Healthier Eating With Fast Food

When we mention fast food, we don't associate the word "healthy", more than likely, we associate the word "greasy". However, there are ways to eat healthier at any restaurant, even fast food restaurants. Eating healthy comes down to habits, not the type of places you eat at. Eating at home would be the healthiest, assuming you make healthy home cooked dishes, not microwave dinners. Fast food restaurants such as McDonalds, Burger King and KFC have all tried to recreate their image. I don't believe they have gotten very far, even with the little bit of success they have had. I do see some improvements in their menus now, I see more salads and fruit which were not as readily available in the past. It's best to skip fast food, but in our modern society, it is sometimes unavoidable. If you are on the road or in an area with few options, nothing else may be around.

Even if all you can find is fast food, there are ways to eat healthier. I think there are three keys to eating healthier at these eateries: Portion Control, Meal Sharing, and Pacing.

Controling your portions

It doesn't matter if you are eating at home, in a vegetarian restaurant or at KFC, if you don't control your portions then you are not following healthy eating habits. Perhaps its easier to learn from young children who would rather play than eat. They'll take a few bites, say they are full, and run off to play with friends. We should all learn to eat less and play more. If we paid any attention to what we put into our bodies, it would not be a wonder why so many of us have health problems. I'm no exception, I hardly "taste" my food at every meal. I tend to swallow most of my meals, like I'm at a food competition, I'm trying to change that habit. Hopefully this post will serve as a reminder for myself as well as for all my readers. Eating less and preparing less food for every meal is probably the healthiest thing you can do for your diet. Cut your normal portion in half, when you get hungry a few hours later, grab a healthy snack such
as a fruit.

Sharing Meals

I often surprise myself on how little I really need to eat at each meal. However, I hate to waste food, so I tend to finish whatever is on my plate. If you share that Big Mac and fries with your
significant other, you'll still get a taste of the food and save yourself some pounds to boot. Ordering a cheese burger and a soft drink from Wendy's should be more than enough to get you over the hunger.

Pacing - Eat slow

As I mentioned earlier, slow down your eating. I understand if you are a college student and need to rush to your next class, you'll practically swallow your meal whole. Most of us however, do have more than 10 minutes to eat at a meal. Savor your food, enjoy your meal and actually taste what you are eating. You may be surprised by the flavors that you have been missing. Or you may be surprise by how bad something tastes, and perhaps its time to alter your diet and eat something more healthy and flavorful.

Of course this does not mean you should run to the nearest McDonalds and order a supersized double quarter pounder meal without regrets, that would be ignoring what I just said or using it as an excuse to eat greasy food. Again, it all boils down to creating healthy eating habits.

Have you evaluated your eating habits lately? What have you done to eat healthier?