How to Eat Healthy at McDonald's

To eat healthy at McDonald's you need to do some research. A menu from McDonald's with the calorie and fat amounts for each item can be found in the resources section of this article. There is also a site listed where you can calculate how many calories and fat grams you should consume each day to maintain your ideal weight. The steps below will give you the highest and lowest calorie item on the menu for each of the categories that McDonald's carries.

Instructions

1

Compare sandwiches at McDonald's: Hamburgers have the least amount of calories 250 with 9 grams of fat. This is 13 percent of the daily allowed value based on a 2,000 calorie diet. The Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese has the most with 740 calories and 42 grams of fat and makes up 65 percent of the daily allowed value.

2

Consider that Chicken McNuggets (4 pieces) have 170 calories and 10 grams of fat making up 15 percent of the daily allowed value while Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips (5 pieces) have 630 calories with 33 grams of fat making up 30 percent of the daily allowed value. Sauces vary from 50 to 70 calories and 0 to 2.5 grams of fat with 0 to 4 percent of the daily allowed values with the exception of the Spicy Buffalo and the Creamy Ranch which are 70 and 200 calories, 7 and 22 grams of fat and contribute 11 and 33 percent of the daily allowed value, respectively.

3

Examine salads, which are probably the best way to eat healthy at McDonald's. A side salad only has 20 calories and 0 grams of fat and doesn't add to the daily allowed value, however, the Southwest Salad with Crispy Chicken has 400 calories and 16 grams of fat and makes up 7 percent of the daily allowed value. Salad dressing can be as low as 40 calories (Newman's Own Low Fat Balsamic Vinaigratte) with 3 grams of fat and 4 percent of the daily allowed value and as high as 190 calories (Newman's Own Creamy Caesar) with 18 grams of fat and 28 percent of the daily allowed value.

4

Select an English Muffin as your healthiest choice at McDonald's for breakfast. They are only 140 calories and 1.5 grams of fat making up 2 percent of the daily allowed value. Other good choices for breakfast are Hash Browns which are also 140 calories, but have 8 grams of fat and 13 percent of the daily allowed value; Scrambled Eggs (2) with 170 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 17 percent of the daily allowed value and a Sausage Patty with 170 calories, 15 grams of fat, and 23 percent of the daily allowed value. The unhealthiest choice would be the Deluxe Breakfast with a large size Biscuit which is 1,380 calories with 67 grams of fat and makes up 103 percent of the daily allowed value.

5

Enjoy an Apple Dipper for dessert which is only 35 calories and has 0 grams of fat and contribute 0 to the daily allowed value. The worse dessert would be the Chocolate Triple Thick Shake (32 fluid ounce cup) which has 1,160 calories, 27 grams of fat and contributes 42 percent of the daily allowed value.

6

Discriminate that french fries do not contain a lot of calories (250 for small fries, 570 for the large), but the amount of grams of fat are very high (13 for a small and 30 for a large). They contribute 20 to 47 percent of the daily allowed value, respectively. Most of the beverages do not have a significant calorie, gram of fat content or daily allowed value to mention.