Fast Food Cheats

There are times when no matter what, you really fancy a bit of fast food and nothing else will do.  If you're not careful this could be the beginning of the end of your good eating habits and once you feel like you've 'fallen off the wagon' you may just throw in the towel and fall back into your former bad habits.

Some experts say that you should not give into your cravings and stick to your healthy eating regime no matter what but back in the real world I think if you deny your body's cravings they will just get worse and your obsession with this type of food will build up until you can't take it anymore and you go on a binge which won't be any good for you and could scupper your healthy eating regime for good.

So my advice is, if you really fancy a bit of fast food than that's ok in moderation but the damage to your body can be reduced with a little tweaking.  Here are my top 5 tips:-

1.) Swap a donna kebab with a shish:- a donna is loaded with fat and contains all the off cuts of the lamb.  Also lamb is a very fattening meat so will give you extra unwanted calories.  Choose a chicken shish, which is high in protein and lower in fat and is grilled, further reducing the calorie content.  Add plenty of salad and a pita bread and you have a well balanced meal which won't bust your gut.  However hold the chips and don't be too heavy handed with the sauces if you want to keep this fast food healthier.

2.) Pizza- Although this tends to be high in saturated fat and tends to contain low protein you can reduce this by choosing a thin rather than thick crust and cutting out the fatty meats such as pepperoni and pork and choose ham, fish or prawns and vegetables. Stick to a small pizza and serve it with plenty of salad.  Doing this will help reduce the damage and not overload your body with unwanted calories and fat.

3.) Having a Indian curry:- Avoid creamy sauces such as Korma or anything deep fried.  To reduce the fat and calories, choose tomato-based sauces such as tandoori and madras with chicken, prawns or vegetables.  Opt for plain rice rather than pilau, choose a chapatti over a naan and hold the popadoms.  Add plenty of vegetables including lentil side dishes such as a dhal.

4.) Fish & Chips:- Avoid pies and sausages that are high in fat and choose fish coated in breadcrumbs rather in batter as less fat is absorbed.  Thick cut chips soak up less fat compared to thin cut and choose a smaller portion or share.  Add mushy peas or baked beans to add extra vitamins and minerals.   If you have battered fish avoid eating all the batter as this can soak up a lot of the fat during cooking.

5.) Chinese/Thai:- Avoid any deep fried foods such as prawn crackers and toast, spring rolls, fish cakes and sweet and sour pork (due to meat being battered and deep fried).  Avoid Tai red and green curries that use coconut milk, which is high in saturated fat and stick to stir-fried or steamed dishes containing chicken, fish or vegetables instead.   Choose crab and corn soup or tom yum and choose boiled rice over egg fried.