For a recovering fast food junkie, learning how to eat healthy at restaurants can be difficult. It’s been a few years since I broke my addiction to fast food and now I feel like I should share things I’ve learned. Specifically, how NOT to eat at McDonald’s.
How NOT to Eat at McDonald’s
There are some rules that you should follow when attempting to eat at McDonald’s.
Don’t be the fat kid. Seriously. Don’t eat at McDonald’s if your only intention is to order the most artery clogging combination you can think of. It’s just not right to do that to your body if you intend to sit around for the following eight hours. If your intentions are to go to McDonald’s for a fat kid moment, just avoid the tragedy you are about to commit.
Don’t drive thru at midnight. Whoever thought of drive thrus deserves a medal. Whoever thought it was a good idea for those drive thrus to stay open late deserves something far more valuable for their genius. Those golden arches beckon to hungry travelers at midnight like a mirage in the desert. “Come and eat,” they say. “Clearly it’s not too late! We are still open!” And with a quick trip around the building you ignore all the suggestions that eating late is bad for you. That cheeseburger before bed won’t hurt.
Don’t order multiple meals for yourself. Sometimes when you go to McDonald’s you are HUNGRY. It just happens. You hit the restaurant with all the best intentions of ordering a salad, but the moment that fry smell hits your nose your mind goes blank. When the cashier asks what you want suddenly you want a number 2 value sized with coke. And some chicken nuggets. And extra fries. And a sundae. All for yourself. And with one meal you consume the same calories that you normally should eat in three meals.
Don’t forget McDonald’s has healthy options. When you are looking up at that menu board trying to decide on your order, don’t glance over the green blob picture that represents a salad. Those burgers might look tasty but the looks are deceiving. That brownie picture might speak to you but it tells you lies. Remember that now McDonald’s offers salads, fruit, and other healthy options. After years of being the butt of many jokes, Mickey D’s cleaned up its act and its menu. If you want to eat healthier there you can. I even ordered a salad for lunch today.
* Disclaimer: I have at one point in time done all of these things.
How To Eat Healthy At McDonald’s
You can still eat at McDonald’s and get a reasonably balanced meal at a decent price. If you need something quick, easy, and cheap, you can still utilize McDonald’s with their new healthy menu choices.
Here’s how to actually eat healthy at McDonald’s:
- Check the nutrition information before you go
- Order water with your meal
- Order apple slices or fruit instead of fries
- Skip the upsize options
- Skip the mayo and loads of ketchup
- Order a salad or light meal option
- Order a child’s size meal – enjoy the toy and less calories!
Do you have any other rules for how to eat or not eat at McDonalds?
{ 32 comments }
I have a handful of “Roni approved” menu items at each fast food place and when I go I don’t even look at the menu. Screw it I CONVINCED myself there are no other options. That way I’m not blind sighted or tempted to get anything other then the “healthy” option. Which is normally a salad, a grilled chicken or if I REALLY want a burger, a kids meal (so much better then what I used to order which was either 2 cheeseburger super extra large fry and a sundae) :)
Reading your list of don’ts, Mary, was like reading my own past fast food history. :-0 Yes, I’ve done all those things and more, I’m not at all happy to admit.
As for rules, yes I have one: I stay the hell away from all fast food places now. No exceptions. It came down to a battle of wills and I always found myself giving in to the scintillating lure of grease, like the succulent mega-calorie, fat-drenched Burger King sausage-egg-and-cheese croissanwich. Probably one of my biggest trigger foods ever and I won’t even tell you how many I could put away in one belly-extending sitting. :-0
Oh yes, for me–at least at this point in my life–it’s just much wiser to avoid demon fast food completely.
–Susan
I just don’t eat there anymore most of the time. I had a salad there about 2-3 weeks ago, and that was the first time I’d been in MONTHS… and I wasn’t even very happy with the salad (and 8 points, no less! sheesh!) My husband tried their new angus burger, and he wasn’t particularly happy either. Too much salt.
this post is so well written, i love your wit! lucky for me all it took for me to quit fast food was eat clean for a week (when i very first started body for life) and then on free day i think it was wendy’s or something that i ate at and was SO sick afterward. it made it hard for me to believe i used to eat fast food 3 meals a day and my stomach was just fine with it! now the only thing i would have the desire to get at any fast food joint is the soft serve ;)
If I happened to find myself, by some bizarre twist of fate, in one of these places, my rule would be to not let anything pass my lips… I won’t die from skipping a meal!
