here’s a story.
once upon a time, i ate fast food every day. in fact, i would often times eat fast food twice a day. this was back before i knew what a calorie was, my metabolism knew no boundaries, i preferred lifting a can of beer instead of a weight and the documentary “food, inc” was yet to be made. read: i didn’t care about (nor was i aware of) the physical or ethical consequences of fast food. i loved it. i ate it. lots of it.
calorie? what is a calorie?
fine print: before i really get going on this post, i want to say i am not judging anyone who eats fast food. the food other people choose to eat has nothing to do with me nor do i base my opinion on them by looking at what they eat. i have to say this, because i am about to talk a whole lotta crap on a particular fast food establishment. this is my opinion. i just don’t want anyone thinking i think less of people if they choose to eat fast food. i don’t. eat whatever you want. but that doesn’t mean i think it’s good for anyone.
moving on!
among the many fast food meals i consumed, there was always one particular meal from KFC that was my favorite. i couldn’t get enough of it.
that, my friends, is the KFC three piece chicken strip meal. i would eat it multiple times a week.. it wasn’t rare that i ate this four times a week, i liked it that much.
in my go-to KFC meal:
- 3 chicken strips
- side of macaroni & cheese
- side of potato wedges
- buttermilk biscuit
- two honey packets (for biscuit—not pictured)
- one “buttery spread” (for biscuit)
- three containers of honey mustard (dippage for chicken strips & wedges)
up close & personal:
looking at that list, it sure seems like a lot of food. it even LOOKS like a lot of food. it is quite a bit of food. in addition to the food, i usually had a large (32 oz) dr. pepper to wash it down.
sometimes i would have this for lunch, sometimes for dinner.. but like i said, i would have this meal regularly. i ate the whole thing. and i would be hungry when the next meal time rolled around, about 3-4 hours later. in fact, i would usually eat some sort of candy immediately after the meal.. i was all about the chewy jolly ranchers.
these days, i don’t eat at KFC. eventually, that pesky metabolism caught up with me and i found myself 25 lbs overweight. so, i stopped fast food and i started doing body for life. i gave up fast food except for on my “free day”. when my free day came around, i did have fast food a few times, but it literally made me sick (on both ends!—sorry for the TMI) and i decided there was a reason i shouldn’t be putting that kind of food into my body. this was before i knew about the ethical side of eating fast food. i just knew it made my body feel like crud.
body for life taught me a lot about nutrition and macros.. the more i learned the more i wanted to know. the better i felt after not eating it the more i wanted to NOT eat it. it was like a wildfire. so i stopped eating KFC (and all other fast food) and never looked back.
now i want to pass my experience on to my readers, because i feel like shouting this lesson from the rooftops. give up fast food for a month. then eat it. see how you feel. you probably won’t go back, either.
anyway, my dinner from last night (more on that in a moment) had me reminiscing about my old favorite fast food meal. i was curious just what exactly i was eating, and how it all added up.
enter: fun with numbers!
i made a chart of the nutritional information for my entire meal. i took the information straight off the KFC website.
| Calories | From Fat | Fat Grams | Saturated | Sodium | Carbs | Fiber | Sugar | Protein | |
| Chicken | 340 | 100 | 11 | 4 | 1280 | 27 | 3 | 0 | 33 |
| Mac & Cheese | 180 | 80 | 9 | 3 | 880 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Wedges | 260 | 110 | 13 | 2.5 | 740 | 33 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Biscuit | 180 | 70 | 8 | 6 | 530 | 23 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Honey | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Honey | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Butter | 30 | 30 | 3.5 | 0.5 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mustard | 120 | 90 | 10 | 1.5 | 110 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Mustard | 120 | 90 | 10 | 1.5 | 110 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Mustard | 120 | 90 | 10 | 1.5 | 110 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Dr. Pepper | 400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 140 | 108 | 0 | 108 | 0 |
| Totals | 1810 | 660 | 74.5 | 20.5 | 3930 | 245 | 9 | 139 | 47 |
holy balls! talk about a wake up call!
1810 calories in one meal.. and it didn’t keep me full for longer than 3 hours? talk about empty calories. the calories for one meal add up to about the same number of calories i eat in a whole day. (i don’t count calories, but i am mindful of them and probably consume 1600-1800 calories daily.)
let’s talk sauce. i never had any idea that one of those dinky honey mustard containers was 120 calories. each! combine those 3 containers with my honey & butter for my biscuit and i was up to 450 calories in sauce packets alone. that number made me queasy. i can eat a whole big, nutritious meal that contains 450 calories and be full for 6 hours (hello, oatmeal and peanut butter).
how about the other numbers? the fat grams are double what i take in daily nowadays, and none of the KFC fat grams can be referred to as “healthy fat”, like the majority of the fat i eat now. the carb grams are off the charts and 139 of those grams come from sugar. all of the carbs are quick digesting, empty carbs: white, refined noodles, deep fried potatoes, buttermilk biscuit, sugary soda. and the sodium? well, the sodium total makes my whole body puff up just looking at it. the only upside i can see is the amount of protein the meal contains.
that little math lesson was an eye opener for me. sure, i quit eating fast food because it made me feel gross.. but after seeing what i was eating and knowing what i know now about nutrition, i cringe.
ANYWAY, onto last night’s dinner!
in the october issue of oxygen magazine, there was a healthy version of mac & cheese. i bookmarked it and have been meaning to make it for awhile now. yesterday, i finally did. i paired it with some healthy baked chicken strips and steamed veggies. i prepared my own honey mustard and also used an all natural barbecue sauce for dipping. my meal was very reminiscent of the KFC meal. granted, it took longer to make than a quick zip through the drive through.. but it was so much better. better on the taste buds, better on the belly, better on the waist line and better on the soul.
for the mac & cheese (recipe from oxygen magazine: october 2010 issue):
ingredients:
- 8 oz whole wheat elbow macaroni
- 2 cups low fat cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
- 3/4 cup sharp cheddar
- bread crumbs (enough to sprinkle)
- salt & pepper, to taste
i cooked the noodles and set them aside. i then combined the pumpkin and cottage cheese in my food processor. you could also use a blender.
once the two ingredients are mixed smoothly, add to the noodles.
mix well, add salt & pepper.
