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Surviving the Big Mac Attack in Our Fast Food World!

By John Kent

Next time you find yourself so busy that fast food seems like your only option, don’t despair, it is possible to make some healthier food choices when the Big Mac Attack hits you! Many of the fast food chains are recognizing that their consumers enjoy the convenience but want to eat something healthier and leaner.

If you really knew the nutritional content of some of those burgers, you probably wouldn’t touch them with a 10-foot pole. Did you know that a McDonalds Big Mac has 560 total calories and 280 calories are from fat! Yep, half of the sandwich is fat! (And don’t forget to SUPERSIZE everything — we want to make sure we get as much fat and sugar as we possibly can for our money!)

Think you’re doing good by ordering a chicken sandwich from Burger King? It’s chicken, right? Wrong, it’s fried and breaded and has more fat in it than the Big Mac. It has 390 fat calories out of 710 total calories.

I think you get the idea. Luckily, there are more and more healthier choices for us to choose from such as grilled chicken, broiled hamburgers, salads and pitas stuffed with veggies and lean meats. With just a little willpower and knowledge about the nutritional content you could easily lose 10 pounds in one year without counting calories and without exercise.

Let me give you an example. Say you substituted your Burger King chicken sandwich twice a week for a year with two Taco Bell chicken soft tacos (that’s two soft tacos for every one chicken sandwich, but easy on the sour cream!). You would save yourself 660 calories per week. Since one pound is equal to 3500 calories, you would lose 9.8 pounds after one year. That seems pretty simple, huh?

If you don’t like chicken soft tacos, that’s ok. There are other healthier alternatives for you to choose from. Next time you find yourself in the drive thru, try one of these healthier choices instead:

These are just a few ideas to get you on the right track. I’ve also found a website that allows you to look up the nutritional content of many fast food chain items. Go to www.calorieking.com to check out your favorites! Make better choices starting today!

About the Author:

John Kent is a writer, speaker and owner of John Kent Fitness, Inc. located in Clearwater, FL. With his fitness expertise, as well as warm, friendly, and approachable character, John has become a captivating and much sought after speaker on the topics of nutrition and health.

He has contributed articles to various publications and has been featured on Bay News 9, Channel 10’s Life Around the Bay and in Tampa Bay’s Best Magazine where they named him “Tampa Bay’s Body Transformer”. He can be reached at or on the web at www.JohnKentFitness.com