What can you eat at McDonald's on a diet? Calorie content of popular fast food

Is it possible to eat healthy at McDonald's?

It was quite difficult for me to believe that on the calorie-filled McDonald's menu it was possible to find dishes that I could safely eat while on a healthy diet. It’s not surprising: when choosing food in this fast food restaurant, it’s difficult for us to focus on healthy food. Every now and then the eye stops at juicy cheeseburgers, sweet pies and delicious ice cream like McFlurry. And of course, many favorite drinks deserve special mention: milk and fruit cocktails, lattes, cappuccino and soda.

However, it turned out that even by eating at McDonald's, you can not only not gain weight, but also lose it! As proof, I will give you examples of some people who were able to lose weight while continuing to eat fast food:

• Professional nutritionist Ivan Shcherbakov conducted an unusual experiment: in 5 weeks he lost 6.5 kilograms by eating only the “wrong” foods. Moreover: he did not even engage in sports or fitness during this entire time. Ivan ate 2 times a day and consumed approximately 1480 calories per day.
• A McDonald's employee from Taiwan lost 10 kilograms in 3 months by continuing to eat at the restaurant where she worked. She simply stopped eating French fries, hamburger buns, ice cream, and fried chicken skin, and she also stopped drinking sugary drinks. At later stages of the diet, the girl began to play sports.
• John Cisna, an educator from Iowa , conducted an experiment in which the goal was to lose weight and improve health by eating McDonald's meals. He began to consume no more than 2,000 calories, and also calculated the amount of proteins, fats and carbohydrates in his diet. In addition, John began to lead a more active lifestyle. Thus, in 180 days he lost 25 kilograms.

The secret of these people losing weight is that they were able to correctly calculate the calorie content of their fast food meals. It has long been proven that we gain weight not from eating some “wrong” type of food, but because we incorrectly calculate the calories we consume. Thus, if you approach weight loss wisely and know how to navigate the calorie content of foods in your diet, you can lose weight even by eating at McDonald's.

Now I’ll tell you something very, very important! We are talking only about the goal of losing weight! Proper healthy eating is a little different.

Surprising but true

Despite the fact that the calorie content of McDonald's products and dishes is off the charts, you can still create a menu for weight loss from them. It comes in handy in cases where there are no other options to eat. It is necessary to take into account that this is a one-time promotion that is not suitable for daily implementation.

If you are losing weight, but on some days you can only eat at McDonald's, this menu can become a guide and guide you in choosing dishes whose calorie content will fit into your daily requirement. The main thing is to resist the temptation to order one of the hits of this restaurant - sandwiches, wraps or fries. It is in them that the content of trans fats and fast carbohydrates is maximum.

You can also refer to the experiences of people who, despite regularly visiting McDonald's, were still able to lose weight.

• K. Colton

He created a special diet that included salads and several other low-calorie dishes from the McDonald's menu. So, while losing weight, he often looked into it. This did not stop him from losing 35 kg in six months.

• M. Morgan

I followed a high protein diet. Since she had to regularly eat at McDonald's, she constantly bought shrimp and coffee there. As a result, I lost 16 kg in 3 months.

• D. Siska

Creator of the extreme fast food diet. I ate only at McDonald's, but did not allow my daily caloric intake to exceed 1,800 kcal. Despite his rather successful experience, he had no followers, since many people know firsthand about the dangers of daily consumption of fast food.

• Ryan Williams

A 29-year-old Englishman visited McDonald's every day for a month and ordered something there. His daily caloric intake was 2,300 kcal, and he was actively involved in sports. As a result, he lost 7.5 kg, body fat decreased from 10.85% to 7.59%. This once again proves that weight loss requires two components: caloric intake, which should not be exceeded, and physical activity.

But there is no need to repeat the experience of these people. Their stories are just evidence that with the right approach, even such nutrition can fit into a weight loss diet.

Calorie content of meals at McDonald's

Of course, a considerable number of dishes from this chain contain just a crazy number of calories. As an example, let's look at the popular Big Tasty burger.

Its energy value is 812 kcal, and a serving also contains:

• Fat - 48 g
• Saturated fat - 20 g
• Carbohydrates – 50 g
• Sugar - 10 g
• Proteins - 44 g
• Salt - 3.7 g

If you eat a Big Tasty, you can consume half your daily calorie intake in a matter of minutes. And if you wash it down with a delicious cocktail and add something for dessert, you can forget about food until the next day.

The same high-calorie dishes include various rolls, burgers, sweets and French fries.

Most likely, like me, you cannot deprive yourself of such goodies. There is a solution for this case: you need to calculate the amount of energy consumed per day, as well as play sports, burning extra calories.

McDonald's goodies and healthy eating

Consider, for example, the calorie content of a Big Mac sandwich, which contains more than 510 kcal. If you decipher this figure, you get the following content of the BZHU:

• protein - 27 g;
• fat - 26 g;
• carbohydrates - 41 g;
• salt - 2.2 g;
• sugar - 8 g.

If you eat such a “monster”, you can forget about tasty treats for a couple of days. The consequences of a Big Mac, a high-calorie Shrimp or a juicy cheeseburger are exercise and a strict diet for several days. Add a milkshake or ice cream and you won't be able to eat anything else today!

No less “anti-diet” dishes are McC Chicken, Caesar Roll, Big Tasty, French fries, Breakfast Roll, Donut, McFlurry and even locally produced oatmeal. In this case, you can consume up to 850 calories (kcal) in one sitting without even realizing that you have eaten half your daily limit.

