Takeout Tips

Broccoli beef from any reasonable Chinese place.

What restaurants do you go to? Most chains will have nutrition info online. It's not what I'd consider good nutrition for every day, but here's some things I order when I end up at fast food:

McDonalds: McChicken and small fries: 600 cal.
Wendy's: half of one of their salads is usually well under 900 calories.
Burger King: cheeseburger and value fries: 610 cal.

From Five Guys, I get 3 patties with no bun, topped with grilled mushrooms, grilled green peppers, and tomato slices. It's 684 calories. I don't get fries or eat the peanuts. If you want a bun you could drop a patty and add it and it would be around the same calorie level.

At McDonald's I get a quarter pounder no cheese and a small fry. That is 750 calories, I believe.

That's pretty much the only fast food I get.

I like Panera, Wendy's, and Chipotle.

However, I can go anywhere and find something to eat that will fit my macros. I've yet to find a fast food place or restaurant that I can't get a meal for under 600 calories. Doesn't mean I don't ever splurge, but its completely possible.

Every single chain restaurant has their nutrition information posted online. Use it and figure out what works for you. Always remember that you can split servings in half too. I do this all the time when I go out to eat. I might order something that's 1000 calories, but the first thing I do is split it in half and I'll take the other half home.

SingRunTing wrote: »

I like Panera, Wendy's, and Chipotle.

However, I can go anywhere and find something to eat that will fit my macros. I've yet to find a fast food place or restaurant that I can't get a meal for under 600 calories. Doesn't mean I don't ever splurge, but its completely possible.

Every single chain restaurant has their nutrition information posted online. Use it and figure out what works for you. Always remember that you can split servings in half too. I do this all the time when I go out to eat. I might order something that's 1000 calories, but the first thing I do is split it in half and I'll take the other half home.

Chipotle is a great example of a place where your choices will determine whether your meal will fit your calories goals or be a blowout.

When work used to buy our meals, we'd get blowout meals and be in a food coma all afternoon. Now when I order from there I look at the nutrition calculator https://chipotle.com/nutrition-calculator before ordering.

Skip the French fries completely and have the smallest burger offered. Without cheese if possible. Round out your meal with fruit if they have it, or a side salad (watch the dressing). Most fast food burgers are not that bad if you get a small one, without all the extra bacon, triple patties and cheese, etc. best thing is to go online and print out the nutritional info from several common fast food places that are likely to be where you are. Then you can make i formed choices.

A lot of sandwich or deli type places have those "create your own" salad options. You typically pick the size of the greens (small or large and usually you can choose from various lettuces or spinach), and then add exactly which toppings you want...tons of fresh veggies, chicken, salmon, various cheeses, chick peas, a whole assortment of dressings, etc. These are great options because you can control exactly what goes into your salad. If you do this, make sure you include protein to keep you full. Some places even offer this as a delivery option. Look at the online food ordering services (seamless, grubhub, etc) and you can probably find one. The nice thing is they have a wide assortment of ingredients, so you can change it up to keep it interesting.