Is it Worth The Weight?: Making Good Fast Food Choices

Are the "Lighter Menus'" lower in fat?

After watching the movie, SuperSize Me, I knew that I had to talk about fast food eating! For those of you unaware of the movie, over a 30 day period, documentary filmmaker, Morgan Spurlock, only ate breakfast, lunch and dinner from McDonalds. All outside foods were prohibited. His reasoning for the film was to show how fast food eating affects you physically as well as psychologically.

McDonalds obviously fought back, arguing that the results of his drastic weight gain and behaviour changes was the fact that he was not exercising and only eating McDonalds all day. I agree with McDonalds in saying that it was not realistic to for it to be eaten all day, but this experiment was well worth the watch because some people rely on fast food or even eat unhealthy at home and really do not exercise.

AND NOW...THE WORLD OF FAST FOOD....

is trying to slim down; offering healthier alternatives to the usual burger, fries and pop.

Sometimes fast food restaurants are really hard to avoid especially when you didn't have enough time to make a lunch. Isn't it better to eat something than skipping a meal? Even on a road trip, the rest stops are filled with one or more fast food restaurants, tempting travellers.

Happy meals now have the option of apple slices instead of the regular side of fries. Now what six year old is going to eat apple slices with their nuggets when they have been used to eating fries for so long. I know one four year old that eats a yummy side of apples--but her mother is a personal trainer at my gym and is used to eating healthy, so it's really no change for her. Plus, are the apples even healthy? I know a McDonalds worker and she gave me the "inside scoop" on the apples and said they were not AS healthy as they seemed to be. She says they always look so perfect--even fake looking and they can survive in the cold (even sliced) for a long amount of time. Now what store-bought apple is going to last a long time sliced in a refrigerator? I went on the official McDonalds website where I found the question,

"How to you keep the apples in your Snack Size Fruit & Walnut Salad and Apple Dippers so fresh?" - The answer: -- To help preserve freshness, either calcium ascorbate (a blend of calcium and Vitamin C) or ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) and calcium chloride is added to the apples.

--- OKAY, so what makes these so different from apples from the grocery store? They have more Vitamin C and calcium? OH..OKAY!

Most individuals thinking a salad at a fast food place is going to be low in fat need to check the calories FOR SURE. The light Caesar salad at McDonalds for example, is equivalent to two cheeseburgers! That's the LIGHT Caesar salad! Burger King's "veggie-burger" with everything has more calories than a bacon cheeseburger. That's a "whopping" 461 calories.

Okay, I am not telling you to avoid fast food eating at all, because I am also guilty of drive-thru eating. I am just saying to be careful what you order and how much of it you eat.

Healthier food choices for eating at a fast food establishment include the following:

NO ordering of the value sized meals
Get something from the value meal (or a children's meal)

Skip the pop and substitute for a water OR even an iced tea (you don't have to drink the regular size-- I know I can't drink all that so I get the smallest beverage possible