New (!) and wondering about take-out foods...

[amalthea]

Well, fast-foods, specifically.

My fiancee and I are returning to DDR after almost 3 years of barely (or not at all) playing. I relocated to join him, and during the relocation process and the two months I was subsequently unemployed (while I ate fast-foods and basically stopped drinking skim milk--oh, I was addicted to that!), I went up two sizes (from a 4 to an 8...I cried muchly when I couldn't put on jeans I'd bought just 3 months earlier). My goal is to fit comfortably back into those jeans again, and I know I can do it. My fiancee's goal is more broad: lose weight (lol).

Anyway, we don't have much space in our apartment kitchen for keeping a lot of food or the equipment to cook it, so we eat out...a lot. His favorite place to go is Fazoli's (fast Italian--pasta = bad, I know! I have to convince him to not go so much). I do intend to buy a Foreman Grill (my father has one, and its great) so I can marinate chicken (skinless), grill turkey burgers (yum), etc so we aren't eating out so much.

My question is what places aren't as bad for you or have nutritionally acceptable menu items? I know that most restaraunt foods aren't going to be the best nutritionally, but also know there are ways to work with them. Like, I really enjoy the Fruit & Walnut salad and the Fruit & Yogurt Parfait from McDonald's, and I also enjoy the baked potato (just a touch of butter and low-fat Ranch dressing) and side-salad from Wendy's. Ruby Tuesday's has a yummy "lite" menu (the chicken wrap is delicious and very filling--one half was plenty for me), but what else is out there?

Portion sizes aren't much of a problem for me (I tend to fill up really fast), its more of what I'm eating, and I'd like to change that, but I just feel limited by what I can and can't cook inside the kitchen.

Any suggestions are appreciated. <3

[psisar]

While it is convenient, try and cut out the fast food altogether. Even if you try and eat healthy, if you continue to eat out regularly the temptation to "cheat" is still fairly high if you're at a fast food place. I can give you some suggestions; I work at Wendy's, and came up with a list of food I could eat.

Grilled chicken w/o the bun - 110 cal

Mandarin Chicken Salad + Chicken Caesar Salad w/o dressing, noodles, croutons etc. Stay away from that extra junk. A side caesar salad without bacon is good, as well as the side salads; just watch out for the dressings. Just because it says low fat doesn't mean its low cal, which is what you need to look out for.

Bun with everything no mayo (although Wendy's uses lite mayo if you really want it)

The chili is good... about 220 cal for a small. A package of crackers is 25 cals to go with it.

NO POP. COLA IS THE ENEMY. If you have to, drink diet or lite lemonade.

The potatoes are alright, although a potato by itself is very carby and will run you about 280 cals. Sour cream si 70 cal for one of those small packages, and don't even get me started on margarine. What I like to do if i want a potato is get chives on it, then take a milker or two (the kind they give you for coffee) and mix it up for a sort of mashed potato effect.

The menu is generally the same for most fast food places, but thats what I can think of right now for Wendy's. Keep in mind the cost of a fast food meal can add up pretty quickly - even if you eat it only once a day (eep) thats still gonna run you about $50/week. Thats more than enough to buy yourself some healthy groceries and cook for yourself, which is more fulfulling and will give you more variety to play around with the healthy foods you like.

[amalthea]

Yeah. I stopped drinking soda a few years ago (I worked at a movie theater for my first job, and I pretty much got sick of it), and stuck to non-carbonated drinks when I went out. My "drink" was sweet tea. Oh yes, loaded with sugar, but the only time I ever had it was out at restaraunts, and back then, I didn't eat out nearly so much. Where I live now, I can't get sweet tea (Southern style), so I've reverted and started drinking soda again because the lemonades usually are pretty weak...but if I can, I do try to get the non-carbonated beverage if they have it, and if they have Splenda, I'll get tea.

Also, I don't drink skim milk as frequently as I used to. I used to have 5 or 6 glasses a day of the stuff (I'd choose milk over soda or any other drink any day), and now I barely drink it, and I don't know why. I'm making a point to get back to it (I've had 3 glasses today!). I think soda rather than milk, fast food, and lack of exercise contributed to my sloppy weight gain over the last two months.

Putting it in perspective, I'm trying to shed vanity pounds. Nobody looking at me would say I'm overweight. Even my doctor says I'm "fine," but she also agrees that modifying my diet and being more active certainly wouldn't hurt me, and I am of the mind that not gaining the weight is easier than losing what you've gained, so all thrusters are "go!" on this.

I went to Wendy's today (my coworkers convinced me) and I got the Caesar side (no croutons, and I picked off the bacon as best I could), and a cup of yogurt with granola, with lemonade to drink. Very very filling. In fact, I didn't even finish the salad because I really wanted to have my yogurt (I love those things...McDonald's is the best, though). While I know there are better things I could be eating (lunch is just the hardest meal of all because I don't trust leaving food in the work fridge--other people think it looks good and take it, then I'm not eating, and that's no way to lose weight, eh? Plus I'm just not that creative with lunch food...any websites I should look at for ideas?), I just think its a compromise to get the healthier alternative on the menu and go home and be sure to eat well. I was bad, though...I had a half of a sample-sized vanilla Frosty.


I'm rambling...but I just thought of a question: I love Chinese food. I love it because I can get fresh, crisp veggies that don't have a lot of oil/fat on them (wok cooked/stir-fried) and that taste good. One of the places I frequent offers brown rice as an alternative to white rice. I've never tried it (I think brown rice tastes a little funny), and I was wondering if its really "healthier." I have read a lot about white rice being really nutritious, but also being very "carby" versus brown rice being healthy and not as carby. Can someone explain this?