CAN FAST FOOD BE DIET FRIENDLY?????????

4 Ways to Make Sure Your Fast Food Salad Is Diet Friendly
by Lynn Grieger, R.D., C.D.E.

You'd think that a salad just has to be healthier than a burger and fries, right? After all, how many calories can lettuce, veggies and chicken contain?
The answer might surprise you.
Fast food restaurants have joined the healthy foods bandwagon. They're rolling out great-looking new salads and boasting that this new fare is lower in carbohydrates and fat. I do love the fresh, crunchy veggies, and eating fast food salads can be a quick, easy way to boost your daily intake of vitamins, phytochemicals and antioxidants in one simple meal. You don't even have to do the dishes!
But what the fast food purveyors don't advertise is how many calories are in these salads -- sometimes more than their usual burger-and-fries combos! Most fast food choices are also much higher in sodium than foods you'd eat at home, a definite negative for anyone concerned about blood pressure levels.
But don't be too alarmed. You can enjoy a delicious and even healthy salad instead of red meat on a bun at your local drive-thru -- but follow our four tips to make your meal as low in calories and as good for you as possible.
1. Low net carbs is great, but it doesn't mean low calorie.Frequently, foods are advertised as low in net carbs (the total grams of carbohydrate minus the grams of fiber). But even with few net carbs, foods can still have surprisingly high calorie counts. Take Subway's three Atkins-friendly fresh salad offerings, for example. The Grilled Chicken and Baby Spinach Salad contains five grams of net carbs, yet it also has 420 calories! That's more than the 390 calories in the Classic Club Salad (nine grams net carbs) and almost three times as many calories as the Mediterranean Chicken Salad (six grams net carbs). Why the calorie explosion? The culprit is the fat. The Grilled Chicken and Baby Spinach Salad has 26 grams of fat (about half of what most women need in one day). By contrast, there are 21 grams of fat in the Classic and only 4.5 grams of fat in the Mediterranean Chicken Salad. The take-home message is simple: Look at both carbohydrate and fat grams to make the healthiest choices.
2. Salad dressings contain more calories than you want to believe.It's hard to believe that one little packet of salad dressing could contain all that many calories. After all, it's portion controlled, right? Wishful thinking! A typical salad dressing packet contains 150 to 250 calories. When you consider that many salads already have around 400 calories without any dressing, you can see how fast the calorie count can mount. To keep it from adding up to diet destruction, you have three options: learn to enjoy salads without dressing, make a habit of using moderate amounts of fat-free salad dressing (usually less than 100 calories per serving) or bring your own favorite low-calorie dressing from home.
3. Crispy adds calories (and unhealthy fat).Most of us love crispy chicken -- that crunchy coating satisfies some deep internal craving. Yet opting for crispy instead of grilled chicken atop your salad adds 100 calories -- or more. The salad's total fat and carbohydrate content doubles, and you actually get less protein from the crispy chicken than you would from the grilled. McDonald's Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad has 200 calories, but the crispy chicken version racks up 310. When you eat the grilled chicken salad, you consume 6 grams of fat, 9 grams of carbohydrate and 29 grams of protein, but the crunchy option has a hefty 16 grams of fat, 20 grams of carbohydrate and only 23 grams of protein! Do you need more reasons to always say "Grilled, please"?
4. South of the border tastes great, but beware of shell shock.Okay, are you sitting down? If you order a Taco Salad at Taco Bell, you can expect to consume 790 calories. That's about half of what an average woman needs for an entire day. Don't eat the shell, and you save 21 grams of fat and 370 calories, for a total intake of 420 calories, which is comparable to many salads at other fast food restaurants. For an even healthier lower-calorie salad, choose grilled chicken instead of ground beef, ask for salsa instead of sour cream and avoid those crispy taco chips and deep-fried shells like the plague.
Lynn's fast food salad recommendations:I'm a sucker for rating lists. The Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine rated some common fast food salads based on their total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, fiber and sodium content. The top salad choices include Au Bon Pain's Charbroiled Salmon Filet and Yellow Peppers Salad and Subway Club Salad with Fat-Free Vinaigrette Dressing. And the Center for Science in the Public Interest ranked Wendy's Mandarin Chicken Salad as one of the overall best fast food choices.

BEST OF THE BEST
Healthy Fast Food Choices
By Sabrina Rogers
Askmen.com
In my last article, I addressed some of the Worst Fast Food Choices on the market. But I wasn't going to leave you hanging like that; of course you'll be able to set foot in McDonald's or Burger King again without having an instant heart attack.
In fact, most fast food chains have added healthier options to their menus in the past couple of years. No, I'm not talking only about bland salads without dressing; you'll see that there are many juicy, tasty items to choose from. Before I get into specifics, though, there are a few basic rules you should keep in mind when trying to pick healthy fast foods.

Remember that good options include:

The smallest size of burger

Grilled chicken sandwiches or salads

Low-fat dressings and sauces (or none at all)

Diet soft drinks or water
A few things to avoid:

Super sizes of anything

Fried or breaded chicken or fish

Chicken nuggets

High-fat sauces and dressings

Onion rings

Extra cheese
That said, here is the lowdown on the best fast food choices. Although burgers are never a very healthy option, I know guys need that burger fix every so often, so I tried to provide you with the best possible options. But in exchange, I did stick you with a few salads. Try one; you'll be surprised how tasty and satisfying some of them are.Finally, keep in mind that if you must have side orders like fries with your meal, choose the smallest size possible, or try a plain baked potato or vegetables instead.
Note: When necessary, modifications are specified; otherwise, the nutrition information is for the item as prepared by the restaurant.
Sandwiches
Order
Calories
Fat (saturated fat)
Carbs
Protein
Sodium
McDonald's Chicken McGrill (no mayo)
305
4.5g (1g)
37g
27g
940mg
Subway 6" Roast Beef Sub (on whole wheat bread with veggies, no sauce)
290
5g (2g)
45g
19g
920mg
Wendy's Ultimate Chicken Grill Sandwich
360
7g (1.5g)
44g
31g
1,100mg
Carl's Jr. Charbroiled BBQ Chicken Sandwich
367
4g (1g)
48g
35g
1,072mg
Burgers
Order
Calories
Fat (saturated fat)
Carbs
Protein
Sodium
Burger King Original Whopper Jr. (no mayo)
310
13g (5g)
31g
17g
510mg
McDonald's Hamburger
260
9g (3.5g)
33g
13g
530mg
Wendy's Jr. Hamburger
280
9g (3.5g)
34g
15g
600mg The healthiest salads, pizzas, desserts, and more... Next at AskMen.com