Trying to lose weight and having a healthy lifestyle can be very difficult if you’ve gotten used to fast food. It can also be difficult if you have no choice but to eat fast food because of a lack of time or lack of money. However, that doesn’t mean that fast food is entirely out of the picture now that you want to lose weight. You can still have fast food if you truly have no choice but to get it, or even if you’re just craving it.
What’s more important is picking the right thing to order. Remember, the thing that’s most effective in losing weight is simply burning more calories than you consume. So, as long as you’re keeping the calories to a minimum with your fast food choices, you can still lose weight!
In this article, we’ll be talking about several ways you can lose weight even by eating fast food occasionally.
1. Skip on the Sides
Sides refer to the add-ons fast food restaurants usually offer in a meal. These could be French fries, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, macaroni salad, coleslaw, refried beans, mozzarella sticks, and more. As you might imagine, they add in a ton of empty calories with hardly any nutritional value.
Don’t let anybody lure you into temptation! If it’s possible to get only one thing without adding on a ton of different sides, then definitely do that and say no to any offers for sides. Unless, of course, the sides are healthy, in which case it’s perfectly fine to indulge in some sides.
Some healthy sides include salads, fruits, soups, yogurts, or baked potatoes.
2. Stick with Water
Speaking of skipping the sides, it’s also a great idea to skip on the sodas and juices. Like many fast food sides, these add empty calories into your diet and may even encourage you to eat more and not lose weight. That’s because our brain can’t fully process calories from drinks—it’ll just think you’re rehydrating and encourage you to get more calories, even when you’ve already had more than enough.
Water is the drink of choice especially if you’re trying to lose weight. Drinking water not only has numerous health benefits for your organ systems, but it also helps to curb appetite. In fact, one study shows that drinking one or two glasses before a meal helps you feel fuller and lose weight faster.
3. Go for Grilled, not Fried
A lot of the calories we get from fast food don’t come from the food itself but the oil. Indeed, Chick-fil-A’s eight-piece grilled chicken nuggets only clock in at 140 calories and 3 g of fat while McDonald’s deep-fried chicken nuggets contain 360 calories and 22 grams of fat. That’s more than twice the amount for both!
As much as possible, you need to stay clear of fried foods. And this isn’t just limited to fast food restaurants—whenever you’re at a casual dining spot or even a fancy restaurant, a good rule of thumb is to avoid fried foods altogether and go for grilled and roasted foods.
4. Eat Your Salad
Salads in restaurant chains are definitely the most ignored out of the whole bunch. You might even be surprised that major fast food restaurants like McDonald’s and Burger King even offer them! However, that doesn’t make them any less tasty than their companions—in fact, it’s amazing how much satisfaction you can get from a fast food salad by simply swapping out a bun for some greens. You can get the yumminess of your favorite burger in a salad!
For example, Wendy’s Parmesan Chicken Caesar Salad features grilled white chicken meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and a lot of cheese. Even when it’s topped with a whole packet of Caesar dressing, it’s less than 500 calories!
5. Explore Different Fast Foods
When people think of fast foods, they think of Iron Man’s favorite cheeseburgers, fries, hotdogs, and more. However, that’s not the case these days anymore! With so much globalization going on, there are now a ton of different fast foods for you to try.
Case in point? Sushi! This Japanese delicacy can be found in almost any city these days and only takes a few minutes to prepare. Typically made with rice, seafood, and vegetables, sushi rolls are a well-balanced meal that is also classified as fast food. They’re almost much healthier too—just lay off the soy sauce.
Another fast food that you could try is a smoothie bowl! A variation of a smoothie, a smoothie bowl is a mix of blended fruits and veggies put in a bowl. It’s then topped with fruits, nuts, and seeds.
6. Don’t Order When You’re Very Hungry
Picture this: you’ve been a good noodle lately, adhering to your strict diet and exercise regime. You even lost a couple of pounds! Thus, you think you deserve a treat for it and go to the nearest fast food chain for a cheat day.
Now, while having a cheat day once in a while isn’t bad (in fact, it’s almost a must if you want to maintain a healthy lifestyle!), you mustn’t order fast food at the height of your hunger or cravings. If you do, it’ll be harder to resist ordering more than you should. Then, when you’ve eaten your fill, you start to feel guilty that you let yourself go, demotivating you even more.
So, it’s best to stick with one cheat meal per week. Always remember that you can easily gain back everything you’ve worked hard to lose with one super-sized meal.
