Fast Food?

I seem to be eating more than my fair share of fast food lately. I guess it is the convenience that makes me do it.

Here are some sobering facts:

Think you're keeping it light by eating a Taco Bell taco salad? Think again! It contains 850 calories, enough for two meals. I have to give it credit, though -- along with the 52 grams of fat (more than you need in an entire day) it does have a beneficial 16 grams of fiber. Of course, you could simply eat a high fiber breakfast cereal and save yourself approximately 600 calories.

Are french fries your downfall? The best bet is the small fries from White Castle. With only 115 calories and 6 grams of fat, they're actually not a bad choice. As you can imagine, the more fries you order, the more calories and fat you get. At McDonald's, the small fries have 210 calories and 10 grams of fat. Add 240 calories if you eat the medium size (450 calories total), 320 additional calories for the large (530 calories total), and the super-size weighs in at an astounding 610 calories and 29 grams of fat! Believe it or not, a Chicken McGrill (hold the mayo and you have 340 calories) has fewer calories than the medium fries, a Quarter Pounder with Cheese (530 calories) has about the same amount of calories as the large fries, and the only sandwiches with more calories than the super-size fries are the Big X-tra (710 calories) and Big X-tra with Cheese (810 calories)!

The skinless chicken you roast at home may be healthy, but chicken nuggets have more fat per ounce than hamburgers! The same goes for fish sandwiches. Here are the numbers:
A 6-piece Chicken McNuggets has 290 calories and 17 grams of fat, a Filet-O-Fish sandwich has 470 calories and 26 grams fat, and a hamburger has 270 calories and 9 grams fat.
Don't drown your sorrows in the milkshakes. Burger King's shakes contain 66 grams of sugar -- that's 16 teaspoons! The 430 calories aren't too shabby either.
Beware of large portions. They entice us with special pricing, but what we're really doing is contributing to the financial bottom line and our own derrieres. Supersizing gives the companies additional profits while we pack on the calories and fat. Do we really need a triple cheeseburger and super-size fries? Take a look at Burger King burgers:
Hamburger, 320 calories and 15 grams fat
Whopper Junior, 400 calories and 24 grams fat
Whopper, 660 calories and 40 grams fat
Double Whopper, 920 calories and 59 grams fat