Healthy Fast Food Not a Safe Bet for Dieters

The rapidly escalating rates of obesity in the US have caused health experts, concerned consumers, and politicians to scrutinize the fast food industry’s typical offerings and conclude that fast food choices are contributing to the nation’s weight gain. Consequently, these groups have pressured the fast food industry to offer consumers healthier fare.

Healthy Fast Food?

The concept of healthy fast food is not entirely new. Salads have been available for well over a decade. And during the low-fat diet craze in the early 1990s, many chains offered reduced-fat versions of their signature foods. McDonalds created McLean Burgers, Taco Bell sold low-fat vegetarian burritos, and KFC came up with a skinless roast chicken. But interest in these foods soon fizzled. It seemed that despite what consumers claimed they wanted, once they got within smelling distance of a fast food restaurant, they were unable to resist ordering their usual items.

Changing to Meet the Demand for Healthier Foods

What’s different today? While only a few low-calorie fast food items were offered in the 1990s, today it seems like new and improved menu items are showing up weekly. At last count, Subway sandwich shops offered eight different healthy sandwich options. McDonald’s serves a half dozen grilled chicken items ranging from salads to wraps to sandwiches and also offers yogurt parfaits and an apple walnut salad with yogurt dip. Wendy’s has scored points with its Salad Sensations food line, its low-fat chili, and its veggie-topped baked potato. New healthy food items are reportedly in development. Many of these offerings are getting good marks from nutrition and healthcare experts alike.

Despite Nutritious Advancements, Weight Management Experts Warn Dieters to Avoid all Fast Food Options Entirely

Obesity experts advise dieters to avoid fast food restaurants entirely because it is difficult to steer clear of the different consumer traps these establishments employ to separate you from your money. Furthermore, if you have been accustomed to eating typical fast food fare before dieting, it is very easy to slip back into your old ordering habits once you walk through that all-too-familiar door.

Fast food restaurants statistics prove the point. Fast food establishments stopped selling their newly introduced healthy items in the 1990s because, by their own admission, customers claimed that they wanted healthy food options, but once they smelled the burgers and fries, they ordered their old standbys. The selection of foods may have changed, but human behavior could not.  Healthy fast foods are easier to come by today, but they are still make up a relatively small portion of total fast food sales. McDonald’s sells ten times as many cheese burgers as it sell of its salads and grilled chicken sandwiches.

One way fast food purveyors try to boost their profits is to offer ‘supersized’ options or meal deals, even to customers who are clearly buying a healthy meal. These ‘deals’ include calorie-laden additions like fries, cookies, chips, and giant beverages for just a few more cents. These add-ons pack an average of 400 extra calories into a meal and cost an average of just sixty-seven cents. No matter how well intentioned you are when you step up to the counter, it’s hard to resist them when someone offers you the foods you’ve always enjoyed for the spare change in your pocket.

Higher Price for Lower Fat

What’s more, bargain hunters find the healthy food prices hard to swallow. Healthy fare is more costly than fatty foods and fast food giants seem to exaggerate the cost difference. A premium grilled chicken sandwich costs close to $5.00 at most fast food establishments, but low-cost meal deals, like McDonald’s dollar menu are loaded with fatty foods, including double cheese burgers for just $1.00. It’s tough for most of us to resist a bargain – even if it’s loaded with calories. If you are a bargain hunter and a dieter, it can be next to impossible to resist the less costly food.

Avoidance is the Best Policy

Abandoning old, unhelpful behaviors in favor of new more healthful ones is a long, slow process. Obesity experts associated with medical weight management programs estimate that it can take a year to two for people who have lost weight to feel like their new lifestyle has become a habit. And even then, former dieters are at risk for backsliding, especially during times of stress when it is natural to seek familiar sources of comfort.

If you are actively trying to lose weight, or are fairly new to the weight maintenance process, avoid fast food restaurants entirely. The risk of eating foods not on your meal plan is too great and the cost of gaining back weight you worked so hard to lose is no bargain.