Healthy eating at fast food places – are you kidding me?
Mike Singh

Is it possible to eat healthfully at a fast food restaurant? The
big name chains, such as McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, and
Taco Bell want you to think so. All of these restaurants offer
some type of “healthy” alternative on the menu to entice those
who are watching their weight or simply wanting better options.
But how healthy are these options? It depends on what you order,
of course.

Aside from some options that can be quite healthy, such as
salads, other options that may seem like wise choices may not be
as great as they seem. Also avoid ordering anything in a large
size, as this quickly adds extra calories and fat. Many foods
also include extra sugars that quickly add calories.

McDonalds

Salads and salad dressings at McDonalds are quite low in
calories and fat. A salad with dressing can go as high as 500 or
more calories, but this is much lower than other choices. Salads
do not necessarily mean that the nutritional value is high,
however. Many salads are made with iceberg lettuce, which is
primarily water. However, if you’re trying to watch your weight,
and find yourself with no other options, a salad can be a good
choice. It won’t likely make you feel full, so snacking ahead of
time may be a good option to avoid other temptations while
there.

Other options that seem like healthy alternatives can be
deceiving. Whether a food is fried or grilled will also have a
huge effect. But simply choosing between beef and chicken, for
example, may not be enough. The Premium Crispy Chicken Club
Sandwich has 680 calories compared to the Big Mac’s 560. The key
is to look for grilled alternatives and avoid the tempting
sides, such as fries or desserts.

Wendy’s

If you’re opting for a salad, choose wisely. Just because a menu
item includes the word “salad” does not mean it’s healthy.
Wendy’s Taco Salad, for example, comes with almost 400 calories
if you only look at the basic salad ingredients; add in the
extras that come with it, and the total is nearly 700 calories.
This is about a third of a day’s totals on a 2,000 calorie per
day diet. Even a seemingly healthy broccoli and cheese baked
potato comes with 340 calories.

If you’re hungry, it can be very difficult to avoid the
temptations of the fast food restaurant. This can be dangerous
from the sense of added fat and calories. Should you give into
temptation at Wendy’s and order a “biggie” fries, you’ll be
taking in an extra 590 calories and 28 grams of fat.

What about alternatives such as the low fat strawberry flavored
yogurt? The yogurt itself is 200 calories, and the granola
topping that comes with it is an extra 110 calories. In
comparison, an average cup of low fat yogurt from the grocery
store will have around 100 calories.

Burger King

Burger King provides an array of eating options through its
website for those who are watching carbs, fats, or calories.
Many salads listed have from between 10 and 13 grams of fat, or
90 to 117 calories from fat. Salads fall in the 400 total
calorie range. The dressings will add another 70 to 270
calories, for a total of up to almost 700 calories. Again, this
is almost a third of a day’s total caloric intake. The original
Whopper sandwich with everything on it has about the same amount
of calories. Depending on the salad and dressing chosen, the
salad option can actually have more total fat than the Whopper.
In other words, eating a “healthy” salad instead of a sandwich
may not provide you with the benefits you’re looking for.

Taco Bell

Taco Bell offers “Fresco Style” options that have fewer than ten
grams of fat per serving. This translates into the cheeses and
sauces being removed from the item. This style can reduce total
fat and caloric intake. Many items on the Fresco Style menu are
under 400 calories. The key to ordering through this method is
to know which items are available Fresco Style and which are
not. Most items offer this option, but many do not. Ask prior to
ordering.

One final word of caution when it comes to fast food: even when
the options are low fat and low calorie, many are still very
high in sodium content and low in fiber content. The total
nutritional value is an issue. Cooking methods, such as
deep-frying or leaving foods under hot lamps for extended
periods can dramatically reduce a food’s nutritional value. So
what’s the bottom line? While the occasional visit to a fast
food restaurant can be enjoyable and will not create too many
negative side affects, the idea that ‘healthy’ alternatives at
fast food chains are in fact ‘healthy’ is questionable.

About the author:

Mike Singh is a fitness instructor, who writes about health & fitness products
reviews,elliptical
trainers reviews,low carb diet
recipes online!

