Fast Food Worst Offenders

Fast food is difficult to avoid these days with everyone running around between school, work, sports, music lessons, and other social events with friends. But what do you do if you want something healthy to eat when you're in a rush? Obviously we all know that a Big Mac and extra large fries along with a chocolate milkshake is not the key to healthy eating, but what is? And what are the tricky items on the menu that seem like they might be healthy but aren't actually low in fat or calories? Read on to find out more about some items to stay away from in more well-known restaurants that offer the option of being fast pick-ups.

Restaurant #1: Panera Bread
Panera Bread may offer many choices with fresh vegetables, whole grains, and organic chicken, but that doesn't mean it's healthy. We're not even including the pastries in this review!

STAY AWAY FROM:
Full Tomato and Mozzarella Salad
(890 calories, 47 gm fat, 6 gm fiber, 1660 mg sodium)
This salad actually has more than double the calories and 1000 mg more sodium than the full sized Caesar salad at Panera! It sounds innocent enough: tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and dressing. You don't even need meat in this salad to raise its stats. Considering that most people seem to get a baguette with salads, you're killing your day's allowance of fat and calories with a salad. This just goes to show that just because a restaurant item might seem simple with few ingredients, this does not mean that it's necessarily good for you.

Full Chipotle Chicken Sandwich on Artisan French Bread
(1070 calories, 55 gm fat, 4 gm fiber, 2570 mg sodium)
This sandwich consists of pepper-mustard chicken, smoked bacon, smoked cheddar cheese, tomatoes, and ancho-chipotle spread. Whew! All of that on a slab of, while tasty, white bread. No wonder it has double the calories and nearly double the fat of two McDonalds Big Macs! I don't even know what to consider telling you to remove from the sandwich to make it better for you. Just stay away!

GO WITH:
Full Strawberry Poppyseed Salad with Chicken
(290 calories, 9 gm fat, 5 gm fiber, 470 mg sodium)
Not only does this salad have great stats, but it also has a ton of fruit, veggies, and lean protein in various forms. It comes loaded with strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, and Mandarin oranges along with pecans and chicken for protein. The fat-free reduced-sugar dressing helps the stats a ton without tasting artificial. Add on an apple as your side and you're set for a fabulous meal!

Full Smoked Turkey Breast on Sourdough Bread
(470 calories, 17 gm fat, 3 gm fiber, 1680 mg sodium)
This sandwich comes with all of the fixings including mayonnaise and spicy mustard to add some extra flavor. They pile it high with lettuce, tomatoes, and onions, and the sourdough bread is delicious. Enjoy!

Restaurant #2: Subway
Land of the subs under 300 calories doesn't mean that all of their choices are completely healthy. Sure, it offers quite a few healthy options, but some of its offerings that seem good for you on the outside have scary nutritional stats.

STAY AWAY FROM:
6" Tuna Sandwich
(530 calories, 30 gm fat, 5 gm fiber, 930 mg sodium)
Tuna fish seems like it would be great for you, because it's fish, right? Wrong. Think about what you need to mix tuna with in order to make a sandwich. Mayonnaise isn't exactly the healthiest thing in the world, and most tuna sandwiches in restaurants are full of gloppy bits of mayo. This isn't going to make a necessarily healthy choice.

GO WITH:
6" Black Forest Ham Sandwich
(290 calories, 4.5 gm fat, 5 gm fiber, 1200 mg sodium)
Of course you can have a tasty ham sandwich for low fat and calories. While this doesn't include cheese, adding two triangles (the normal amount for a 6" sandwich) of it will only add 40 calories and 3.5 gm of fat. There are also many healthier choices for sauces to put on the sandwich if you're in the mood for an extra bit of kick.

Restaurant #3: Taco Bell
You can really make a ton of mistakes here if you're not careful. The biggest issue with Taco Bell is how small the portions are; who really eats just one soft shell taco?

STAY AWAY FROM:
Fiesta Taco Salad
(820 calories, 22 gm fat, 15 gm fiber, 1740 gm sodium)
It's a salad, yet it has so many calories? Well, this salad includes a giant taco shell bowl (get the salad without this shell and you reduce the calories by almost half), ground beef, seasoned rice, cheddar cheese, beans, lettuce, and tomatoes. It comes topped with reduced fat sour cream (as if it really makes a difference) and comes with salsa and tortilla strips (you need more?) on the side. Definitely not a feel-good salad

GO WITH:
Grilled Steak Soft Taco
(250 calories, 14 gm fat, 2 gm fiber, 710 gm sodium)
Carne asada steak, real cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado ranch sauce all stuffed into a flour tortilla? That's definitely not a bad set of nutritional stats for a steak taco with creamy sauce. You can even add on some Mexican rice for an additional 130 calories and 3.5 gm of fat to create a nice little meal.

When it comes to fast food, there are definitely good and bad choices to be made with choosing what to eat. Using your basic judgment doesn't always work either in the land of extras and hidden ingredients. The biggest tip is to research your options before you even head to the restaurant. Many fast food restaurants post their nutritional information either online or offer it in the restaurant if you ask for it. If you can't find it anywhere, try emailing the food chain and they might be able to give you some information. I keep a list of healthy choices for quite a few local fast food favorites in my wallet. That way, if I need to make a quick stop, I can just pull it out and make some good decisions that won't affect my plan to eat healthier.

Healthy eating!