add shredded cheddar.
mix well and put into a 9 x 9 baking dish.
top with bread crumbs, cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, until warmed through. remove the foil for the last 3-4 minutes in the oven.
voilà!
healthy mac & cheese!
this makes 4 HUGE servings. i only ate 1/5 of the pan rather than 1/4.. and even then, i couldn’t finish it.
for the chicken strips:
slice two 6 oz chicken breasts into strips. (12 oz total) season with salt & pepper.
coat each strip in panko breadcrumbs.
bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes, or until done, flipping halfway through.
for the dipping sauce, find an all natural barbecue sauce. for the honey mustard, combine 2 parts mustard to one part honey. 
serve dipping sauces alongside chicken.
add some steamed veggies to make it a meal!
my plate was 1/3 of the chicken strips (4 ounces total), 1/5 of the mac & cheese recipe and 1 cup veggies. i also used 2 TB honey mustard and 2 TB barbecue sauce. i washed it down with water.
up close & personal:
this entire meal? including dipping sauces, this meal was 525 calories, 8 grams fat, 48 grams protein, 68 grams carbs, 9 grams fiber. and the best part: it’s nutritious. carbs from whole wheat noodles. baked, not fried, chicken. steamed, colorful veggies instead of deep fried potato wedges. low calorie dipping sauces instead of funky ingredient, calorie laden mystery packets of sauce. oh, and the biscuit? not needed. i couldn’t even finish this plate of food as it was. and i was full for the rest of the night.
i guess my point is i am so glad i know what i know now. and i wanted to talk about it. i wanted to tell you how happy i am to be informed about my food. because when i was eating this crap every day, multiple times a day, i had NO IDEA how bad it was for me. calories aside, i had no clue what the difference between white pasta and wheat pasta was.. and i rationalize that the potatoes were healthy because they were in wedge form. um.. right. i didn’t know and i didn’t care to know. i was skinny as a noodle, i could eat anything whenever i wanted, what did i care if it had nutritional value or not?
i am lucky that i stopped eating crappy fast food two years ago. for me, it wasn’t a hard habit to break, because i was bound and determined to stay committed to my BFL challenge. i know it’s tough for many to stop the habit of eating fast food. i am sure they lace it with some sore of addictive drug to keep you coming back ;) but if you are into eating it, at least inform yourself.
what i want people to take away from this post is motivation. i want to encourage everyone to inform yourself.
no, fast food isn’t going to kill you today. and probably not tomorrow. but it really could hurt you in the long run. and no, it probably won’t be too bad if you eat it sparingly.
but please—whether you eat it a little or eat it a lot, learn about the food you are putting into your body. learn about nutritious carbohydrates vs. empty carbohydrates. learn how much sodium your body can tolerate. don’t just blindly drive through the fast food line and eat whatever looks good—it could really hurt your health in the long run.
you may be saying “well stop preaching about learning and start informing us.” but i am not the person to inform you, i didn’t go to school for this sort of thing. but i did teach myself. there are endless resources out there and you can learn a lot about nutrition just by talking to trained specialists, reading books and articles (credible ones, of course).
i am no expert, but i am learning more every day. that’s important to me.
i know my words don’t mean much to several of you because you don’t eat fast food, but — i know a lot of people who want to stop eating fast food, who want to learn more about their health and nutrition, who want, want, want. so this is my encouragement to tell you to do something about it. :)
i won’t even dive into the ethical issues i have with KFC. i think that you can read up on that yourself. i don’t usually get into that sort of thing on my blog, though i do feel strongly about the issues and it is another reason i won’t eat their food.
although.. i did buy the meal photographed above. i have been scouring google images for “the meal” and had no luck. i wanted to give you all a visual of my old go-to meal, so i bit the bullet and bought the meal. yep, for the photos. yep, call me names. it probably was not the best choice, but sometimes i do odd things “for the blog”. you can throw stones at me, that would be fair.
although… i had a feeling it was a bad sign when i saw the total of the meal…
talk about irony.
Qs~
1. what fast food / restaurant meals do you make healthier versions of at home? any recipes/links you’d like to share?
2. what have you learned lately about health and nutrition? do you try to stay informed about what you eat?
xo. janetha g.
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{ 128 comments… read them below or add one }
I totally understand why you had to buy the KFC meal for the picture. I would have done that too! The things we bloggers do.
I bought our plane tickets for San Francisco today. (Can’t wait to see you at Foodbuzz now that I “know” you better!)
That mac and cheese looks amazing, I need to get my hands on a bigger food processor. I have a mini one but it’s not enough.
I used to eat fast food daily too. I literally can’t stomach it anymore even though I crave it every now and then. It’s funny how seeing the nutritional stats completely freaks me out. Fast food NEVER fills me up like real food does.
Love this post!
CANNOT WAIT. almost a month away!
there’s a fast food chain here in oregon called Burgerville. they do a lot of sustainable, local type things. but of course, it is fast food, so some choices are better than others…. we tend to stop there when we needs something fast because it makes you feel far less icky than other spots. plus they have sweet potato fries.
they started a new thing where they print the nutrition info on your receipt-that’s a wake up call!
i get kids meals or a burger/sandwhich and share a few of the husband’s fries
last time we went there? my meal was 440 calories (kids meal!). my husbands was over 1000. he was SHOCKED and said he’ll order better next time.
that is a cool idea! all restaurants should do that. so informative. that burger place sounds cool–i love it when restaurants are mindful like that.
I completely understand! I used to eat fast food multiple times weekly (Taco Bell was my choice) and now I never eat fast food. I don’t crave it and in fact it grosses me out. Plus, being a vegetarian makes it easier since they’re really aren’t many options! ;)
Also, I love your urge to learn about the foods that we are putting in our bodies. I really never used to actually “think” about what I was eating or how it would affect me, but now that I do it has made ALL the difference!
One additionto that^: I guess I shouldn’t say I never eat fast food! Considering that I do eat pizza (hence today’s post)–which some consider fast food. My parents really instilled in me the whole “never say never” thing! ;)
i am with you and all for the occasional pizza or chipotle take out– but day in and day out of the drive through joints, i cannot hang!!
Awesome makeover of the KFC meal! I love the pumpkin in the mac and cheese – I would have never thought of doing that but now I have to try it!
