Dearest readers, hope you had your long weekend fun and that you managed to get back in the weekday groove. For many, school is also back in session. Either way, it's time to get seriously busy again, and busy usually means more fast food (takeout and delivery alike). Whether you work long hours at work because of deadlines, or you have projects and midterms looming at school, you are sure to hit up your favorite offerings from the local food swamp ;) While you may already know I'm a huge supporter of cooking, even I don't always have time or energy to cook every single meal. Nevertheless, when it comes to fast food, there are choices out there in major urban areas like Toronto that are borderline healthy on a long-term basis (as long as you also eat home cooked food on a regular basis). With that said, let's go over what these healthier choices are, and why.
Please note: When it comes to antibiotics, hormones and corn used for cattle, I already wrote an article on here where I go into why I don't see these as a problem, together with sources and evidence. Also, I believe in lowering your carb intake and also believe that carbs and sugar are more dangerous for your health than most fats out there. Finally, I am not vegetarian or vegan. Just wanted to let you know about my own personal food bias :)
The first healthier fast food choice is a classic; we are talking about burgers! Yes, burgers. Remember, once again, we are talking about what's healthy within the fast food offerings, not overall. Your body needs a healthy amount of protein and fat every single day, and a more limited amount of carbs. A burger satisfies this criteria very well. Sure, it's more than a little light on veggies in some burger chains, but others like Harvey's allow you to customize your burgers so you can easily fix that. The problem comes in when you choose large fries and sugar packed pop with it. I know some people will only have a burger with fries and pop and no other way, but that is precisely the "guilty" part of guilty pleasure. You would even be better off getting two burgers, your main one and a side one, than adding the fries and pop. Or, get the biggest burger on the menu on its own. If you change this and nothing else in your weekly meal plan, you may lose some weight or feel more energized rather quickly. Also, by eliminating the extra carbs and sugar that are in fries and pop, you may also completely eliminate that after meal crash that many people experience because they take their blood sugar on a roller coaster ride. Imagine being able to eat a large meal (in terms of calories, not necessarily size), take a little break, and then move on with your day at peak efficiency because your energy level is immediately sky high :) Finally, I used to think that the reason why a burger is almost as expensive as a combo was because they front load the cost of the combo on a burger to make you go for it versus the burger alone. Now, I realize based on how cheap fries and pop are that they are nearly worthless not just from the point of nutrition, but also based on how much they cost.
The second healthier fast food choice would be dishes like shawarma or a burrito bowl (all contents of a burrito plus maybe more vegetables, all in a bowl instead of a tortilla). Whichever one you choose, you get a good serving of veggies and a good amount of reasonably healthy fat and protein. Again though, just as with burgers, there are some conditions you may or may not like, but would have to adhere to in order to qualify these as healthier fast food choices. Luckily, it's easier because you can ask the fast food staff to customize your meal as they put it together. For both shawarma and burrito bowls, ask that they put less rice and give you more veggies. It's not an unfair request like if you were to ask for less rice and more meat (meat is way more expensive), so most restaurants will do that for you. In case of shawarma, you can ask for even less rice if they also include a potato with it. Or, you can ask for no rice, or even no rice and no potato, making your meal a very rich shawarma salad. Remember, by the time they add the salad dressing, hummus and garlic sauce, you get a really filling meal that will definitely keep you going for a while until you make or buy your next one. In case of burrito bowls, I don't know if I'd eliminate rice completely because it really, really doesn't seem to work well without it, but remember the idea is to ask for less of it for sure. Also, just as with burgers, making these changes will prevent or at least limit the blood sugar roller coaster and give you lots of energy right after the meal.
