Let’s face it, most of us do it. We indulge in it ourselves or take our kids for a special treat. Some more than others but it does happen. What is the "it" I refer to? Fast food. The other day I surprised my kids at school at lunch time and offered to take them out to eat. I was thinking the local pub but where do you think they wanted to go? The only place on their list? Yup, McDonald’s. And my husband will often treat my son to McDonald’s or Tim Horton’s breakfast after an early morning hockey game. I didn’t even really think about this. Fast food is fast food, right? Wrong.
I was really surprised the other day to learn that there are choices that are better than others. When comparing breakfast sandwiches I would have pegged McD’s as one of the fattier, higher calorie ones but, to my surprise I was wrong. Did you know that the Egg McMuffin is actually made with a real egg cracked right on the grill? And, it weighs in at only 290 calories and 12g of fat. Take off the butter and cheese and it goes down even more. Compare it to the Timmy’s Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Sandwich and you’ll be surprised what you find. This morning snack weighs in at 410 calories and 23g of fat! Plus, them eggs are not cracked fresh on the grill either.
By no means am I advocating a daily Egg McMuffin because it is fast food and in my opinion is a treat but I will think twice about treating my family to Timmy’s breakfast again when you can almost half your calories and fat at McD’s. Plus, I would stick to the regular Egg McMuffin because my beloved Sausage McMuffin with Egg doesn’t quite measure up.
Anyway, my point is, you can still treat yourself and your kids without going totally overboard. To compare apples to apples you can check out both McDonald’s and Tim Horton’s nutritional information here and decide for yourself:
McDonald’s Nutrition Calculator
Tim Horton’s Nutrition Calculator
What totally surprised me is that there is a HUGE difference in some of these things and some not so much. Most of the burgers (including the 1/4lb with cheese and the Big Mac) averaged around 400-500 calories. I thought the Big Mac would be way more than the others. I also thought the 6 pack of nuggets would be off the charts but they were even less at 310 calories and quite a bit less fat. Now, the sodium levels are crazy but, again, this is a treat.
Anyway, I feel a bit reassured and a bit more educated on the facts when we do indulge in a fast food treat. So, how often to your kids eat fast food? Let me know in the poll below. Come on…be honest 😉
We have lunch at McDonalds every Saturday. Our local McDonalds has a safe fryer for The Baby, and so she can have some french fries – the ONE THING she can safely eat at any restaurant. My husband and I budget for the calories, and I think that because we’re so careful with our eating the rest of the time, it all works out.
We usually have a fast food lunch on Sat’s after swimming lessons or on a week day lunch when my husband is out & about with them. We both have hectic schedules & as much as it may be too much some weeks it really is the only convenient/quick fix. Surprisingly, my son will choose fruit over any fast food treat all the time.
Our fast food is usually pizza on soccer nights. My husband will take them to McD’s once a month or so, but it wouldn’t be my choice.
Good post!
my kids eat NO fast food other than the weekly tim horton’s donut they have on sunday mornings. the husband and i each have a breakfast sandwich on multigrain – no meat. to have once a week i really don’t see this as being “bad” at all. i mean, i COULD be eating a donut instead, right? 🙂
we definitely treat the kids to fast food – mcdonald’s is their fave – a couple times a month. they love, love, love the nuggets and fries and i figure once in a while is okay. it’s nice to know that there are healthier options to choose from – thanks for the info!