Guide To Dining Out and Fast Food

Healthier Choices	Limit and/or Avoid
Broth-based soups (such as vegetable, chicken, or beef) Marinara, Primavera, white wine, Bolognese, and tomato based sauces Vinaigrette, Olive Oil, and low calorie dressings	Cream-based soups, sauces, and dressings watch for words such as: cream creamy rich buttery
Entrees that include words such as: Baked Broiled Blackened Cajun Marinated (watch for high salt content) Grilled Poached Steamed Stir-fried Whole wheat	Entrees that include words such as: Breaded Fried Cheese Sauce Cheese Topped Cream Sauce Gravy Crispy "Super-size" Syrup Alfredo Carbonara
Water Bottled water or ice water with lemon or lime slices Wine or Light Beer watch your portions! Coffee or tea limit the added sugar and use fat-free creamers Diet Soda Any kind except Cola (cola depletes your body of calcium) Skim Milk	Non-Diet Soda or any Cola Whole Milk Fruit Juice Mixed Alcoholic Drinks "Sweet Tea"
Menu Items With The Words: Low-Fat Low-Carb Heart-Healthy Low-Calorie You must be careful with these claims - read the description of the food and use all the information on this page (and elsewhere) to make your decision. Remember that Low-Fat can sometimes mean High-Sugar or Salt and Low-Carb may be High-Fat. Don't just believe the claim; do a little digging and ask questions if the menu doesn't tell you what you need to know.

Here are some ideas for "healthier" choices at some popular fast food chains.

I'm not suggesting that you should eat at any of these restaurants. But, in this busy world we all live in, you are probably going to find yourself standing in line ordering a meal at one of these places once in a while.

I have listed the calories and fat content for each item simply as a guide to start with. Click on the name of the restaurant to go to their official websites and see the complete nutritional information for their entire menus.

