A Special Report By Caleb Lee

Transcription

1 A Special Report By Caleb Lee

2 If you re out and about and you want a meal fast, sometimes the only option is fast food. Other times, you just feel lazy and you don t want to cook. Either way, fast food seems like a good option. Thing is, eating out too much can really help you screw the pooch when it comes to your diet there are healthy alternatives mixed in among all the fattening choices. Your best bet is to learn some common sense guidelines about what makes each item unhealthy and choose one of the healthy items. It ll also help if you study the menus of some of your favorite fast food restaurants. You ll most likely be able to look up their nutrition facts online. Do that and you ll know for sure how many calories are in your favorite fast food meals. Why Fast Food is so Bad There are so many reasons why fast food is so bad for you. But here s the biggest reasons: High Calories no matter what, calories count. And most fast food meals pack in a LOT of calories but this is usually because most people order the complete meal options, with the main food, the side, and the drink (I ll show you how to avoid this trap). High Trans Fats If you ve read my Superdiet book, then you know that saturated fat is not evil but trans fats ARE. And you want to avoid them as much as possible. High in Carbs most fast foods are high in not just calories, but the majority of them are fast-digesting, insulin spiking, carbs that cause you to gain fat. Even worse: many of the healthy options are reduced calories but have a lot of white bread/starchy carbs in them. Not what you want. Sneaky sugars many of the dressings, etc that go on the healthy options sneak in extra sugars and calories for that matter. Sodas are probably your worst enemy at fast food restaurants. Nothing can be worse than pure sugar water with calories equal to a full meal that doesn t leave you feeling full and spikes your blood sugar and insulin and leaves you ravenous and more hungry than before. This is easily avoided by ordering a no calorie beverage like water, unsweetened tea, or diet sodas (diet sodas contain nasty chemicals in them but in my personal opinion I feel that as long as you don t

3 drink them every day, they re an ok option to avoid the calories/sugars at restaurants). Low Food Quality? In my opinion, most fast food places have low food quality. But, probably a lot of sit down and expensive restaurants have low food quality too. It s the way the restaurant industry works, the more food they sell the more money they make. It s simple economics and I don t blame them, but they need to buy in bulk so they usually don t have the healthiest food. Here s What You re Up Against! In case you were wondering, I went ahead and gave you the break-down of some popular fast food choices from different restaurants here: Here is what a McDonald s Big Mac and a medium fry look like nutritionally: Big Mac: A Big Mac has 540 calories. 260 of those calories are from fat and there are 29 grams of fat in each Big Mac. In addition, there are 10 grams of saturated fat, 75 mg of cholesterol, 1040 mg of sodium, 45 grams of carbohydrates and 9 grams of sugar. There are 25 mg of protein, 260 IU of vitamin A, 1 mg of vitamin C, 250 mg of Calcium and 4 mg of iron. So if you were just to eat a Big Mac for lunch, you might be okay, depending on what you had for breakfast and dinner. However, the 10 grams of saturated fat and 29 grams of total fat are quite high and contains the bad trans fats that you should do your best to avoid; 45 grams of carbohydrates is high for a low carb diet; and 9 grams of sugar is quite high for a low sugar diet, and that s only in one food item. Now add a serving of medium fries to the picture: 380 calories, 170 calories from fat, 19 grams total fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 trans fat, 0 cholesterol, 270 mg of sodium, 48 carbohydrates, 5 grams dietary fiber, 0 sugar, 4 protein, 0 vitamin A, 9 mg vitamin C, 20 mg of Calcium, and 1 mg of iron. For just a Big Mac and medium fries you have 920 calories, 48 grams of fat, over 1300 grams of sodium, 93 carbohydrates and 9 grams of sugar for one meal alone. That doesn t leave room for much else whether you re counting calories, watching your fat grams or on a low carb or low sugar diet. Other fast food chains aren t much better, no matter what they claim A Burger King Whopper with mayo has more calories, calories from fat, more sodium, more carbs and more sugar than a Big Mac. I couldn t find Wendy s Single with Cheese in their nutritional guide, but Wendy s Single with everything