I’m not a big fan of the golden arches; I think they’ve done way to much to promote the idea of cheap food being good food. As for the salads, choose the wrong dressing (such as the 18 grams of fat Caesar) and you’re looking at a more fat-laden meal than the cheeseburger.
The late-night drive-thru point is a good one; Taco Bell has made a big splash promoting “4th meal” (the meal between supper and bedtime). Yes… that’s exactly what most of us need: a fourth meal.
I know it’s easy, and I know it’s cheap, but McDonald’s is a mine field whose offerings aren’t worth the potential pitfalls.
My one rule for eating at McDonald’s is….don’t.
@JackSht
Totally agree that they’ve done a lot to promote cheap food as good food, which is so totally false.
Advertising has done a lot ruin the health of Americans. Create a “fourth meal” and people think they need it. Promote drive-thrus being open late and people think it is a good idea.
If I want to eat healthy, I avoid fast food place all together. That’s because once I walk in, I lose all self control. McDonalds has the best fries ever and their Angus burgers are delish..so, I only go through drive thru now and quickly pick my sundae. If I go inside, it’s over.
I order an Egg McMuffin – without the nasty cheese.
I did all of those things PLUS – I would go to one McDonald’s, order a huge meal, with a chocolate shake and then, I would go to McDonald’s number two down the road and order another complete meal, this time with an apple pie.
Not a good plan!
The last time I went in McDonalds I ordered a Coke Zero. And that was because I was at a bar playing poker and they didn’t serve Coke Zero.
I never did the drive thru at midnight thing, but multiple meals, for sure. The fat kid thing I did, I guess. It was a way to quiet depression. Oh, and I’ve never eaten healthy at McD’s :D Ever. And don’t think I ever will :D Which isn’t to say I’ll never eat there. I just realise there’s moderation now.
Interesting about the 4th meal, when some say we should be eating 6 ;)
@Janetha. I too tried to eat fast food about a month after starting my fit for life diet. Which was basically lots of fresh fruit and veggies, lean meats and fish. I decided to treat myself and a friend to Pizza Hut. I couldn’t finish my first slice. My taste buds had become accustomed to eating healthy and then it was a shock to my system to be eating very greasy, albeit at one time very delicious, pizza. I just couldn’t do it. Nowadays, I’ll treat myself to some ice cream. But there are some foods, mostly the fast ones, that I just can’t stomach anymore.
Also, I used to cram fries in between the buns of my burgers. Did/does anyone else do that or was it just me? ;)
Thanks for this! I avoid fast food, but sometimes there are no other choices when I’m out with a cranky preschooler or husband for that matter. Sure the fast food joints have healthy options, but the scent of fries and greasy burgers are too much for me! I have learned to order a kids’ meal with apples or the small burger and then nibble on my husband’s fries. Normally I only want a few fries anyway, so a whole order goes to waste.
I gotta say, I avoid! Not worth it…
I used to eat there,but I just don’t now. I changed the places I go for drive
through. I go to subways or charlies steakery. They both have veggie options that are under five hundred calories. That way, no matter what I eat, I can almost be assured it won’t accidentally put me over my allotted calories. I am glad you found your own solution though. Keep up the good work
It’s just off-limits for me. Not an option. I think about those stories of people who have saved a hamburger for years and it still looks the EXACT SAME as when it was originally put together. That’s enough to make me want to skip right on past the golden arches!
@Alex
I’ve never done that but I’ve had friends who did.
I’ve done almost all of those in the past BUT what I wanted to warn you about was the fact that the McDonald’s salads are very unhygienic. My friend worked their for two years and revealed to me that all the salad is stored poorly and dealt with poorly as well. Though it is infinitely better for you than the other options on the menu, its still best to just steer clear of McD’s or eat wisely and compensate with exercise (alot).
We end up there pretty frequently since it’s near to Mommy & Me Spanish :) My daughter gets the apple dippers (sans dip) milk and sometimes the yogurt,
I struggle there to find ANYTHING as unlike, say, Chickfila, they dont have any plain salads.