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Healthy eating and dining out
Zaak OConan

One of the biggest challenges facing those trying to follow a healthy diet is the local restaurant. Eating out presents special challenges, such as not knowing how the food was prepared, how much fat it contains, and whether or not the healthiest ingredients were used.

Many restaurant chains, and even some fast food restaurants, have recognized the demand for healthier menu choices, and they are working hard to satisfy that demand. All too often, however, the healthy choices on a restaurant menu are limited and unappealing. It is important, therefore to pay close attention to the menu and make the healthiest choices possible.

One of the most important thing diners can do to eat healthy at restaurants is to be proactive. Diners should not be afraid to ask how a dish is prepared, or what ingredients are used in its preparation. If the server does not know, ask him or her to check with the chef. A good chef will be happy to answer such questions, and to make modifications in the recipe if needed. In addition, most restaurants will happily accommodate special needs, such as low fat or low sodium dishes. After all, the restaurant is there to serve its patrons.
Some of our favorite tips for healthy eating in restaurants include:

– One good rule of thumb to use when dining out is to order entrees that are grilled, baked or broiled. Deep fried dishes are best avoided. If you are unsure how a dish is prepared, don’t be afraid to ask.
– Portion size is just as important at the restaurant as they are at home. That means ordering the petit fillet instead of the full size steak, requesting half size portions of French fries, and maybe even forgoing that tempting dessert. Choosing leaner cuts of meat or fish is also a good way to eat healthier.
– When choosing side dishes, ask if steamed vegetables are available. Steamed veggies are an excellent, low fat, low calorie choice for many diners. Vegetables that are fried, au gratin, or prepared in cream or butter sauces are best avoided.
– When ordering salad, ask if fat free choices are available. Most restaurants have several fat free or low fat varieties of salad dressing available. If no low fat option exists, request the dressing on the side so that you can control the amount that is used.
– When ordering soup, choose broth based soups, and avoid bisques or rich soups like cream of crab or cream of broccoli. A simple vegetable soup is a delicious and low fat alternative.
– Replace high fat, high calorie French fries with healthier alternatives such as fresh fruit or an unbuttered baked potato. Most restaurants will be happy to accommodate such special requests.
– In Italian restaurants, stick with the tomato based sauces and avoid cream or heavy Alfredo sauces. A simple pesto sauce without meat is a good choice for most pasta dishes.
– When dining at oriental restaurants, go with the steamed rice and stir fried vegetable entrees. Avoid the heavy sauces and request that your meal be prepared with less oil. In addition, try to choose dishes that feature less meat and more fresh vegetables.
– Choose a light dessert of fresh fruit or sorbet. When ordering traditional desserts, order one and share it with your dining partner.

Finally, when dining at a fast food restaurant, it is important to avoid the temptation of super sizing the meal. Fast food restaurants often make their larger portions more attractive by pricing them competitively, but a big part of healthier eating is to control portion sizes. In addition, most fast food chains now offer healthier alternatives, such as salads and baked potatoes, as well as prominently displayed nutritional information.

While dining out certainly presents challenges to those trying to enjoy a healthy lifestyle, there is no reason to forgo the pleasure of an occasional meal out. By following the guidelines listed above, and by adding some creative tips of your own, you can make dining out a healthy experience as well as a pleasant one.
About the Author

Zaak O’Conan discovers and presents useful information on how to enhance and/or repair your life, body and relationships. You’ll find his other articles on eating better and other ways how to improve your life at http://your-health-center.com

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It is getting easier for teenagers today to put on weight. There are a number of reasons that make this possible. One of them is the popularity of fast food chains as the main source of daily nourishment for most of teenagers.

To say the least, the kind of food that such establishments provide can really be fattening. And they can not provide the kind of balanced nourishment required by growing teens. But sad to say, in this generation of convenience and busier lifestyle, fast food chains have become an ideal choice especially for the parents who might not find the time to prepare meals for their children.

When you realize that your teen is getting fatter and putting up more and more weight, you have to act early in order to prevent it from getting worse. An overweight teen can easily acquire a number of life threatening conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and increased risk of strokes. Early action would usually help in preventing such conditions from developing in your child as he or she grows. There are a number of solutions available to help your lose that excess weight.

