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Fast
Food Guide
Light Roast Chicken Deluxe Sandwich
Light Roast Turkey Deluxe Sandwich
Roast Chicken Salad
Boston
Market - go
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Turkey Breast
Chicken Breast
Turkey Sandwich
Chicken Sandwich
Steamed Vegetables **
New Potatoes **
Buttered Corn **
Rice Pilaf **
Fruit Salad **
Zucchini Marinara **
Burger
King - go
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Broiled Chicken Sandwich
Chunky Chicken Salad
Plain Broiled Hamburger
Carl's
Jr. - go
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Charbroiler BBQ Chicken Sandwich
Chicken Salad
Hardee's
- go
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Chicken Fillet Sandwich
Grilled Chicken Salad
Jack
In The Box - go
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Chicken Fajita Pita
Grilled Chicken Fillet Sandwich
Garden Chicken Salad
Chicken Teriyaki Bowl *
Kentucky
Fried Chicken -
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Quarter Chicken
Mashed Potatoes **
Garden Rice **
Red Beans Rice **
Long
John Sliver's -
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Flavor-Baked Fish
Flavor-Baked Chicken
Plain Baked Potato **
Green Beans **
McDonald's
- go
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McGrilled Chicken
Chunky Chicken Salad
Plain hamburger
Subway - go
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Roast Turkey Breast Sub
Veggie Sub
Roast Beef Sub
Poultry based cold cuts
(sandwich without mayonnaise or oil dressing)
Taco
Bell -
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Light Chicken Burrito
Light Chicken Taco
Light Bean Burrito
Light Taco
Light Soft Taco
Light Taco Supreme
Light Soft Taco Supreme
Wendy's
- go
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Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Grilled Chicken Salad
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*
Equals Two "Meals
** Small Serving for Side Dish
Best Condiments: Lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard, salsa or a low fat salad dressing!
Healthy Fast Food Guide
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by: Bill Phillips
Healthy Fast Food? You Bet!
Many "experts" will tell you that part of your commitment to build a more fit body means you're going to have to give up a lot of things--make a lot of sacrifices and completely change your life. Well, over the many years I've been helping people learn how to lose fat and build muscle tone, I've discovered something---I've realized that people cannot and will not completely change their way of life to fit a "program." So, I decided to design a program to suit the lifestyles of "real people."
Fitness "experts" often tell people who want to lose fat to avoid all fast foods. The term "fast food" is often used interchangeably with "junk food." But, I want to make it perfectly clear the two are not the same. I've spent a lot of time researching what type of foods are available at various fast-food restaurants and I've discovered that you can eat nutritious fast food and still look and feel great---you just need the proper knowledge and, in this simple, easy-to-read, easy-to understand articles, I'm going to tell you what you'll need to know about how to use the most nutritious foods available at fast-food restaurants.
Now, because I'm saying you can find nutritious items at fast-food restaurants, I don't want you to think I'm saying it's okay to eat any and all fast foods. Some (in fact, many) fast food items are way too high in calories, loaded with fat, and are just simply not good for you!
When you pull tip to the drive-thru at some of these fast-food restaurants, you might have a moment of "weakness" and decide to just go for it-you might think you can get away with eating some French fries or something that's not on the "approved" list. If you really, really want to do that, go ahead but, think about it first.
Remember this--- nothing, and I mean nothing tastes as good as being in great shape feels! You need to feed your body often to give it a constant supply of energy so you don't get that run-down, tired feeling like you do on many fat-loss diets. Hey.. many of us lead especially busy lives and eating often can be practically impossible. Obviously, that's why I invented and highly recommend the Myo-plex Nutrition Formula, but you're also well aware that small portions of regular foods work great too.
Some people eat at fast-food restaurants literally every day without gaining weight! And you can too if you have to! Once you have the proper "know how," it's easy to use fast food to build a better body. Don't worry about how many calories are in each of these little "meals" I'm describing nor how this meal fits into the government's "Food Pyramid."
I don't want you to count calories, just relax, follow my recommendations and everything will fall into place.
McDonald's.
Now, let me tell you about all the things you can have at your favorite fast-food restaurant. Let's start off with the big daddy of them all, McDonald's.
When you walk into McDonald's or pull up to the drive thru, here's what you should d tell the friendly lady or gentleman that's waiting to take your order. Say that you would like to have a McGrilled Chicken Classic without the high-fat sauce they typically put on it. I think the McGrilled Chicken Classic is even better with ketchup (which is perfectly fine for you to have since it's low in fat and calories) and I think it's even better with extra lettuce and tomatoes!