Sometimes if I’m craving an ice cream sundae but don’t want to go all out, I’ll get a plain soft serve from somewhere like DQ and then top it with fruit, natural chocolate syrup, etc. at home, like this night: http://www.callieflowerkitchen.com/2010/06/27/cheezy-cheese/ but I don’t think I’ve ever done a full meal makeover.
mmm, that is a great idea! plus, the toppings at home are always better. fresh farmers’ market peaches, anyone?
This post is fantastic!
I love the side by side comparison of the two meals.
In college I ate A LOT of fast food, late night Taco Bell, Burger King for breakfast, and my fair share of KFC as well (those friggin biscuits are what kept me coming back).
Like you I was always hungry soon after eating those meals – hence being more than a few lbs over weight during those years.
Now when I do eat fast food (usually with Tyler when we’re having a crazy day or are on the road) it makes me feel very bad as you mentioned.
Also, I don’t think it was wrong of you to buy the meal for education purposes. In fact, I believe Michael Pollan did the same thing before the lecture he gave at my school (he showed us a Big Mac). I’m nowhere near perfect, so I certainly won’t be throwing any stones ;)
thanks for making me feel better about buying the meal! :)
What an excellent, inspiring post! I love looking back at the nutritional information of things I used to eat. I don’t miss the food, the way I felt, or the tightness of my jeans!
amen!
I could have written this whole post. I used to have Taco Bell multiple times a week (and funny enough, our Taco Bell has a KFC inside). I never thought about “hmm… this is a lot of food and more calories than my body needs for lunch/dinner.” It all catches up eventually.
Now that I’ve learned to cook and I’ve educated myself about nutrition, I don’t even find most of the food I ate with abandon before tastes that good.
isn’t it unreal how our taste buds change so much? i agree with you on that last sentence SO much.
This was an awesome post! The dinner you created looks amazing. I’m going to have to try that healthy mac & cheese recipe!
I won’t lie, there are some fast food items that I love. McDonald’s french fries and Taco Bell Chalupas with refried beans instead of beef are probably my favorites.
WOW what an interesting post! And I have to say that your meal looks a lot more appetising than the KFC one for sure :)
I just had to note that you said “viola” instead of “voila” :P
hahahah.. thanks! i guess i better change that. sometimes i type a lil’ fast ;)
You should spell check “appetising” Katy! Especially when you are correcting someone lol!!
So to start off: I did one of your workouts! (the post that starts with “I need a mint”). and it was awesome. :) i love the idea of doing bicep curls on the bosu…really good core work.
second, i have the same salt and pepper grinder!
the mac & cheese looks so good. haha yum!
Great post! I haven’t seen the latest Oxygen, but pumpkin in Mac & Cheese?.. sounds crazy, but it looks amazing.. hmm.. ok, going to have to try it!
I grew up not being allowed to eat any fast food. My mom had a huge vegetable garden and made everything from scratch. Looking back, I appreciate what she did, but as a kid, I just wanted to eat “normal food,” the kind my friends ate. I remember secretly eating my first McDonald’s meal and feeling really guilty. While I lived at home, I only had fast food a handful of times, secretly… But once I moved out, I started eating fast food more often. Not all the time, but more and more. And at one point, I ate quite a bit of it. It was almost like I had to prove a point. Like you, I was skinny at the time and seemingly “healthy.” I remember thinking, “See, mom, fast food isn’t going to kill me. You were wrong.”
But then my metabolism also got the best of me, and I ended up gaining quite a bit of weight (not only because of fast food, but it certainly contributed). I didn’t feel well and didn’t have enough energy. I started to take a good look at the food (or, according to Pollan, “food-like substances”) I was eating. And it wasn’t pretty. I started to eat less and less fast food and moved to mostly organic food, focusing on fruits and veggies and lots of plant protein sources (plus organic eggs and some organic meat). Farmers’ market trips are a weekly ritual for our family, and I can’t imagine us going to get fast food instead (at one point we did; you can ask the teenager, who tells me that the toddler is so lucky as he get so much better food; yes, he is a little jealous…). For me, gradual change works best. It’s been a long time since we had fast food. I do like Chipotle. And I don’t want to recreate the environment I grew up and never allow fast food. But so far, the toddler hasn’t really had any (except a few times on car drives while we were on vacation maybe).
P.S.: I’m going to the Foodbuzz Festival. Looking forward to meeting you in person!!!
loved your reply, love the way y0u raise BOTH of your kids! you really do always have the greatest meal plans and freshest produce. i admire that. i am SO looking forward to meeting you!
I never ate fast food, it wasn’t my thing. Growing up as a kid, meh. A few french fries from McD’s or maybe D.Q. but that was it. A few chicken nuggest as a kid, just ordered them so I could have sweet n sour sauce (yes, condiments are all sugar and salt usually!) but have not eaten any red meat since I was in elementary school. And really have been a vegetarian or vegan most of my life. Before I knew those words or what they meant.
Never ever ever ate fast food in h.s. or college or as an adult. I guess I am unique that way. The slightest thing gives me horrible stomach aches and even a trip to TGIF’s in my early 20s would result in major awful GI distress…for days. Food allergies, a horribly sensitive gut, me and fast food? Never ever would get along!
I think it’s great you brought attention to this Janetha! And for writing what you wrote, even if you may step on a few toes in the process, it’s a wake up call and I applaud you for publishing it! But mostly for realizing this was not the life path you or your body wanted to be on :)
thank you for your encouragement! it is admirable that you were never stuck in the fast food rat race. consider your food intolerance a blessing in that aspect :)
I just LOVE this post Janetha. I used to eat fast food all the time (I even worked at KFC!!) but didn’t have the high metabolism you did! I was never really overweight but carried around an extra 20 lbs of greasy takeout belly. I hardly ever eat out anymore because I just can’t bring myself to put crappy food in my body and feel way better for it. Thanks for such an inspiring post!! xx
Hehe I got distracted and forgot to say how deeelicious your meal looks! That mac & cheese looks redonk. Will definitely be making asap!
