I had an interesting challenge this past week, and it’s probably one you’ve thought about as well…

An acquaintance of mine, who we’ll call Jack, had a situation that I think many of you may be able to relate to…

And I’ll let his words explain…

Jack’s Problem – Fast Food

“Well, I’ve been having trouble with my eating habits. I eat a healthy dinner every night, but during the day is another story. See, after my wife passed away, I’ve had to take on more than I’m used to…

I’m up at 6:30 am to get my 5-year-old son ready for school, then straight to work after dropping him off, so I usually skip breakfast or just grab something from the drive-thru. And I’ve worked it out with my boss to skip lunch so I can leave at 2 pm to pick him up from school and take him to his grandparents…

And then it’s the drive-thru again on the way back to work for a few more hours. I know all this fast food can’t be good for me, but what can I do? I don’t have time for anything else.”

Now, Jack’s case may be a little extreme, but I think it’s applicable to many of us with long workdays that are forced to squeeze meals whenever we can…

And granted, I’m sure you know that I always advocate for cooking your own food to have the healthiest diet possible and control over the ingredients that go into what you eat…

But for many people, fast food represents the most convenient option for a quick meal…

And while I don’t recommend eating fast food (I’ll explain why at the bottom of this article), I thought it might be beneficial to at least point out which items I could find that are at least healthier than a burger and fries or a basket of fried chicken.

And with Jack in mind, here are the healthiest fast food items I could find…

Starbucks – Oatmeal

 

 

In Jack’s case, breakfast is usually a biscuit and coffee from Hardee’s or Bojangles, but I convinced him that the oatmeal from Starbucks was a better choice…

With a few caveats.

Making your own oatmeal is much better (and doesn’t take too long at all), but the famed coffee shop serves their oatmeal with your choice of a few toppings: brown sugar, nuts, dried fruits, blueberries, agave syrup, and a nut/seed medley…

However, for the healthiest option, I advise you to skip all of the toppings except for the nuts and blueberries. In this way, you’ll have a fiber-filled breakfast with the added punch of nutrients from the blueberries.

And to top it off, you can get a reasonably decent coffee at the same time.

Panera Bread Company – Roasted Beet Quinoa & Citrus Salad

 

 

Now, you might expect that a salad isn’t going to be enough to fill you up for lunch…

On the other hand, it depends on what salad you get.

Panera’s roasted beet salad comes in at nearly 500 calories, so it’s plenty for most people. And most of those calories come from healthy beets and quinoa, with the orange slices and pecans being a light flavor addition.

Keep in mind that you should keep the dressing to a minimum as it’s the least-healthiest part of this salad…

And there’s an easy solution – just keep a small bottle of olive oil with you to avoid fast food salad dressings.

While we’re on the subject of lunch salads, I’ll mention one more that caught my eye…

Chick-Fil-A – Market Salad

 

 

I have to say that I was relatively surprised by this offering from a fast food restaurant that specializes in fried chicken…

Available with or without grilled chicken strips, the abundance of fruit in this salad makes it a reasonable choice for a nutritious lunch…

But just as above – it’s best to skip the dressing altogether and add your own healthier option.

It’s a little high in fat at 13 grams, but is still better than their standard chicken sandwich and is likely the healthiest item on the menu (even healthier than the so-called Superfood Salad).

I’d like to say that Jack was excited about my salad options, but the truth is that he was looking for something more consistent, so the search continued…

Chipotle – Burrito Bowl

 

 

One of the good things about fast food restaurants like Chipotle is that you have more control over which ingredients you choose…

And in the case of Chipotle’s Burrito Bowl, it’s certainly not the healthiest dish out there, but the fact that you can get rid of the flour tortilla and add in healthier toppings like guacamole, romaine lettuce, and black beans goes a long way.

A typical Burrito Bowl will come in at about 400 calories, which should be good enough to push you through the last hours of work.

Subway – Veggie Delight

 

 

As for sandwiches, I hate to say it, but there’s not many healthy choices out there, and I think your best choice will likely be Subway’s Veggie Delight…

Like Chipotle, Subway allows you to pick and choose which ingredients you want on your sandwich…

And they do have a considerable range of fresh toppings like cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, and many more…

So at least you can stack the sandwich in your favor. With the Veggie Delight and your chosen toppings, you’ll be looking at around 250 calories, meaning it’s not quite as substantial as other options on this list…

And now for the bad news…

Why Fast Food is NOT a Good Option

Throughout my research, what I discovered is that no matter how healthy you try to eat with fast food, there’s almost always a problem…

And even the dishes labeled as healthy are far from deserving that title…

That’s because they almost invariably contain…

• Too much salt
• Too much sugar
• Too much fat
• And unnatural ingredients like MSG

All of which can mitigate the health benefits they claim to provide.

As for helping Jack with his problem, what we came up with together was a number of techniques for minimizing his dependence on fast food every day, such as…

1. Cooking bigger healthy dinners and taking his leftovers to work for lunch
2. Buying fresh fruit to use as snacks
3. And my personal favorite, setting aside 20 minutes a day to make having a healthy oatmeal breakfast with his son a part of their morning routine.

I fully understand that balancing a healthy diet and a hectic schedule can be a high-wire act…

And that fast food seems like a convenient option…

But when you consider all of the long-term benefits of eating healthier and the fewer health problems you’ll have with a quality diet, there are better solutions than the drive-thru.

And if you want to boost your overall health, I suggest you…