4 (without cheese) is a little lower in all categories than the Big Mac. I m sure if you add cheese it would probably be just about equal. A double with cheese is right up there with the Whopper nutrition wise. What about Arby s and Subway? Let s examine the nutrients in their signature sandwiches, starting with Arby s Regular Roast Beef: 350 calories, 110 calories from fat, 13 total fat grams, 4.5 grams saturated fat, 0.5 grams trans fat, 45 grams cholesterol, 960 grams of sodium, 37 total carbs, 2 grams dietary fiber, 5 grams of sugar, 23 grams of protein, 0 vitamin A or vitamin C and 20 mg of iron. A lot lower than a Big Mac or Whopper. Even their Regular Beef & Cheddar sandwich is lower than a Big Mac at 430 calories, and less fat and carbs. Subway s 6 inch Sub Club sandwich has 320 calories, 45 calories from fat, 5 total fat grams, 1.5 grams saturated fat, 0 trans fat, 35 mg of cholesterol, 1160 mg sodium, 47 carbs, 5 grams dietary fiber, 6 grams of sugar, and 26 grams of protein. Definitely better than a Big Mac or Whopper but still not great because of the high amount of carbs. If you don t want a burger or sandwich, Taco Bell and Kentucky Fried Chicken offer some different varieties to tingle your taste buds. But, how healthy are they nutritionally speaking? Taco Bell s Beef Burrito Supreme has 420 calories, 140 calories from fat, 7 grams saturated fat, 15 grams total fat, 0 grams trans fat, 35 mg cholesterol, 1380 mg of sodium, 52 grams carbs, 9 grams dietary fiber, 5 grams of sugar, and 17 grams of protein. KFC s Original Recipe chicken breast has 320 calories, 130 calories from fat, 15 total fat grams, 3.5 grams saturated fat, 0 grams trans fat, 110 mg cholesterol, 710 mg sodium, 4 carbs, 0 fiber, 0 sugar and 42 grams of protein. This wouldn t be a bad choice because it s lower on carbs, but keep in mind you don t want to be eating these all the time. Obviously we ve just covered each restaurant s signature item, which, as you can see, isn t the healthiest. What about their chicken and fish sandwiches? Are they any healthier? Burger King s Big Fish Sandwich is loaded with calories, fat, and carbs, as are their TenderGrill and TenderCrisp Chicken sandwiches. Even if you order them without mayo, you bring down the fat content some but not the carbs. Don t fool yourself into thinking you re eating healthy by ordering a grilled chicken sandwich or a fish sandwich. You re still getting a lot of fast-digesting, insulin spiking carbs, not matter what.

5 Some Quick Guidelines: Here are some general rules that can help you when you find yourself having to eat out and you still want to be healthy: 1. Grilled Meats. Grilled meats are a much healthier way of cooking rather than deep fried, breaded meats. If the fast food place you re visiting has the option of choosing crispy or fried chicken versus a grilled patty, choose the grilled one. If the place is like KFC, and the grilled meat isn t really grilled, then just eat the deep fried, breaded meats and avoid the side carbs (biscuits, etc). 2. Skip the Fries. (Almost) Always. This one was SO HARD for me to get over because I love the way fries taste. I imagine kicking the heroin habit is easier than this. But I ve probably had about a handful of fries in the last years so I m doing good! Nothing but starchy carbs and trans fats here. 3. Healthier Sides. Some fast food places will offer alternatives to a side of fries. You may be able to opt for some healthy fruit or salad instead. Or you could do the healthiest side option don t get any! 4. Don t Super Size. Less calories = less fat. And they only supersize the fries and the soda! Why is that? I want a super sized cheeseburger myself! 5. Diet Soda. I used to laugh at the fat guy who orders the big greasy meal and then orders a diet soda, as if it ll make a difference. Well it does make a difference, but, not if your packing fries into your mouth too! Big sandwich, skip the fries or chips, and a diet soda can go a long way towards filling you up and helping you not eat as much Water or unsweetened tea is a good choice too Examples Of Healthy Meals At Popular Fast Food Joints Here s a list of some healthy choices you can make at some of the most popular fast food restaurants: 1. Taco Bell. Taco Bell has come out with a Fresco Style menu that allows you to choose popular menu items in a lower calorie style. A menu item ordered fresco style will come back with a special healthier salsa and it ll also lack cheese. (I personally don t take this option since the only time I eat Taco Bell is when I m drunk anyways, but it s worth noting)