I love love love love this post. Back in the day I used to eat soooo much fast food. In high school I ate it almost every day. All the money I got from my parents went toward fast food. Now? Hardly ever eat it. I was just at McDonald’s tonight with Kepa (he went to get a frappe) and we were talking about how I don’t eat there anymore but used to all the time. Last time I ate there it was at an airport because I had no other choices! But yeah, back in the day I used to eat soo much – maybe two days worth of calories in one sitting. It’s easy when one meal is 1800+ calories from these places.
But your meal looks way better. Home cooked and nutritious is the way to go!
ps – I doubt anyone is judging you for buying the meal. If we blog… we get it!
it is baffling how quick it all adds up. i thought that meal would be maybe 1100, tops. nope, i was way off!
Ok so I know fast food is totally bad but I will never give it up 100% Like you, I used to eat fast food sometimes 2x a day but may have a value meal somewhere maybe once a month now. So going from that to cooking a lot at home and exercising-I would say I’ve made some progress. I wish I would’ve known then what I know now but unfortunately the world doesnt work like that–boo!
You are so creative making your own little meal at home! It’s so much purdier than the kfc version! I wasn’t allowed to have fast food growing up, so I don’t really crave or deal with it now. However I like making “fries” out of everything ~ tofu, sweet p, squash, eggplant, etc. So maybe I would like it if I tried it! After reading you post though, I’m not sure I’d want to test that out. And yeah, I definitely like to know what I’m putting in my body!
I’ve actually never eaten at KFC! We never really had fast food growing up and it is the one thing that I thank my parents for and am glad I didn’t really get into it once I was older and could drive. But if I had to recreate something… definitely chipotle!
Oh goodness, this is so true. It literally makes me sick when I eat fast food again. although the occasional vanilla cone still treats me well, haha.
Your meal looks so much more appetizing!! My husband use to eat a lot of “meat” pies in New Zealand. They always stopped at a gast station to get them, definitely a New Zealand thing. So now I try to re-create a healthier version at home. I’m getting close to perfecting it. :)
ice cream doesn’t count ;) haha! let me know when you perfect that, i would love to make it!
Um and your meal looks WAYYYYYYYYYY better than the fast food version. Especially that mac n cheese- what a cool recipe. Little changes make the big difference. This post should be published in a health magazine!
1. what fast food / restaurant meals do you make healthier versions of at home? I like doing at home chinese takeout. Beef and broccoli (http://itzyskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/12/beef-broccoli.html), Sweet and sour chicken (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/eating-well/sweet-amp-sour-chicken-with-brown-rice-recipe/index.html
So glad the bars turned out well. I think the addition of some additional protein is a fabulous idea! You should try the biscuits I made this weekend too…love that flour
You are so inspiring!!!!! I remember the fast food days. My kryptonite was Wendys. Chicken Nuggets with Extra Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce and Cheese Fries. Oh boy, no wonder I had major tummy issues. Try eating this a few times a week with Colitis. Yeah, no wonder! :)
I love that you can recreate your favorite meals. Eating healthy does not mean eating dull. Just last night, I made a healthy Buffalo “Chicken” wrap. It was amazing!
You are fantastic and prove every day how living a healthy life is so natural and easy. :)
oh man. i LOVED wendy’s honey mustard! it was like crack! i would dip the breadsticks in it. haha.. oh memories.
I used to eat fast food ALL THE TIME. I now eat it, in the form of Wendy’s, very very rarely. I don’t really have cravings for fast food burgers or chicken fingers or anything anymore. I have cravings for giant wraps with hummus, feta, and veggies.
I haven’t seen Food, Inc. I haven’t read any of the books on ethical eating. I rarely eat meat to begin with and I just tried to cut back on processed food because of what I’ve heard about it from friends and from healthy living blogs. It makes sense that all of those chemicals and hard-to-pronounce ingredients are bad for you. I still eat that stuff from time to time but I try to make better choices based on what I do know.
so what did you do with the food?
did you throw it away?
once upon a day in high school, i was all about the double whopper with cheese sans mayo (never did like that stuff) and i thought nothing of it! i ran track and was a lean mean fighting machine. off i went to college and packed on 25lbs to my 5’4 frame. not only did i have bad eating habits, but paired with drinking and a free late night cafeteria snack of cheesy fries and warm chocolate chip cookies i BLIMPED!
i don’t think anyone in the blog world knows my story actually (might have to post about this) but i went from normally weighing 120lbs to 145-150 (too scared to step on the scale) and after a few years of reading, educating, eating whole, nourishing foods/exercise i have maintained at 115 since 2007. i could blame myself but i seriously just didn’t care. at all. i couldn’t be bothered. glad i had a wake up call!
you should do a post about it sometime! sounds inspiring.
What a great post, Janetha! If I throw anything at you it would be confetti. Maybe you bought the meal, but it was for educational purposes (not that I would judge you if you bought the meal just to eat it!).
The stats for those sauces is RIDICULOUS. Isn’t mustard supposed to be a low calorie condiment? How is an innocent consumer supposed to know that one little packet alone has 120 calories?
Kudos to you Janetha, and your healthified meal looks delicious! I just think it’s a shame that there are so many Americans who can only afford fast food meals to feed their families. Healthy meals like yours should definitely be made more available.
LOL, confetti. love you.
the mustard comment: SO true! people do hear that mustard is a low cal condiment, they probably don’t realize that honey mustard is so calorie laden. great point.
I was wondering about the pictures of the KFC meal. LOL I think we all do crazy things for our blogs so no one should judge. ;)
And isn’t it crazy how fast things can add up in those meals? Scary!
i used to LOVEEEE taco bell. i use hungry-girls crunch wrap recipe to recreate them at home…SO GOOD!
http://www.hungry-girl.com/chew/chewdetails.php?isid=1647
i love reading up on health & nutrition!
hey dudette, longtime lurker coming out of the woodwork to comment on this FANTASTICO post! i love the makeover you did- what better way to get a fast food devotee to dabble in real food? i am, however, confused about the honey/mustard numbers from KFC’s website. 10 grams of fat in a mustard packet?! i believe it, it’s just blowing my mind.
mind? blown.
i know, i wonder what they put in there! thanks for de-lurking :)
Many times Honey Mustard is primarily made with mayo… hence why it’s creamy. CRAZY huh?!?!