If you don't want ketchup, you can have mustard (or both), or you might even try putting one of their "light" salad dressings on this sandwich. Fat-free Italian dressing with lettuce and tomato on a McGrilled Chicken Classic is pretty darn good, so give it a try!
Remember, you can have all the water, iced-tea you want. If you like to feel real "full" after a meal, drink 12 ounces of water before you even take the first bite out of your sandwich and make sure you drink another 12 ounces of water, iced-tea with your sandwich. Also, remember that even though this is "fast food" don't eat it fast! Set your food down in between each bite and thoroughly chew what you're eating. This is important --please don't disregard this advice.
That McGrilled Chicken
Classic equals one "meal" and it contains a nice amount of protein
and carbohydrates.
Now, let's say you don't want a chicken sandwich-well, fear not! Just
tell the smiling McDonald's "order-taker" that you would like
to have a Chunky Chicken Salad with light vinaigrette dressing.
Whatever you do, please don't just have a plain salad. Each of your meals needs to have both protein and carbohydrates. Chicken, as you're probably aware, is virtually all protein, and you get some carbohydrates from the salad, or if you have a chicken sandwich, from the bread that's with the sandwich. And, never have regular salad dressing, it's way too high in fat. The light or fat-free dressings that are available today taste just as good as the regular kind but have far fewer calories and are extremely low or void of fat altogether. You might also get in the habit of carrying some of your favorite fat-free dressing with you.
These meals I'm telling you about are great for lunch or dinner but not for breakfast. 1 don't think any fast-food meals are "ideal" for breakfast-there's nothing I recommend more highly first thing in the morning than a myo-plex meal replacement shake.
Taco Bell
My favorite meat at
this fast-food "hot spot" is a Light Chicken Burrito.
This tasty little treat is low in calories, and contains a nice serving
of protein and carbohydrates.
Remember, if you like to feel "full" from a meal (and some people
do including me!) be sure to drink 12 ounces of water before you start
eating your burrito. And, be sure to drink another 12 ounces of water
or iced-tea while you're eating.
Now, when you order your Light Chicken Burrito be sure to ask for extra lettuce and tomatoes and have all the salsa you want and tell them to hold the cheese, and go light on the guacamole and sour cream! You don't have to eliminate these last two items completely. If you eat a small amount, it's not going to hurt you at all!
Now, a lot of people who eat at Taco Bell get in the habit of ordering at least two or three items. That's not such a good idea. If you do this, you're just taking in too many calories at one time.
Another reason not to have too much to eat all it once is because you might get too full and you wouldn't be ready to eat again in a few hours. You don't want you to feel "stuffed" when you get done eating because its best to eat small meals often throughout the day!
Now, if you don't want a Light Chicken Burrito, you can have a Light Chicken Taco, a Light Bean Burrito, a Light Taco, a Light Soft Taco, a Light Taco Supreme or a Light Soft Taco Supreme. Got all that?
And remember, you can have mild or hot taco sauce, salsa or pico de gallo. You can have all of this you want and lots of lettuce and tomato.
Burger King
Now, let's check out
Burger King. Here's what you tell those smiling, little funny-hat
wearing folks behind the counter-"I'd like a BK Broiler Chicken
Sandwich with lettuce, tomato, pickles, no mayo, ketchup and mustard."
The only thing you want to do is make sure they don't put any mayonnaise
or their "special high fat sauce" on your chicken sandwich.
Burger King also has a Chunky Chicken Salad and offers a light
Italian dressing that's pretty good.
Wendy's
Okay-let's talk about Wendy's. Guess what! They have a Grilled Chicken Sandwich too! You've probably pretty much got the idea by now that a grilled, skinless, chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomato at any fast-food restaurant is okay whereever you get it--- you're so right.
If you get stuck at a fast-food restaurant where you can only get a chicken sandwich that is deep fat fried or has the skin on it, be sure to remove the skin or scrape off that fried stuff on the outside of the chicken sandwich (I know this is a pain but it's worth it). Remember, what we are really looking for is a plain, grilled chicken breast with no skin and one that has not been deep-fat fried.
Wendy's also has a good Grilled Chicken Salad and they offer fat-free Ranch or Italian dressing just tell them to hold the cheese and breadsticks-the salad is just as good without those things.
Arby's
Now let's take a look at Arby's. I have two favorites here: the Light Roast Chicken Deluxe Sandwich (without mayo) and with ketchup and mustard and I also like the Light Roast Turkey Deluxe without mayonnaise. Both of these sandwiches are great and give you a good quality source of protein and carbohydrates. They will both fill you up and keep you going strong until your next meal comes up.
