I've been avoiding fast food alot since I've started my "diet" and mostly because I just didn't want to eat that crap. I took my kids for lunch today though and got myself a big mac thinking it couldn't be more that 350-400 calories well I was wrong!! 540 calories!!! I couldn't believe it!

So, if you have fast food what do you usually try to stick with? Really is there any even remotely healthy there?

I don't eat fast food very often, not only because of the calories, but because there's not much I like, and what I do like I shouldn't be eating.

I always check the calorie count first. I keep nutritional information printouts in our car.

I learned the hard way, too though. When Hardees had mini-hamburger "sliders" I ordered two of those thinking I'd be getting about the same number of calories as a full-sized burger. Nope, each one was nearly the same calories as the smallest regular burger. I would have been better off buying the regular burger.

Grilled Chicken Sandwich with no mayo at McD and thats about it, even a little cheeseburger is 320! Subway is about all the fast food I ever eat. Taco Bell bean burrito is 300 or so but its very filling. Wendys small chilli is low fat and low calorie and you can pair it with a side salad with low cal dressing, I am burned out on the chilli though, and they have a excellent grilled chicken sandwich and instead of using mayo they use honey mustard sauce, its really good!

I try to avoid the temptation, because how could I get a hamburger without french fries? And the french fries are even higher calories! And yet I love McDonald's, even though normal people looking at my every day diet (like my mom!) would think I am some sort of health freak.

The couple of times I did the mall food court thing for lunch, I was going to make up for the calories at dinner, but ended up not being hungry really the rest of the day. Probably because when I looked the meal up on my calorie app, there was twice as much fat just in the burger than I normally eat in the whole day.

If I really want a hamburger and fries I go to a sit-down place near me, where I can cut the burger in half and they put it in a box for me to take home. And the fries are steak-cut which is slightly lower cal than the real fast food.

I tend to stick to places like Roly Poly, Quiznos, Panera, and Subway. At quiznos, I usually order the roadhouse sammie with a bowl of chili, and I think it ends up being around 450 calories. Love it! Oh, and it's only $5.

Normally if I do get fast food, and it always somehow happens to be at Mickey D's, I get a normal cheese burger (the small, whatever they call it lol) and a small fry and that's about 530 or so calories. It's a little over what I'd like to have my meals be at but I know the content and normally cut somewhere else. I am satisfied with it and I am full after. I stay away from any burger larger than that, I use to get a third pounder and and a medium fry and that would be about as many calories I eat in one day now. I don't get fast food a lot, I too try to stay away, but if I ever happen to end up there I stick to what I said above and it's generally always within my limit for the day.

I have Subway once a week with my girlfriends. I plan for it, budget my calories around it, and enjoy it! I always get the 6-inch turkey and ham on wheat.

At McDonalds, on the veeeery rare occasion that I go, I'll get the Southwestern salad. I'm not much of a salad eater as it is, but this one fills me up and it's delicious. Very high in sodium, and I'd still consider it "junk," but it won't break the bank calorie-wise. With no croutons, half the packet of dressing, and grilled chicken, it's 400cal.

I had a similar experience with being blown away by calorie content a few months ago. My friend brought me a sausage biscuit from Hardees to work. This was before my calorie counting days, and that itty bitty sausage patty on a little biscuit just didn't seem like it could be so dangerous. Sure, not healthy, but not that big of a deal. I ate it in about three bites, was hungry an hour later, and just for kicks and giggles, I looked up the nutrition info on it. 550 calories!!!! Soooo not worth it!

If I go to McDonald's I usually stick with a hamburger and apple dippers (w/o the caramel) which comes in just under 300 calories.

That's what I get too, Cloudblue - a happy meal with a burger and apple slices. Plus you get a toy!

Just take the time to look over the nutrition information for places you might eat. Write down your best options, so next time you'll be prepared.

McDonald's grilled chicken snack wraps are only 270 calories,
Burger King's 6 piece chicken fries are 260,
Wendy's Chicken go wrap is 250,
Taco Bell's Fresco Chicken Ranch Soft Taco is only 170.

Most fast food restaurants have decent choices if you need to eat there, you just need to know the nutritional info before hand. :-)

I go to Pita Extreme. Love love love the food there. I usually make that kind of stuff at home too, I just appreciate not having to do any of the work at PE. hehe

I don't care for fast food or chain restaurants. Yuck. Homogenized food. That's why I do all the cooking on the truck for us, so we can eat real food. If we decide on a restaurant, we try for the mom and pop places that often have fresh and tasty foods (but not always).

Once in a great while, it may be because of truck repairs that we have had to eat at a fast food place. I had a low carb burger and really liked that. Nothing else, just that bunless burger. One other place we went, I ordered 2 tacos (the little plain ones, not the mega stuff they sell now) and I was satisfied and my calories came out just fine. Tasted pretty bland though. My husband thinks Subway is low calorie....HA. Veggie, yes...the rest start adding up quickly, especially the hot ones. He eats there sometimes, I don't.

I LOVE subway and probably eat that way to much...a few times a week. I would be nice if all of the fast food chains carried some real healthy foods as well as their normal crap food. My kids usually get a happy meal once a week but I usually stop a subway for myself or just eat something at home for fear of nothing good to eat at the fast food place. It's funny after the big mac yesterday I have no interest in eating it ever again. All I can think now is that I can have so much MORE food for 540 cals or have something way healthier that is fewer calories that taste just as good at home...

Wendy's cup of chili. Don't take the crackers.

I don't love McD's, either, but with a family it's just a place you can't avoid sometimes! If I have to eat there, I always go with the Spicy Thai Salad (grilled chicken) - it's about 365 calories with the dressing and crunchy wheat strips, and pretty tasty and filling. You could use just half the dressing and nix the wheat strips to cut the calories by a fair bit - I usually don't need to as I have room for them, but the salad would still be really good if you did.

If I'm not very hungry I just choose the Fruit n' Yogurt parfait. Here in Canada they're smaller than in the US, so only 186 calories.

If I'm REALLY hungry I have the salad AND the parfait - about 540 calories, but a filling and satisfying meal with a decent amount of fibre. Add a bottle of water, and I'm stuffed!!