McDonalds: 410
Southwest grilled chicken salad-320
Southwest dressing-100
(for an extra 110 calories, you can even splurge on the crispy chicken and still keep it under 600 cals!)
Great topic...hope to see more ideas!
I got this last night in a pinch but without the chicken (it has 710mg sodium!) and I read that their meats are high in some ingredients that causes a glutamate reaction without listing MSG. For those sodium sensitive folks out there!
The salad was tasty and definitely good if eating on the go!
chick-fil-a nuggets are so tasty. I stopped eating them in high school because I thought they were making me fat. I'm so happy to see them back in my possible diet. lol
Zaxby's has delicious zalads. Their house zalad (without the chicken) and 1 packet of ranch dressing is 575. It comes with 1 slice of texas toast that is 150 calories (already included in the 575.) If you don't eat the toast, you can do 2 packets of dressing for 585. The salad and toast fill me up quickly. It's huge!
Grab a copy of "Eat This Not That"... basic concept is that we're going to eat unhealthy things from time to time... he gives you the best of the unhealthy options. It's more realistic than telling you to gnaw on celery while everyone else is eating fast food. It's a pretty cool book actually.
I like Panera, but it can be a tricky spot because it has a lot of seemingly healthy options that are actually really high-calorie like some of the sandwiches. I go for the You Pick Two with the Chopped Chicken Cobb Salad and Chicken Noodle Soup with a whole-grain baguette side. The entire meal is less than 500 calories. That's tough to beat!
Chains are part of our problem, we know they offer cheap processed stuff full of fillers/salt/fat/chemicals. We can stop going and become reacquainted with our kitchen, backyard, picnic basket and local whole foods market. Eat like our grandparents did. We'll go much less often to really excellent restaurants with top quality food; food that's worth the wait. Sorry for rant, but it makes me crazy to hear people debate the merits of Wendys vs. McDonalds. Look at us people, look at us. What we are willing to accept as "cheap food" is nasty stuff indeed and we need to find our way out of this.
I like Panera, but it can be a tricky spot because it has a lot of seemingly healthy options that are actually really high-calorie like some of the sandwiches. I go for the You Pick Two with the Chopped Chicken Cobb Salad and Chicken Noodle Soup with a whole-grain baguette side. The entire meal is less than 500 calories. That's tough to beat!
One things that's AWESOME about Panera (at least the ones near me) is that they have the calories for all of the menu items listed next to them on the menu behind the counter where you order.
Chains are part of our problem, we know they offer cheap processed stuff full of fillers/salt/fat/chemicals. We can stop going and become reacquainted with our kitchen, backyard, picnic basket and local whole foods market. Eat like our grandparents did. We'll go much less often to really excellent restaurants with top quality food; food that's worth the wait. Sorry for rant, but it makes me crazy to hear people debate the merits of Wendys vs. McDonalds. Look at us people, look at us. What we are willing to accept as "cheap food" is nasty stuff indeed and we need to find our way out of this.
Good rant! - however, the title of this thread is "eating out ideas". Sometimes life is too hectic and fast-paced, and occasionally a "Wendy's" here or a "McDonald's" there isn't a bad thing.
That said, I'd like to hit up "BREAKFAST" eating out ideas! - while I normally have my own "turkey/cheese 1/2 sammich" for breakfast (300 calories and that's WITH mayo!!!) sometimes I need to get other ideas for breakfast. Occasionally I will hit up McD's for a sausage biscuit for 430 calories, but I have a feeling there is something "better" out there! Help??
I've read alot about fast food breakfasts and one of the best things at McDonald's is the egg mcmuffin. I'm personally not a fan of this, though I love an english muffin, something about that has always turned me off. The sausage and biscuit is my favorite, too, but I've managed to avoid, avoid, avoid so far.
I have been eating Chipotle lately. Their burrito bowl is less than 500 calories if you have it without rice and cheese. I get mine with meat, fajita veggies, beans, lettuce and even sour cream. It's incredibly filling and all of it is organic and grown locally. (Or at least as organic as they can get.) I feel like it's even healthier than something I can make at home.
