Today I went out to lunch with some co-workers.

I usually don't like to do this, but also don't want to be Mr. Anti-Social so I decided to go. I let everyone know about my low carb eating habits so we picked "In N Out Burger" (a popular burger joint here in Southern California). I figured I could just get a couple of burgers, toss the bun and be fine.

While in line I was talking to one of my co-workers about the diet (or WOE as you folks like to call it) and a gal in front of me over heard our conversation. She said that In N Out will make your burgers "protein style" if you ask for it. I found out that "Protein Style" means that they just make the burger with meat and cheese and then wrap it in a lettuce leaf. It was really good, and I didn't have to toss the bun for once.

This got me wondering if other fast food restaurants were coming up with low carb friendly items as well.

Anyone else find some low carb friendly foods at fast food places?

Thanks,

Dustin

I havent really came accross any fast food places around here that do that, but I have come accross very accomodating ones that are nice about fixing things "special". My favorite is Hardee's hot ham and cheese and they fix it in a little tray and its great. I often wonder though......why cant they tell you the carb count on things WITHOUT the bun??? LOL Too much involved I guess....so, I hope I do ok with the ham and cheese, since it is prob processed ham.
I would imagine you could get some of those restaurants to do that if you just ask. I always bluntly tell them, Im on a low-carb diet and they totally understand. I think next time I will just ask them if they will put my cheeseburger or grilled chicken patty in a lettuce leaf......some restaurants have shredded lettuce though, so that wouldnt work at certain places.
Hardees cheeseburgers have totally changed the way they make cheeseburgers...I used to hate their burgers, but now they have those humongous patties and cheese is melted on patty....and they have grilled onions now. I just take the bun off and all the toppings are still on the patty, and being such a thick patty, its easy to hold and eat with your toppings on top.

I eat Burger King Bacon Double Cheeseburgers without the bun or ketchup. It is 1 carb per burger. I also get a side salad with it. I get ranch dressing, and I take off the shredded carrots.

I like to get a couple of taco supremes from Taco Bell and toss the shells. Sometimes I have them add onions and Jal's.

You can order the taco salad from Taco Time without the shell; they just make it in a plastic tray. Beef, lettuce, tomato, cheese and sour cream dressing. The large is quite filling, and only about 7.1g without the tortilla. (Source: Taco Time website [for the whole salad] and CalorieKing database [for individual ingredient counts]).

Yeah, I used to live in the Seattle area and would get the Taco Time taco salad. It sure was good, but now I'm down here in SoCal and Taco Time is no where to be found.

I did check out the double cheese burgers at Burger King. They are going for $0.99 each right now. Never been a huge fan of BK but these burgers were actually really tasty without the bun. And you can get 2 or 3 of them and really fill up.

BK also has a great chicken salad, where the chicken is actually freshly made and hot, unlike Wendy's and McDonalds who had theirs already packaged and the chicken is cold, YUCK!!! With a touch of ranch dressing and tossing the croutons its pretty low carb.

I'm going to be e-mailing the other fast food places to see if I can get nutritional information on individual ingredients

For example, occasionally I would go to Taco Bell and get a bunch of their 2 for $0.99 tacos. Then I would just eat the meat, cheese and lettuce out of them. However I noticed that I was stalling when I did that. That got me thinking that their taco meat is loaded with carbs. Unfortunately, like most fast food places, Taco Bell's site is not exactly filled with nutritional info and the people working there have no clue.

I'll post what ever I get back from them here. I'm also planning on sending similar e-mails to other fast food places to see if they will list the carb count on individual ingredients.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no longer a fast food fiend, and I try to cook up my own food when possible. But it can be tough sometimes when friends and family want to go grab something to eat at a fast food place. It would be great to know for sure the carb counts on these items so us LC'ers have options and know for sure what we're eating is not going to wreck our WOE.

I tried the new McDonald's bacon ranch salad with grilled chicken. I think they are trying to imitate the Wendy's BLT salad, right down to the grape tomatos.

The Newman's Ranch Dressing is 4 carbs for a package.


Wendy's is better, with caeser dressing, you need 2 packages because they are small, but they are 1 carb each.

Beth

Hey, there, DustOweb, at a wild guess it isn't the MEAT but the seasoning ... checked out a package of taco seasoning in the store lately? It's flavourings and sugar/dextrose/cornsyrup solids, etc.....

Hope this helps.

Yeah Judi, that's what I meant by loaded with carbs. I didn't think they injected the cows full of sugar or anything

Still waiting for my reply from Taco Bell. I'm sure their seasoning is full of carbs, but it would be nice to know for sure.

I'm steering clear of their food until I know for sure.

Sounds sensible to me, Dustoweb.

However, you might be surprised just how many people think seasoning doesn't count (for anything). Hence the response.

very good point. guess that's why it's better to make your own food, that way you know what's in it.

Speaking of knowing what's in the food you eat I heard once that Taco Bell uses MEAL WORMS as thier base for ground.....meat? Is that likely? Anyone else ever heard of that? I stopped eating Taco Bell after that!

That sounds suspiciously like an urban legend. I did some checking and didn't find that particular assertion, but did find this link at the comprehensive Snopes urban legends page.

The meal worm story is refuted here, on economic grounds of all things! Seems mealworms are nearly ten times as expensive as ground beef, pound for pound...

Gross!!!

I've eaten maybe 3 times in my life ~ Taco Bell. Just don't care for their food, any of it.

Normally, I don't eat fast food as I can make much better at home. However, when I travel, I like to eat the protein style burgers at In 'n Out. I wish they had bacon.

Recently I went to a Mongolian BBQ place and realized that this maybe a pretty good low carb place to eat out at with co-workers, if you watch the sauces and don't use the noodles. I piled on the meat and vegetables and used mostly sesame and hot oil for flavoring. Then they stir fried it on a hot surface. It was pretty darn good and very filling.

V