6 2. McDonalds. They now offer an extended list of premium salads. However, it s still easy to get fooled into thinking something is healthy when it really isn t. Make sure you use a low fat dressing on your salad (half a pack if you can) and opt for the grilled chicken. If you grab the ranch and crispy chicken, you may as well be ordering a Big Mac! A burger or two with no sides and a diet coke/unsweet tea will fill you up with less calories too. 3. Subway. As healthy as they claim to be, there s still a crap-load of empty bread carbs here. Try a salad, throw some protein in there with some chicken, avoid the chips, you should be good to go. 4. Wendy s. My all-time favorite fast food joint. If you order a value meal you can definitely opt out of the fries. You can substitute for a baked potato, mandarin oranges, and more. If you re fasting, the Triple Baconator is the ultimate one burger per day 1300 calories of fat and protein goodness. That ll be it sir! 5. Burger King. Like the rest of the popular fast food chains, Burger King has followed suit and made changes. You can opt for healthier alternatives like salads, chicken, etc. You can also do the one big burger thing with their whoppers if you re fasting. 6. K.F.C. Has actually got a GREAT menu item the Double-down sandwich. Low carbs. High protein and only 500 calories. Fills you up and keeps the calories down. I bet you could lose 20lbs on an all Double-Down Diet. 7. Chipotle. Not really fast food, but an AMAZING restaurant and probably the best choice for eating healthy. Some whiny people complain about oversized portions but if you order the right stuff, it s good portion sizes of good food. Skip the extra 1500 cals of empty carbs that comes with the tortillas/wraps, get a bowl instead, fill it with meats, salsa, fajita peppers, mounds of guacamole and lettuce and you re kickin into serious fat burning territory. Use the Chipotle Fan Nutrition Calculator: to see the different macro-nutrient and calorie profiles of your food combos and enjoy! In case you are wondering, here are the healthiest choices for each of the most popular fast food restaurants. Taco Bell

7 Taco Bell s new fresco line (aka Drive-Thru Diet Menu) claims to be lower in fat and calories. Compared to their regular Beef Burrito Supreme, their Fresco Steak Burrito has 340 calories, 80 calories from fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 8 grams of total fat, 0 trans fat, 15 grams cholesterol, 1340 grams sodium, 49 carbs, 8 grams dietary fiber, 4 grams of sugar and 16 grams of protein. Definitely lower than their signature Beef Burrito Supreme. In fact their entire fresco line is pretty low in sugar, fat and carbs and will fit into just about any popular diet when eaten in moderation. What about the condiments or sauces you may want to add? Taco Bell s Hot, Fire and Mild sauces are fat free, sugar free and carb free and very low in sodium, so they are a good choice when you want to spice up your meal. Most of their other sauces are fairly low in fat, calories, carbs and sugar. The ones to watch out for are the Creamy Jalapeno Dressing, Zesty Dressing, Spicy Avocado Ranch Dressing and Pepper Jack Dressing which are all higher in fat and calories. McDonald s Now let s take a look at McDonald s to see what healthier choices they have to offer. They offer some salads but not all of them are very healthy. As a matter of fact, some of them are almost as bad as a Big Mac! The healthiest salads to get are the Premium Southwest Salad without chicken and the Premium Bacon Ranch Salad without chicken. Both are 140 calories, low in fat (4.5 and 7 grams respectively), low in saturated fat with 2 grams and 3.5 respectively, 10 and 25 grams cholesterol, 150 and 300 grams of sodium, 6 and 3 grams of fiber, and 6 and 4 grams of sugar, respectively. Of course that doesn t include dressing! The healthiest dressings on McDonald s menu are: Newman s Own Balsamic Vinaigrette at 40 calories, 25 calories from fat, 3 total grams of fat, 0 cholesterol, 0 trans fat and 0 saturated fat, 730 grams sodium, 4 carbs, 0 fiber, 3 grams sugar, and 0 protein. The other healthy choice in dressing would be Newman s Own Low Fat Family Recipe Italian Dressing: 60 calories, 20 calories from fat, 2.5 total fat grams, 0 saturated fat, 0 trans fat, 0 cholesterol, 730 mg sodium, 8 carbs, 0 fiber, 1 gram sugar and 1 gram protein.