Wow – I knew that meal would be high in calories, but over 1800? That’s nuts!
Nick and I don’t eat much fast food at all anymore (unless we’re on the road and really have no other options), but I used to eat A LOT of it, too. Especially in college. It was cheap and I was poor.
My old favorites were this burger from Burger King with bbq sauce + onion rings (sounds healthy, huh) and the Spicy Chicken Sandwich from Wendy’s. I should try to make them healthy, too!
Awesome post!! I think about the BLTs from Sonic I used to house in high school and it makes me queasy. Sometimes all it takes is finding out what’s in our food for us to want to stop eating it! Knowledge is power. :-)
-J.
This is a great post, Janetha! Really, really great. I would love to share it with a lot of my fast food loving friends. So many of us are just completely uninformed and unaware. I used to love McDonald’s chicken burgers and fries. With a strawberry milkshake on the side. Shudder. I didn’t eat it that often (my Dad banned fast food when we were v young!) but I loved it. You literally could not pay me to eat that nowadays.
The nutritional value of those meals stops me ever wanting to put it in my body but, like you, it’s the ethical side of things that really enrages me. I don’t even like to think about the bad karma surrounding a fast food burger.
Thanks for a great, informative, motivational post. xoxoxox
I don’t eat fast food and that’s exactly why. I do the same thing trying to make it healthy at home.
You are so amazing! I loved this post! And I think your healthified mac and cheese looks 100x better than KFC’s…I wish I had some sitting by me for breakfast right now, actually.
I used to eat a lot of nasty Chinese food in college. Like $1 per scoop of greasy lo mein. And I always had to take a nap afterwards because I felt like such crap I couldn’t even be awake. I can’t believe that wasn’t a wake-up call to STOP EATING IT, but for some reason I did it often. Oh well – now I know that when I eat crap, I feel like crap. :-)
hehe, it wasn’t a wake up call because you were too busy sleeping off the MSG coma! i know that feeling!
OH MY GOODNESS that meal looks soooo yummy !
Janetha – do you mind sharing the macro stats on just the macaronni alone?
I dont subscribe to oxygen anymore and figured if they were in the magazine already and you didnt mind sharing?
Seriously though this is on my list and I have 4 kids who will love this meal!
i will grab the magazine and follow up asap! i don’t have it with me right now.
okay thanks
the magazine said 425 calories, 11g fat, 53g carbs and 31g protein. BUT their recipe called for 1/2 cup bread crumbs, not a sprinkle, and served 4, not 5.
One of my favorite things to do is take food i used to eat a lot of when my metabolism was still existant and transforming it into a healthier meal! I love what you did to your ‘usual’ kfc meal. i also think lots of people eventually reach their ‘aha’ moment when it comes to fast food and just dont want to put that stuff into their body anymore. I seriously went from eating it every day to quitting cold turkey, i can’t even remember what turned off the craving for it but im glad its gone!
wait thats a lie i had wendys fries while i was hung over about a month ago, LOL
hangovers and greasy food go hand in hand. why is that?!
I. Love. This. Post. I was like you, not having a sweet clue what a calorie was or how it affected my body. You could have told me something was 800 calories and I had no idea what those numbers meant. Now I finally get it ;)
Back when I started getting healthy I did a tally of all my favourite restaurant foods and was horrified. I didn’t do fast food that much, but my two worst culprits were a Burger King veggie burger and a tuna sub from Subway. I actually thought I was being healthy by ordering tuna – turns out it’s the worst thing on the menu because of all the mayo! Those condiments really will get you every time. I’d say my worst food choices were always multiple beer (2-3 pints, 3-4 times a week) paired with GIANT plates of nachos, artichoke dip, cheesy garlic bread… all that awful pub food.
One thing I do now sometimes is go to subway and order a veggie sub – then put my own can of plain tuna on it! ;)
I love this post! And I love baked chicken fingers and healthy versions of mac and cheese. Whizzing the cottage cheese in the food processor is a fantastic idea — I love using it but don’t like the chunkiness. My parents were always anti-fast food so I don’t even like it, bleh! I will eat Panera from time to time though, that’s about as close as it gets to my fast food intake.
I am making your healthy mac next week for sure!!
wow are you seirous? I AM READY FOR LUNCH RIGHT NOW!! ANd i just had breakfast! this mean looks AWEEEEEEESOME!!! healthy mac and cheese-that is screaming my name!
AH i just made the longest comment and it got deleated…GRRR
I loved this post!! I love that you bought the meal for the blog and dont think that is strange at all! we do what we gotta do right? funny that the total was $6.66!
I really enjoyed this post because to me, the take home message here wasn’t that fast food is the devil (which is can be when you eat too much of) BUT rather, that no matter what you eat, it is so important to be informed. The biggest mistake that people can make these days is not being as informed as they should and then realizing too late that the choices they made probably were not the best.
I love that you remade the fast food meals into healthy, flavorful dishes! that mac and cheese looks SO good and love the addition of pumpkin!
you rock!
the pumpkin was a great ingredient, it added flavor AND color. i want to throw it in everything!
i just spent 7 bucks yesterday on a basket full of veggies. i felt much better about that purchase then about the 7 bucks i used to spend at wendys 4 days out of the week when i would get the bacon cheeseburger combo at lunch in high school WITH cheese and a diet coke as if that would have made the difference. and then at dinner i’d probably get the nachoes bell grande from el taco bell.
no more. my toilet bowl would hate me if i dared try ;)
i’m thinking i want to make this mac n cheese quinoa or bulgar style. i bet that would taste like a food party
oh, it would be way good with a different grain. and yes, $7 veggies > $7 wendy’s!
I used to eat so much fast food in high school and college. The thing was, in college I ate it but I was also obsessively counting calories. I’d eat the “healthier” options – chili from Wendy’s, kid-size Roast Beef from Arby’s, junior hamburger with mustard from Sonic. I never drank full-sugar soda and rarely ordered fries (unless they were calorically budgeted, and usually consisted of the entire meal). I never gained weight from my fast food habit, but now that I don’t really eat it anymore (I still eat at Sonic/Arby’s once in a blue moon – not going to lie) I realize how crappy the food made me feel, especially in that quantity. I wrote a blog about it and it pissed some people off, but the truth is that no matter how healthfully you go about eating fast food it’s still a bunch of crap that is doing your body no benefit. And it’s addictive! Like I said I haven’t sworn it off and see no problem eating it in moderation, but I have nothing nice to say about fast food. Great post Janetha B!
this is an awesome point–i didn’t even touch on the health/calorie conscious aspect of eating fast food. i would love to read the post if you link it!
p.s. janetha G ;) haha, it’s so hard to get rid of the “B”!
creepy that it was 666!
