Fast food claims are false!

I'm new here. I've only started dieting for about 2 weeks now. I'm learning what foods I can and shouldn't eat. I do a lot of traveling with my kids, so a fair amount of meals are on the go. I can't pack because I'm in the car and away from home for hours at a clip. But I need to eat to maintain a normal eating schedule. I have two teenagers and three kids under 4 so fast food is sometimes a must. What I have begun to notice is that the claims of the fast food places aren't really all they are cracked up to be. I thought that by ordering a chicken salad wrap I'd be better than say a beef and chedder from Arby's. Turns out the beef and chedder has fewer calories AND fewer fat grams. Same for Wendy's. Their frescata bread is enormously high in calories and a hamburger would be the better choice depending on the toppings. Just a word of caution to all you dieters out there. Double check before you buy. Don't just take their word for it.

Exactly Right! Just because it's a salad, or because it's chicken instead of beef, or because it's a wrap instead of a burger, you cannot assume it's lower in calories or fat than things typically portrayed as unhealthy. Even if the companies market these products as healthier options, don't believe them - do your homework! There are ways to find lower calorie options at most fast food places, but you have to do some work to order things without cheese, without mayo, without sour cream, without fries, with low fat dressings on the side, etc....

In all fairness to the fast food industry, I don't think that they've "claimed" that their salads are lower in calories and fat than cheeseburgers... they've merely added them as a menu item.

Fast food restaurants, for the most part, now post or otherwise make available their nutrition information and it is up to US, the consumer, to read this information and make the healthiest choices -- if we choose to do so!  For me, now that I am dieting in earnest and trying to eat healthier, that usually means I need to STAY AWAY FROM FAST FOOD!

I try to keep healthy, meal-replacement bars or meal-replacement shakes with me in the car, so even if my DH wants to go through a fast food drive-through, I can still make a healthier choice by eating what I've brought with me, and not high fat fast food. Sometimes, I just plan ahead and bring a turkey sandwich with me, and some fruit. This is saving me money, as well as fat and calories!

=^..^=  MOLLY

it's easy to get sued, so i'm sure companies are careful NOT to say anything so verifiably fraudulent as directly claiming these items are lower in calories & fat except when that is the truth.

but they still often portray certain foods as healthier options in pictures & advertising seemingly designed to capitalize on people's often unquestioning assumption that ordering a salad or a chicken sandwich is de facto healthier than ordering a burger. this preys on the uninformed; those who haven't done their homework & read the nutrition information.  (i say "preys on" because these can be inducements to draw in customers who otherwise wouldn't consider fast food, and because these items often cost more than a basic burger & fries).

I too tend to be on the road alot with my family for weekend tournament trips. We have found grocery stores to be our friend. I'll quite often get cottage cheese and an apple to go. My daughter (11) a bagel from the bakery, milk and a piece of fruit. During hotel stays we have picked up roasted chicken, salad and brought it to the park or room. It saves alot of calories and is much healther.

Not to state the obvious or anything but the underlying lesson is that our instinctive ideas as to the caloric content of food doesn't always match the actual content.

Personally I have a mental list of two or three items from three or four of the most common fast food places.  So when eating at McD's is a reasonable choice I know exactly what I'm getting.

I try to avoid Fast Food, but if you have to have some, try and get a kid's meal (not the Mighty kids meal or the Big kids meal) but the one that's designed for the 5 year olds. I like Chick-fil-A's kids meals. I can get 2-3 chicken strips, a small fry, and an unsweet tea. It still adds up to about 450 cal., but just think how many cal are in the adult size? The 6 piece chicken strips in the combo meal alone are about 600 cal. Add in the fries and you've probably reached your calorie allowance for the day... It's all about portion control.

You have to do your homework to eat restaurant food (fast or not) on a diet.  Subway is the only place that makes it simple and to the point, but I usually don't care to eat there.  For the local mom & pop restaurants around me, I've worked out a bunch of 400-500 calorie options.  At restaurant A, for instance, a hummus, a pita, and a small pastry, with a cup of strong arabic coffee comes to 500 calories.  But if I ate babaghanouj instead of the hummus and had 2 pitas, I would double the calories.