Making Healthy Choices at Fast Food Restaurants.
Let’s face! The convenience of fast food is unmatched. The ease of just grabbing something on the go and the affordability makes pulling into a drive through very tempting.
And if you’re living on a hectic schedule, it might occasionally be the only way to eat something with how simple it is to grab and go.
Here’s the catch,
As we all should already know fast food is usually high in calories, fat, sugar, and salt. For example, if you stop by for a double burger with fries and a drink. Can you guess how much calories that would be?
Almost 2000 calories. Sometimes more or less depending on the food joint.
Why does this matter?.
That’s how much food you should aim to consume in a whole day, and you’re pinching that into one meal… If you count eating lunch and dinner from a fast-food joint, you could have been consuming almost 4000 calories plus in a day.
Not to mention how much saturated fat you’re consuming.
One meal like mentioned above far exceeds the recommended sodium intake for the entire day.
The health risks linked to eating fast foods are abundant, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, etc.…
Is that a future you want for yourself?
The Health-Conscious Eater.
To be clear, the goal of this article is not to put shame on you for eating fast food. Rather, it is to educate you on becoming a health-conscious eater.
And to provide you with tools to eat at fast foods restaurant and still stick to a healthy eating plan. Here’s some things for you to think about.
Limit your fast-food visits – That’s right! Eating fast foods should be left for rare occasions and not be the everyday norm. In a means to instill balance, give yourself a given amount of time in a month where you’ll be able to indulge freely.
I would recommend starting with twice a week, and eventually progressing your way to twice a month.
Plan for it – You’ve heard the saying “failing to plan, means preparing to fail,” when considering what to eat, this couldn’t be truer. Be sure to take a few minutes beforehand to plan for what you’ll be getting and be mindful to whether it fits the agenda.
Study what you eat – Your health-conscious eater now, it’s important to know what you’re eating. How it’s cooked. Thankfully most of the hard work is done for you. Most restaurants nowadays list the calories as well as other useful information. Don’t ignore it. If it’s not listed, ask an employee.
Say no to supersizes – We live in America where everything is made bigger. Large is not the final unit, and the difference is only a few cents. So, you might be tempted to go with bigger portion sizes, but is it worth it? You would be adding a lot of fat, calories, and salt. And while the first thought may be, “I’ll save some for later.” It’s a trap. It’s a fact that when served more, people eat more.
Customize your meals – Did you know in most restaurants you can ask for a “special” order. For instance, if you pull into a burger joint, ask for a lettuce wrapped burger instead. Go for the baked chicken instead of fried. Ask an employee, the worst thing they can say is no.
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