I've been hearing all about these new healthy options at Mcdonald's on the news and on talk shows and all over the place. So, I'm curious. Are these "healthy options" actually healthy or are they just trying to take advantage of people?

In my opinion, I believe the best wording would be healthIER, when compared to their other menu options....

Agreed.

A recent health/fitness magazine (Men's Health? Men's Journal, maybe?) said that Egg McMuffins were okay if you 86'ed the muffin.

I don't know how much I believe that, given that the ham and the cheese really aren't great for you...plus there's the egg yolk.

Plus, it's not like you can hold a muffin-less Egg McMuffin in your hand. Unless you like that sort of thing, sicko.

a lot of the menu items at mcdonalds arent TOO horrible when you look at their stats, but at the same time i wouldnt go eating them everyday for obvious reasons.

Dont they have a grilled chicken salad again?

(Just shitcan the dressing - that alone is about as bad a Big Mac)

Alternatively - buy a grilled chicken sandwich - chuck the bun (decent protein) then grab a pack of the kids meal apples - chuck the dipping stuff. Or get one of the salads and again - chuck the dressing.

I prefer Chik-Fil-A for fast food emergencies myself....



And to answer your actual question - yes - they are out to make money - taking advantage of the general public usually comes with the territory.

I never eat there but I saw an ad for a new fruit salad. Sadly, it had sugar-covered walnuts on it...

Men's Health....

They said you are better off to get 2 egg mc muffins, doubledecker one of them and 86 the other english muffin.

I think the healthier choice is the Grilled chicken burger without dressing and skip the fries. That's the best one there. For dessert the frozen yougart or a small soft serve is okay. It's the least of all the evils there.

Doesn't men's health come out with a new routine about every 30 days that promises you'll have visible Abs by summer?

/sarcasm off :lol:

The healthiest choice at McDonalds would be their bottled water.

I've been hearing all about these new healthy options at Mcdonald's on the news and on talk shows and all over the place. So, I'm curious. Are these "healthy options" actually healthy or are they just trying to take advantage of people?
The nutritional info is right there on McDonalds website for all of their menu items, most of us villify McD's and treat everything they serve as some demonized plan bound to make us fat and obese, but that's really not the case, the grilled chicken sandwich isn't bad and "some" of the salads are definitely "healthy options" if you subtract the dressing, but $5 or 6 dollars for some romaine lettuce and a couple ounces of chicken is a rip off ;)

Doesn't men's health come out with a new routine about every 30 days that promises you'll have visible Abs by summer?

/sarcasm off :lol:

...I don't think that needed to be sarcastic. That is what they do, and it is a monthly magazine =/

The best option is not to patronize MickeyD's. I downloaded their nutritional PDF one time out of curiousity - I've never seen an unhealthier collection of food menu items in my life. It's all junk.

-R

P.S. I do love the fries. It's hard to find something better than some fresh McD's fries with a little salt on 'em... :drool: But I don't miss 'em. They don't taste as good as my results look.

True, but as Morgan Spurlock (of "Super Size Me") said in a recent interview, the fries are great -- but isn't it interesting how when you find one under your car seat, three months after you bought it, it STILL looks the same?

Agreed.

A recent health/fitness magazine (Men's Health? Men's Journal, maybe?) said that Egg McMuffins were okay if you 86'ed the muffin.

I don't know how much I believe that, given that the ham and the cheese really aren't great for you...plus there's the egg yolk.

Plus, it's not like you can hold a muffin-less Egg McMuffin in your hand. Unless you like that sort of thing, sicko.
This is silliness. They're nothing "worse" for you about the muffin than the cheese or the ham. Some sources go a little overboard on their higher protein recommendations. I wouldn't go so far as to call an egg McMuffin health food, but if you're going to eat the cheese, the ham, the egg, you might as well eat the muffin.

You can order the new deli sandwiches on a whole wheat roll, but unfortunately none of the deli sandwiches are very intelligent choices. The Chicken Oriental salad (with grilled chicken) is tops in my book. Very filling for only 210 calories, and the balsamic vinaigrette adds only 20 calories when you use just half of the large 47 g packet. :tu: I don't consider it a rip-off either. Compared to a Big Mac Value Meal, I get much more valuable quality ingredients in the salad.

The best option is not to patronize MickeyD's. I downloaded their nutritional PDF one time out of curiousity - I've never seen an unhealthier collection of food menu items in my life. It's all junk.
Try KFC.

I could not force myself to order from their terrible selection. As if it wasn't rotten enough, they've added ribs to their offerings.

The healthiest choice at McDonalds would be their bottled water.

:lol:

I scoured CalorieKing one day looking for healthy options at any of the fast food restaurants around town and Chick-fil-a's chargrilled chicken sandwich on a wheat bun was the only thing I could find that would be considered "not unhealthy" and it still has too much sodium.

How about a pack of mustard? haha

Men's Health....

They said you are better off to get 2 egg mc muffins, doubledecker one of them and 86 the other english muffin.

I think the healthier choice is the Grilled chicken burger without dressing and skip the fries. That's the best one there. For dessert the frozen yougart or a small soft serve is okay. It's the least of all the evils there.

That's right.

Having not made a "special order" there in a long time, I wonder how difficult it'd be to ask for the Egg McMuffins without cheese. Asking for them "sans yolk" would be overkill.

Dont they have a grilled chicken salad again?

(Just shitcan the dressing - that alone is about as bad a Big Mac)

Alternatively - buy a grilled chicken sandwich - chuck the bun (decent protein) then grab a pack of the kids meal apples - chuck the dipping stuff. Or get one of the salads and again - chuck the dressing.

I prefer Chik-Fil-A for fast food emergencies myself....



