Fast food? (Wendy's and Tim Horton's)
Jozzmenia
Posts: 252 Member
I know this generally seems like a dumb question on its face, but are there any healthy fast food options? I've got A LOT better at planning in advance to avoid the temptation, when I forget a lunch that day or I work later than planned and get hungry... there's a Wendy's, Tim Horton's, and Little Caesar's in walking distance from my office. I avoid LC but tend to go to TH for either a buffalo chicken wrap with extra chicken, or a chili. I used to get a 4 piece spicy nugget from Wendy's but seems like a total waste of calories even though not huge. I'd like to try a burger or something once in a while but seems like a waste of fat and carbs. Not a big fry person anyway. Prefer TH chili to Wendy's. A little further there is Subway, KFC, or Big John's (basically steak subs). Subway I know is supposed to be healthy but I always feel like they have enormous amounts of bread with very little meat/protein. I occasionally grab grilled chicken from KFC, like a breast and wing grilled. Any thoughts on occasionally doing the drive through thing and what you can get?
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Get whatever you want that fits into your daily allowance. There's noting "bad" about fast food unless you eat nothing but that for every meal.0
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Nutrition information for all of these places should be easily found online. Go with what you like that fits into your day.0
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You can get a plain baked potato (about 270 cal) at Wendy's. You can also get a small chili (170 cal)......and pour the chili on the baked potato........
It's extremely filling!0 -
Exactly. if it's a once in a while thing. G et what you want. Just accomodate the rest of the day. It's all about moderation.0
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From Wendy's I usually get 2 grilled chicken honey mustard go wraps. I don't eat a lot from KFC, I get whatever I want from Subway that fits into my allowance, and if you like Taco Bell, you can get most of the things on their menu "fresco style" which is where they replace the sauces with pico de gallo. It's delicious and cuts out a HUGE amount of their calories. My favorite is shredded chicken burritos fresco style. I do the drive-thru thing once or twice a week and like these ladies said, just get whatever you like that fits into your daily calorie allowance.
You don't always have to eat salad. Who wants to do that? Lol 0 -
I like subway's chopped salad. get the veggie one and use Spinach instead of Lettuce and then add all the vegies. If you get the banana peppers, when they chop it all up, you get the spicy juice from the peppers in almost every bite and don't need a dressing at all.0
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Arby's0
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I'm not a fan of Subway but when I have to, I'll go there. their subs aren't bad for protein and the macro breakdown was never too bad for me.
Tim Horton breakfast sandwiches on English muffins and with ham aren't too bad. I can't remember the difference between the egg white and not.
I do Wendy's chilli as well. If I recall they have some grilled chicken sandwiches that aren't too bad.0 -
annaskiski wrote: »You can get a plain baked potato (about 270 cal) at Wendy's. You can also get a small chili (170 cal)......and pour the chili on the baked potato........
It's extremely filling!
This is exactly what I was going to say. I also will get a Jr. Bacon cheeseburger and a side salad. Wendy's does have the best burgers out of all the fast food ones.
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If you're in Canada, here's a fusion table I did that includes A&W, BK, DQ, Extreme Pita, KFC, McDonald's, Subway, Tim's and Wendy's:
https://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?docid=1ERhXXqFYj_hW1Jk687tzCbY86AlnGaH8vx19Pvwf
You can sort food by calories, fat, sat fat, protein, fibre, etc
You even have bonus columns of Protein/100 calories, Protein:Carb ratio, and Protein:Fat ratio if you're watching those numbers.
hope that helps
If you're not in Canada, it should still give you a rough estimate...0 -
Get chili instead of fries @ Wendy's. I normally eat that grilled chicken sandwich when I go there too0
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You guys are so helpful and super fast to respond.
I like to post on here a lot because it keeps me from getting derailed if I ask every little question to play it safe. I've lost 15 pounds over the last 1 weeks by being diligent and I don't want to stop my progress over a beef and cheddar with arby's sauce lol.
I've been as a rule of thumb trying to eat meals that have more protein than carbs and aiming for that along with logging all the time has helped to keep me on track.
Thanks! I like that this is like a good options thread where people seem to be posting what they get at fast food places which is cool to read. I like to kind of know in advance so I'm not tempted. TH was going through an Oreo faze in the winter that was sooooo tempting. Oreo donuts, oreo frappuccinos it's was nuts lol.0 -
If you're in Canada, here's a fusion table I did that includes A&W, BK, DQ, Extreme Pita, KFC, McDonald's, Subway, Tim's and Wendy's:
https://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?docid=1ERhXXqFYj_hW1Jk687tzCbY86AlnGaH8vx19Pvwf
You can sort food by calories, fat, sat fat, protein, fibre, etc
You even have bonus columns of Protein/100 calories, Protein:Carb ratio, and Protein:Fat ratio if you're watching those numbers.
hope that helps
If you're not in Canada, it should still give you a rough estimate...
I'm not in Canada but that's awesome!
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I love Wendy’s and Timmies. I find a lot of their options fit easily into my goals. You can eat whatever you like for sure, as long as it works for your macros and all that.
Wendy’s especially has some great options on their new menu, plus the nutritional info is super detailed (you can see the calories/protein/etc of each ingredient) so you can easily get a burger or something without the dressings. Their salads are surprisingly awesome for the calorie/protein ratio. I recall that a half salad is around 3-400 calories and 25-30g of protein. The chicken wraps are also amazing at 280 calories for 19 protein (or so).
