Okay, I know that after I tell you this, you will be thinking, I should have read the package . . . *sigh*

I chose a McDonald Fruit and Walnut Salad the other day. Now, I know that walnuts are high in fat, but they are also good for you, but these have some sort of crunchy glaze. (Sometimes I eat them, sometimes I don't.)

Anyway, I went to the McDonald website where you can recalculate food by taking off the cheese, etc. I took a look at the F & W Salad and the walnuts are 140 calories and the fruit and yogurt are only 160 ! ! I won't be eating the walnuts anymore.

I picked up a nutrition guide while I was there and I've made several notations on it, so that I can make good choices if and when I have to eat there.

I was just surprised that the nuts cost more in calories than the whole salad itself. Amazing.

Doesn't surprise me any, nuts are high in calories. Especially if they're glazed.

Peanuts, for example, have 160 calories per ONE OUNCE. But I still love them and eat them occasionally.

Could you give me a link to the website you're talking about?

Just went to Mickey dees and had cheese burger and small fries. (12 Points) Wish I had tried a salad. Had to go because my daughter's school was having a McTeacher night. A sad waste of 12 points.

I don't know if I am supposed to post a webaddress, but I'll give it a go . . . at McDonalds.com, in the Food/Nutrition section, click on Nutrition (along the left side), then click on "Choose/Customize a menu item." You can select a crispy chicken sandwich (for example), remove the mayo, click "recalculate," and see how the calories, fats, etc. have changed.

I love their Steak, Egg & Cheese bagels. (I primarily love the steak.) My tummy doesn't like the cheese and I can take or leave the egg, so I have both removed. I also have that butter sauce removed as well. I know, it's pretty dressed down, but I still love it and have taken a 700 calories sandwich and made it a 400 calorie sandwich.

I picked up a nutrition guide to carry in the car with me. I highlighted all the reasonable things that I could eat with small notations in the margin, so that I know how to order and keep my calories within a healthier range.

I have also picked up a nutrition guide from Taco Bell and Wendy's, so I'll be doing some highlighting on those as well.

As far as the walnuts on the Fruit & Walnut Salad, yeah, nuts are high in calories, but they are also supposed to be good for you (in moderation, of course). But those prepackaged sweetened ones really aren't that great. I'd prefer they just leave them plain. I would think they would have added some cinnamon, but it's better that they didn't, because I don't care to eat them the way they are. McD's actually did me a favor with that. LOL

Yeah, but this is McDonald's we're talking about here, lol!

They wouldn't know healthy if it came up and bit 'em on the ***. Even their salads are loaded with fatty stuff and/or they're massively high in sodium.

Ms.Shapen......I went to Wendy's before and ordered their Oriental chicken salad......great right? grilled chicken, manadarin oranges, lettuce (lots of it).....then comes the whammy......crunchy rice noodles (bad) and their WONDERFUL ginger dressing...(very bad) the dressing is more than 2x the calories of the entire salad!!! I now check the websites for the hidden extras in case I stop for lunch. DairyQueen, McD's, Wendy's, Chick-filet...you can't trust them!!! Don't even get me started on Starbucks!!!

My McD's Staples:

egg mcmuffin, no ham
bacon ranch salad, NO CHICKEN
fruit salad, no yogurt, no nuts
cheeseburger happy meal, apples instead of fries & milk to drink

I don't want to but often go to micky d's and geta double cheeseburger minus the bug onions and ketcup,
just cheese and pickles 2 carbs
not bad but.......
sandi

Why no ham?

Just curious.

And why no chicken on the salad?

Don't mind me, I'm just being nosey

I haven't been able to eat McDonald's since I watched the show Supersize Me. I watched it and thought I was going to not eat it very often and really watch what I ordered. Then I saw the extras on the DVD where he took different sandwiches and fries from McDonald's and a Mom and Pop place and put them in jars for 6 months (ended up only being five months). The fries looked exactly like they did when he bought them....five months later. And the sandwiches took forever to breakdown. No wonder I am having such problems with my stomach.

Believe me, I do crave their fries and a cheeseburger, but I look at it totally differently after watching that movie.

LOL! Definitely! I bought their fruit and yogurt... the yogurt LOOKED like plain yogurt, but was absolutely loaded with sugar!!! Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

I believe it.

I'm not saying I never eat fast food. I still do on rare occasions and I love the grilled chicken caesar salads from McDonald's. But anytime I buy a fast food salad, I do a bit of modifying. If it has cheese on it, I pull it off. I don't order the salads loaded with bacon (bacon and cheese is where a lot of the fat and calories are hidden) and I always use my own dressing. I never use the dressing they give.

With a lot of those salads at fast food places, you're sometimes better off just eating a hamburger.

First, I never use dressing on my salad, especially at McD's because they use Newman's brand and that's enough to gag a maggot. I DO get the chicken on the salad because I need the protein to keep me from getting too hungry too fast.

This might be the secret to looking young well into old age. Or, it will eliminate the need for embalming fluid when we die. EEEEWWWW Okay, that was just creepy. :

LOL Ms. Shapen, your comment reminded me of the Randy Stonehill song, "American Fast Food." It is hysterical!!

BTW I use salsa on my salads instead of dressing... it's great!