggies instead of english muffin.
    Total cal is under 250.
  • xoTalim
    xoTalim Posts: 212 Member
    I'd suggest Olive Garden. :) They have some great low calorie pastas. Their salad is kinda high calorie because of their dressing but what I do is just order it on the side and add how much I want, because they usually put too much.

    Their breadsticks are my weakness but I've been able to resist eating them more often than not since I've started MFP.

    What I usually do is check the nutrition guide on the restaurant's website before even going. So if you have a few restaurants you really like, check their nutrition guide to see the calories and find a meal to eat beforehand.


    Good luck!
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
    Extreme Pita is great too for fast food. Nearly all their small pitas are under 400 calories, whole wheat is standard, and there are lots of fresh vegetables. I love the bourbon chipotle one.

    Most chain restaurants do have information online. I eat at Joeys a lot (the ahi tuna salad is under 700 calories including the tuna and dressing) or the Keg (6oz sirloin- it's on the kids menu but they will serve it to adults on request- with a mixed green salad, is under 500 calories for the meal) . If I can't find something low-cal that I want, I just pack up half my meal immediately. It's always enough to satisfy me but I don't eat too much. In fact, I had a Thai chicken with mashed potatoes at the Keg tonight. The meal is about 1100 calories so I took half to go.
  • atjays
    atjays Posts: 797 Member
    Biggest thing to remember is fast food packs A LOT of calories in what seems like a small portion. If you're like me, simply having 2 tacos at taco bell just doesn't seem like a real meal, even though the calories would say so. Same goes with just 1 sandwich at McDonalds or something with no fries or soda.... Just very hard to be that disciplined so in a lot of cases I just avoid it or reserve that bad meal for a cheat day
  • ohmscheeks
    ohmscheeks Posts: 840 Member
    I just check CalorieKing.com... I suppose the idea is to go through the menu until you find a dish in line with the your desired calorie intake. I haven't quite gotten to that point yet, lol.
  • lilpoindexter
    lilpoindexter Posts: 1,122 Member
    I live in Los Angeles, There are lots of Latin chicken joints..the biggest chain of which is El Pollo Loco. These are GREAT places to eat...as long as you stick to grilled chicken, and dont get french fries or other bad sides, you can eat delicious fast food. I love :love: living in SoCal where there are so many great choices...basically if I find myself hungry, i look for some place that says "POLLO" and I know i am for some good *kitten* grilled chicken eatin':heart::happy: :tongue:
  • penni214
    penni214 Posts: 34 Member
    Fast Food = heart attack in a sack, quadruple bypass special, poison, poison period.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    So, how is CalorieKing.com different from mfp?
  • mish24canada
    mish24canada Posts: 152 Member
    Thanks everyone for the wonderful suggestions.
  • mish24canada
    mish24canada Posts: 152 Member
    thank you for all your help. I apperiate the suggestions:smile:
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    Pita Pit. Tim Hortons food is gross and full of preservatives (chicken tastes like rubber).

    I have to agree about Tim Hortons. I can't eat the food there. It does not taste good to me. I like white spot, and it's all local food (which is a good thing in a lot of ways). I will also sometimes get a mama burger at A&W without mayo (less expensive and quick). And I like IHOP because eggs are great!

    Also, thanks for posting this thread and for the replies. I found it helpful as well.

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