Low Calorie Breakfast of Fast Food
Welcome once again to this Health and Fitness blog. Here is another fascinating snippet of health related news for you to read all about:
Eating a healthy low calorie breakfast of fast food is a challenge. The choices trend too heavily toward high calorie food with excessive unhealthy fat, sodium, and sometimes sugar. What do you do if fast food is the only choice you have? I’ll give you some tips with respect to what I might select.
Oatmeal and berries make a good choice for breakfast. But is it your BEST choice for a weight loss diet when eating at a fast food restaurant?
Ideally you want to aim for getting plenty of protein for breakfast along with a little healthy fat, AND some dietary fiber. A balance of foods would also be nice. Unfortunately, it’s next to impossible to have a well-balanced low calorie breakfast from a fast food restaurant unless you do takeout and add your own fruit or veggies.
Which fast food restaurant you choose to eat at can make a big difference. That’s why I encourage you to become familiar with the best choices around. What do you do if your favorite restaurants with the healthy low calorie choices are nowhere close? I would encourage you to focus first on getting plenty of protein from whatever is available while at the same time keeping the calorie count down.
Let’s say you’re traveling and your only choices are MacDonald’s, Burger King, Hardee’s, Jack-in-the-box, and Wendy’s. These are not the best for a healthy low calorie breakfast. Let’s take a look at what I might select from the menu.
If you have been reading my blog for a while, you might be surprised at some of my choices. Whereas I might typically avoid regular bacon (and too much cheese) in my diet, I do make exceptions when I eat at a fast food restaurant. I don’t go very often and like everyone else I need to make the best choice I can from what is available.
Having a slice or two of “real bacon” sure tastes good on occasion and won’t hurt you unless for some reason you are on doctor’s orders to strictly limit saturated fat. For most people if you limit saturated fat to about 20 grams or less each day you’re probably doing well (this is the recommendation for a 2000 calorie intake). I prefer to aim for no more than 10-12 grams because I eat fewer calories than the average woman.
As for eggs, even the American Heart Association suggests you can have at least one egg a day. Other health professionals believe the limit on eggs is unnecessary unless you are genetically sensitive to dietary cholesterol. The saturated fat in eggs is actually quite low.
MACDONALD’S
Breakfast
Egg McMuffin
What’s good about this choice?
- 300 calories
- 2 grams of fiber (not great but hey it’s some)
- 18 grams of protein (great!)
- 3 grams of sugar (very little sugar is good)
What’s not so good?
- 5 grams of saturated fat (Reasonable if you watch your intake for the rest of the day.)
- 820 mg of sodium (On the high side.)
Another possible choice:
Fruit & Maple Oatmeal without Brown Sugar (260 calories)
(Good tasting, somewhat balanced, but the protein is limited.)
BURGER KING
breakfast
BKIM Breakfast Burrito – Bacon, Egg, Cheese, & Salsa
What’s good?
- 300 calories
- 15 grams of protein
What’s not so good?
- 6 grams of saturated fat (Reasonable if you watch your intake for the rest of the day.)
- 1 gram of dietary fiber (This is not much. You might consider doing takeout and supplementing your meal with a piece of fruit such as an orange or apple from home.)
- 910 mg of sodium (This is a quite a lot for one meal.)
NOTE: Try to keep your sodium intake to 2300 mg or less if you are 50 or younger and 1500 mg if you are over 50, African-American, you have high blood pressure, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease.)
Other possible choices:
BK Egg and Cheese Muffin (290 calories)
or
Order a side of eggs to go (160 calories)
You could pair this with a low calorie meal/snack bar. I always carry a small meal or snack bar in my purse to prevent impulse eating of high calorie food when I’m hungry but there are no low calorie choices available.
Nutrition Bars for Women
NOTE: The Quaker Oatmeal Maple and Brown Sugar Flavor sure sounds like a good choice. It has some strong points: only 270 calories, 290 mg of sodium, and 5 grams of fiber. However, this meal has only 5 g of protein and lots of sugar. That’s why I would go with the other selections.
Whenever possible you want to maximize the protein AND dietary fiber for a breakfast meal to derive the greatest benefit without overdoing the calories, sodium, or saturated fat. Coming up with the best balance possible is seldom easy when eating out.
HARDEE’S
Wow! I had no idea Hardee’s was so terrible for breakfast. The calorie counts are high and as the calories go up the sodium content skyrockets! Aside from the saturated fat issues, calories, sugar, and sodium are the other reasons why I don’t frequent fast food restaurants.
If you have any other restaurants to choose from I would avoid Hardee’s for breakfast. If it’s your only choice here’s what I might select.
Pancakes (3 per serving) – (Nutrition and calories does not include any butter or syrup.)
What’s good:
- 300 calories
- 1 gram saturated fat (very little)
- 2 grams dietary fiber (Not much but something.)
- 8 grams of protein (Not much but a fair amount for pancakes.)
What’s not so good:
- 830 mg sodium (on the high side but could be worse)
It’s a shame Hardee’s doesn’t seem to offer a side of eggs like Burger King. If it did you could save aside one of the pancakes and add the eggs to your meal for a better breakfast. It would be better still if you could also add some fruit or veggies.
NOTE: If you can’t imagine eating vegetables for breakfast you might want to take a look at my article Vegetables for Breakfast.
JACK IN THE BOX
breakfast
Bacon Breakfast
- 310 calories
- 17 grams protein (great!)
- 4 grams sugar (not too bad)
What’s not so good?
- 5 grams of saturated fat (Reasonable if you watch your intake for the rest of the day.)
- 790 mg sodium (Not great but could be worse.)
Breakfast Jack
What’s good:
- 280 calories
- 4.5 grams saturated fat
- 16 grams protein (great!)
- 4 grams sugar (not too bad)
Not so good?
- 780 mg sodium (Could be worse.)
WENDY’S (only select Wendy’s across the country serve breakfast from what I can determine)
Artisan Egg Sandwich with Applewood Smoked Bacon
What’s good:
- 380 calories
- 19 grams of protein (excellent)
- 4 grams sugar (not too bad)
What’s not so good?
- 830 mg sodium (Could be worse.)
- 1 gram dietary fiber (very little)
Steel Cut Oatmeal with Berries (140 calories) If only you could pair this with a side of eggs!
So there you have it. These are the selections I might make for healthy low calorie breakfasts of fast food when the available restaurants are limited. I hope to write more articles in the coming months about the choices you might have at other restaurants for both breakfast and lunch. What are your favorite fast food breakfasts? How do they rate with respect to nutrition and calories? Let me know!
You may be able to get the full story by clicking here:
Women and Weight Website
Also, check out this great weight loss and health site for more ways to lose weight and stay healthy.
Health and Fitness
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