Do you know that two of the leading causes of obesity in the United States are the availability of junk food and the expensive price tags associated with healthy food? Sugar-sweetened and high-fat junk foods stimulate our brains into wanting more. For susceptible individuals, junk foods are addicting. These are actually compared to alcohol, cannabis, nicotine, and cocaine because people lose control over their behavior toward these foods. The effect is similar to how people struggle to overcome their addiction to substances.
If you have a naturopathic nutrition diploma, you will understand why fast food chains are unhealthy for people. The food is loaded with calories, fat, and sugar. It was designed to taste good, but not to load you up with healthy minerals and vitamins. The dishes in fast-food restaurants tend to be low in nutrients and lacking in fruits, vegetables, and fiber. Some of these dishes have the calories you need in a day in one meal. Yes, that’s almost 1,000 calories in a meal.
That doesn’t mean you cannot eat in fast food joints forever. These fast foods have some of your comfort foods. When you feel down and want to load yourself up with greasy pizza, the easiest way is to call a local pizza joint. But for daily meals, you may want to temper down your visits to fast-food restaurants. Or, at the very least, find healthy options in their menus.
Find Healthy Choices in the Menu
Fast food restaurants don’t always advertise it, but they do have healthy food choices on their menu. McDonald’s, for example, have chicken wraps for less than 350 calories. That’s okay for a meal. You can even ask the staff to hold the pita bread and serve the chicken and vegetable salad-style. Many restaurant menus have healthy food options on their menu. You just have to read the entire menu to get to the healthy part or ask your server.
Eat Before You Go
If you’re planning to meet a friend in a local diner, where the food is greasy and fatty, grab a healthy snack before going. A cup of yogurt can sate your hunger. When you get to the diner, you’ll feel full, so you won’t have to order those large pork chops swimming in mushroom gravy. You’ll be fine with a bowl of salad or a slice of flourless chocolate cake.
Hold the Dips, Sauces, and Gravies
If you order grilled chicken meat but then ceremoniously pour buttery gravy on it, is that still a healthy meal? Not likely. Ask the waiter to serve the dips, sauces, and gravies on the side. If you want some French fries, try to avoid the temptation of ordering it with melted cheese, bacon, gravy, and many other toppings. Fried potatoes are bad enough. Dunking those in that rich brown gravy should be a crime.
The same goes for salads. If you’re going to pour the Caesar dressing on your green leafy vegetables, you might as well order a full meal. Those dressings are full of fat and sugar. They can be quite addicting.
Eat a Small Portion
Many fast-food restaurants serve meals with portions large enough for two to three persons. Do not fall for supersized and value-sized items. People naturally gravitate toward bigger servings because these get more bang for the buck. However, if you continue to think this way, you’ll find yourself trying to eat more than you should.
Go for smaller portions instead. Check the kid’s menu of every restaurant. Chances are that these are enough for one meal. Or, you can portion the food in half. You can eat the first half now and the second half later.
Request for a Special Order
Many menu items can be transformed into healthier options with minor tweaks. For example, you can request for a wheat bun in exchange for the potato bun for your burger. That will make a huge difference in your sandwich. You can also request vegetable sidings instead of fries or mashed potatoes. Don’t be afraid to order a meal that the chef needs to tweak a little for you. Even in fast-food restaurants, they have access to whole-grain bread and some other healthier alternatives.
Drink Water
That 22-ounce of soda is tempting. But an average large soda backs 300 calories. If you drink three of those in a day, that’s 900 calories, more than half of what your daily calorie intake should be. Drink water instead. It’ll hydrate your body and fuel you up for a grueling day. If you really need to flavor up your drink, go for diet soda or unsweetened tea.
It is possible to eat healthy at fast-food restaurants. You don’t have to whip those healthy meals up by yourself. You can still save on time and energy by simply being more conscious of your food choices.