Take It On The Run, Baby

I know that I have been a big proponent of cooking your own meals to live a healthy lifestyle, but let's face it, that isn't always possible.  If you are a busy parent, on a road trip or like me, spend much of your work life logging time behind a windshield, you sometimes have to eat on the run.  Fast food is most definitely the scourge of American health, but, in a pinch, you might have to make a run for the border, visit The King or cozy up the that crack pushing clown, Ronald.

Many blogs I just write from my head as a free flow of consciousness and look up facts as needed.  Others I do some background research so I have everything in a row and can lay out facts easily for you.  This is one of those posts.  The other night I did some digging into the nutritional values of the fast food giants and looked for menu items that might be the least of all evils when faced with a meal on the road.  Below are some of the choices you could make when when those less optimal times arrive.  The key elements I looked for in making these choices were, calories, fat, saturated fat, and sodium levels.  What I found was that the amount of salt in fast food is off the charts.  That alone disqualified quite a few of menu items that otherwise looked decent.  I found out why the chicken crossed the road.  The Colonel sent him to the neighbor's house to get more salt.  Everything on KFC's menu has more salt than the Dead Sea.  Just typing the letters KFC may have just raised my blood pressure a few points.  Wendy's is just as bad.  Keep in mind, when choosing the items below, that conventional wisdom is to take in less than 2300mg of sodium daily.

Here are some options for you from the major chains.

Breakfast:

• MacDonald's Egg McMuffin ~ 300 calories, 10g fat, 3g sat. fat, 970mg sodium
• MacDonald's Fruit and Maple Oatmeal (hold the brown sugar) ~ 260 calories, 4.5g fat, 2g sat. fat, 115mg sodium
• Burger King Fruit Topped Maple Oatmeal ~ 270 calories, 4g fat, 1.5g sat. fat, 290mg sodium
• Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal w/mixed nuts and dried fruit (hold the brown sugar) ~ 340 calories, 11g fat, 1.5g sat. fat, 115mg sodium

Lunch/Dinner:

• MacDonald's Premium Caesar Salad w/Grilled Chicken ~ 280 calories, 19.5g fat, 4.5g sat.fat, 825mg sodium *note, this is using HALF of the Newman's Classic Caesar dressing  supplied.
• Burger King Hamburger ~ 260 calories, 10g fat, 4g sat.fat, 490mg sodium
• Burger King Tendergrill Chicken Sandwich w/o mayo ~ 350 calories, 7g fat, 5g sat.fat, 1010 sodium
• Burger King Veggie Burger w/o mayo ~ 320 calories, 7g fat, 1g sat.fat, 950mg sodium
• Wendy's Ultimate Chicken Grill Sandwich w/Honey Mustard Sauce ~ 390 calories, 10g fat, 3.5g sat.fat, 1080mg sodium
• Taco Bell Fresco Bean Burrito ~ 350 calories, 8g fat, 2.5g sat. fat, 990mg sodium
• Taco Bell Bean Burrito ~ 370 calories, 10g fat, 3.5g sat. fat, 980mg sodium
• Taco Bell Fresco Chicken Soft Taco ~ 150 calories, 3.5g fat, 1g sat.fat, 310mg

What I ate today and how I exercised:

Breakfast ~ Mike's Egg Mexmuffin (Gardenburger Black Bean Chipolte Burger, 1 egg, 7-spouted grain English Muffin
Lunch ~ Leftover Channa Saag (spice chick peas and spinach) and in the spirit of today's blog a banana chocolate shake (recipe below)
Dinner ~ Chicken breast w/mustard soy glaze, 1/2 cup rice blend, braised cabbage w/apples
Exercise ~ 3.4 miles walked in 2 sessions.  2.1 around the lake and 1.3 at the mall.

Mike's Chocolate Banana Shake
(Serves 2.  Approx. 200 calories per serving):

In a blender combine, 1.5 cups ice, 1 cup Vanilla Almond or Soy Milk, 1 banana, 1 Tbs natural no sugar added peanut butter, 1 Tbs cocoa powder,  1.5 Tbs low fat Greek yogurt, such as Fage 2%, 2 packets Splenda.  Blend until smooth.  Enjoy!