At chikfila I just get the grilled chix salad and toss on another chicken breast and dont eat the extra bun.
Id got a salad at mcd’s last weekend for the first time and, for the first time, THREW AWAY FOOD WITHOUT EATING ANY.
McDonald’s meals taste delicious, but they do leave you feeling hungry again an hour later. When I’m not dieting I always feel the need to order at least three burgers otherwise I’m still hungry. The best idea is not to visit the place all together, I prefer Subway because for me its less calories than if I visited McDonald’s.
General consensus is: DON’T EAT THERE! RUN AWAY! AAAAAAHHH. That can’t always be helped, but yeah, I mostly agree with you guys. Kinda interested to see strong feelings about not eating it. I almost despise McD’s as much as Walmart, but I still go there on occasion.
I don’t mind McDonalds. Often my husband!!! will ask for it and I say okay. My personal philosophy… Always order the small. No matter what it is, always get the smallest version possible on the menu. LIke a plain hamburger of cheeseburger, none of that quarterpounder stuff, or 1/3rd they are pimping now.
I have a hard time saying no to my man. He’s a stick, watching his sodium. I can’t win them all.
I love this post. I was reading it and it brought back lots of old memories. I have done all of the above in the past. Yes, including ordering multiple meals and eating them in the car in the parking lots. It makes me sad to think that I used to do that but very happy that I don’t feel the need to do so anymore. Now I get a hamburger happy meal and a yogurt parfait and I am completely happy. I know that my girls are watching and mimicking everything I do. I don’t want them to think it is ok to eat like that. I am trying so hard to teach them healthy eating habits without deprieving them of places like McDonald’s.
Thanks for the great post.
Great post and lots of great comments. I agree with the consensus here: No McD’s = good McD’s. If you ‘despise’ McD’s, what makes you go there? Ever gone there as a kid of a ‘treat’? How much of a role does that play? I wonder…
McD’s scares me because it’s no longer a place to eat, but rather a cultural and social entity (pretty scary!). They have single-handedly changed the way the food industry raises and processes goods. Unfortunately, it’s wasn’t for the better.
With that said, I occasionally go there and order a vanilla ice cream. LOL
It’s been almost a year since I’ve been to a McDonald’s (or equivalent fast food place)…but I do love a Big Mac! When I do make it back to McD’s (and I’m sure I will someday, because I have kids)… you know what? I’m gonna get a Big Mac, and probably fries too (regular size). I think ordering from the healthy menu would be very important for people who find themselves at fast food restaurants on a regular basis, but when it’s a rare treat, I’d say have your favorite!
For a few yrs I used to be a mcdonalds junkie. My old best friend and I would go there reguarly. Sometimes more than once a day. Youre right, that late nite thing makes it sooo easy to just drive thru, especially after clubs. We’d go to get burgers and be mad that they were still serving breakfast! Lol. And when we had almost no $ to our names, for some reason, it seemed economical to go eat here, when in reality, you can get a lot more food for your dollar, and healthier, if you go to the grocery store. I read fast food nation and saw super size me and I stopped eating fast food all together. Even my occasional wendys. I still crave it sometimes but the one time a yr after I quit I had some, it gave me such a bad tummy ache. I guess the salads are healthy but I feel like its helping out a bad corporation and just go eat a salad from somewhere else instead. Everyone should read that book/see the movie. :)
I’m going to go with the majority and say, “don’t”. ;) I can’t eat there… makes me literally sick to my stomach… blah!! Nasty, nasty, nasty! lol!!
In my mind, McDonalds only exists for three reasons: $1 Sausage McGriddles, Chicken McNuggets, and $1 sundaes.
I find everything else they sell to be disgusting or overpriced, and generally avoid the place like the plague. Except when I need a good sundae.
I made a pact with myself several years ago never to eat McDonalds again. In doing so, I was forced to look around at different alternatives. I was *really* surprised to find that there WERE alternatives out there; I had been so focused on McDonalds as an option that I didn’t notice what else was on offer.
I stick to the yogurt or the apple dippers at McD’s. I’m fortunate in that I don’t actually like their food. About once a year or two, I convince myself that I *have* to have a Big Mac, but about 1/2 way through, I remember that I don’t really like them. :)