Agreed on Fast food. sometimes I get a random craving for taco bell, taco bueno or some mickey ds french fries or arbys curly fries…but then I remember how they make me feel. Bleh.
And if I remember how they make me feel and Im STILL craving them, then I will order a taco or a small fry and call it a day and enjoy it.
Loved your redone meal. Looks delish!
it is so true that it seems like a good idea and then you think about how you feel. the smell really gets you, too. if marshall orders fries and i am in the car, the aroma overpowers me.. but then my tummy churns.
This is the type of blog I need to read, I feel as if it was written to me. Although I don’t eat much fast food anymore it is still hard to not run through the drive thru on a whim. I want to be informed and understand the stats but I don’t understand any of it and really not sure where to start. Your blog most certainly helps though. I’m 5’3″ and I know 25 lbs overweight so I feel like I am about where you started, maybe even a bit heavier. Just have to find that motivation to keep going for longer than a couple of weeks.
you have to start somewhere, i am glad you took something from this post and you WILL find that motivation!
Really interesting post! I definitely avoid fast food because it makes me feel like crud. I do make the exception for the occasional Wendy’s frosty. Maybe once per year, but that’s it. My body thanks me!
That meal sounds sooo good- and much healthier than the KFC version!!
I stay informed about what I eat by focusing on foods that are as close to their natural form as possible. I stopped worrying about calories and fat grams and started focusing on real foods, and I feel better than ever!
xo
Kris
so true–if you just eat real food, the calories fill you up and no need to track them! you won’t eat too many!
I never ate a ton of fast food – the ones I go to are usually more along the lines of Subway than McDonalds.
I definitely continue to educate myself on the food I’m eating! Whether its Michael Pollan’s books, movies like Food Inc, or links from other blogs I can’t get enough information about what I’m putting in my body!!
How was the mac and cheese?? Did it taste pumpkiny? Was it cheesey enough? It looks good, but did it have flavor? I’m super tempted to try it, that’s why I ask…8 million stupid questions.
I was big into Wendy’s late night back in my younger days. Nothing like a greasy burger to satisfy the munchies. And I remember skipping field hockey practice in high school in favor of going to McDonald’s for their nasty chicken sandwiches and fries, washed down with some mountain dew. I haven’t had fast food in YEARS (except for the occasional subway or dunks and pizza or a wrap from the local pizza place) and would never, ever go back. I don’t even crave it. The thought of unwrapping a flattened, greasy, covered in ketchup and soggy lettuce burger or chicken sandwich grosses me out. The fact that I drank a non diet mountain dew blows my mind. I never drank diet soda. Funny thing is, I was a normal size and didn’t have insane body image issues. I was happy with my weight! Crazy.
I LOVE this.
I think the thing that shocks me most when I see the standard American diet is really how LITTLE most people who consume fast food eat in comparison to me. It’s just that the food they are eating is so calorie-dense, nutrient deficient that it adds up quickly and they don’t feel satisfied.
I wish more people knew how much delicious food they could eat with a little nutrition education/makeover. Thanks for doing your part!
Have a great day…and I think it’s cool you bought the food to take pictures. Who ate it? :)
it’s funny you mention quantity, because when i was doing BFL and eating every 3 hours on the dot, people at work were outraged with how much food i was eating. my boss called me a hog! but i was able to shave off the weight AND eat every 3 hours. there is something to this “real foods” thing ;)
I was never a fan of KFC, but I got quite a few similar meals over at Popeye’s. You know, eat fried chicken, biscuits, and mac and cheese and you’ll be strong like Popeye! ;) lol
How ironic that the bill for that meal was $6.66?! Yikes!!
i’ve never been a very big fast food eater. i think the homemade meal looks 100x tastier and i bet it was too! it’s mind boggling to me that there can be so many calories in such a small meal. especially when you can eat for a whole DAY and consume that same number. thanks for this post! i thought it was really interesting. reminded me of magazine stories where they write about “eating this” OR “all this.” love those!
LOVED this post. My go-to fast food place was Wendy’s and my husband’s was McDonald’s. I haven’t eaten Wendy’s in about 6 years or so and my husband stopped eating fast food about two years ago. I’m so proud of him!
The sodium of that meal scares me too!!
SO proud of your husband and you! marshall quit eating it, too, and i am proud of him.
Great post! I was wondering where you found the photo of the KFC meal. I’m actually impressed that you bought it for the blog- shows you’re really passionate about your point(even willing to spend $7 that you didn’t have to). Your mac and cheese looks SO good, as soon as i can find some canned pumpkin i’ll be making that!
You are so lucky you have an awesome metabolism! I think i would’ve gained weight just looking at it – add a chicken leg to my left thigh, biscuit to my butt LOL.
I LOVE that through your journey you realized so much about your body, your health and you found passion along the way. Your recreation looks AWESOME! I think I need to add it to my list of must tries…..
So, who ate the KFC you bought on 09/27/10? I bet Marshall or the Pups, hmmmmmm :D
sure wish i still had that old metabolism! ;)
i left the KFC at my parents’ house (where i took the pics).. my dad most likely ate it!
I grew up on fast food and until recently it was a big part of my diet. I’ve cut back significantly, but find when I’m stressed/busy it’s so easy to go for comfort/quickness. I was just thinking yesterday while driving how I want some Raising Cane’s chicken fingers – I think if I make the chicken like yours and figure out the sauce I’m good (it’s all about the sauce anyway!)
wow, crazy about the price… but i love your revamped meal. totally trying that mac n cheese!!
