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Dear Worlds Fittest Man,

I love fast food! Burgers, fries, shakes! I am committed to trying to change my eating habits, but I still like the convenience of fast food. Are there any alternatives? Is there such a thing as "healthy" fast food?

Dear Burger and Fries,

I’m really glad you asked about fast food. In today’s world, it’s hard to avoid all the temptations of a burger and fries. I used to eat fast food just about everyday. My favorites were chicken wings and pizza. I can remember going out with my friends and chowing down on 40 chicken wings and a pitcher of beer—no problem! Man, was I fat then, and I had no one to blame but myself.

Nowadays, some people would like to blame the fast food restaurants like McDonalds for being unhealthy. In New York City, a few teenagers and their parents filed the first class action lawsuit against McDonalds claiming that they didn’t know all that fried food was making them fat. One of the teenage girls ballooned to over 300 pounds. It’s hard to believe she didn’t know the dangers of eating Big Macs, fries and shakes for lunch everyday. Nice try! The judge agreed and threw out the case.

Before you think of filing a lawsuit and blaming someone other than yourself, there are some ways you can actually enjoy fast food without getting fat. The key is that you have to start making smart choices.

One of the best ways to start making smart choices is to take a look at a great book out there called Restaurant Confidential (Workman, 2002) written by two staff members of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). This organization does a great job of monitoring what’s in your food. A few years ago I remember CSPI did an eye-opening study on take-out Chinese food and found that an average dinner contained 1500 calories and 70 percent of a day’s recommended fat intake. Some other “worst choices” according to CSPI are:

  • Burger King Old Fashioned Ice Cream Shake. A large one of these will cost you 1,200 calories and 42 grams of saturated fat.
  • Burger King Fries. A king size of these will add 600 calories and 30 grams of fat to your waist.
  • Burger King Double Whopper with Cheese. Half your recommended daily calories can be found in just this one burger: 1,150.

As you can see, Burger King really swept the list. But the news isn’t all bad. There are smart choices out there when it comes to fast food—you just have to look a little harder. One of my favorites is Wendy’s Mandarin Chicken Salad. If you use half the packet of dressing it’s only 420 calories. Some other smart choice fast foods according to the CSPI are:

  • Subway’s Lowfat Subs. Subways new line of “7 subs with 6 Grams of Fat or Less” are a great healthy alternative with only 300 calories. You can’t beat that for lunch!
  • McDonald’s Fruit and Yogurt Parfait. This is a great breakfast, snack or light lunch. The berries make this a perfect healthy alternative.
  • Burger King Veggie Burger. This is the first meatless sandwich from the big burger chains. A great alternative to a Whopper or Big Mac.

When you’re really craving that hamburger and French fries don’t drive yourself crazy fighting off temptation. What I do is give myself a reward meal once a week, usually on the weekend. That’s the time when I treat myself to a burger or pizza if I’ve been eating healthy all week. Give it a try! And remember, use your common sense when it comes to ordering.

To find out more about Restaurant Confidential and the CSPI go their website www.cspinet.org.

© Joe Decker 2003

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