Making Healthy Fast Food Choices

Fast food is unavoidable in some situations. As much as we try and avoid it, there are days when avoiding fast food is nearly impossible. Luckily, there ARE some healthier choices available to us. This information comes from the book, Eat This, Not That! by David Zinczenko, author of The Abs Diet (Thanks, Tawnya, for the article!) .

I do feel like I need to ad a disclaimer: Healthymahma is not advocating going out to fast food restaurants. But, I understand the society we all live in. At some point, each one of us is going to eat fast food, but if we're well-educated, we will make the healthier decision! Restaurant food doesn't have to be bad for us. Oh sure, much of the time it is: The monstrous portion sizes you're served are often spiked with added sugars and dangerous fats, and with misleading names that suggest that you might even be getting something healthy and nutritious. Fat chance. And the scariest part is that today the average diner in this country underestimates his or her caloric intake by up to 93 percent when eating out—meaning you're probably eating twice as much as you think! The good news is that you can adopt an Eat This, Not That! mantra—helping yourself to a lot of delicious food while still losing 10, 20, 30 pounds or more within a few months. You just need to watch out for the food traps, and make smarter choices like those shown here:

Make a Burger Healthy
Burger King Whopper

680 calories

40 g fat (11 g saturated fat, 1.5 g trans fasts)

1020 mg sodium

A hamburger smothered in the wrong sauce can instantly sabotage your meal—and your weight-loss goals. At 160 calories a schmear, BK's mayo is the worst in the fast food world. Replace it with barbecue sauce to instantly save 17 grams of fat. Ketchup and mustard are also better picks than mayo and secret sauces—no matter how "special" they may be. Make these swaps and save 160 calories and 17 grams of fat. A simple swap like this, made every day, will help you lose nearly 20 pounds in one year.

Not This!

Mayo and Secret Sauce

Eat This, Instead!

Ketchup, Barbecue Sauce, or Mustard

Make Pizza Healthy
Pizza Hut Two Slices Supreme Pan Pizza (12')

620 calories

32 g fat (12 g saturated fat)

1,440 mg sodium

The caloric-blow of pizza depends on two things: crust and toppings. Want to be thin? Always opt for thin crust. As for what to put on your pie, nix the pepperoni. Heavy on sodium and fat, just four little discs can add 108 calories to your Pizza Hut slice. Pick toppings like spinach, ham, and pineapple not only to cut calories and fat content in half, but also for hefty doses of vitamins and minerals that help ward off cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Make these switches and save 260 calories and 20 grams of fat. With these swaps, you can lose more than 25 pounds in a year.

Not This!

Deep dish pizza

Pepperoni

Eat This, Instead!

Thin crust

Spinach, ham, pineapple

Make a Salad Healthy
Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Strips Salad with Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

800 calories

60 g fat (12 g saturated)

1,745 mg sodium

With 60 grams of fat, this is officially the worst salad from any fast-food chain. The dressing alone is loaded with a whopping 42.5 grams of junk that's potentially on the way to your trunk, and it's a good example how the wrong dressing can turn a pile of fresh produce into a green monster. Ask for "light" or "fat-free" dressing to save this salad. And remember, heavy toppings such as crumbled cheese, greasy bacon, and pan-browned beef make the one-time rabbit food look more like pig slop. Vegetables and lean protein are the easiest way to guarantee your salad lives up to its reputation as a health food. Make the smart choice and save 425 calories and 42.5 grams of fat. Such a change every day will help you lose nearly a pound a week--again, without dieting.

Not That!

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Cheese, bacon, pan-browned beef toppings

Eat This, Instead!

Light or fat-free dressing

Vegetable and lean protein toppings
Make a Sandwich Healthy

Panera Sierra Turkey

840 calories

40 g fat

Turkey's supposed to be good for you, but not when it's slathered with a thick layer of chipotle mayo. To top it off, Panera slides the cold cuts between two oily slices of Asiago Cheese Foccacia bread (6 grams of fat per slice). When it comes to sandwiches, meats are rarely the problem: turkey, roast beef, and ham are all lean cuts. But bad breads and sauces can ruin otherwise healthy meals. Nix the mayo and choose whole-grain bread, instead. Make these swaps and save 300 calories and 30 grams of fat. One a day and you lose almost 20 pounds in one year! For more healthy lunch secrets, check out this indispensable list of delicious fast food meals under 500 calories.

Not That!

Chipotle Mayo

Foccacia bread

Eat This, Instead!

Whole-grain bread

Make a Burrito Healthy

Chipotle Steak Burrito

1,033 calories

40 g fat

Chipotle uses fresh ingredients, but unless the chain downsizes its football-size burritos, it will still give you a linebacker's gut. If you refuse to give up your favorite lunchtime meal, have a backup plan: Split it with a friend or save half for dinner. Or lose the rice and tortilla and order a Chicken Burrito Bowl (complete with lettuce, black beans, green tomatillo salsa, and sour cream). Make these swaps and save a whopping 570 calories and 94 grams of carbohydrates. If you cut this many calories from your daily intake, you can lose a pound a week without even trying!

Not That!

½ the burrito

Rice and tortilla

Eat This, Instead!

Just ½ the burrito or

Chicken Burrito Bowl with lettuce, black beans, green tomatillo salsa and sour cream

Make a Breakfast Sandwich Healthy
Starbucks Classic Sausage, Egg, and Aged Cheddar Breakfast Sandwich

460 calories

25 g fat

When it comes to meat, bacon tops sausage, and ham trumps them both. Replace the sausage with ham and you could save up to 500 calories a week. Starbucks has a ham version of this sandwich that weighs in at just 380 calories. Slash even more calories from your A.M. meal by opting for an English muffin, which, nutritionally speaking, will always beat out bagels, croissants, and biscuits. Also be sure to avoid anything on this list of the 8 worst breakfasts in America. Make these swaps and save 270 calories and 12 grams of fat.

Not That!

Sausage

Bagels, croissants, or biscuits

Eat This, Instead!

Ham

English muffin

Make Tuna Salad Healthy
Quiznos Regular Tuna Melt

1,270 calories

101 g fat (18 g saturated fat)

1,445 mg sodium

Tuna melt with mayo and cheese is a classic deli disaster. But Quiznos has really outdone itself with this one, making it the worst sandwich in America. As a rule of thumb, when you're on the go, avoid all "melts." They almost always involve a Swiss-mozzarella-mayo combo that cranks up the fat content. Make these swaps and save 805 calories and 84.5 grams of fat!

Not That!

Any kind of "melt" sub or sammie

Eat This, Instead!

Any non-"melt" sammie

Make a Chicken Dinner Healthy
KFC Original Recipe chicken meal

460 calories

32 g fat

There's no secret recipe at KFC, just a fryer full of bubbling oil and a breaded, grease-infused two-piece combo that adds 160 calories and 15 grams of fat. Improve any chicken meal by simply ordering it skinless. It can save up to 200 calories and 17 grams of fat. Make these kinds of swaps every day and save about 20 pounds over the course of a year.

Not That!

Regular chicken meal with skin

Eat This, Instead!

Skinless chicken meals

To be continued for next week...all of those sugary sweet drinks...