Arby's also offers a Roast Chicken Salad with light Buttermilk or Ranch dressing. If you're in the mood for salad, check these dudes out, they're not too bad!
Boston Market
Another fast-food
chain that's growing like crazy is Boston Market. Once again, you
can have a Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwich with extra lettuce and
tomato (no mayo). As a matter of fact, I think Boston Market has the best
chicken sandwich of all the fast-food chains.
If you're tired of sandwiches, there's all kinds of things you can have at Boston Market that I consider a good "meal." You could have a turkey breast or a chicken breast by itself and then have any one of the following: a serving of steamed vegetables, new potatoes, buttered corn, rice pilaf, fruit salad or zucchini marinara.
Boston Market also has a great turkey sandwich-just remember to follow the rules: extra lettuce and tomato, no mayo, and no cheese.
Subway
Subway offers a nice "break" from the other fast-food chains.
My favorite thing to have from Subway is the six inch Roast Turkey Breast Sandwich with pickles, jalapeno peppers, green peppers, lettuce and tomato. I tell them to hold the mayo and oil and I top this sandwich off with vinegar and a little salt and pepper. (Dats a mighty tasty sandwich!)
You can also have a six inch Veggie Sub. Or, if you're really craving some red meat, you can have a Roast Beef Sub.
Remember, a relatively small portion of something that has a bit of fat in it like roast beef isn't going to hurt you. Excess is the problem, though!
Carl's Jr. is another hamburger joint I've found myself at from time to time. They offer the old stand-by-a Charbroiler BBQ Chicken Sandwich and they also have a chicken salad. Either one is fine-you know the rules!
If you find yourself at Hardee's, you can have the Chicken Fillet Sandwich or the Grilled Chicken Salad (this is too easy!)
At Jack In The
Box, I often have that Chicken Fajita Pita-it's pretty good!
They also have... you guessed it... a grilled chicken sandwich
and, if all this wasn't becoming too simple, they offer a Garden Chicken
Salad too.
At Jack In the Box, you can also get something called the Chicken Teriyaki Bowl but I need to warn you-this item constitutes two meals-it's just too much food for one "meal" . If you want to order the Chicken Teriyaki Bowl, eat half of it for one meal and then the other half later in the day. Just don't eat it all at once!
Another fast-food
chain you might find yourself at is Long John Silver's. This place
deep-fat fries everything-even their menus!
By and large, this place serves up more saturated fat than any fast food
restaurant I know of, but you can still get a "Bill Phillips approved
meal" at this fast-fat haven.
Just ask for the Flavor-Baked Fish or the Flavor-Baked Chicken, a plain baked potato and/or green beans. The fish and potato combination is usually what I have-it's low in fat and high in protein and complex carbohydrates-yummy!
Here's a little tip that will help you make a plain baked potato come alive-you know how most people smother "bakers" with butter and sour cream? Well, you shouldn't do that. Try this---put salsa or ketchup on your baked potato-it can really dazzle your taste buds-try it! Salsa and ketchup are "A-OK:' butter and regular Sour cream are out!
Rounding off our list of fast-food restaurants is Kentucky Fried Chicken. You've got to be careful here-there is way too much deep fat frying going on at this place, too.
KFC
Here's what I ask for at KFC: a quarter chicken ,and a small serving of mashed potatoes and gravy. Sometimes instead of the potatoes I have garden rice or red beans and rice. You've got to remember to remove the skin from this chicken-That's where most of the fat is.
Well, that about wraps it up for fast-food restaurants. Let's go over our rules one more time before you give in to temptation at a fast food restaurant and order something you know you shouldn't like a Big Mac, a Whopper, an order of fries, an apple pie or something else. Think good and hard about whether it's worth it or not. I'll tell you right now that by the time you get done eating those fries or that Big Mac you're going to realize it was a mistake!
Remember, nothing tastes as good as being in great shape feels!
Remember this too-it's just food-you control it, it doesn't control you!
I've given you the
information so that you can make the right decision. If you only remember
one thing from reading this article it should be this: almost all fast-food
joints offer a grilled chicken sandwich. Put lettuce, tomato, ketchup,
mustard, salsa or a low fat salad dressing on your chicken sandwich and
you might be surprised at how good it is!
Remember that if you don't think a chicken sandwich is going to fill you
up or you know from experience that it didn't fill you up last time, try
drinking 12 ounces of water before you even start to eat your meal, then
drink another 12 ounces of water, or iced-tea with your food. Eat slowly
and remember not to get too filled up because you have to eat again in
another few hours! Good luck and bon appetite!