Wendy's - Meals under 500 calories!

 

I was out yesterday running errands with the kids and decided to stop and get them a quick snack since it would be a couple of hours before we got home. I normally stop at Wendy's because of the variety on their $1 menu plus the food is good. This trip I noticed they had up a new sign that advertised 500 calorie food options. One of them happened to be my normal selection which is the spicy chicken nuggets with value fries. Z always gets a chicken sandwich and/or nuggets. If he is feeling grown he may have a cheeseburger and the baby likes the fries.

When I got home I decided to research this a little further on Wendy's site by reviewing the nutritional facts. Their site is pretty user friendly it allows you to select the menu items you would like to eat and gives you a break down of each product plus a total sum. The combination that I normally get, spicy chicken nuggets with value fries, was 460 calories surprisingly. It made me feel better about my choice although the sodium being a total of 960 MG was alarming. It is good to keep up with calorie counts but other nutritional facts are important like fat and sodium intake. Eating fast food is not the way to go if you can help it, but it is good to know what the alternatives are when it is the most convenient option on the go or while having fun with the family. Next time I will do with out the fires and opt for a small salad instead. So as I was typing this I thought about the difference this would actually make. I just checked Wendy's site and if I go with the salad I only save 10 calories but I add 130 MG of sodium, CRAZY! Salads can be very deceiving. Just because it is a salad does not mean it is always a better choice because of all the extra items that are added to make the salad what it is.

Which one do you eat?

5 piece spicy nuggets w/ value fries
= 460 calories / 960 mg sodium / 5g  saturated fat / 0g trans fat / 43 g carbs

5 piece spicy nuggets w/ garden salad
= 450 calories / 1090 mg sodium / 5g  saturated fat / 0g trans fat / 33g carbs


Moral of the story is, check the nutritional facts when you can to make sure you are making the best choice for your dietary needs when eating out.

Check out  Calorie Counter App for Blackberry, iPhone and Android devices. This is a great way to keep track of calories on the go. Click HERE to access Blackberry App World.