It turns out that McFlurries, rolls, cheeseburgers and sandwiches are absolutely forbidden to eat? Well, how can you live in this world without pampering yourself with treats? Keep a diary with a table where you scrupulously enter the calorie content of everything you ate for the day, week and month.

Diet food at McDonald's

Now that we know that the diet needs to be compiled based on the calorie content of the dishes included in it, we can easily create our own.

However, do not forget that near-dietary dishes contain up to 280 kcal.

Breakfast

If you come to McDonald's in the morning, you can order a cherry pie or a McMuffin. An omelette is also a good option, but you need to remove the jam from the buns that come with it, or not eat them at all. A slightly higher calorie option would be the Chicken Fresh McMuffin, but without the sauce. You can wash this down with a cup of coffee: for example, a latte or cappuccino.

Snack

The best options for a snack would be apple slices and carrot sticks. As during breakfast, you can drink coffee.

Dinner

For lunch you can order a vegetable Caesar salad (necessarily without sauce) and a cheeseburger. Another option would be one of the Rolls: for example, Fish Roll. As with the salad, ask to remove any sauces from the dish.

Dinner

Chicken McNuggets are the best option for dinner at McDonald's. In addition, you can order a vegetable salad, again without sauce.

With this diet, you will not consume many calories, but do not forget about various preservatives, salt and other food additives. This is all quite unhealthy and makes most fast food junk food.

Miscellaneous

How to eat at McDonald's?

There are a few simple rules for visiting fast food restaurants that will help you always eat healthy there:

1. Resist temptations and only order what you can afford to eat. Be sure to count the calories you consume.
2. Take your time, eat slowly so that your body can better absorb all the necessary substances.
3. Don't eat at McDonald's too often; it's better to limit yourself and not visit these restaurants more than a few times a week.
4. Don't eat hamburger buns. If you don’t want to throw them away, you can always feed them to stray animals on the street or birds.
5. If possible, don't go to McDonald's alone: ​​take someone with you who is also on a diet. Choosing food together will be easier and, of course, more fun. You can also halve and consume fewer calories.

Recommendations

It is still possible to visit fast food establishments with minimal losses to your health and without disrupting the weight loss process if you try:

1. You need to eat there no more than 2 times a week.
2. Before visiting, create a menu in advance in accordance with the calorie table for dishes and drinks.
3. Avoid sandwiches, rolls and desserts. Focus on salads and drinks.
4. Do not buy into promotions and special offers - strictly adhere to the list that you compiled in advance.
5. Eat slowly, chewing thoroughly and enjoying the taste.
6. Don't stay longer than half an hour.
7. If you visit a restaurant together, take something that can be easily divided between each other (for example, 1 serving includes 2 pies, 6 nuggets, 4 shrimp, etc.).
8. If you couldn't resist buying a cheeseburger or hamburger, try not to eat at least the bun.

Without a doubt, the high calorie content of McDonald's dishes is not the most pleasant circumstance for those who are losing weight and at the same time are fans of this fast food. Despite this, you can still avoid the pitfalls by competently and in advance making a list of what you will order.

Top 5 Lowest Calorie McDonalds Meals

Now let's move on to the numbers. Let's start with the rating of the least calorie dishes and those closest to pp.

1. In rightful first place, of course, is oatmeal! Tasty, nutritious, very healthy! Of course, homemade oatmeal is better, but this one is also good. Made from natural oatmeal, complemented with cream and jam. Calorie content - just over 200 kcal, carbohydrates (slow!) - 35 g. That is, this is an ideal pp-breakfast!
2. Apple slices and carrot sticks contain even fewer calories! 40 kcal in apples and only 28 kcal in carrots! True, they are unlikely to satisfy your hunger, so they are in second place.
3. In third place is vegetable salad and its 68 kcal! Contains only herbs, vegetables and olives! For a “weight loss” dinner, it is simply irreplaceable!
4. Tea and coffee without sugar are the favorite drinks of any weight loss person or person losing weight. The number of calories in them is hardly more than 20 kcal. It is clear that milk, cream and sugar increase this figure several times. So, this ice cream is already 123 kcal, a delicious latte is 176 kcal, iced coffee is 135 kcal.
5. Fifth place - ice cream cone! This dessert has only 151 kcal! Perfect if you want something sweet.

Why can you eat fast food while losing weight?

No matter how various coaches tell us that to lose weight we need to eat only fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, buckwheat and boiled chicken breast, this is not entirely true. What I have listed will certainly help you lose weight. But in fact, you can eat everything, and even indulge in high-calorie treats, and still lose weight. It's all about the calories you consume per day.

Each person has an average daily calorie requirement. For example, for an adult man this is an average of 2000 kcal per day, and for an adult woman 1500-1600. This is subject to an inactive lifestyle. And if you take a working or active person, then the norm can be increased by 500 kcal or more. But these are all average indicators and they are not specific for everyone. Everyone must calculate the norm themselves.

This means that you can lose weight even on milk chocolate if you eat 3-4 100-gram bars a day, and nothing else. On average, milk chocolate contains 600 kcal. This means that three tiles will not affect an inactive person. And an active person can also knock out a fourth tile. But this is just an example, not a call to action.

In addition to observing the daily norm of kilocalories, it is also necessary to take into account the norms of BZHU (proteins, fats and carbohydrates). So, eating (occasionally) McDuck treats won't affect your weight as long as you stick to your calorie goals.