At a recent post health coach Debbie Slutzky helped us by listing some better choices when going out for meals in our Naperville area. Here are some more tips at some quicker option restaurants in our area.
Thanks Debbie!
Drs. Sosenko and Weyneth
Panera
New good choices include the Power Mediterranean Chicken Salad and the Power Mediterranean Roasted Turkey Salad (but has a bit more sodium). The power chicken hummus bowl is also a good choice. The sandwiches that sound healthy like the Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich and the Mediterranean Egg White are so much better for you without the bread. You’ll lose half the calories and sodium. A good sandwich option with the bread, though, is the Roasted Turkey & Avocado BLT on Sourdough. The soups like low fat vegetarian black bean and low fat chicken noodle are great on all nutrition levels… except sodium with which they are packed.
Subway
We all know that Jared lost a bunch of weight eating Subway sandwiches. While there are some better choices here, I still think Subway and all fast food establishments should only be visited on occasion and not daily. Breakfast could be the egg and cheese sandwich (better without cheese). The 6” veggie delight is lowest in calories, fat and sodium and on the “Six Grams of Fat or Less” menu, choose the 6” oven roasted chicken or 6” turkey breast. All of the mini subs are okay because of their smaller portion size (4 inches). Salads to get include the double chicken chopped salad, veggie delite salad, turkey breast salad, oven roasted chicken salad, sweet onion chicken teriyaki salad. Choose apple slices instead of chips.
Five Guys Burgers & Fries
Take advantage of the little burgers; they are about 65% of their bigger part’s size and should satisfy your burger craving. You’re much better off with a veggie sandwich. Always go with the mushrooms, peppers, onions, jalapenos, lettuce and tomatoes instead of cheese for your topping. If you must get the fries, split the regular size order or toss half of them and enjoy the rest.
Hugo’s Frog Bar & Fish House
Fresh fish is the easy choice here. Appetizers like the oysters on the half shell, shrimp cocktail, tuna poke and Hugo’s seafood platter can be a full meal or shared with a friend or two as an appetizer. Then, go with the fresh fish but be sure to ask your server to have the kitchen staff hold the butter sauce and use extra virgin olive oil instead. Have the fish prepared pan seared or pan roasted and not stuffed, battered or fried. Simple sides are sautéed spinach, baked sweet potato without butter, and sautéed mushrooms without butter. Fruit sorbet is the lighter dessert selection.
Jimmy John’s
Like on many of these restaurants’ websites, you can customize your meal to get the actual nutrition breakdown on their website. For example, have the #4 turkey tomato with smoked turkey breast, alfalfa sprouts, lettuce and tomato and take away the bread and mayo and you got yourself 71.9 calories, 0.83g of fat, and 491g of sodium. Add some 7 grain wheat bread and you’ve added 319 calories, 4.5g of fat, and 590.23g of sodium. My suggestion is to go for the turkey, gourmet veggie club, beach club and toss the bread or only eat a portion of it. Get extra “freebies” including onion, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, tomato, sliced cucumber, Dijon mustard, oil & vinegar, and oregano.
McDonalds
Smartest options are from the breakfast menu which include oatmeal, fruit and yogurt parfait and fruit and walnuts. For lunch, snack or dinner, go for the Chipotle BBQ snack wrap (grilled) or honey mustard snack wrap (grilled), premium Caesar salad with grilled chicken or premium Southwest salad with grilled chicken or premium bacon ranch salad with grilled chicken (see the pattern?) For a sweet tooth, have a kiddie cone, vanilla cone, strawberry sundae, or soft baked oatmeal raisin cookie – they aren’t too bad!
Buona Beef
Soups are your best bets here such as the minestrone, chicken penne, cheddar broccoli, and chili. Go for the salads without cheese (and dressing) such as the chopped salad and the Tuscan Harvest salad as well as of course the fruit salad. Best beef choice is the Piccolo beef, as it is the leanest with the least cholesterol, sodium and carbs. Other options are the grilled salmon (without the mayo sauce) and chicken strips although they are both very high in sodium, or a simple hot dog. The kids menu is another way to go and will control your portion size.
Dunkin Donuts
Best bagel choice is a wheat bagel (less calories, fat, sodium, and carbs than the rest.) The jelly filled donut has the least amount of calories, fat, sodium, sugar and carbs than its fellow donuts.
English muffins have a fraction of the carbs of a bagel and none of the fats of their donuts and croissants. I suppose the DDSMART menu is the way to go if you are running or driving thru Dunkin. My choice would be the egg white veggie wake up wrap.
Einstein’s Bagels
Opt for bagel thin singles over regular bagels for the lower calorie and carb option. Also, light whipped cream cheese has less calories and fat than whipped reduced fat cream cheese. Egg white sandwiches are the best option and a close second would be the veg out on a sesame seed bagel. Next in line, and still good on the nutrition chart are the albacore tuna salad and chicken salad deli sandwiches. Garden salad and asparagus, mushroom & Swiss bagel thin egg white sandwich. The strawberry chicken salad is the best salad choice but all of them are definitely smart choices. Soups, while low in calories and fat, are high in sodium. The lowfat yogurt parfait is lower in sugar and calories than the smoothies.
Chipotle
Make your own burrito bowl or salad with greens, peppers, onions, beans, chicken, guacamole, salsa and very small amount of vinaigrette. Stay away from or go lightly on the cheese, sour cream, rice and meats. Note: watch out for the sodium here. Even with the lightest of choices — a salad of romaine, black beans, pinto beans, fajita veggies, tomato salsa and guacamole, there is a lot of sodium.
Noodles & Company
I like their “cheat sheet” on the website that recommends you start with a small entrée and add a small soup, salad, protein or extra. They have many choices under 500 calories. Remember, though, it’s not always just about calories. We need to look at calories from fat, saturated fat, and sodium before we deem it a good choice. Small spinach and fresh fruit salad, regular size chicken noodle soup (but loaded with sodium)
Wendys
Best menu items include a garden salad, baked potato (hold the sour cream and chives), small chili (a bit too much sodium), Caesar side salad (hold the dressing), ultimate chicken grill or grilled chicken go wrap (hold the sauce). Of course get the apple slices instead of fries.
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Debbie Slutzky is a Certified Health Coach, marathon runner, and loving mother of twins. She decided to become a health coach to fulfill her passion of working with people to improve their health and life goals.
Debbie received her training at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City, and she is Board Certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. Debbie leads workshops and classes on nutrition, writes blogs and articles on health and nutrition and offers individual health and nutrition coaching. She also received her BA from The George Washington University in Washington, DC.
Contact her at Debbie@NutritionAndHealthCounseling.com or 630.470.7634.