A great nutrition plan needs to be able to adapt and flow with your everyday living. If your life is anything like mine, there really isn’t a typical day! Something always seems to pop up. As they say “it’s always something!” How true is that. Yesterday, I walked outside to a flat tire as I left for my lunch break. Last week my best friend was in town last minute and learned it would be the only day I’d get a chance to see her. I happily rearranged my schedule last minute and we had a great time.
It is important that we are not following a strict diet regimen that will eventually crumble when it doesn’t perfectly fit into our hectic and ever-changing schedules. We need to be flexible and know exactly how to continue our path of living well even when other priorities constantly appear out of nowhere.
I am not encouraging to include planning on eating out at fast food restaurants, however if we are speaking in real life open book terms we all will eventually find ourselves super hungry and needing to eat something quick. We should have a plan and know where to go and what to choose when we find ourselves scrambling. Here is a quick guide to help make decent choices while having “one of those days!”
When dining out, always ask for condiments on the side and use sparingly. Examples to be extra careful with are salad dressings, mayonnaise, sour cream, butter and large portions of cheese. Choose water as your beverage.
Listed below in no particular order, try:
- Chic -fil-A – 6-8 piece grilled nuggets, kale super food side salad OR grilled chicken cool wrap and a side salad
- Subway – 6” turkey breast or chicken breast on whole wheat. Load up on all the veggies (that you like) cheese of your choice with mustard preferred however if you like mayonnaise just ask for light. Baked chips of your choice.
- McDonalds – Southwest salad with grilled chicken or egg McMuffin with fruit parfait or one 1 small hamburger with one small French fry and a side salad
- Jimmy John’s – #5 the Turkey Tom. Choose whole grain, load up on veggies! Or try an “Unwich.”
- Wendy’s – Large chili with a small french fry or spicy chicken caesar salad or small chicken nugget with plain baked potato
- Taco Bell – Choose items off the “fresco menu.” Examples include a fresco grilled steak soft taco, or a fresco bean burrito
- Burger King – Whopper Jr. and apple slices or any of the grilled chicken salads
- Boston Market – BBQ chicken with fresh steamed vegetables and southwest rice OR skinless chicken breast with green beans and mashed potatoes
- Chipotle – Chicken or steak burrito bowl
These are just a few options to help keep you on track when you need to dine on the go. It is ideal to plan and pack a cooler lunch if possible, however when life gets just a bit to crazy it’s great to have a backup in place.
Where do you go when needing to dine out at fast food restaurants without totally falling off track? I’d love to hear from you, let’s share our ideas together!
