Hey, ladies!! Hope you are all going strong! When you are finished reading today's healthy tip...don't forget to head over to check out Keely's fitness tip!
Today, my fellow Hot and Healthy mama's, ladies, women, girls, (men?)...we are gonna talk about something that makes me...well...it makes me...how do I say this?
Um...it makes uneasy. A little uncomfortable.
And, well...it sorta makes me want to drink some dishsoap to emulsify the fat that is sure to be coursing through my vessels. (Note to you: I am not recommending that you drink dish soap...)
Okay, so I'll admit...
We eat fast food way more than we should.
Probably, once a week, I find myself in the Mickey D's drive thru (and for ease, I'm gonna talk McDonald's...sorry McDonald's...I hope you'll forgive me!) ordering the standard: two 6 piece Mighty Kids meals with Coke, one 4 piece Happy Meal, and one adult sized (gosh, I don't even want to admit this...) #12.
With an Iced Coffee. (Kudos to you who know what #12 is...wait...maybe it's not the same in every state!??! And double wait!! Not kudos to you! 'Cuz that means you eat there a lot too!!)
I had it just yesterday.
I have lived my life, blissfully unaware of the nutrition information McDonald's makes available to me.
I have ignorantly avoided it.
Purposefully pretended I didn't know where to find it.
Until tonight.
Ugh.
See what I do for you?!! Sacrificing my ignorance?
It's scary.
And sad.
And I'm going to warn you...
Go get some Kleenex.
I've just now pulled myself together after reading the nutrition information 6 hours ago. Well...okay. I lied.
It was only 6 minutes.
Okay.
You ready?
I feed my oldest children (the "6 piecers") a whopping 660 calories and 28 grams of fat, with that one little meal!! My little guy (the "4 piecer") consumes 540 calories and 23 grams of fat.
And...and!! Where's the nutrition?!!! I mean, gosh...if I fed them a bowl of broccoli with that much fat and that many calories, at least they'd be getting some vitamins from it!!!
Okay, so...um...that's a lot of fat.
And...well...for me?
A 10 piece McNugget Meal (ahem...a #12) packs an astounding 56 grams of fat and 930 calories.
Um...hello 170minutesofcardio!!! I need to get my behind moving and shakin' (and jigglin' and wigglin'!!)!
Think a salad is always the better way to go?
Not always! Some of the salads give you 20 grams of fat...and that is minus the dressing!! Hope you aren't a Caesar salad lover...'cuz Mickey D's Caesar dressing will give you an extra 18 grams of fat!
Excuse me, please...while I go
Allright, I'm back now.
But...it doesn't have to be all bad!!
I know how it goes...sometimes you are just out and about and dagnabit, you've gotta grab something quick!
So, make that drive thru trip, but be smart about it!
Once again...back to "moderation" and eating smart!
Instead of the medium fries, opt for small. Rather than the 10 piece Chicken Nuggets, opt for 4 or 6.
Better yet...grab a salad! Yes, indeed, they are definitely more fattening that I would have imagined, but heck...compared to my usual meal...it's a big difference in fat grams!
There is a book titled "Eat This, Not That", that I've heard is a fantastic source of alternative "better" foods for you, and the reasoning behind it (no compensation here, dudes! Just an honest to goodness word of mouth recommendation!)!
It's definitely worth checking out!
So, my friends...I challenge you...cut down on your fast food eating (or eating out, period!!). It will be a challenge for me as well!
I'll provide some links to popular fast food chain's nutrition information. For your information!! Good luck!
McDonalds
Arby's Not a site, but a downloadable pdf format spreadsheet.
Taco Bell
KFC Again, just a downloadable pdf spreadsheet
Chick-fil-A
Sonic pdf spreadsheet
Burger King
Wendy's
Chipotle
Aside by me...I found it very interesting, in finding these links...that some (McDonald's) make the nutrition info very easy to find, while others (Wendy's, the pdf formats) make it a bit more time consuming...a distraction, perhaps?!!
Anywho...here's to smart, healthy(ier) eating out!!
It is very scary! We eat at McD's a lot :-( We most definitely have to stop going like we do.
ReplyDeleteFrightening doesn't even begin to cover what it is like to eat at these fast food places
WOW!! I am officially depressed!! Oh how I loooove me some Mcd's.. we are prob there once a week as well... I def. need to get on the ball with that and not eat it so much... :(
ReplyDeletePs You have an award on my blog! :)
Pss I so knew what a number 12 was.. awful huh?!
What about a double cheeseburger..I love me some double cheeseburgers..
ReplyDeleteI WANT THAT BOOK!!
You are making me glad that I really don't care for McDonald's food. Also glad that I live in a rural area and fast food restaurants aren't really "convenient" to us, so we don't eat out often. But I would probably really cry if you told my how many calories & fat grams are in my favorite meal at my favorite Mexican restaurant! LOL
ReplyDeleteThanks Mama M! Great post and info. I'm going to be grabbing a bite to eat on the run tonight and now I'll give my choice some extra thought. And maybe eat it slower to enjoy it longer! :-)
ReplyDeleteOur 7-11's (a convenience store, don't know if they are nation wide) has a food cooler with fruit bowls and veggie and cheese trays. If I am not in the mood for healthy, then my weakness is Wendy's junior bacon cheeseburger for a buck. I'm afraid to go look because even though it's easy on my wallet, I'm sure it's packing the pounds on my backside.
ReplyDeleteWow! Scary facts, def makes you think twice before ordering! But oh do I love me some McD's fries!
ReplyDeleteHowever Chickfila is my favorite and there is one right by my house, but I order the kids meal nuggets for myself and if you dine-in you can trade your toy for icecream! Lower calories and you even get a treat! :)
We hardly ever get fast food but sometimes if I have a super busy day I will grab a grilled chicken snack wrap from mcds...I think they are only 250 calories!
ReplyDeleteWow! Great ideas. I can definitely work on that one this week.
ReplyDeleteWith a post like this you could at least provide us with tissue instead of telling us to just get one because if we actually listened to what we were told none of us would be crying because none of us would eat there to begin with! {sigh}
ReplyDelete{GRIN}
Hey Mama M! I have the Eat This, Not That books--one for grocery stores and one for eating out--and they have GREAT info! Including superfoods to build INTO your diet (like Red Peppers, sweet potatoes, etc.). But what I need to do now is put them IN my car and actually take a minute to look at them before heading to that drive through!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder, M!
Bestie, Tara
i love me some fast food. i have to admit it is my weakness. I can't see going to mcd's and spending $5 on a salad.
ReplyDeleteThat is scary!! I can't believe the '6 piecers' are that bad for you. Holy cow! I'm officially disgusted... wow.
ReplyDeleteI stopped eating fastfood ever since I read the book "Chew on this" I every once in a while give in to Taco Bell, or KFC. But never again will I got back to McNastys!!!
ReplyDelete(eyes closed, ears plugged)
ReplyDelete"LA LA LA LA LA!! I can't hear you!!"
I so didn't want to know how bad that stuff was for me!!
By the way, I gave you a blogger award, if you want, come pick it up @ My Life... in words :)
Have a great (and healthy eating) weekend :)
Another good reason why I love being gluten free, we never eat "fast food" I still have days where I don't want to cook and wish we could have "fast food"
ReplyDelete