That mac and cheese looks fantastic! Do you think I could use plain greek yogurt if I don’t have the cottage cheese?
i am sure you could sub yogurt in, but you will have a much tangier flavor and less cheesy. not that that is a bad thing! let us know how it is if you try that :)
oh my gosh how creepy!!! Thanks for your insight! I don’t eat fast food, but the boy likes to go to McDonald’s whenever he has to have dinner without me (which is very rare thank goodness!). This is what he gets: a #1 which is a big mac, with a coke and a 10-piece nugget! How gross! This is his rebuttal: At least I don’t get the 20-piece like I did in high school!! ahh! haha
Fantastic post!! I love the meal you made too, it looks so good and hearty. And SOOOO much better than the KFC version. I can’t believe how many calories were in the sauce alone. That is crazy!
I noticed fast food was made me sick a few years ago, so I thankfully don’t have that issue of quitting. But after Food Inc. I have to look at what a I was buying ever at the grocery store. It is tough being on a budget and making health and ethical decisions, but there are images from that movie that are burned into my brain!
One of my vises when we go out is NACHOS! I will make some at home with wheat chips, fresh home made salsa, veggies, beans and guacamole. But I can’t skimp on the cheese. I LOVE cheese. I have tried making them with soy cheese, fat free/low fat cheese and other substitutes, but they don’t cure my nacho craving. I have to go full flavor!
I am learning all sorts of fun new things (and things I needed to be reminded of) from this nifty little blog. I have marked enough recipes to feed us for a year! I am being more aware of my protein intake. I have been eating pretty healthy for a few years, but have NEVER got enough protein. I have changed that (thanks to protein oats and shakes) and have focused my meals/snacks on fruits/ veggies and protein.
I didn’t know your going to food buzz! yay! I hope to see you!
Anyhow, I haven’t been to many places of fast food other than McDonalds and In n Out (a Southern California chain). My dad is belgian and a “fry snob” but even he loves MickD’s fries! I’m totally obsessed with them too, but I havent had them in years.
I did a faux apple pie on my blog a few month ago using chayote squash (which I heard a rumor is what they REALLY use in the MickyD’s version).
Honestly, I know TOO much about nutrition, its part of my eating disorder. I think a little ignorance is bliss. I’d like to eat some Ben and Jerry’s without knowing the carbs, calories, fat, etc without guilt.
oh i know all about in & out. we have them here in utah, too. i don’t like it but i do like that they use fresh ingredients.
YES i am going to foodbuzz! see you there!
How did you like the mac & cheese recipe from Oxygen? I made it last week, and I was like meh… not so great. I ate it for leftovers a couple of days later, and spruced it up with a little extra spices and it tasted a little better, but overall, I was disappointed with the recipe. I think it was the texture that threw everything off.
Still heart the magazine though!
i dont have texture issues so it didn’t bother me, i actually liked it! it’s not the same texture as the blue box, but it sure is delicious. i did spruce it up with spices (garlic salt, pepper, etc) as well. i always do before i eat anything!
Great post I learned a lot!
I used to eat fast food a lot too. I’m so glad that my lifestyle has permanently changed for the better. Your meal looks way better than that KFC meal!!
Ummmm making that mac& cheese sometime soon! So unique with the pumpkin and everything.
1. I like to make stir-frys healthier. And pasta dishes. And burgers.
2. I haven’t learned too much recently, and since I’ve always been aware of nutrition related food stuff, nothing really shocks me. Actually I am always shocked when I see the caloric content of pre=packaged mediterranean foods such as hummus, falafel and pita bread platters!
I feel the saaaame way. And what usually happens to me is that I’ll get this bizarre craving for some junk food, and sometimes I’m impulsive and eat before I stop and think about it, but then when I do, and check the nutritional facts…suddenly that 800 calorie cookie ain’t too temptin’. ha! I start thinking “wow, for that amount of calories I could have about 2.5 hearty snacks, or two light meals, or maybe four normal sized desserts, maybe 4tbsp of peanut butter, etc. And the thing is, like you said, all those things I said would actually be tasty AND satisfying. luv it.
so true. i always put things into perspective like that!
I do healthy buffalo/chicken tenders. Simply baking your food slashes the calories and always still tastes good!
I used to love getting the Pollo Bowl at El Pollo Loco and was craving one last week… Sooooo I made my own version :D Sure, it didn’t really taste the same, but isn’t that the point ? http://whatscookinwithmary.blogspot.com/2010/09/marys-el-pollo-bowl.html
This is such an awesome post. I love how you intertwined a little fast food wake-up call with a recipe re-make. You rock!
Anyway, I am so making that macaroni and cheese–pumpkin and cottage cheese are kind of two of my all time favorite foods.
1. I like to re-make Chick fil A sandwiches with vegan chik patties, lots of pickles, and K + M. They taste pretty close to the real thing. I also like to make my own “chicken” fingers with tofu and wheat germ.
2. I learn lots about nutrition everyday in class, but most recently I learned that the calcium in tofu is absorbed very nearly to the same extent that cheese is. Cool!
When I was a teenager and later a college student, I used to eat fast food ALL the time because it was accessible and super cheap. I first gave up soda about ten years ago, and then I gave up fast food after watching Supersize Me my last year of college. Honestly, it hasn’t been that hard.
This was such a great entry! It was very informative.
Since I was in high school I haven’t eaten fast food or takeout and can’t believe how I never ate veggies!!! In middle school and beginning of high school I ate chicken parmesan and pasta from my fav italian restaurant atleast 2 times a week WOW!! and now I am a vegan veggie lover oh how our tastes change. Also I used to LOVE mcdonalds chicken strips.
I live in South Central Texas where it is all about the Mexican food which I absolutely LOVE!!!!!! I used to eat out all the time but now I eat the majority of meals at home..but I still eat all my favorite Mexican dishes I just recreate them at home much much healthier!
I love this post, and I can see I’m not alone! The comments are so interesting. I grew up eating occasional fast food. It was not banned, but it wasn’t encouraged. In college I ate it regularly, I would say, and my weight certainly showed it. Now, I have found balance with it and occasionally indulge in In-N-Out (which I deem to be much more “real” than other mass fast food chains), and Chipotle.
I love your healthy version of fast food and frequently do similar things with my own favorites: Chinese food, macaroni and cheese, and burgers :)
I’ll only be at Foodbuzz for Day 1…I hope we can arrange to meet!
So much word.