The third healthier fast food choice would be saucy and stew-type dishes like butter chicken, kashmiri chicken, korma and others. They are found in many Indian, Pakistani, Afghani and other such restaurants. These dishes are very similar to Western stews, they cook well in slow cookers or pressure cookers, and are hearty and satisfying to eat. They also have really amazing spice blends that go into them, as well as good amounts of protein and fat. These dishes are extremely popular in Toronto area and well beyond because people have been eating stew-like dishes for generations. In fact, in places like medieval Europe, stews and soups could slowly simmer all day long at a local inn or private homes and they were a safe choice because the heat would prevent the food from spoiling, you could feed a lot of people with it, and it was a source of safe water too. In Toronto, you used to be able to find many restaurants- even downtown- that used to specialize in stew type dishes and nothing else, and business was good; although, this was a long time ago. The reason why the stews went away and dishes like kashmiri chicken or korma filled the void was because they utilized new spices and flavors previously uncommon in the West, while stew flavors remained pretty much the same as they have always been (at least in restaurants). Now, as with my first two choices, you need to modify how much rice and/or naan bread you take with it. Whatever they give you, cut it in half or so; remember, your most important nutrients come from the dish itself, not the so called fillers.
There we have it, my personal top three choices for healthier fast food meals that you can enjoy on a regular basis long-term. Now, before we wrap this up, let's look at some options out there I did not include and why:
Finally, you may wonder what I consider to be some of the unhealthiest fast food meals out there. Well, as delicious as it is, a dish like General Tao Chicken can be pretty bad. It essentially consists of morsels of chicken that are heavily battered, fried and then coated in a sugary sauce and finally served with tons of rice. That, dearest readers- as many of you may already know- will leave you paralyzed after the meal while your body desperately struggles to figure out what the hell just happened.
So, there we have it. Whether or not you agree with my food bias that I stated early in this article, I hope you found this to be an interesting read and that it will help you make better fast food choices if you simply cannot or will not minimize how much takeout or delivery you do on a weekly basis. Be honest with yourself. If you decide you are going to eat fast food on a regular basis, this will become a long-term life choice and you need to treat it as such by making the right fast food choices that will support good nutrition and great health over many years to come. While it's impossible to make perfect food choices each and every time you feel hungry, make sure that, overall, you tip the scale in your favor.
Please note: When it comes to antibiotics, hormones and corn used for cattle, I already wrote an article on here where I go into why I don't see these as a problem, together with sources and evidence. Also, I believe in lowering your carb intake and also believe that carbs and sugar are more dangerous for your health than most fats out there. Finally, I am not vegetarian or vegan. Just wanted to let you know about my own personal food bias :)
The first healthier fast food choice is a classic; we are talking about burgers! Yes, burgers. Remember, once again, we are talking about what's healthy within the fast food offerings, not overall. Your body needs a healthy amount of protein and fat every single day, and a more limited amount of carbs. A burger satisfies this criteria very well. Sure, it's more than a little light on veggies in some burger chains, but others like Harvey's allow you to customize your burgers so you can easily fix that. The problem comes in when you choose large fries and sugar packed pop with it. I know some people will only have a burger with fries and pop and no other way, but that is precisely the "guilty" part of guilty pleasure. You would even be better off getting two burgers, your main one and a side one, than adding the fries and pop. Or, get the biggest burger on the menu on its own. If you change this and nothing else in your weekly meal plan, you may lose some weight or feel more energized rather quickly. Also, by eliminating the extra carbs and sugar that are in fries and pop, you may also completely eliminate that after meal crash that many people experience because they take their blood sugar on a roller coaster ride. Imagine being able to eat a large meal (in terms of calories, not necessarily size), take a little break, and then move on with your day at peak efficiency because your energy level is immediately sky high :) Finally, I used to think that the reason why a burger is almost as expensive as a combo was because they front load the cost of the combo on a burger to make you go for it versus the burger alone. Now, I realize based on how cheap fries and pop are that they are nearly worthless not just from the point of nutrition, but also based on how much they cost.
