Menu Analysis
Taco Bell, how I love thee. Prior to dieting, Taco Bell was one of my favorite lunch spots (which probably explains part of why I was gaining weight). I’m going to pick on them today, but they’re certainly not alone, pretty much all fast food restaurants (and many regular restaurants besides) have menus that seem almost purposefully designed to make you pack on the pounds. To start off, lets remember our cardinal rule:
If an item has sugar, white flour, corn syrup, potatoes, corn, or soy in the first three ingredients, don’t buy it.
Though you’re free to test for yourself, pretty much any item that breaks those rules will be high insulin impact, and unless we’re ordering a cheat meal that’s right out. So immediately we can rule out items of the following types:
Burritos, Tacos, Nachos, Chalupas, Soft Tacos, Gorditas, Enchiritos, Quesadillas, Tostadas, Enchiladas, Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes, Carmel Apple Empanada, Crunchwraps, Taco Salad, Taquitos, and Mexican Pizza
What does that leave us? Not much:
Border Bowls - About the only real item on the menu you might be able to get away with, but at six hundred and some calories it’s too big for most meals. Still, if you’re stuck going to Taco Bell and have no choice, this is probably your least bad option.
Taco Salad without the shell - What’s the point of that? The nutrition profile and calorie load are pretty reasonable, but basically it’s just some shredded lettuce with a few toppings, not the best way to keep from getting hungry.
Pintos & Cheese - Tasty, but honestly just a side dish. Worth considering if you just want to eat something to be sociable with your friends, and at only 160 calories, you can probably fit something more filling into the schedule later.
Mexican Rice - I haven’t measured, but I’m willing to bet it’s made with white rice not brown, and probably high insulin impact. Regardless, it’s small and not very filling.
Here’s a link to their nutrition info Nutrition Guide
Ok, so Mexican food was probably a bad choice to start with, let’s take a look at something more American, like Wendy’s. All bread items are made with white flour and extra sugar, so you can leave out any sort of hamburger buns. Fries are obviously made from potatoes so those are out. Regular soda is basically pure sugar, but you already knew that didn’t you?
Most of the salads are ok, but a close examination of the dressings shows they’re all packed with sugar or corn syrup (yes even the italian vinaigrette), so unless you like dry lettuce or bring your own that’s probably not going to help. Watch out for noodles, chips, and croutons, they’re all high impact. Baked potatoes are out of course, and frosty’s (but that’s hardly a revelation). Nuggets, being breaded are definitely not ok.
So what can you have:
Burger, or non-breaded chicken, either without the bun. (Even without the bread though, be careful of those calories!)
Chili - Actually a pretty decent choice, oh they still packed 9g of sugar into a large chili (how? I mean it’s beans and meat right?) but I’d be pretty surprised if this registered as anything over medium impact, and the calories/fullness factor are pretty decent. Here’s the ingredients:
Ground Beef, Chili Base (tomatoes, salt, citric acid, calcium chloride), Chili Seasoning (maltodextrin, tomato powder, salt, modified corn starch, chili pepper, sugar, onion, spices, dextrose, garlic, soybean oil, xanthan gum, citric acid, autolyzed yeast extract, extracts of paprika, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, artificial flavors, silicon dioxide anti-caking agent]), Kidney Beans (kidney beans, water, sugar, corn syrup, salt, natural flavorings, onion powder, calcium chloride, disodium EDTA [flavor protector]), Chili Beans (beans, water, sugar, corn syrup, salt, natural flavorings, onion, calcium chloride), Vegetable Mix (onions, celery, peppers).
Here’s their nutrition info Nutrition Guide
As you can see, not a whole lot of options there either. Employees at fast food chains don’t make very much money, one of their job benefits is to eat the food at a reduced cost. Next time you’re inside, look at the employees, I have yet to visit one where the majority of them weren’t overweight, especially the long term employees, leads and supervisors. (managers make more, aren’t as tied to the menu and don’t exhibit the same trend). When you’re out and about, keep your wits about you, or you could find that drive through is packing meat onto your thighs, not into your stomach.