8 The other salad choices on McDonald s menu are much higher in fat, calories and carbs, especially the salad s containing crispy chicken. Even the salads containing grilled chicken are higher in carbs, as much as 30 grams for their Premium Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken. The Premium Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken only has 12 carbs, so this would be a better choice for lower carbs. Burger King Healthy choices on the Burger King menu are about the same comparatively speaking to McDonald s, except they have a side salad with only 40 calories, 2 grams of fat, 1 gram saturated fat, 0 trans fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 45 mg sodium, 2 carbs, 1 fiber, 0 sugar, and 3 grams of protein. BK s Tendergrill Chicken Salad looks pretty healthy as well with only 260 calories, 7 fat grams, 8 carbs, 3 fiber, 4 sugars and 29 grams of protein. They also have a garden salad without chicken that is low in fat, calories, and carbs as well. The healthiest salad dressing choices on the BK menu are: Wendy s Ken s Fat Free Ranch Dressing with only 60 calories and 0 fat grams. However the carbs are in the high range at 15 and there are 5 grams of sugar, so this choice wouldn t be the best on a low carb diet. For a low carb choice dressing on the BK menu, your best bet is Ken s Ranch Dressing with 2 carbs and 1 gram of sugar. Burger King also offers their BK Fresh Apple Fries which are a much healthier choice than French fries at 25 calories, 0 fat, 6 carbs, 1 fiber and 5 grams of sugar. Wendy s Garden Sensation Salads may sound healthy, but when you look at the nutrition information you ll see that they are not. The salad with the lowest amount of calories, fat, carbs and sugar is the Chicken Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken Fillet. Depending on your choices of chicken fillet (I chose the Ultimate Chicken Grill Fillet) it has 250 calories, 4 grams of fat, 8 carbs and 3 grams of sugar. Again, the dressings also make a difference. If you prefer low fat, Fat Free French Dressing has 0 fat grams, but is high in carbs and sugar. The best choice for low carbs is their Supreme Caesar Dressing with 2

9 Arby s carbs and 1 gram of sugar. Wendy s also has a side salad and a Caesar side salad to choose from. Both are fairly low in calories, fat, carbs and sugar when eaten alone without dressing or croutons. Again you would want to be sure to choose a dressing that s right for your needs based on fat grams and carbs, as suggested above. Wendy s also carries their Go Wraps. Choosing the Homestyle Chicken Fillet, no Ranch Sauce and adding lettuce, pickles, mustard, onion and tomatoes you have a nice little snack or small meal for 290 calories, 12 grams of fat, 31 grams of carbs, 2 grams of sugar, and 16 grams of protein. That s only for one Go Wrap, so add a side salad for a more filling meal without adding too much fat, calories or carbs. As I mentioned earlier, Arby s Roast Beef sandwiches overall are healthier than McDonald s, Burger King and Wendy s burgers. Arby s menu also includes their Market Fresh Chopped Salads, so let s take a look at those nutritionally speaking to see how healthy they really are. The healthiest choice is the Chopped Side Salad, with 70 calories, 5 grams of fat, 4 carbs and 1 gram of sugar. The sodium is low at 100mg, but so is the fiber at only 1 gram. The least healthy choice as far as the Market Fresh Chopped Salads go, is the Chopped Farmhouse Chicken Salad-Crispy at 460 calories, 25 grams of fat, 29 carbs and 5 grams of sugar. It is also very high in sodium at 1090 grams and has 4 grams of fiber. The two other salads on the menu fall in the middle just about equally nutritionally wise; 250 to 260 calories, 14 grams of fat, 9 or 10 carbs, 5 grams of sugar and 3 grams of fiber. As far as healthy dressings go, Arby s doesn t have a fat free dressing Their dressing lowest in fat grams is their Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing at 12 grams of fat. Their Buttermilk Ranch dressing has 23 grams of fat, but only 2 carbs and 0 sugar, so this would be acceptable if you re eating low carbs. Arby s Dijon Honey Mustard Dressing has 16 grams of fat and 8 carbs.

