Healthy Fast Food

Here I am, 39 weeks pregnant, sitting in my husbands recliner at 6 am eating banana bread, scrolling Facebook, and putting the finishing touches on my birth plan (that I have finished 10x. and really can you ‘plan’ these things?!). Trying to begin my day with something productive but getting caught in this easy chair.

However, I did find some interesting/fun topics while scrolling this morning that made me want to rant! So, here they are.

First off, ‘healthy’ fast food.

This was one of those – It’s a busy time of year, go for healthy fast food instead of cooking at home – posts. Really?! This is wrong on so many levels and it is sad to me that people truly believe this and order by it! Why is it wrong?

1. This is basically a list of low(er) calorie options at each restaurant. And as I have said before Low cal doesn’t equal healthy.  You will be hungry very soon after eating any of these and most likely are going to have cravings for most crappy fats and simple carbs.
2. Fast food chicken can not be considered real meat. This ‘meat’ is most often broken down, stocked full of additives, and then re-shaped into chicken like shapes. The chicken that is ‘whole meat’ has been injected with the same additives. If you ever look at the store and compare typical chicken (with additives, it says on every label) to a chicken with no additives you will see an obvious difference in size, texture when eating it, and taste. Among the list of usual additives is: MSG or yeast extract, nitrites, sodium (and lots of it), water, flavoring, and preservatives. Some your ground up and reshaped chicken is up to 50% synthetic ingredients (hydrogenated oils, corn derivatives, and anti foaming agents).
3. There is no nutrient density to any of these meals. You are going to be hungry within an hour of eating any of these. The macro nutrient profile (carbs vs. fats vs. protein) is very poor. You are looking at a lot of simple carbs that are going to go through you very quickly and turn to glucose and not a lot of protein. As for the fats, they are coming from hydrogenated sources or poor oils (no healthy fats). You would be 10x better off eating twice as many calories of real food with higher protein levels, complex carbs, and fats from better sources (and you won’t be hungry in an hour).

I get that we don’t all have the time to cook a big meal each night but there are ways around stooping to this! Don’t be fooled by bad advertising and fake foods. There are so many quick at home options that have much better nutrients for you family (and this time of year keeping a high nutrient profile is huge in keeping you healthy against colds and flus – but that is a whole other post).

Some of our quick go-to options are:

1. Grilled Cheese and tomato Soup. We use ezekiel bread, real (not american slices) cheese, and the soup I have canned from tomatoes from my garden. I usually also do raw veggies with this.
2. Breakfast for dinner. Eggs (poached, scrambled or pan fried), Red potatoes, ezekiel toast, and bacon (I always use an uncured one without nitrites, nitrates, or msg). This is quick, nutrient dense, and can be eaten however each family member likes it.
3. Tacos. We usually have leftover meat in our fridge from the night before or from grilling (if we don’t we use ground beef) for this meal. Easy as warm up the meat, chop up some lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and put salsa on the table. Literally a ten minute meal! For the tacos my husband uses organic white tortillas, I like ezekiel tortillas or I make taco salad.

Planning ahead is huge for us. When we grill, we grill a lot of we have leftovers for quick nights. When I roast veggies, I roast a lot so we always have some cooked. I always have cut up raw veggies in the fridge. I also generally have a loaf of some kind of bread (zucchini, banana, pumpkin etc. ) that I have baked (healthy) on the counter for quick snacks or a treat.

A little preparation goes a long ways in eating healthy!

I am strong. I am capable. I am powerful. I am beautiful.

Xoxo,

Anne Nicole