Healthier Choice	Avoid
McDonald's
Egg McMuffin (290 calories, 11 g fat) Apple Dippers (35 calories, 0 g fat) Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait (160 calories, 2 g fat) Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken (210 calories, 6 g fat) not including dressing Newman's Own Low Fat Balsamic Vinaigrette (40 calories, 3 g fat) Chicken McGrill Sandwich (400 calories, 16 g fat) Hamburger (260 calories, 9 g fat) Cheeseburger (310 calories, 12 g fat) Small Fry (230 calories, 11 g fat)	Chicken Select Premium Breast Strips - 10 piece (1,270 calories, 66 g fat) Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese (730 calories, 40 g fat) Big Mac (560 calories, 30 g fat) Crispy Chicken Sandwich (500 calories, 23 g fat) Large Fry (520 calories, 25 g fat) Triple Thick Shake - 32 ounce (1,110 calories, 26 g fat) Deluxe Breakfast (1,220 calories, 60 g fat)
Burger King
BK Veggie (380 calories, 16 g fat) Hamburger (310 calories, 13 g fat) Fire Grilled Chicken or Shrimp Garden Salad, Vinaigrette (310 calories, 18 g fat) Fire Grilled Chicken or Shrimp Garden Salad, Caesar dressing (320 calories, 20 g fat)	The Angus Steak Burger (570 calories, 22 g fat) Whopper (700 calories, 42 g fat) Double Whopper w/ cheese (1,060 calories, 69 g fat) Tender Crisp Caesar Salad, Caesar Dressing (520 calories, 33 g fat) Tender Crisp Chicken Sandwich (780 calories, 45 g fat) Double Whopper w/ cheese, king fries, kink coke value meal (2,050 calories, 99 g fat)
Wendy's
Healthier Choice	Avoid
Classic Single Burger with everything (430 calories, 20 g fat) Jr. Cheeseburger (320 calories, 13 g fat) Ultimate Grilled Chicken Sandwich (360 calories, 7 g fat) Mandarin Chicken Salad (170 calories, 2 g fat) not including dressing Baked Potato (270 calories, 0 g fat) Chili - Large (330 calories, 9 g fat) Jr. Frosty (160 calories, 5 g fat) Fresh Fruit Bowl (130 calories, 0 g fat)	Classic Double with everything (700 calories, 39 g fat) Big Bacon Classic (580 calories, 29 g fat) Spicy Chicken Filet Sandwich (510 calories, 49 g fat) Great Biggie Fries (590 calories, 29 g fat) Baked Potato with Bacon & Cheese (560 calories, 35 g fat) Honey Mustard Dressing (280 calories, 26 g fat)
Kentucky Fried Chicken
Healthier Choice	Avoid
Tender Roast Sandwich without sauce (260 calories, 5 g fat) Honey BBQ Sandwich (300 calories, 6 g fat) Tender Roast Filet Meal (360 calories, 7 g fat *very high in sodium 2,010 mg!!) Crispy Strips - 2 strips (270 calories, 16 g fat) Baked Beans (230 calories, 1 g fat) Green Beans (50 calories, 2 g fat) Corn on the Cob - 5.5" (150 calories, 3 g fat) Mashed Potatoes with gravy (120 calories, 5 g fat) Roasted Chicken Caesar Salad no dressing or croutons (220 calories, 9 g fat) Fat-free Ranch Dressing (40 calories, 0 g fat)	Chicken Pot Pie (770 calories, 40 g fat) Triple Crunch Sandwich (650 calories, 34 g fat) Popcorn Chicken - Large (560 calories, 31 g fat) Hot Wings - 6 wings (450 calories, 29 g fat) Creamy Parmesan Caesar Dressing (260 calories, 26 g fat) Double Chocolate Chip Cake (400 calories, 29 g fat) Extra Crispy Chicken Breast (460 calories, 28 g fat) Honey BBQ Wings - 6 wings (540 calories, 33 g fat)
Subway Subway offers 97 different subs (including 12" and 6") of these, only 9 have less than 1,000 mg of sodium; including 22 with over 3,000 mg of sodium.
Healthier Choice	Avoid
Create your own sub keeping the following in mind: Their are no "whole grain" breads on their menu Their Wheat roll is not "whole wheat" Swiss cheese is the lowest in calories, fat, and sodium Since the bulk of the sodium in their subs is contained in the "meats", your best bet is to order vegetarian Veggie Delite Salad (60 calories, 1 g fat) Grilled Chicken and Baby Spinach Salad (140 calories, 3 g fat Club Salad (160 calories, 4 g fat) Veggie Delite Sub 6" (230 calories, 3 g fat) Roast Beef Sub 6" (290 calories, 5 g fat)	Double Meat Italian BMT (1,260 calories, 70 g fat, AND 5,780 mg sodium!) Tuna Salad with cheese (360 calories, 29 g fat) Pastrami Sub 12" (1,140 calories, 58 g fat) Meatball Marinara Sub 12" (1,120 calories, 48 g fat) Seafood Sub 12" (900 calories, 44 g fat) Stay away from "Double Meat" anything Most 12" subs contain at least enough sodium for an entire day - some up to 3 days worth The 6" Roasted Garlic Roll (just the roll) contains 1,210 mg of sodium and contains partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oil All of the deli "meats" (except turkey breast) contain "sodium nitrite" which, according to nutritionist Mike Adams: "Sodium nitrite is a dangerous, cancer-causing ingredient that has no place in the human food supply," he explains. The USDA actually tried to ban sodium nitrite in the 1970's, but was preempted by the meat processing industry, which relies on the ingredient as a color fixer to make foods look more visually appealing." All of the cookies contain partially hydrogenated oils.
Taco Bell
Healthier Choice	Avoid
Order "Fresco Style". Which means to swap in Fiesta Salsa - a mix of diced tomatoes, onion and cilantro - for any sauce or cheese Ranchero Chicken Soft Taco (170 calories, 4 g fat) Grilled Steak Soft Taco (170 calories, 5 g fat) Gordita Baja (Chicken or Steak) (230 calories, 7 g fat) Taco (150 calories, 7 g fat) Tostato (200 calories, 6 g fat) Pintos and Cheese (180 calories, 7 g fat)	Fiesta Taco Salad (870 calories, 47 g fat) Nachos BellGrande (780 calories, 43 g fat) Zesty Chicken Border Bowl (730 calories, 42 g fat) Grilled Stuft Burrito - Beef (720 calories, 33 g fat) Southwest Steak Bowl (700 calories, 32 g fat) Express Taco Salad (630 calories, 33 g fat) Mexican Pizza (550 calories, 31 g fat)
Arby's
Healthier Choice	Avoid
Junior Roast Beef (270 calories, 9 g fat) Regular Roast Beef (320 calories, 13 g fat) Super Roast Beef (440, 19 g fat) Market Fresh Martha's Vineyard Salad (250 calories, 8 g fat) BBQ Dipping Sauce (40 calories, 0 g fat) Arby's Sauce Packet (15 calories, 0 g fat) Their Whole Wheat Tortilla is the only whole grain on the menu - the Honey Wheat bread is not whole grain	Market Fresh Ultimate BLT Sandwich (780 calories, 46 g fat) Market Fresh Roast Beef & Swiss Sandwich (780 calories, 39 g fat) Market Fresh Chicken Salad Sandwich (770 calories, 38 g fat) Market Fresh Turkey & Swiss Sandwich (720 calories, 27 g fat) Chicken Fingers Combo (1,050 calories, 60 g fat) Onion Petals (830 calories, 48 g fat) Jalapeno Bites - Large (610 calories, 37 g fat) Sausage & Egg Croissant (510 calories, 36 g fat) Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce -2 Tablespoons (130 calories, 12 g fat)

