Absolutely HAB

I found there are certain restaurants that make it easy to order something healthy. It’s all about choice and the more prepared you are, the better.

I have a couple of favorite fast food restaurants where I can make healthy decisions. The key is having these in your back pocket.  When you are starving at 11:59 a.m. Monday and someone asks, “What’s for lunch?,” you, my friend, are capable of making a healthy choice.

Subway - I have perfected my order after multiple mishaps. I don’t stray away from it either. (except with the mustard, sometimes I go spicy, sometimes classic yellow - I know, daring.)

• 6” turkey (ham is a good choice too, I prefer turkey)
• Wheat bread (This bread has the best stats, hands down. All of their bread is thick, and you can get more flavor by adding spices on the sandwich rather than in the bread)
• American cheese (this has slightly fewer calories than the other cheeses and they all taste processed anyway, why not save 10 calories)
• Toasted (very important)
• All the veggies you like! I usually go for lettuce, pickles, banana peppers, black olives, carrots, and cucumbers.
• ANY mustard
• Vinegar (no oil, key)
• Salt and pepper
• LOTS of oregano

For sides, go with the “Light” Lays for salt (fewer calories than Baked Lays) or the the apples for sweet. I sometimes get BOTH. Check to see what your favorite sandwich’s nutritional values are before you leave the house.

Backyard Burgers - You have to go in here with a healthy state of mind. You can easily order the salty fries and bacon burger. So think of these before you get near the place:

• Veggie Burger (R.I.P., it was the best one around, I am still in denial that it is gone - maybe one day it will come back…)
• Grilled Chicken Sandwich. It comes plain so no need to be high maintenance on this one.
• Baked Potato, ask if they have any BEFORE you order. This angers me when you order it and when you get to the window they say “oh, we’re out of potatoes, do you want fries instead?” No, I came here for the potato. Ridiculous. So if you DO get the potato, say NO to sour cream and butter, and use BBQ sauce or A1 instead. It’s worth the gamble, as the potato is cooked to perfection
• Side Salad

Wendy’s - They have so many side options that are good for you. I really commend them on this.

• Grilled chicken sandwich - No honey mustard, but add regular mustard. (I add pickles too.)
• Chili (a small, with no crackers or cheese only has 190 calories)
• Baked Potato (use the chili as your topping for a complete meal)
• Side Salad
• Mandarin Oranges (they have 80 calories, which is a bit high for fruit, but you can’t always keep an orange in your purse…for a reference point, a naval orange has less than 40 calories)

They have a great tool to build your own meal with calories. Do it BEFORE you leave the house and BEFORE you are too hungry to look them up.

Here are some other healthy ordering tips I try to use.

Mexican -

• Say YES to fajitas, corn tortillas or chicken tortilla soup
• Say NO to free chips and Margaritas (a beer has way fewer calories than this)

Sushi-

• Say YES to California roll or clear soup
• Say NO to anything “tempura” or “crunchy”

Chinese-

• Say YES to broccoli and beef and brown rice
• Say NO to egg rolls, fried rice, AND all you can eat

Pizza-

• Say YES to a side salad before hand, cheese or veggies on your pie
• Say NO to pepperoni, sausage, and THICK CRUST

Now I’m hungry. I don’t always eat the right thing, but do know how to if I want. As I said before, it’s about choice. Good luck to you all and let me know if any of these tips work for you. Do you have any ordering tricks of your own?