Fastfood / Restaurant Meals for Lean & Green
 

Hello Everyone!

I am a busy professional and leave home at 7 in the morning and don't come back until 8ish. I have been eating out a lot and have not been able to cook since on Medifast. I have been searching the menus on all the restaurant near low calorie meals that would fit the criteria for the lean and green. I thought maybe we can share what we eat while we are out and about.

I'l go first.

-McAllisters Chiplote Chicken Salad - 425 Calories

Hi!! I am in a similar situation. I am a flight attendant and I often find myself having to find something suitable to eat on the run. Not easy ...sigh...

My 240 calorie breakfast:

**Wendy's crispy chicken sandwich (I order it without the mayo) - I leave the bun out, put mustard on the chicken patty and wrap it on the two lettuce leaves, for a grand total of 205 calories :)

plus, a doppio con panna from starbucks = 35 calories

bon appetit :genie:

With regard to the MEDIFAST program, calories are not counted.

I like to go to Applebees, Ruby Tuesday, TGIFridays--anyplace where I can specify what sides I want, so I can order two greens along with a grilled lean. For example, grilled salmon on a salad (no dressing). Jumbo shrimp scampi with broccoli and green beans. I sometimes look at the calorie counts, but with Medifast it's not necessary as long as you follow the guidelines.

I never go near anything from a fast-food restaurant. For one thing, you can't really get enough of either the "lean" or the "green." For another thing, it's just not my idea of quality food.

Jay

This answer is off the Medifast "Registerd Dietitians Support" board to a similar question:
Many people do choose to consume restaurant salads, however some can be very deceiving! :eek. However, here are a few that fit the guidelines or close to the guidelines for the L&G meal.

McDonald's
Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken (without dressing)
220 calories, 112gm of carb, 30gm of protein, 6gm of fat and 890mg sodium
Bacon Ranch Salad with Grilled Chicken (without dressing)
260 calories, 12 gm of carb, 33gm of protein, 9gm of fat and 1010mg sodium

Chick-Fil-A
Chick-Fil-A Chargrilled Chicken Garden Salad (without dressing) + 1 chargrilled chicken filet (no bun, no pickles)
180 calories for salad + 100 calories for filet = 280 calories total
9gm carb for salad + 1gm of carb for filet - 10gm carb total
22gm protein for salad + 21gm protein for filet = 43gm protein total
6gm fat for salad + 1.5gm of fat for filet = 7.5gm fat total
620mg sodium for salad + 610mg of sodium for filet = 1230mg sodium total

Burger King
Tendergrill Chicken Garden Salad (without dressing)
240 calories, 8gm of carb, 33gm of protein, 9gm of fat and 720mg sodium

Wendy's
Chicken Caesar Salad (without dressing) + 1 Ultimate Chicken Grill Filet (no bun)
180 calories for salad + 110 calories for filet = 290 calories total
8gm carb for salad + 1gm of carb for filet - 9gm carb total
25gm protein for salad + 22gm protein for filet = 47gm protein total
6gm fat for salad + 1.5gm of fat for filet = 7.5gm of fat total
660mg sodium for salad + 610mg of sodium for filet = 1270mg sodium total

As you know, many other restaurants are out there too, however not all will share their nutritional information. So, beware when dining out!! Not all the "healthy sounding" entrees and salads are really "healthy" in terms of calories, grams of fat, carbs and protein. It is always best to control your environment and choices by either packing your L&G meal (if you're able) or ordering something you known in terms of the nutritional information. Keep in mind too that a lot of these salads listed above are very high in sodium content. So, MF would not recommend using these salads frequently or on a daily basis.

Great info SpinDizzie. this list is good to know...just in case.

I've had good luck with Rubio's grilled mahi mahi health mex salad with only the fish, lettuce, tomatoes, and some fresh salsa, squeeze of lemon.

I was also successful in ordering a grilled chicken cobb salad with only allowed vegetables and a little bit of oil and vinegar at Chili's.

Good luck and keep posting ideas. I've found restaurants are willing to make it how you want it. The servers seem glad for the business.

The grilled Salmon at Ruby Tuesdays is going to be my Sunday Lean and Green. I love my local Ruby Tuesdayss and get take out there all the time. That's one of the reasons I chose MF, I can still eat a lot of my favorite foods.

That was good info Jay. I always make sure my salads are the healthy ones. The salad I cited is about 250 calories without the dressing, and 425 with the dressing. I agree that calories are not counted but its a good way to gauge your food, no? The lean and green program will lead to a lower calorie meal.

I work at applebee's and have looked at the calorie counts many times. ALL of the 550 calorie meals are actually under 500 calories. I haven't started Medifast yet but I do remember reading in the getting started guide that 500 cals was the max for L&G meals, besides the guidelines.

