The Fast 600 guide for eating at Fast Food Restaurants, with the criteria of:

• 30g of Protein for under 600 Calories.

Firstly - we’re not saying eat fast food often for optimal health. However, a lot of people are ‘scared’ of fast food or just write it off without any context. There are times in our lives we need to grab a meal when out. Usually we hit up easy options from supermarkets like fruit and yoghurt, however fast food doesn’t have to be completely off the table.

There was actually an interesting analysis from the UK comparing meals from fast food restaurants to meals from chain restaurants. We probably associate the more, sit-down style, chain restaurants as a ‘healthier’ options however on average, the meals from those style of places were a couple of hundred calories more than meals from fast food places. Even when matching the same kind of meals, like a burger, chips and a drink. [1]

There are also times when you might end up at a fast food chain due to travel, family, friends, work colleagues. So it’s better to have an awareness around choices.

For this comparison, we set guidelines at 600 calories per meal with a minimum protein portion of 30 grams. It’s all a little individual and in context of a day but we’re trying to match a the calorie and protein content of a meal we might usually prepare at home.

McDonalds -

We really like that you can customise your order so easily with the computers there.

Most burgers fall short of the 30 grams of protein except:

Quarter Pounder and Triple Cheeseburger and both of these came in under 600 calories.

The grilled chicken looks the goods - in a wrap it’s 500 calories and 35 grams of protein - we would use the customisation to add extra salad.

You can also get a grilled chicken salad which is super low calorie at 200 cals but just under 30 grams of protein so we would even consider double chicken.

Getting crispy chicken adds and extra 100-150 calories and drops the protein content on average by a few grams.

Breakfast option - Mighty Muffin with an extra egg. About 550 calories and 35 grams of protein.

KFC -

Burgers and wraps with bacon and cheese like the Original burger with bacon and cheese or the Zinger wrap with bacon and cheese fit the formula.

Most options blow 600 cals away, obviously the chicken is coated and fried adding a quite a few extra calories.

Red Rooster -

Red Rooster offers up a few options;

• Double BBQ Bacon Burger at 535 cals and 39 grams of protein.

• The Roast chicken and gravy roll goes well at 450 cals and 39 grams of protein.

• Chicken Aioli Wrap at 425 cals and 28 grams of protein (yeah yeah, close enough)

• Chicken, Cheese & Bacon Burger at 547 and 30 grams of protein.

Whilst the Classic Roast doesn’t actually fit the search criteria, it would be our choice with chicken, roast potatoes and veg at 660 cals and 56 grams of protein with the added bonus of actually eating some veggies with the meal! It might be possible to reduce the calories a little with a little less gravy too.

You could always go for a ¼ chicken and salad (or peas) which would come under 500 cals.

Subway -

We’d go for a 6-inch sub but load it up, probably with double meat or add short cut bacon, cheese and all the salads. Most sandwiches with this formula would meet up our search criteria.

The 6-inch chicken, bacon and ranch melt comes in at about 460 cals and 31 grams of protein.

Pretty much all 12-inch subs blow our calorie limit away, being over 700 Calories.

Be mindful of sauces - creamier options can add over 100 Calories just in sauce and that’s just on average. If the sandwich maker give the sauce bottle a generous squeeze it could be more.

The Subway website has an awesome “sub builder” tool which can give you an idea of how adding to your sub can change the Calories and grams of protein.

Sumo Salad -

Their menu is extensive and the Calories and protein portions vary widely. For some salads, like the chicken caesar, the small size would fit our criteria being 380 calories and 55 grams of protein. For other options, like the Japanese Miso Salmon, the large size actually looks great at 433 calories and 32 grams of protein. Despite the size difference, the estimated weight of the meals is similar, note this in the image.

Most other salads were about 300-400 cals and 15-20 grams of protein for a small which looks good and if paired with a yoghurt dessert, like a Chobani, YoPro or Siggis, would end up around 550 calories, 30 grams of protein with a salad and dessert.

There are some really high calorie salads, which shows that just because it looks healthy, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t consider calories, which can add up fast with creamy sauces, oils, extra carbs and fattier meats.

Eg: Creamy Basil Chicken Penne Pesto is 853 calories and 19 grams of protein for a small.

Oporto -

They have a pulled chicken bowl which looks great - 595 Calories, 35 grams of protein, salads, guac, the whole lot!

The single fillet Bondi burger is 25 grams of protein for 460 Calories and all other burgers were well over 600 Calories. They have veggie and vegan options at around 15 grams of protein and over 600 Calories.

The Oprego Burger is 623 Calories for 44 grams of protein which also looks pretty good.

1/4 chicken with a side of slaw and a side of guacamole for 560 Calories and 45 grams of protein sounds pretty good too.

Once we start looking double and triple burgers, chips and other extras we are well over 1000 Calories.

Hungry Jacks -

Not a great deal of options that fit our criteria.

The Bacon Deluxe makes it but our choice would be the
Bacon double cheeseburger at 490 cals and 30 grams of protein.

Pizza Hut / Crust -

We just averaged this out a bit because the numbers were somewhat similar and there are so many choices.

Interestingly - Supreme had more protein than Meat Lovers which may say a little about the quality of the “meat” and/or the “lovers”.

Generally 1 slice is 250 cals and 10-14 grams of protein. So 2 slices is pretty close to our criteria but might be a little short on protein.

3 slices is going above our calorie limit, so if we really want pizza with the criteria in this blog, it might be a shared situation if possible with a salad including a protein source.

Let’s talk BIIIIIIG meals -

• A whole pizza is about 1800-2000 calories. A couple of beers on a Friday night with a whole pizza is probably more calories than some people eat in a standard day.

• Hungry Jacks has some incredible meal deals with 2 burgers, chicken nuggets, ice cream, a drink all included and get up to around 1700 calories for the whole meal.

• Adding medium chips is going to be about 300 cals and a drink about 200-250 cals if going full sugar / regular versions.

Takeaways of fast food -

The main take-away (pun intended) is that if you find yourself at a fast food restaurant, it doesn’t have to mean a “write off”, it doesn’t even have to mean an indulgence. It might not always be the most filling meal sticking to these criteria, not the most nutrient dense - but for a ‘sometimes’ scenario, we are only talking a small trade off. Try to get out of the mindset that foods or particular restaurants are “good” or “bad”. By all means have some nutrition guidelines that make life easier but hard, inflexible rules about what you can or can’t eat isn’t a healthy way to look at food.

All foods can be enjoyed and pure enjoyment is a legitimate purpose for any of your food choices. If you can combine this with portion sizes that help you with your goals, then it will set you up for a very enjoyable and sustainable way to make progress.

Reference:

[1] https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/10/e029679