At Timmies, I like their breakfast sandwiches a lot (around 280 calories for 20ish protein), except for the biscuit one which has quite a bit more calories. I especially like the bacon breakfast sandwich on a bagel - around 500cal and 30 protein, but so delicious.0 -
It depends on what's important to you. The chili and baked potato are probably the biggest nutrition "bang" for the calorie "buck".
My only advice is don't let the fact this is a necessity choice mean you just eat the food without tasting it.
Most (all)? of the salads at Wendy's (and probably elsewhere) can be ordered with dressing on the side; I don't know if they still have their various chicken salads, but most of those are good choices. And sometimes hot food is worth it (for me, hot food is a little more satisfying emotionally).
Choose what you eat with care, don't label anything as forbidden and therefore give it extra allure. Choose, don't accept or settle.0 -
The non-creamy soups at Tim Horton's are also good. The chicken noodle is 100 cals/bowl and delicious! I usually do that or whatever vegetable soup they have and a chicken wrap with an iced coffee. Total is around 300 cals and fits in my macros pretty well. Have to watch the sodium though - it adds up pretty quickly.0
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The grilled chicken sandwhich and the garden side salad with no dressing from Wendy's is my go to. You could get the sandwhich with no sauce but let's face it, otherwise it's just a pretty bland piece of chicken.0
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2 things I always keeps in mind when eating fast food: 1) because of the high sodium you'll retain water, so don't get upset that week if your weight doesn't behave as you expect it to based off of your CICO - it'll work its way out when you eat more normally. 2) Personally, I always assume that the calorie counts are underestimated by 10-20%. I just base that off of comparing to sandwiches I make myself (like a tuna salad sand. compared to Subway or Potbelly) - there's just no way those numbers add up unless they are using some magical calorie free mayo, and more likely they are using more mayo in practice than they are when they are test-measured.0
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I just try to eat the best tasting stuff that's the lowest in calories. You can usually find the calorie content online. I also have a little book on fast food calories that I find handy. One day, I wrote myself a little cheat sheet and put it in my purse. I wrote down the calorie content for the things I like most, or the food that I think I would like.0
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Subway salads with extra protein. Six inch sub extra protein. Wendy chili (lots of salt, so too subway). Wendy Jr burger, no mayo, mustard instead...and an extra meat patty
does depend on your calories or other goals and frankly fitting in what you feel like having!0 -
annaskiski wrote: »You can get a plain baked potato (about 270 cal) at Wendy's. You can also get a small chili (170 cal)......and pour the chili on the baked potato........
It's extremely filling!
And nothing wrong with the burger. You don't need to worry about the fat and carb counts as much as the calories...it's all about the calories, honest! Also be sure to drink extra water to combat the sodium.
Every so often only a burger will satisfy. As long as you figure you have to eat fewer calories for supper or snack that night to stay in your goal, no problem. I've had a Quarter Pounder (without cheese and without mayo!!! --I don't like the fake cheese they use and the mayo is JUST not worth the calories) and a small soda for lunch sometimes then just had a nice big salad for supper...and drank water or made sure I only nibbled on veggies for snacks that night if I had the munchies before bed. It works.
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2 things I always keeps in mind when eating fast food: 1) because of the high sodium you'll retain water, so don't get upset that week if your weight doesn't behave as you expect it to based off of your CICO - it'll work its way out when you eat more normally. 2) Personally, I always assume that the calorie counts are underestimated by 10-20%. I just base that off of comparing to sandwiches I make myself (like a tuna salad sand. compared to Subway or Potbelly) - there's just no way those numbers add up unless they are using some magical calorie free mayo, and more likely they are using more mayo in practice than they are when they are test-measured.
This is another reason why I don't get mayo on sandwiches when I'm out - I know they would not be precise and probably slather on a glop of it without even thinking.
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2 things I always keeps in mind when eating fast food: 1) because of the high sodium you'll retain water, so don't get upset that week if your weight doesn't behave as you expect it to based off of your CICO - it'll work its way out when you eat more normally. 2) Personally, I always assume that the calorie counts are underestimated by 10-20%. I just base that off of comparing to sandwiches I make myself (like a tuna salad sand. compared to Subway or Potbelly) - there's just no way those numbers add up unless they are using some magical calorie free mayo, and more likely they are using more mayo in practice than they are when they are test-measured.
This is another reason why I don't get mayo on sandwiches when I'm out - I know they would not be precise and probably slather on a glop of it without even thinking.
FWIW, back when I worked at McD's long ago the condiments like mayo, mustard and ketchup were all in tubes and dispensed using a caulk gun. The amount each burger got was pretty uniform. The ads always show someone slowly and lovingly spreading mayo on your burger with a knife but that's not what happens.0 -
Wendy's Baconator. Fits my protein/fat macros nicely.0
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biolizard1991 wrote: »Get chili instead of fries @ Wendy's. I normally eat that grilled chicken sandwich when I go there too
This. Plus they have an Asian salad that is only about 380 calories.0 -
id go with a sandwich and soup from Timmies0
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Wendys ultimate chicken grill 370 cals, 34g protein, with a side salad with lite dressing (no croutons) 95 calories. Total 465 calories.0
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lemonsnowdrop wrote: »Get whatever you want that fits into your daily allowance. There's noting "bad" about fast food unless you eat nothing but that for every meal.
To a point, that's true, but some fast food meals are well over 1000 calories. That doesn't leave much room for the rest of the day.0
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