You can put your overweight teen on a diet to help him or her get rid of that excess weight. A healthy diet combined with regular exercise is essential to a healthy way of losing weight. You can also give him or her weight loss supplements that will further help in maintaining a healthy means of getting rid of that excess weight. One of the supplements that your teen can possibly take is calcium.

Most people are not aware that weight loss diets may sometimes affect the amount of nutrients that the body gets. Some diets may promise quick weight loss but may not be giving the body with the essential nutrients that it needs, especially the bones. Calcium and other nutrients are sometimes in low supply during periods of dieting which may lead to increased chances of developing conditions such as osteoporosis.

Parents should be aware that dieting may lead to a low supply in calcium in their teens. They should be able to provide their children with a variety of calcium and other supplements so that the dieting teens would still be getting all the essential nutrients they need to grow and develop. And not only that, essential nutrients such as calcium may even aid your teenager in losing excess weight. There have been numerous studies that show that calcium may help in reducing body fat.

The reason for this is because calcium is a known fat burner. Diets with a healthy amount of calcium seem to favor burning rather than storing fat in the body. Calcium in the body is stored in fat cells and this plays an important role in fat storage and breakdown. Calcium may be able to change the efficiency of losing weight. Further studies have shown that dieters with the highest overall calcium intake experience losing more weight, and the people with the lowest calcium intake had the highest percentage of body fat.

When overall calorie consumption is taken into consideration, it not only helps keep a person’s weight in check, but it can also be associated specifically with substantial decreases in body fat. A low daily calcium intake is associated with greater tendency to gain weight, particularly in adolescent girls and adult women.

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Teen-agers are always plagued by many health problems triggered by many factors. One of the basic issues during this stage is the peer pressure to maintain normal weight, and in much desired sense, every teen-ager prefers the anorexic-look.

Easy free weight loss for teens is not suppose to be an issue if only the word “discipline” is properly established in one’s daily living. What can you expect of teens? They will do the worse by escaping meals, only to feel tired and haggard with the struggle of keeping a trim body.

The ways to do effective teen weight loss starts at home. Usually if the environment has erratic schedules, chances are the lifestyle is chaotic too, and in some way this can affect the management of food served. While teens are outgoing, they end up taking dinner at fast food chains or they keep busy in front of TVs nibbling crackers.

Keeping a sensible book on calorie list is better than not knowing the count of each food indiscriminately taken. A teen can keep this somewhere while keeping track of each food consumption. Usually, unnecessary beverages also add a scale in the calorie list. If one is not aware, alcohols have high calorie content, yet it does not give potential benefit for the body.

Ice cream is also one culprit in adding any excess weight to a complete daily diet. Imagine an approximate 450 calories per serving of ice cream, which already comprise almost the third of an average person’s complete meal. Being aware of every calorie count does serve as reminder of what could be taken constantly. In consistent use, one could even memorize the tabulation with ease.

Fruits and vegetables are important part of diet with lesser amount of calories yet vital in daily processes. Teens must not forget to take these food groups in larger quantities to help them with an efficient diet rather than fantasize on a big serving of french fries during outdoor activities. Cakes and fancy pastries are rich on oil, yet they can’t fully satisfy the pang of hunger. A good serving of natural cereals for breakfast is a good start for the day.

Easy and free teen weight loss program should be the focus in getting trim. Advertisements are sometimes the culprit on why teens plunge with different systems of weight loss, which are not necessary for such a tender age.

Usually, product lines of diet pills and tablets may sound encouraging because of the promise of instant effect and false scripted testimonials that go along with ads. A chubby teen would find it tempting to try any methods just to look sexy on a prom night.

It is quite funny to see and hear several varying stories on gaining and losing weight from people of all walks of life. Each is unique, however, it will really tickle your thoughts on why there are dozens of ineffective methods? People come and go, thin, and fat sharing their side of experiences. You will realize, there is no perfect universal diet regimen for everyone. There is only one universal truth about staying trim the cheapest way, and that is taking a close study on what you eat.

It means, the only key to permanent weight loss is still the motivation to limit the amount of food taken, plus knowing the right energy (calorie) each food contains for consumption. One must really digest this idea and sit down to think over or reflect on how stubborn most people are in terms of eating habits.

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