How to Eat "Healthy" at a Fast Food Restaurant

I was in Naples, Italy recently, standing in line with my family at the Italian equivalent to a McDonalds, and wondering how many years of my life I was canceling out by ordering their advertised "Double-Happy Burger" and "Fun Fries" combo.

I wonder why they even call it "fast food" when I've been standing in line for 20 minutes! But the issue here isn't speed, its health. More to the issue, Can "fast food" really be healthy?

Whether or not fast food is good for us for us remains a tough question. I imagine families who care about their health and healthy fast food meals usually avoid eating in fast food restaurants to begin with. I glance down at my daughter. She doesn't look like a small Sumo wrestler. That's got to count for something.

I have read the rap sheet about fast food and it's a mile long: high in calories, saturated fats and sodium. The big three that will put you in an early grave. But I'm convinced you can eat "healthy" at a fast food restaurant. It takes a little imagination and will power but it can be done. If a chow-hound like me can do it, then so can you.

The big challenge to eating "healthy" fast food comes down to one word: F-A-T.
Remember, there are "healthy" fats and "unhealthy" fats. Guess which one clogs your arteries like Friday traffic on the Chicago beltway?

Healthy fat lowers your cholesterol level, and in the process decreases the risk of heart disease. The healthiest fats are derived from olive oil. And you don't need to live in Italy to find some (although it doesn't hurt). Saturated fats belong to the unhealthy fat group. This is the fat that we find in so-called fast food restaurants. Food items that are fried are full of saturated fat.

Right next door to fat content is calorie content. It's difficult to distribute your minimum calorie intake of 3500 calories a day when 1900 of those babies are sitting on your plate in the form of a double-bacon-cheeseburger, large fries and a shake. Trust me - you are kidding yourself if you wolf it all down and think "you'll burn it off at the gym".

If you sock away the majority of calories at one meal this can cause the body to store fat. It's actually better to consume a larger amount of calories during breakfast and lunch. It will also be easier to keep calories in check if you eat a SMALL MEAL and that goes for fast food restaurants. There in lies the secret. Well, our secret anyway.

I'm honest enough to admit that I didn't go to Happy-Burger to get a salad. I want to experience the pleasure of eating a hamburger and feeling the grease dribble down my chin. So the solution is for us to order "small". Kind of like someone who smokes, and takes a drag or two off their cigarette before putting it out. The psychological effect of eating a hamburger was met. (And we didn't overdo it and I now I have some money left over for a movie).

Eating "healthy" at a fast food restaurant doesn't always mean eating salads. It means eating "smart". Small helpings and stop when you feel full. And by the way, eating chicken nuggets or any other kind of deep-fried chicken kind of defeats the purpose of eating chicken in the first place. Sorry if I spoiled your fun.

So the majority of restaurants, including quite a few in Europe are going out of their way to offer healthy fast food choices. "Healthy Menus" are the norm, and every fast food establishment posts a breakdown of what the calorie content is on all their items. it was bound to happen. And it shouldn't have taken someone sueing McDonalds to be the impetus of such a move.

I'm no nutritionist, but even I was able to connect the dots eventually when it came to eating healthy in a fast food restaurant.

Eat smart. Eat Healthy. Live longer. It's that simple.