I REALLY do NOT like fast food....most of it makes me sick to my stomach but sometimes my schedule doesn't allow for home-made or even packaged food and I have to eat on the run....so I have 2 questions
1. Where do you go when you HAVE to eat fast food (other than Subway)
2. What do you get
If I have to grab something quick, my choices are Subway, Moe's Southwest Grill, and Noodle & Co. I don't eat meat or dairy, so my choices probably won't look like yours, but I get a taco salad without the shell at Moe's, and most things at Noodle & Co are friendly to the way I eat, so that varies a lot.
Have you considered bulk cooking to cover the days that are hectic? I do that with soup, because I just don't enjoy fast food. I make soup that I can nuke quickly and eat in the car out of a travel mug (usually a pureed soup) if I really know I won't have time to eat something at work or wherever.
I have young ones who LOVE McDonald's for a treat around once a month. When we do this, I get a grilled chicken snack wrap,no sauce, and a small fry. It fills me up and is around 480 calories. The fat is awful, but it's a treat, right?
Subway is definitely the first choice, though!
Wendy's is my first choice - I like to get a side salad (or 2) and a small chili, and pour the chili on the salad instead of dressing. I like this better than the Southwest Taco Salad that comes with chili, because there's no cheese or "extras" (tortilla strips, dressing, sour cream) to tempt me. If I have a lot of calories available (I eat most of mine at dinner) I'll get a baked potato, too. The Wendy's web site has a nice tool where you can pick exactly what you want on your items and calculate the nutrition information.
I like salads from Moe's Southwest Grill as well (I get mine with black beans, sometimes tofu, salsa, lots of veggies, no dressing or cheese). I think Moe's is similar to other burrito places (Chipotle, Qdoba) so you could check out whatever is near you.
McDonald's salads aren't terrible. Burger King's salads are about as boring as you can get. Taco Bell doesn't have much that's healthy, but it's easy to calculate nutrition information on their web site so you could plan in advance.
Of course, you could keep a "meal" worth of food in the car for these sorts of times.. some combination of nuts, whole grain crackers or pretzels, dried fruit, a can of vegetable juice (if it won't freeze where you live), jerky, popcorn... stuff that will be fine sitting around for a while.
I usually go for a baked potato (half of it) and a small chili from Wendys. I refuse to order grilled chicken when eating out since it's 90% of what I eat at home.
I second (third/fourth) wendys. I actually love Mcdonalds frys! If I go there I have to eat them. You really can get something everywhere you go and most places either have the nutrition info posted on the wall or on the back of the paper that comes on the tray. i have asked many times for the info.
I do the grilled chicken snack wrap w/honey mustard from Mcdonald's (260 calories) or at penn station the artichoke sub with no mayo (lite bit size, 290 calories, I think)
Arby's has the Chicken ranch sandwich on their 501 menu and its only 340 calories. You can save 70 calories by asking them to hold the ranch. It's very very tasty
I really enjoy ChikFila when I am stuck eating fast food. The grilled chicken sandwhich is good and their salads are pretty yummy. I skip the dressing and croutons though.
Fast Food