I was totally raised on fast food being a family treat, so I have a lot of emotional attachement to it (It’s comfort food) but the older I get the less I can stomach it. I am grateful that my mother also fed us plenty of whole homecooked food and ALWAYS mades us eat a fruit and veggie with meals at home. I know a lot of kids in this day and age don’t get that luxury.
Admittedly I still eat McDonald’s almost every single free day but I get small portions and it’s enough to satisfy. I am also a huge Subway junkie because it’s the only place I know how to get a healthy meal. Anything else? Gross. I don’t understand how people can live on fast food regularly. It’s just not good fuel!
I was scrolling down to read your previous “Fast food” post until I saw the mac & cheese pictures and I had to go back – HELLO why did I not see this recipe in Oxygen?!? That is definitely on my list of things to make. Holy yumballs…I could go for some of that now and it’s 7am!
All I can say is I love your blog…ok I’ll admit – I love you. You always write in such a fun way and I get so many awesome meal ideas from you…thank you J!!!
XOXO
I was addicted to Taco Bell in high school. In fact, I’d leave school early with an.. ahem.. self-written excuse note so that I could stop at TB and take it home. How stupid is that?!
My husband still eats TB a few days a week with his work buddies but I give him credit for taking the cheese and sour cream off of his chicken tacos. He tries!
The healthier meal looks amazing. I have the Oxygen mag, so I’ll hunt that one down. I might try subbing some nooch to mimic the cheesy flavor. Thanks for the great post, Janetha!
My biggest fast food addiction is probably that nacho cheese they put on your nachos at ballparks, the movies, and other such places. I actually saw something on TV once that showed the factory they make it in, and it’s surprisingly actual cheese, but that doesn’t mean it’s not laden with salt, fat, and plenty of calories! I do eat it every now and then when we go to football games, etc, but there’s definitely a stomach ache that follows it!
What bothers me most about fast food is that there’s really not much reason for things to be as salty and calorie laden as they are. My boyfriend and I have long toyed with the idea of starting a food truck with whole foods that are fast and delicious, but just not so full of fat, salt & sugar. People argue that everyone is able to make their own decisions, but I think that when you put fast food in people’s faces, and load it up with enough crap that your body literally craves it, it’s not exactly playing on the same equal level as the lonely apple at the grocery store is.
You know, I was just trying to explain to a friend today how I have no desire to eat out anymore. I always look down at the menu and think, “I could make a version of this so much better at home and probably save a crap ton of money!”
When I was in college, I was the same way you were…ate whatever whenever, and pizza rolls did not stand a chance around me-I would make dinner out of a 1/2 bag of those suckers!
It’s been a progression for me over the last few years to concentrate on different aspects of the nutrition facts on foods. I went a while trying to eat little to no fat…but I always ended up hungry again a few hours later. That’s when I realized…eating fat (good fat that is) does NOT make you fat! Thank you for this post! I think it is great to get the word out to people to snap out of it and start paying attention to the things they are putting into their bodies!!
[delurks]
Brilliant post, as everybody has said. Fast food also makes me feel ill now. Three months into my weightloss journey, I decided to “treat” myself to a zinger burger from KFC and felt ill all afternoon and struggled to sleep properly. After that, I didn’t look at fast food as a treat any longer. My favourite used to be softserve from McD–I prefer frozen yogurt these days because that soft serve now tastes too sugary.
But I do cook a lot of fast food adaptations for the family. Yesterday was chicken burritos with wholewheat tortillas, self-seasoned (no sodium, in other words) chicken breast, homemade guacamole, greek yogurt as sour cream and salsa fresco. Yum.
What an interesting healthy mac and cheese recipe, I’ll have to try it out! I watched Food Inc. for the first time a few months ago and it really made me think. For the most part, I eat pretty healthy, but once in a while I get a fast food craving. That I always regret. You’re right, it does make you sick!
I feel the same about fast food however I make an exception when I travel to states that have a Bojangles (I love that place, thank God I’m rarely in states that have one)!!
This post was great…I love your blog!!
LOVED the mac and Cheese. then again, I adore pumpkin, cheese, cottage cheese, AND pasta
I bookmarked this recipe and hope to make it soon for me and the fiance. He loves KFC and when we do it there, I try to get a healthier option like grilled chicken, it’s still too salty for my taste :(
See this is why i love posts like the 7 links post! i’d never have found the healthy mac & cheese recipe otherwise. Plus even if i had just seen in it a recipe index i probably would never have looked at the post because even a healthier mac & cheese just wouldn’t be something i’d be brave enough to try. But this one i hope i will! Especially as i think i now know where i can find canned pumpkin puree in England!
i just found your blog and have been reading all day! i am in love. i feel like we are sort of the same with the high metabolism thing just catching up to you. i never really learned how to eat all that healthy and don’t even know where to start. i work full time and never make time to make a lunch let alone dinner (my poor husband) but who wants to do those things when they get home from a long days work at 7:30 pm. not me of course. i eat fast food so much and want to cut down but don’t know many fast easy-prep lunches to take with me to work. we don’t have the greatest break room so a microwave is the only thing we have with a miniature fridge.
would you have any advice as to where i should start looking for education? a book perhaps? what book? i have no idea. where do i find out how much carbs or sodium i should have in my body.
Becky, I learned a lot when I did Body for LIFE. I suggest you pick up a copy of that book (it is by Bill Phillips). Also, using a day off as a make-ahead day is great.. make a bunch of brown rices, chicken breasts, etc so you have quick and easy options!
finally made the mac & cheese tonight, i wasn’t sure it was going to taste as good as yours looked, i made my own puree from butternut squash as i still haven’t found any canned pumpkin near me. Seems they are very rare in the UK but i have a couple more places to try when i visit my nan next week. Anyway it was fantastic! first hot meal i’ve properly made in ages rather than a ready meal or throwing a salad together, i’ve been getting very lazy & uninspired. So thanks for a fab recipe, fingers crossed i can try it with some canned pumpkin next time too!
Awesome! THanks for the feedback
I was wondering how many calories were in the Mac and Cheese alone when you made it?:)
I know it’s been a long time since posting this, but thank God for Pinterest and allowing me to find you and help curb my mac and cheese addiction!! :):)
Thank you!
I’m not sure! I use thedailyplate.com to calculate.