Some chain restaurants are making an attempt to offer "diet" or "lighter" selections on their menu's. Don't be completely fooled, you still have to understand what they are listing on the menu and how to decipher the truth from the hype.

Applebee's
Applebee's has a "Weight Watchers section on their menu. However, the nutritional information on these selections in limited to Calories, Fat, and Fiber. Unfortunately they don't bother to list Sodium, types of fats or Sugar. Applebee's statement regarding disclosing nutritional information (from their website): "We provide nutritional information on all of our Weight Watchers® items, including fat, fiber and calorie counts and Weight Watchers Points® values. We do not provide nutritional information on other Applebee’s® items - with over 1,600 locations in the U.S. alone there are many different vendors, which makes it extremely difficult to obtain nutritional information for our items."	*Appetizers* Onion Soup au Gratin (150 calories, 8 g fat) Tortilla Chicken Melt (480 calories, 13 g fat) *Entrees* Grilled Shrimp Skewer Salad (170 calories, 1 g fat) Teriyaki Shrimp Skewers w/ rice pilaf and vegetables (260 calories, 2 g fat) Mesquite Chicken Salad (200 calories, 4 g fat) Sizzling Chicken Skillet w/ vegetables and whole-wheat tortillas (360 calories, 4 g fat) Grilled Tilapia w/ Mango Salsa w/ rice pilaf and vegetables (340 calories, 8 g fat) Tango Chicken Sandwich w/ fresh fruit (370 calories, 9 g fat)
Chili's
Chili's offers what they call "The Guitless Grill". They list the nutritional information on the menu for these items. Unfortunately, like most restaurants, they do not disclose the sodium content of anything.	Chicken Sandwich (490 calories, 8 g fat) Chicken Platter (580 calories, 9 g fat) Grill Pita w/ black beans (550 calories, 9 g fat) Tomato Basil Pasta (650 calories, 14 g fat) Grill Salmon w/ veggies and black beans (480 calories, 14 g fat) Black Bean Burger (650 calories, 12 g fat)
Olive Garden
Olive Garden's statement regarding nutritional information (from their website): "Our low fat selections meet the U.S. Food and Drug Administration low fat definition, our entrees and soup contain no more than 30% of their calories from fat and 3 grams or less fat per 100 grams and our dressings contain 3 grams or less fat per fluid ounce and 3 grams or less fat per 50 grams. The low fat designation refers to the specific menu selection and does not include accompaniments such as beverages, soup, salad or breadsticks." You can order any pasta dish with "whole wheat" pasta (it is only part whole wheat however). Also, if you are trying to reduce the calorie count, you can reduce any pasta dish by approximately 200 if you order a lunch portion.	Minestrone Soup (160 calories, 1 g fat) Pork Filettino w/ vegetables (340 calories, 9 g fat) Salmon Piccata w/ vegetables (440 calories, 21 g fat)*a great choice - low sodium and includes plenty of Omege-3* Linguine alla Marinara (510 calories, 8 g fat) Capellini Pomodoro (610 calories, 13 g fat) Chicken Giardino (610 calories, 18 g fat) Shrimp Primavera (740 calories, 24 g fat) Breadsticks *brushed with butter and garlic salt*** (140 calories each)