And to answer your actual question - yes - they are out to make money - taking advantage of the general public usually comes with the territory.



I guess I don't get why the dressing is bad. It is all unsaturated fats mixed with protein!!

The Chicken Oriental salad (with grilled chicken) is tops in my book. Very filling for only 210 calories, and the balsamic vinaigrette adds only 20 calories when you use just half of the large 47 g packet. :tu: I don't consider it a rip-off either. Compared to a Big Mac Value Meal, I get much more valuable quality ingredients in the salad.
McDonald's has a oriental chicken salad? :confused: Must be a regional thing because i've never seen it around here, the only fast food chain that carries it around me is Wendy's.

Hamburger Happy Meal w. Diet Soda

490 calories, 15g pro, 64g carbs, 20g fat

Come on people... this is McDonalds. Hamburgers, Fries, Soda.

If I want a chicken sandwich, I'll go to Chick-Fil-A.

If I want a salad, I'll go to a salad bar.

And if I want a McDonalds burger and fries, you know where I'll go.

That being said, I usually opt for Wendy's whenever possible.

I have a side salad from there every day (with salsa instead of dressing) and add a tin of tuna to up the protein levels.

Chili is also a decent option, as is the baked potato (with the chili).

And a junior size Frosty (the really small one) is always within reason.

Most of the times I get two grilled chicken patties, but they got tons of sodium though. There are more "healthy" choices such as a side salad or cesar salad with grilled chicken without dressing, yogurt parfait, apple dippers w/o the caramel.

There's the new Fruit & Wallnut salad (without the candied wallnuts), which is pretty good in my opinion.

Hamburger Happy Meal w. Diet Soda

490 calories, 15g pro, 64g carbs, 20g fat

Come on people... this is McDonalds. Hamburgers, Fries, Soda.

If I want a chicken sandwich, I'll go to Chick-Fil-A.

If I want a salad, I'll go to a salad bar.

And if I want a McDonalds burger and fries, you know where I'll go.

That being said, I usually opt for Wendy's whenever possible.

I have a side salad from there every day (with salsa instead of dressing) and add a tin of tuna to up the protein levels.

Chili is also a decent option, as is the baked potato (with the chili).


Dude, I don't think you want to know what's in that Chili. I one time had a former Wendy's worker tell me how they made the chili at Wendy's and it sounded pretty disgusting.

Dude, I don't think you want to know what's in that Chili. I one time had a former Wendy's worker tell me how they made the chili at Wendy's and it sounded pretty disgusting.

Yes I've heard the same. Also regarding some of Burger King's cuisine, as well.

What really puzzles me is why anyone would go to eat at such establishments, particularly people who are into health and fitness, attempting to improve their physiques, improve their lifts, etc. If nutrition is the most important variable in an exercise and health program, then why go to McDonalds on a semi-regular basis?

It's basically a pre-packed chili "mix" that they add ground meat to. Sometimes it's ground meat which has been cooked for burgers and not sold that day... it gets chopped up and added to the mix. Other times its actually burgers that are cooked specifically to make the chili... again, chopped up and added to the mix.

I know its not the best thing for you, but it's better (in my mind) than slopping down a fried chicken patty on a white bun slathered in mayo. As far as WHY people eat there, I'm sure everyone has their reasons.

For me, Wendy's is a convenient place to grab a portion-controlled salad every day so I don't have to pack one with the rest of my food. And once in a while, if I'm running late and don't have time to pack my food, it's good to know that I can get a "default" meal there which won't be entirely bad for me. And face it... sometimes you just WANT a McDonald's burger and fries... what good is being healthy if you can't enjoy being unhealthy once in a while.

^^ you took the words out of my mouth :tu:

It's basically a pre-packed chili "mix" that they add ground meat to. Sometimes it's ground meat which has been cooked for burgers and not sold that day... it gets chopped up and added to the mix. Other times its actually burgers that are cooked specifically to make the chili... again, chopped up and added to the mix.


Not quite. From what people who work there have told me, it's the left over meat that sticks to the grill. Normally, after you cook burgers on one of those grills they are scraped off and the meat that is scraped off gets shoved to the side into a grease bucket, at Wendy's the meat that gets scraped off goes into the Chili.

Interesting fact, the grease and scrapings that end up in the grease bucket at Mcdonald's go to make chicken feed.

Not quite. From what people who work there have told me, it's the left over meat that sticks to the grill. Normally, after you cook burgers on one of those grills they are scraped off and the meat that is scraped off gets shoved to the side into a grease bucket, at Wendy's the meat that gets scraped off goes into the Chili.

Interesting fact, the grease and scrapings that end up in the grease bucket at Mcdonald's go to make chicken feed.

LOL. In that case I think I'll take the wife and kids to Wendy's for din din tonight, and tomorrow I'll go to Mickey D's for breakfast and a nice healthy lunch.

Not quite. From what people who work there have told me, it's the left over meat that sticks to the grill. Normally, after you cook burgers on one of those grills they are scraped off and the meat that is scraped off gets shoved to the side into a grease bucket, at Wendy's the meat that gets scraped off goes into the Chili.

Interesting fact, the grease and scrapings that end up in the grease bucket at Mcdonald's go to make chicken feed.


These are all urban legends :bow: ... because I work for McDs and that's not true.

These are all urban legends :bow: ... because I work for McDs and that's not true.

I used to work at McDonald's as well, and yes, it's absolutely true that the grease from the grease bucket makes chicken feed. The next time you take the grease bucket outside to dump it, look at the bottom of the cover of the container you're dumping it into. There should be a sign taped to it. If it's still legible read it. It will tell you that the grease goes to make chicken feed.