You can always swap out any of the potatoes in the 550 cal meals for veggies, just ask your server! And here's a tip- don't go for the steamed broccoli. Get the WW broccoli that comes with the tilapia- it's got garlic and seasonings in it, and it won't drive up the calorie count that much.

Speaking of WW, you can pretty much order anything of the Weight Watchers part of the menu as well and it should be near/below/close to the requirements- the WW meals rarely come with potatoes and you can just sub them out anyway.

Of course, this is all contingent upon where exactly you live in the US, not all Applebee's menus are the same.

Fast Food Options to Stay On Plan
 

:) Hi! I have learned that the McDonald's Chicken Caeser Salad counts as one Lean 'n Green meal. Don't know the calorie content, but if you skip the dressing and croutons and just add 2 TBLSPNS of parmesan cheese, you should be golden. Hope that helps, and best wishes for continues success!

Sidanne :carrot:

I like to eat out, and have done so twice. I am not a fast food eater, but for those restaurant goers, this is what I did. I ate at Logan's road house. Got a petite (6oz) sirloin and 2 vege skewers. Delicious and filling, only problem, over seasoned, so will ask them to season less next time.
went to a thai restaurant and got a yum nuey salad. It is beef, lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, cucumbers, lime juice and somethign called fish sauce. Very tasty. Hope this helps give you some outside the salad ideas.

I have found that all salads at Wendy's work for me. They also come in half sizes.

I couldn't get to Wendy's this week for my Tuesday treat and ended up at McDonald's. OMG that salad was soooo gross. The salads at Wendy's are so fresh tasting and the one from Mcdonald's tasted like,........well food from McDonald's I guess.

I can't do a dry salad so I carry my bottle from home.

Premium Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken from McDonalds – this serving features grilled chicken with leafy dark green lettuce and grape tomatoes. There’s also some cheese over the serving which can either removed or could be ordered not to be included. You can also use your own dressing for saving lots on fat and calories.
Cal 220
Cal from Fat 60
Total Fat 6
cholestroal 75
Sodium 890
Carbs 12
Fier 3
Sugar 5
Protien 30

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■Grilled Chicken BLT Salad without dressing from Kentucky Fried Chickens –
Cal 230
Total Fat 12
Cholesteroal 90
Sodium 910
Carbs 8]
Fiber 4
Sugars 5
Portien 35

Grillsed Chicken Ceasar salad Without Dressing & Croutons--Kentury Fried chicken--
Cal 220
Fat 7
Cholesterol 85
Sodium 740
Carbs 6
fiber 3
Sugars 4
Protien 33


googling I found this Dining Out guide
medifastmedia.com/med/docs/dining_out_guide

Shoot can't post a link yet... anyway just google it and it's a PDF document.

Because I kept editing my old post, here's a new one ;)
Plus sometimes after work I just don't want to think of a lean & green or if I"m running around...

Burger King:
Tendergrill Chicken Garden Salad: Hold the cheese and top with the Light Italian dressing:
300 calories, 16g fat, 2.5g sat. fat, 70mg cholesterol, 1,050mg sodium, 13g carbs, 5g fiber, 33g protein


Taco Bell:
Fresco Style Ranchero Chicken Soft Taco:
170 calories, 4g fat, 1.5g sat. fat, 25mg cholesterol, 730mg sodium, 21g carbs, 3g fiber, 12g protein

Fresco Crunchy Taco: This menu item is much lower in sodium but still loaded with flavor.
150 calories, 8g fat, 2.5g sat. fat, 20mg cholesterol, 370mg sodium, 13g carbs, 3g fiber, 7g protein.

Carl's Jr:
Charbroiled Chicken Salad: Choose the low-fat balsamic dressing.
295 calories, 8.5g fat, 3.5g sat. fat, 75mg cholesterol, 1,190mg sodium, 21g carbs, 5g fiber, 34g protein
[this one seems to have a lot of carbs for a salad, so maybe once in a while or when you don't have another choice.]

daw123: thanks for the semi-link to the dining out guide, I hadn't seen that yet.

we do curbside on the weekends (we don't want to pay for a babysitter usually)...so the good thing is that I get to weigh the food at home (I don't plan on taking a scale to the restaurant, although I know some do). I'm trying log/blog some meals or items for my reference. diningoutwithoptions at blogspot

I also recommend checking out Dotti's Weight Loss Zone restaurant listing.
I can't list links yet, but you can google it.
dwlz dot com /restaurants.html
she has Carbs listed on there, so I think it can be helpful, and sometimes the "bun" info is known, so you know how much you are not consuming when you tell them to keep the bun.

Do you guys keep single serve dressings with you? Can those be kept UNrefrigerated?