10 Arby s has 2 items on their Value Menu which are more low fat; the Jr. Roast Beef Sandwich and the Jr. Ham and Cheddar Melt. The first one has 7 grams of fat and only 200 calories and the second one has 5 grams of fat and 200 calories. Both are also low in sugar at 5 and 4 grams, but high in carbs at 24 and 26 grams. Arby s is famous for its sauces, but how healthy are they? Do they pack on the calories, fat or carbs? Arby s Sauce isn t too bad actually, at only 15 calories, 4 carbs and 2 sugars. No fat and low in sodium, this would be a good choice for adding extra flavor. Horsey Sauce on the other hand has 5 grams of fat and 50 calories, but is also low in carbs, sodium and sugar. So if you prefer a spicier taste, Horsey Sauce wouldn t be too bad of a choice. Arby s Spicy Three Pepper sauce is also fairly healthy at 25 calories, 1 gram of fat, 3 carbs and 3 grams of sugar. Kentucky Fried Chicken As with the other fast food chains, KFC has a few salads to choose from. Any of their Grilled Chicken Salads are going to be lower in calories, fat and carbs than their Crispy Chicken Salads. Their House Side Salad would be a great compliment to any of their Grilled Chicken selections, at only 15 calories, 0 fat and 2 carbs. Of course, that s without dressing or croutons. Since we re talking about dressing, let s see if KFC has any healthy dressings to choose from They do have Hidden Valley Original Ranch Fat Free, which has 35 calories, 0 fat and 8 carbs, as well as Marzetti Light Italian Dressing which only has 10 calories, and 2 grams of carbs. And then there s KFC Creamy Parmesan Caesar Dressing at a whopping 260 calories, 26 grams of fat, and 4 carbs. KFC is famous for their side dishes and they do offer some vegetables such as green beans, corn and corn on the cob. Each of these is fairly low in calories, fat and sugar. Corn is in NO way good for you but at least it s better than a side of fries! The same

11 with their mashed potatoes, with or without gravy, surprisingly enough; low in calories, fat and sugar. Their BBQ Baked Beans are low in fat, but high in sugar. They also have a Three Bean Salad which is low in fat and a little high in sugar at 7 grams, but this still wouldn t be a bad choice. Tips for Making Good Choices and Avoiding Mistakes As with all food choices, it s smart to plan ahead. If you know you re going to be out and about and fast food is going to be your only choice for a meal, decide ahead of time which restaurant has the healthiest choices and what you re going to eat. Any time you go into a fast food joint unprepared, you re bound to make a bad decision. The smell of the French fries overwhelms you and somehow all your defenses go down. If at all possible, avoid even going inside; go through the drive-thru instead. For all other restaurants, you can make an educated decision about the healthy items from the menu. If you re unsure, use some common sense guidelines: Avoid empty carbs (fries, tortillas, chips, biscuits, etc) Layoff the trans fats (deep fried foods, fries, etc) Avoid the sugar (no sodas, no sweet tea, no ice creams, etc) Try not to cram so much of it in your mouth a.k.a. watch your portion sizes And lastly, learn to enjoy healthy food so you won t be so tempted to eat fast food and will only choose it as a LAST resort when no other options are available! Think about what bad food is doing to your body; not just on the outside, but the inside as well. When you think about how the trans fats and sugars and empty carbs are negatively affecting your health, or about how your organs have to work overtime just to process unhealthy food, it will help you make wiser choices. Good, natural, whole foods do taste great! We just have to retrain our minds and our taste buds into believing it.