I have a desk job full time and my personal business full time. If you're keeping track, that's 2 full time jobs. Add a boyfriend and...needless to say, I'm very busy! Now, I'm sure many of you 20-somethings are in the same boat as me! So, since we can't always cook healthy foods, and frozen entrees only go so far...what are your favorite fast foods that won't build the bulge?
Lunch is my hard meal to cook, so here are some alternatives I like on the go:
- Subway 6" roasted chicken breast sandwhich on the oat bread, no mayo, sometimes cheese.
- Taco Time sweet pork burrito on a wheat tortilla, no sour cream
- Taco Bell steak soft taco, fesco style
- McDonalds grilled chicken wrap with chipotle BBQ sauce (take it out of the tortilla)
Can't go wrong with subway or Wendy's Chilli...
Half a Burrito Bowl at Chipotle is good
McDonald's chicken Mcnuggets aren't too bad
Jimmy Johns sandwhichs are good too
I just wish they made low- cal chinese food and I would be so skinny! Chinese food is my weakness...
My dietitian recommended to have the crispy aromatic duck when I want Chinese (she calls it the lesser of all evils). It isn't that Chinese cuisine is fattening mind you, but that Chinese take aways love using oil in liberal amounts.
And I totally know what you mean with oils! I went to the store and bought sweet and sour sauce which is only 35 calories per tablespoon and you really only need 2 tablespoons....chicken (175 calories) brown rice (220) veg (50) 1.5 tablespoons olive oil and boom - you have sweet and sour chicken.
I like the caeser side salad at wendys, and their chili. jack in the box has a chicken pita that I believe is around 300 calories, which isn't too shabby. taco bell actually has some decent options if you order 'fresco'. I think most stuff ordered that way is 350 calories or less. Their cheesy fiesta potatoes are a big weakness of mine and they're less than 300 calories, so I don't feel too guilty when I get them. And yeah, subway is probably the easiest place to go when you're in a hurry and get a healthy meal, I love that place
And I totally know what you mean with oils! I went to the store and bought sweet and sour sauce which is only 35 calories per tablespoon and you really only need 2 tablespoons....chicken (175 calories) brown rice (220) veg (50) 1.5 tablespoons olive oil and boom - you have sweet and sour chicken.
I know. I have my wok at home and in low fire you can cook 100 grams of chicken only with 2 teaspoons of olive-oil.
i usually make next day lunch at night so i can grab them with me. Usually it's just few kinds of fruits, 1 yogurt/milk bag (dont know if outside asia has this kind of milk? you know, where milk is stored in a small bag). So yah, i've never really need to eat out unless i want to
anyways, if i go to a fast food:
- choose to eat at korean/japanese restaurant
- or choose 1 hambergur and 1 bottle of water. I remember how i was so surprised at how big the meal in the US is (i'm from Asian) - even at the kid meals.
Sushi places have edamame.. I can eat an order of that and it's pretty filling..
Chinese places.. You can get the steamed chicken with broccoli, steamed shrimp with green beans, steamed vegetables or whatever.. I just ask them to put the sauce on the side and use no oil and then it's basically sinless. If you're low-carbing just don't eat the rice. Easy peasy and a big order is sometimes less than $5.
McD's southwest grilled chicken salad, most of the non-fried food from Chick-fil-a, most subs from Subway w/o cheese or oils/mayo, Jack in the Box also has grilled chicken strips now too. I try not to eat out, but always make sure i have good options when i do. I also like the chicken ranchero soft tacos from Taco Bell!! If only there were healthy food at taco bueno, but its hard to make a nacho salad good for you!!
When I go to Chinese I get:
Hot and sour soup (made with tofu)
Rice (brown if they have it white if I have to) but I take it home and measure out 1/2 cup
Chicken chop suey (normally it is mostly veggies and it is steamed)
Sometimes if I don't get soup I get an egg roll, but I've been trying to only eat the filling not the fried shell
McDonald's Southwest Salad is super flavorful, you can definitely skip the dressing, although if I remember correctly the dressing is like 100 cals for the whole packet so you can use a little without feeling guilty.
Wendy's chili, of course. Or for a bigger meal, the southwest taco salad... for a healthy version, definitely don't use the tortilla strips or dressing, and maybe ask for no cheese. (What's the point of that dressing anyway, when you're pouring a whole small chili on it?!?) The sour cream is low-fat, so I usually mix some in, but you can skip that too.
So glad I found this post! I never realized Wendy's chili was a healthy option. This gave me lots of ideas.
I had to laugh at all the posts about Chinese food. I live in China (finishing up 4 years here) and if you think Chinese food in the States is oily, you should come here! Oil is everywhere and eating out is a constant struggle. No brown rice in restaurants, either, or steamed veggies. Everything is mostly stir-fried.
The really funny thing, though, is the oil (I have decided) is one of the things that makes the food taste so amazingly good - along with MSG. I never liked Chinese food in the States and love it here. The flavors are richer and less sweet and the vegetables are fresh and seasonal and crispy.
But, as you can probably tell, I try to cook at home a lot. Which is also hard when an entire plate of food (with rice) at a local restaurant generally costs me the equivalent of $.90!
Now someone tell me why more Chinese people aren't overweight?
Favorite Fast Foods - Healthy Style
