eating out......fast food restaurant

Try to ditch fast food. If u can't do it yet; go for salad. If you like BK a lot, u can get chicken Caesar salad. Just don't use whole dressing package, use it half or 1/3rd.

Eat whichever fits into your daily calories... flip a coin, which one do you want more?! It's alright to eat whatever from fast food and lose weight, as long as it fits into your daily calories!! No need for all this "fast food is bad". I eat it at least once a week and I'm losing weight pretty well. :drinker:

I would exercise caution on fast food salads. Some of them (particularly if you include dressing) can have as many calories (of more) as the burgers. Oftentimes, food that we think of as "fresh" or "healthy" can be the most deceptive and have far more calories than we'd realize.

Take the Zaxby's Zensational Zalad, for example. It's marketed as a fresh, healthy salad with a veggie eggroll on the side. Total calorie count? Over 1100 calories!!! For someone like me who's aiming for 1300-1500 calories per day, that's nearly my entire day's worth.

Subway can also get you into trouble. You think you're going to get something that is automatically good for you, but the bread is going to have some calories packed in, as will the cheese and dressings.

Instead, check out the nutrition info (posted online) for any restaurant before you go and know your calorie/nutritional goals. Pick something within that range.

Things to avoid: Anything fried, milkshakes, sodas and other sweetened drinks

Things to look for: grilled chicken or steak, fresh veggies, fresh fruits, water or unsweetened tea, coffee

Things to be cautious with:
1. Salads (The veggies are great, but avoid croutons, cheese, tortilla chips, and heavy dressings. Try dressing one with fruit, instead!)
2. Grilled chicken sandwiches (Again, check the other ingredients. Many grilled chicken sandwiches go heavy on mayo or cheese or bacon, and white bread buns aren't particularly great for you, either.)
3. Snack wraps (Yet again, look at the other ingredients. Avoid cheese or heavy dressings or bacon if you can.)

Fast food can be loaded with fat and sodium, yes, but if it's your only real option at the time, you can definitely make do. One of my favorites is Taco Bell. You can order various items off the menu and replace sour cream and cheese with pico, making a grilled steak soft taco a fair option in a pinch.

All this said, I personally don't deprive myself at all. Every food is on the table for me, both literally and figuratively. I just limit my intake of these foods. I can occasionally have that Big Mac or small fry, but only if I've been good that week and only if I keep my portions in check. It provides some motivation for me to stick to my diet the other six days of the week, and I don't go nuts with cravings because I feel like something is forbidden.

Another option is to get whatever it is that you want and cut the portion size in half to fit your calorie/nutrition goals. If you're really craving that chicken nugget, it might be better to go ahead and have 2-3 of them with a nice salad instead of eating a whole dozen with some french fries.

Chick-fil-a or Krystal for me. Or Five Guys. . . Or Moes. . .

One little hidden fast food gem in my opinion is McDonalds chicken snack wrap. Filling, mostly protein, not a lot of calories.

Something I do now is take a small, single serving bag of chips with me so I am not tempted to get fries. This saves so many calories and I don't feel deprived at all. I'm not a person that can just eat a sandwich when I get FF.

IrenaKaraman wrote: »

Try to ditch fast food. If u can't do it yet; go for salad. If you like BK a lot, u can get chicken Caesar salad. Just don't use whole dressing package, use it half or 1/3rd.

If someone likes fast food why would they give it up? This whole thing is suppose to be for life, and if you start arbitrarily cutting things out that you enjoy eating you're much more likely to get frustrated and fail.

OP-I love fast food and ate it several times a week while I was in active weight loss mode, and I continue to eat it quite a bit now that I'm in maintenance (I had bacon wrapped pizza on Monday night at Little Caesars, which was epic, and I had McDs for lunch today). Take a look at the restaurants nutritional info before going, adjust things so you can fit what you want to eat into your calorie goals, and have fun

Sarasmaintaining wrote: »

CrabNebula wrote: »

Something I do now is take a small, single serving bag of chips with me so I am not tempted to get fries. This saves so many calories and I don't feel deprived at all. I'm not a person that can just eat a sandwich when I get FF.

I had a small fry today at Mcds and it was 230 calories. A serving of Lays potato chips is 160 calories. For the 70 calorie difference it's going to be the fries I paired it with a bacon ranch grilled chicken salad, with a packet of regular ranch dressing, and it was a great, filling lunch for a total of 690 calories. Still full several hours later

I usually take the Baked Lays, so more like 100. But it is an individual thing. I am sure I waste calories in lots of places others would clutch their pearls at.

The last thing I'm going to order at a fast food place is a salad. I like good salads. And most fast food salads suck, aren't filling, and still manage to have a crapload of calories that just aren't worth it. I'd rather have a double cheeseburger and unsweetened tea at McDs, and just accept a high fat day. I'll still stay under my calories and be relatively satisfied.

kikichewie wrote: »

The last thing I'm going to order at a fast food place is a salad. I like good salads. And most fast food salads suck, aren't filling, and still manage to have a crapload of calories that just aren't worth it. I'd rather have a double cheeseburger and unsweetened tea at McDs, and just accept a high fat day. I'll still stay under my calories and be relatively satisfied.

Normally I'd agree with you, but I'm really loving Mcds bacon ranch grilled salads right now. Even with regular ranch dressing it's pretty decent on calories and it tastes really good. Paired with a fry it's a pretty awesome meal

Mcds did a good job changing their chicken sandwich to the artisan one. It's actually pretty tasty now.

IrenaKaraman wrote: »

Try to ditch fast food. If u can't do it yet; go for salad. If you like BK a lot, u can get chicken Caesar salad. Just don't use whole dressing package, use it half or 1/3rd.

No reason to ditch fast food if you can fit it into your calories on occasion. I had a double cheeseburger from Burger King for lunch today, and it was yummy. It fit within my calories, too.

dpwellman wrote: »

Chick-fil-a or Krystal for me. Or Five Guys. . . Or Moes. . .

We have a Five Guys in our town. I've been meaning to go there. It's suppose to be good food from what I've heard.

while we are on the subject of fast food, I've been changing my eating habits a little over a month now, and have incorporated fast food about 3 times since the beginning, while staying within my calorie goals (mostly), but on Wednesday, when i went to have a fast food treat, I went to a local burger place, had a cheeseburger, fries and a Coke (oh it was marvelous!), but about 15 minutes later, I threw it up. I am assuming because it was so greasy and my body is no longer used to such foods??? My husband ate the same thing and was fine. Is a month and a half long enough for your body to reject foods that are rich? Last night, still not satisfied with getting my burger fix, I made homemade burgers (85% lean) on the grill, ate half of one and was just fine. Anyone have any ideas why?