The Best Fast Food Diet Choices

If you're on a diet, chances are fast food is not on the menu. But fast food is convenient, popular, cheap and tempting, and that can make it very hard to pass up. It is possible to eat at a fast-food chain on a diet, as long as you're careful about what you order and how much of it you eat. Because fast food chains vary greatly in style and from region to region, it's best to apply some key general principles that will help you keep your diet.

Portion Size

• One of the major problems fast food poses to a diet is portion size. What was once a fairly sensible cheeseburger has become a triple-stack with bacon and ranch dressing, and what was once a small envelope of french fries has been replaced by a reinforced cardboard container bigger than your hand. Simply put, if you're going to eat fast food, order small sizes.

Go Grilled Or Roasted

• When it comes to cooking for a diet, grilling beats deep frying every time. Searing the meat over a flame or putting it in the oven does not add to its fat content, but cooking it in fat most certainly does. While grilled and roasted meats don't always pack the effect that a fried-food junkie craves, the way they are cooked is far better for your health.

Watch The Wraps

• Fast-food places are very good at taking healthy food and serving it in a less-than-healthy way. Lean meat and vegetables are great for you and fit perfectly into any sensible diet, but not when they're wrapped in a monster tortilla. Though the wraps might seem healthier than bread because they're less bulky, the reality is that they can pack a few hundred calories.

Mind Your Condiments

• Along with the wrap, the best way to ruin healthy food is by adding cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise or other high-fat and high-calorie condiments. You can work a moderate amount of cheese into a sensible weight-loss diet (two or three slices a day) but other high-fat condiments have no place there. When ordering fast food, ask them to hold all the heavy sauces. You can also ask for low-fat versions, but beware: they probably contain lots of sugar or salt to account for the lost flavor.

Beware the Salad

• A salad seems like a safe choice for any diet. Generally speaking it is, at least as far as the lettuce and vegetables are concerned. But what's on top can turn what you think is health food into the caloric equivalent of a quarter-pound hamburger. Avoid salads with breaded or fried toppings, or lots of extras such as bacon bits, cheese and croutons. As for dressings, try a vinaigrette or a dash of vinegar and oil. If you want to be ultra-healthy, use lemon or lime juice instead of a proper dressing.

Watch What You Drink

• Soda is liquid candy--just sugar, flavoring, coloring, carbonation and sometimes caffeine. Most 12-ounce regular sodas contain upward of 100 calories, so drinking one of the large ones can really do some diet to your damage. Save yourself a few hundred calories by ordering a diet, or choosing water or unsweetened iced tea. As for milkshakes, they're just liquefied ice cream and probably have no place in your diet.