McDonalds Breakfast Sandwiches

splurges are not bad. Everything in moderation is my motto

You know what? It's not horrible. There are 300 calories and 12 g of fat. As long as you have those to spare, it could be much worse.

Im sure this has been discussed but I haven't been on MFP for very long. I started this 'lifestyle change' in June because I decided enough is enough. Since then I've done my best to cut out fast food because I had a bad habit of not eating at all during the day then coming home after 2 jobs and family would have fast food....

anyway getting to the point I on occasion run late and grab an egg & cheese biscuit from Mcdonalds, is this a bad thing?

It's not the best thing, but if you planned it in to your day... it's not totally bad. The Subway breakfast sandwiches are better (calorie and sodium wise) than McDonald's. If you have a Subway near you, consider stopping there instead. Good luck!

Hi! I think you can work that into your calorie goals for the day but there are certainly healthier choices out there.

At McDonalds you could get the Egg McMuffin and save some calories. But if you want the egg & cheese biscuit, why not get it and cut something else out?

http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/nutritionfacts.pdf

I read somewhere that the mcmuffin (not the biscuit) is one of the better fast food breakfast options out there. Even just looking at calories along you can see the difference - 420 calories for the biscuit over 300 for the mcmuffin.

Of course, the obvious thing is to avoid it altogether but I know that it can be difficult - I'm out on the road early in the morning sometimes traveling longish distances and it is just convenient to go through the drive through - get a bottle of water and the mcmuffin and use sparingly

everything in moderation is fine. I would personally make your own mcsandwiches though. Those things are extremely high in fat, calories, etc. AKA very bad for you! But like I said, it's okay to have things in moderation. Take into account what you are eating.
I really suggest you try making your own though. I do this and they are 1000 times better for you and better tasting than fast food things.

yo can do like a whole wheat english muffing with egg whites, cheese, tomato, onion on it, etc. will save you lots of calories

I would suggest finding something similar in the frozen food section, then a healthier version of that once you get used to it.

I've recently discovered the Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches in my grocery frozen foods section. The ones using turkey and egg white have very reasonable calories counts---like mid200s for a breakfast croissant (not sure if they have a biscuit version).

I know you're talking about being in a rush and hitting McD's to save time...but perhaps you can pop one of these in the micowave, then take it along and hit McD's for your coffee? Might be worth the cumulative calorie savings over a week.

Very large number of calories in any of the biscuit sandwiches at McD's. Train yourself to love the Egg McMuffin. It is reasonable in calories and nutrition, and really pretty tasty!

It's 300 calories!

The Egg McMuffin calories (300) are reasonable, and even if you make it yourself at home you'll have around the same calories, even more:

English muffin - 120 cals
Egg - 80 cals
Canadian bacon slice - 80 cals
American cheese slice - 60 cals

For some reason when "McDonald's" (or any major fast food brand name) is included in the same sentence all of the sudden everyone cries out "bad! unhealthy!" even though when you make the same thing in your home or in another restaurant it suddenly becomes 'okay'. Typically cheese is your culprit when dining out or eating fast food, you'll save a lot of calories just by cutting out cheese.

Enjoy eating, do it in moderation and you'll be okay. And keep moving!

I can do you better. Use Kraft fat free singles, 25 calories. Use Crystal farms egg whites. 1/4 cup 30 calories. Without even taking the time to do research I just knocked off 85 calories. If you can figure out ways of cutting at each meal like that, you'll save 255 calories just in 3 meals.

I happen to not agree with most of the responses. I don't think it's ok if you are making a lifestyle change. Fast food is the last thing you should be eating. If you are strictly going for weight loss, calories in and calories out and the amount contained in the food fits into your daily budget then go for it but if it's a lifestyle change then fast food should be out completely for a while.

I also disagree with this. For me, I am trying to eat cleaner, but I'm not giving up all my eating out entirely. I am slowly reducing it, but I will never, ever, completely give up junk food.

I was able to stop eating junk food when I was trying to lose weight for my wedding. However, that had an end date in sight.

Now that I'm doing this as a lifestyle change, I can't honestly say that I will never go to a fast food joint again. I can try to choose the lower calorie options, and only go out to eat once a week, rather than several times a week, but I will not pretend that I am giving it up forever.

Another example was a birthday at work this week. My coworker said, "Oh, you're trying to lose weight. You probably aren't going to eat the cake, are you?" I said, "Yes, I'm going to eat the cake. I'm just going to have a small piece. I am going to celebrate with you guys, but I certainly will not pretend that I'm not going to ever have cake again. Happy birthday!"

As I lose the weight, I'm going to eat all the same things that I plan on eating when I am in maintenance mode. I don't believe that you can stop eating all your favorite foods and then go back to whatever it was that you were doing before and expect to keep the weight off. If I eat the junk food in moderation and have a slow and steady weight loss, I think I stand a better chance of keeping it off.

i did a bit of math on this when i started this... i had a habit of going to tim hortons and getting 2 plain bagels with sausage, egg, and cheese... i didn't care at the time.. but, that right there is 1100 cals...

i didn't want to quit cold turkey, so, switched to a single bacon, egg and cheese on and english muffin... 330 cals... upon further research, found out could get almost the same thing at Subway for 190 cals.

do a bit of searching for places that offer breakfasts... you can find almost the same thing at a reasonable calorie count... cuz every now and then, you have to treat yourself. it's all about moderation, and not completely depriving yourself, as long as you're honest about it, and log it accordingly

I love Mcds breakfasts too much ! I make my own egg muffins... I just poach the eggs, toast the muffin, maybe add slice of cheese or another egg. Takes around 2 minutes slurp

i really only get the egg mcmuffin when i have breakfast at mcdonalds. I find the biscuits or bagels are gross and not worth the calories. I always ask them not to butter the english muffin, and i am on my way. Sometimes I will even throw some bacon or sausage on it just for yummy fun!

You have to enjoy some things sometimes otherwise you will flip back to old habits!!!