Fast-Food Diet Could Work For You
Eat, Run And Lose
UPDATED: 10:02 a.m. EDT July 23, 2003
Eat and run. It's a way of life for many of us, but can fast food and dieting go together? A diet of fast food is not usually thought of as a way to lose weight, but weight loss guru and Good Housekeeping columnist Jim Karas have created a diet for fast food junkies.
The trick is to limit your daily intake to 1,500 calories. Many fast-food restaurant chains have calorie counts on their Web sites. The average woman consumes roughly between 2,500 and 3,000 calories a day. By bringing that total down to 1,500, most women should definitely see the number on the scale drop.
Start with a 300-calorie breakfast. Some choices that meet this limit are a Croissan'wich from Burger King or a McDonald's egg McMuffin.
For lunch, you can up the calorie count to 400. The name of the game at lunch, is chicken. Some popular picks include Wendy's grilled chicken sandwich, Subway's chicken teriyaki and McDonald's chicken McGrill. If you want a burger, a small size is fine.
For a fast food dinner, you can up the ante to 500 calories, but keep the size down. Never order anything with the words "super size" before it because that generally means lots and lots of calories. For example,
McDonald's plain burger, small fries, and diet drink is 490 calories, compare that to a Big Mac, super size fries and a super size cola, which come in at more than 1,800 calories.
When a snack attack hits, you can indulge in one of these "under-300-calorie" munchies: McDonald's apple pie, a Subway cookie or Wendy's baked potato. Keep the total to 1,500 a day, and fast food can equal weight loss.
If you're on a diet, when you go to a fast-food restaurant, try to look over the nutritional information before you order. You can often find it on the wall or in a handout near the counter.
One final tip: be careful about ordering fish sandwiches at fast-food restaurants if you're watching your calories. For example, the BK Big Fish Sandwich at Burger King has 565 calories.
The trick is to limit your daily intake to 1,500 calories. Many fast-food restaurant chains have calorie counts on their Web sites. The average woman consumes roughly between 2,500 and 3,000 calories a day. By bringing that total down to 1,500, most women should definitely see the number on the scale drop.
Start with a 300-calorie breakfast. Some choices that meet this limit are a Croissan'wich from Burger King or a McDonald's egg McMuffin.
For lunch, you can up the calorie count to 400. The name of the game at lunch, is chicken. Some popular picks include Wendy's grilled chicken sandwich, Subway's chicken teriyaki and McDonald's chicken McGrill. If you want a burger, a small size is fine.
For a fast food dinner, you can up the ante to 500 calories, but keep the size down. Never order anything with the words "super size" before it because that generally means lots and lots of calories. For example,
McDonald's plain burger, small fries, and diet drink is 490 calories, compare that to a Big Mac, super size fries and a super size cola, which come in at more than 1,800 calories.
When a snack attack hits, you can indulge in one of these "under-300-calorie" munchies: McDonald's apple pie, a Subway cookie or Wendy's baked potato. Keep the total to 1,500 a day, and fast food can equal weight loss.
If you're on a diet, when you go to a fast-food restaurant, try to look over the nutritional information before you order. You can often find it on the wall or in a handout near the counter.
One final tip: be careful about ordering fish sandwiches at fast-food restaurants if you're watching your calories. For example, the BK Big Fish Sandwich at Burger King has 565 calories.
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