By Samantha Taylor
It’s a fact of life: Most Americans eat fast food 3 times a week!
So, it’s better to be wise with what we eat than to be in denial, right?
Fast food is obviously the least healthy restaurant food that you can consume although each place has a few healthier options. So, for this article, I did my review on Taco Bell. It’s unfortunate that they don’t offer any whole wheat products although I think that will change in a few years.
For now, they have quite a few options that are on the lower calorie side (just make sure you don’t eat too much). You may already know that I used to be a binger — at Taco Bell, I used to get three tacos, a Nachos Bell Grande and a steak quesadilla (talk about overeating).
Fortunately, I haven’t had that problem in more than seven years. I still eat fast food occasionally, but much less than I used to. The funny thing about fast food is if you stop eating it for a relatively long time and then go back to eating it, it begins to taste weird and obviously processed.
You just don’t notice that “processed taste” if you eat it all the time.
I grew up on fast food and even as a health professional, I stopped eating it only about a year ago. If you are pressed for time and want to have a quick, tasty fix, Taco Bell has got some good alternatives to calorie-loaded burgers and fries.
Your best bet is the chicken soft tacos even though it comes with a white flour tortilla. It’s not too big a deal if you eat it once in a while, but it’s a whole different story if you have white flour all the time. Two chicken soft tacos amount to only 380 calories and are filling.
Or, if you want some crunch, you can get two crunchy tacos for only 340 calories. I still stick with chicken because the quality of meat in crunchy tacos is not exactly the best option. But hey, the reality is that even if some people hear that, they will still eat it, but it at least helps to know that you have lower-calorie options.
One great thing about Taco Bell is they have a nutrition calculator on their website that lets you build an entire meal piece by piece that lets you know and control just how many calories you are consuming. I highly recommend you look up the menu at www.tacobell.com and take advantage of the calculator, not only with Taco Bell, but with most fast food restaurants. If you choose to eat fast food, it pays to know exactly what you’re putting into your body.
