The Imperfect Diet

Most people would agree that fast food isn’t good for us, and it’s definitely the number one thing to avoid when you’re watching your weight. However, one week after hurricane Matthew--and a four-day-long power outage that spoiled every nutritious thing in my fridge--I have realized that sometimes, avoiding fast food entirely can be impossible under certain circumstances. When both you and your local grocery store has lost most of your food supply and you couldn’t cook even if you wanted to, for example.

Wendy’s was my poison of choice during those dark (literally dark) days. Unfortunately, Wendy’s does not list nutritional information directly on their menu--they do on their website, but in my case, I had no power and no internet, so I had no idea if what I was eating was 100 or 10,000 calories (don’t laugh at that huge discrepancy, fast food can be tricky like that). However, I wanted to make a point that, nutrition aside, there are some fast food items that can fit into your diet if it has to. So I’ve compiled a list of menu items from Wendy’s that come in under 500 calories.

Taco Salad - Half

The full size taco salad from Wendy’s comes in at about 660 calories, but the “half” size is roughly 470. Don’t let the “half” fool you, by the way--this is a pretty big salad once you’ve mixed in the salsa and the chili. You can even shave off 220 calories if you choose not to eat the chips that come with it--but what kind of taco salad doesn’t have a taco shell?

Value Menu Mix n’ Match

Value menu items typically aren’t that great (or filling, for that matter), but if you’re budgeting more than just your calories, they can be a low cost way of keeping your waist from expanding. You can even sneak in a sweet treat with some of these value menu combinations.

Junior Cheeseburger + Value Fries

If you’re a fan of the classic fast food meal, this one just barely peaks over the limit at 510 calories.

Small Chili + Baked Potato (sour cream and chives)

This combo is a favorite of my mother’s and it comes in at 480 calories. It’s also really, really filling for what seems like such a small meal.

6pc Nuggets + Junior Chocolate Frosty

Don’t act like you weren’t expecting a frosty somewhere on this list. Everyone wants an excuse to get a frosty when they go to Wendy’s, so here’s one: this combination comes in at 470 calories, but just be aware, sauces are not figured into this total.

Dave’s Single, No Mayo

If I were to give out one tip to anyone trying to cut calories, it would be to ditch the mayonnaise. The mayo alone accounts for roughly 60 calories on this burger, and if you ask them to leave it off, that brings the total down to a comfortable 490 calories.

Crispy Chicken BLT

Do you miss bacon? We all miss bacon. Here’s some bacon. 440 calories.

If you’re a fan of the all-American style breakfast but you’re watching your caloric intake, here are six different versions that all come in at under 600 calories. Keep in mind that some items may have more or less calories based on brand (for example, 2 slices of bacon in these meals are being considered as roughly 86 calories, so you should read the nutrition label carefully).

1. The Usual

Two eggs, one slice of wheat toast, two strips of bacon and one cup of orange juice = 453 calories.

2. The Southern Belle

Two eggs and one cup of grits, prepared with 2% milk and one tablespoon of light butter = 482 calories.

Without milk = 360 calories.

3.  The Feed Me, I’m Hungry

Two eggs, one slice of wheat toast, four strips of bacon and one cup of orange juice = 539 calories.

4. The Odd One Out

One cup of cornflakes, one cup of 2% milk, one banana and one cup of orange juice = 437 calories.

5. BACOOOON

Two eggs and eight slices of bacon = 526

6. I Can’t Decide

Two eggs, two breakfast sausages (Jimmy Dean), two slices of bacon, one slice of wheat toast = 483 calories.

These were the values used to calculate the calories in the meals above. Make sure to check the nutrition label on your products to make sure they are roughly the same.

Two eggs = 182 calories

Two strips of bacon = 86 calories

Two breakfast sausages (Jimmy Dean) = 140 calories

One cup of OJ (Minute Maid) = 110 calories

One cup of grits (no milk added) = 143 calories

One cup of milk, 2% = 122 calories

One cup of cornflakes = 100 calories

One slice of wheat toast = 75 calories

The Imperfect Diet is a project that I started in an effort to not only help other people manage their caloric intake, but also to help myself. I used to find myself hopelessly confused by all the nutritionists and the weight loss gurus–“don’t eat this,” and “eat tons of that,” not to mention the slew of low calorie recipes that tried to adhere to what seemed like every nutritional guideline. The food that looked appetizing was beyond my cooking abilities and the food that I could prepare was often expensive and composed of ingredients I’d either never heard of or never kept in my kitchen.

Further complicating my weight loss journey was how difficult it was to measure out portion sizes. I don’t own a food scale and, like most people, I tend to be way off if I simply “eyeball” the amount of food I’m eating. How could I eliminate the need for a food scale and still eat the right amount of food?

After a while I realized that there were simple solutions to my measurement problems: eat foods that could be measured by quantity (one egg, one banana, one slice of bread), foods that could be measured by volume rather than weight (one cup, eight ounces), and for all the rest? Some simple math and preparation methods that would disallow me to use more than the appropriate portions–for example, preparing a hamburger patty in a 2oz ramekin rather than forming the shape with my hands. Because the dish didn’t allow for an oversized patty, I knew that ever time I made one, it would always be the same amount of ground beef.