Healthier Fast Food

Healthier Fast Food

If you have to eat fast food, try these tips to stay healthy.

Article via www.heart.org.

We’ve all been there — it’s late at night or you’re pressed for time and you are starving! Fast food feels like the only viable option. Next time you are in this predicament, use these tips to make your fast food meal a little healthier for you and your family.

• Pass on the “value-size.” When you supersize, the size of your fries isn’t the only thing that gets bigger.
• Skip the sides. Eating a burger or sandwich by itself is often filling enough. If you do want a side, consider ordering a fruit cup or side salad. Most fast food restaurants now offer them.
• Avoid double meat and bacon. A serving size of meat is 2-3 ounces — about the size of a deck of cards. You’re probably getting well over that with a single meat patty. Bacon is high in calories and fat with little nutrient content.
• Try the grilled chicken sandwich. Poultry without skin is significantly leaner than the meats most fast-food companies use in their burgers.
• Eat your sandwich open-faced. By eating only half the bun, you can eliminate unnecessary calories.
• Ask for a wheat bun. Some places offer a wheat alternative, some don’t. It never hurts to ask.
• Skip the mayo and other sauces. These dressings and sauces add unnecessary calories.
• Drink water, diet soda or low-fat milk. Sodas are loaded with sugars, which have calories you don’t need.