It Is Possible To Make Healthy Fast Food Choices And Stay On Track With Your Natural Weight Loss Plan
By V.E. Moody

Wondering how to make healthy fast food choices at restaurants? Don’t despair. While most of us on weight loss plans feel the urge to occasionally indulge in guilty pleasures, such as fries, burgers and onion rings, fast foods don’t have to make you feel that guilty. Here we show you eight ways to make healthier fast food choices when you’re in a rush, or just not up to cooking a healthy meal.

1. Say No to Cheese
Tired of your white meat and fish diet? The occasional burger won’t hurt; it’s all the other things that come with it that do the damage. Next time, skip the cheese. One cheese slice contains 2.5 grams of saturated fat and 4.5 grams of total fat. A fast food burger already contains a lot of fat; for instance, a McDonald’s hamburger contains about 4 grams of saturated fat and 10 grams of total fat. Lighten the fat and lighten the guilt.

2. Say Yes to Veggie Burgers
Just craving for the taste of burger but don’t want the fat? A veggie burger is a much healthier fast food choice. For instance, a Burger King veggie burger contains 1.5 grams of saturated fat and 7 grams of total fat. As with the meat variety, skip the cheese on your veggie burger.

3. Choose Chicken — Grilled
If you need to grab a meal in a hurry, make it a grilled chicken sandwich, instead of a breaded and fried chicken sandwich. A Wendy’s grilled chicken sandwich for instance contains 2 grams of saturated fat and 7 grams of total fat. Also, while grilling has its health limitations (it also creates harmful advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in the body, it’s a much healthier option than deep-frying.

4. Go for Whole Grains
Whole grain offerings on the menu — such as tortilla, pizza crust, or bun — are healthy fast food choices. Whole grain foods are an essential part of a holistic weight loss plan. They’re lower in fat than refined products and full of fiber, which makes you feel fuller so you’re less likely to overeat. They also break down more slowly, so they don’t disrupt your blood sugar levels as much as refined foods and cause insulin levels to spike — which affects weight loss.

5. Pile on the Veggies
Whether you’re ordering a fajita, pizza, burger or chicken sandwich, add heaps of veggies. Choose as many different veggies as you can handle — lettuce, tomato, green and red peppers, eggplant, and so on. They’re packed with vitamins and other nutrients that make your body work more efficiently so you can burn more weight and have more energy. They’re also rich in fiber and filling, and help rid your body of toxins that can slow down your metabolism.

6. Kick Creamy Dressings to the Curb
When you order a salad at a fast-food restaurant, splash on dressings made from olive oil or balsamic vinegar, or squeeze on fresh lemon juice. Creamy dressings are loaded in saturated fat, which defeats the purpose of ordering a salad.

7. Skip the Fattening Extras
Creamy dressings and cheese aren’t the only extras you should skip. Hold the mayo, ketchup, bacon bits, and other fattening extras. On burgers, relish is healthier than ketchup — it has fewer calories and less salt. Mustard is really healthy and can be used on a chicken sandwich instead of mayo. Drizzle olive oil on your baked potato instead of adding sour cream.

8. Don’t Double-up or Super-size
Say no to double burgers, large fries, and super size drinks. Also, skip the multi-meat fare — you know, the bacon hamburgers, subway sandwiches with more than one meat, or pizzas with pepperoni, bacon and ham. These fall far short of healthy fast food choices. Can you say clogged arteries?

Remember these tips to make healthy fast food choices easier. Plan what you’ll have before you get to the restaurant — and don’t glance at the menu and get swayed by all those tempting offerings.