The second healthier fast food choice would be dishes like shawarma or a burrito bowl (all contents of a burrito plus maybe more vegetables, all in a bowl instead of a tortilla). Whichever one you choose, you get a good serving of veggies and a good amount of reasonably healthy fat and protein. Again though, just as with burgers, there are some conditions you may or may not like, but would have to adhere to in order to qualify these as healthier fast food choices. Luckily, it's easier because you can ask the fast food staff to customize your meal as they put it together. For both shawarma and burrito bowls, ask that they put less rice and give you more veggies. It's not an unfair request like if you were to ask for less rice and more meat (meat is way more expensive), so most restaurants will do that for you. In case of shawarma, you can ask for even less rice if they also include a potato with it. Or, you can ask for no rice, or even no rice and no potato, making your meal a very rich shawarma salad. Remember, by the time they add the salad dressing, hummus and garlic sauce, you get a really filling meal that will definitely keep you going for a while until you make or buy your next one. In case of burrito bowls, I don't know if I'd eliminate rice completely because it really, really doesn't seem to work well without it, but remember the idea is to ask for less of it for sure. Also, just as with burgers, making these changes will prevent or at least limit the blood sugar roller coaster and give you lots of energy right after the meal.
The third healthier fast food choice would be saucy and stew-type dishes like butter chicken, kashmiri chicken, korma and others. They are found in many Indian, Pakistani, Afghani and other such restaurants. These dishes are very similar to Western stews, they cook well in slow cookers or pressure cookers, and are hearty and satisfying to eat. They also have really amazing spice blends that go into them, as well as good amounts of protein and fat. These dishes are extremely popular in Toronto area and well beyond because people have been eating stew-like dishes for generations. In fact, in places like medieval Europe, stews and soups could slowly simmer all day long at a local inn or private homes and they were a safe choice because the heat would prevent the food from spoiling, you could feed a lot of people with it, and it was a source of safe water too. In Toronto, you used to be able to find many restaurants- even downtown- that used to specialize in stew type dishes and nothing else, and business was good; although, this was a long time ago. The reason why the stews went away and dishes like kashmiri chicken or korma filled the void was because they utilized new spices and flavors previously uncommon in the West, while stew flavors remained pretty much the same as they have always been (at least in restaurants). Now, as with my first two choices, you need to modify how much rice and/or naan bread you take with it. Whatever they give you, cut it in half or so; remember, your most important nutrients come from the dish itself, not the so called fillers.
There we have it, my personal top three choices for healthier fast food meals that you can enjoy on a regular basis long-term. Now, before we wrap this up, let's look at some options out there I did not include and why:
- Salad bars: Unless it's a chicken salad, it won't have enough protein unless you drop a piece of fish, meat or lots of shrimp on top of it.
- Subway: A foot long sub has too much bread, and the smaller one doesn't have enough physical space to fit the right amount of protein and veggies in it.
- Sushi: Too much rice, not enough protein.
- Chicken wings: a low carb dream, but still bad long terms because of a complete lack of vegetables. By the time you add a salad, it gets to a price point beyond what fast food should cost (assuming an order of 10 wings as the minimum acceptable amount).
Finally, you may wonder what I consider to be some of the unhealthiest fast food meals out there. Well, as delicious as it is, a dish like General Tao Chicken can be pretty bad. It essentially consists of morsels of chicken that are heavily battered, fried and then coated in a sugary sauce and finally served with tons of rice. That, dearest readers- as many of you may already know- will leave you paralyzed after the meal while your body desperately struggles to figure out what the hell just happened.
So, there we have it. Whether or not you agree with my food bias that I stated early in this article, I hope you found this to be an interesting read and that it will help you make better fast food choices if you simply cannot or will not minimize how much takeout or delivery you do on a weekly basis. Be honest with yourself. If you decide you are going to eat fast food on a regular basis, this will become a long-term life choice and you need to treat it as such by making the right fast food choices that will support good nutrition and great health over many years to come. While it's impossible to make perfect food choices each and every time you feel hungry, make sure that, overall, you tip the scale in your favor.