Fast food sandwiches to enjoy and those to skip

Eating out at a Fast-Food place?  What sandwiches are healthier options and which sandwiches should you skip?  WebMD has some good suggestions for you.  Why should you skip some sandwiches?  Calories for one.  Some sandwiches are loaded with calories and often loaded with fat.  Here are some sandwiches to avoid and some sandwiches to enjoy.

Burger King

What to skip? 

Skip the Triple Whopper with Cheese.  Good to have the lettuce, tomato and onion but not so good to have the 3 beef patties.  This sandwich packs a whopping 1299 calories and that is before you add any sides like a sugared soda and some fries.  Why so many calories?  Because this sandwich is loaded wit 90 grams of fat.  Since fat has 9 calories a gram, that is 810 fat calories.  More fat than many people should have in an entire day.

What to choose? 

Instead of the Whopper, choose the Original Chicken Sandwich.  Yes, the chicken patty is breaded but this sandwich has only 660 calories, about half the calories as the Whopper.  And the sandwich has 40 grams of fat (360 fat calories) vs the 90 grams for the Whopper. 

McDonald’s

What to skip?

Skip the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese.  Believe it or not, this is a worse choice than the Double Big Mac.  The Double Quarter Pounder comes with 2 beef patties, as well as 2 slices of cheese, along with ketchup, pickles, mustard and onion.  The sandwich packs 740 calories and 1360 milligrams of sodium. 

What to choose?

Like a wrap?  Choose the Caesar McWrap with Grilled Chicken for a taste grilled chicken breast with lettuce, bacon bits, a creamy Caesar dressing wrapped in a whole-wheat flour tortilla.  What a good way to get some whole grains into your day.  And the calories?  Only 430 compared to the 740 for the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese.  But skip the fried chicken and opt for the grilled chicken breast version.

Choose the wrap with grilled chicken.

Chick-fil-A

What to skip?

Many people love Chick-fil-A but one item to skip on their menu is the Spicy Deluxe Chicken Sandwich.  The breaded chicken breast is fried, the bun is buttered.  Add the pepper jack cheese and it tips the scales at 550 calories. Not as bad as some of the above choices but still adds 25 grams of fat (225 fat calories) to your day along with a whopping 1810 milligrams of sodium.

What to choose?

Skip the fried chicken breast and choose the Grilled Chicken Sandwich.  It is made with a lemon-herb marinade, has tomato, lettuce and even a multi-grain bun.  Only 320 calories and only 6 grams of fat (54 fat calories) so a much healthier choice.   

Subway

What to skip?

Skip the 6-inch Chicken and Bacon Ranch Melt.  Looks good but has 570 calories, with 261 calories from fat (29 grams of fat).  So almost half the calories are from fat.  This choice also has a lot of sodium at 1,280 milligrams.

What to choose?

Try the 6-inch Black Forest Ham Sandwich at only 260 calories with only 4 grams of fat (36 fat calories) and less sodium at 720 milligrams.  Instead of the mayo, choose some mustard.  I like the 6-inch Roasted Chicken Breast with cheese.  Our Subway no longer has the Roasted Chicken Breast on the menu but they still offer it so I always order it.  One thing I like about Subway is all the veggies you can choose and I choose about all of them to be added to my sub.  The Subway worker has a hard time folding my sub as it is so loaded with veggies.  Be sure to choose spinach and not the lettuce as spinach is so much healthier.  And choose the multi-grain or whole grain bread for added nutrition. 

Black Forest Ham Sandwich - a good choice.

Wendy’s

What to skip?

You want to skip the Asiago Ranch Classic Chicken Club sandwich made with a breaded, fried chicken filet along with bacon, some cheese as well as lettuce and tomato.  Top is off with the mayo for a total of 630 calories and 31 grams of fat (279 fat calories).  Another sandwich that has almost 50% of the calories from fat.  And loaded with sodium at 1800 milligrams.

What to choose?

The grilled chicken wins again.  Choose the Wendy’s Grilled Chicken Sandwich at only 350 calories and only 8 grams of fat (72 fat calories).  The sandwich comes with lettuce, tomato and a tangy honey mustard which is much lower in calories than the mayo.  

Wendy's Grilled Chicken Sandwich.

So, if you are traveling this summer or just out for a quick bite to eat you can stop at the same Fast-Food place, but choose some healthier options.  Pay attention to the fat grams.  One of my daughters enjoys fast food sandwiches but she is always looking out for those fat grams.  Lots of fat grams means lots of calories and a not-so-healthy choice.  Just think, none of the above sandwiches include all the fat that would be added with an order of fries or the sugar that would be added with the large soda drink.  We like to eat out at Wendy’s or Subway.  We just try to make some healthier choices when we do eat out.  Next week, we will discuss some other fast-food options that are healthier choices when eating out.

Sources:  suggestions   Image Sources:  Black Forest Ham ,  Grilled chicken sandwich , wrap