Healthy on the Go Options

Written by Brianna Callaghan
Part of National Nutrition Month 2013

We all have those busy days where we don’t get around to cooking and our healthy eating streak goes right out the window. A good way to handle this type of situation is to choose the most health conscious option available to you and not to view it as a set back.

Out of convenience and price fast food is sometimes the most readily available option. But instead of automatically choosing the salad at your favorite fast food chain, you may want to consider how many calories that is actually saving you. Try picking a protein option such as a grilled chicken sandwich and asking for a wheat bun or no bun at all. Asking them to hold the condiments will also save you some calories from fat.

Wendy's Apple Pecan Chicken Salad

 For example, Wendy’s Apple Pecan Chicken Salad contains a whopping 570 calories, 27 grams of fat, and 1340 mg of sodium. When selecting this item the name sounds appetizing and healthy so the actual nutrition content is startling. On the other hand the name of Wendy’s Ultimate Chicken Grill Sandwich doesn’t exactly imply that it is one of the healthier items on the menu. In reality, it contains 400 calories, 10 grams of fat, and 800 mg of sodium including the bun and mustard.  

               

The iPhone has several apps that can be purchased for free in the App Store that make looking up nutrition facts like these quick and easy. My personal favorite is MyFitnessPal, but there are others like Lose It! and the LIVESTRONG app, it is all about your personal preference. 

References

Wendy’s. (2011). Nutrition facts.  Retrieved from http://www.wendys.com/food/Nutrition.jsp.  

Wendy’s.  (2011).  Wendy’s apple pecan chicken salad [Photograph].  Retrieved from http://www.wendys.com/images/product_thumbs/399.png

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