7 Healthy Alternatives to Your Favorite Fast Food

Don’t Drink a Milkshake. Instead, Make a Smoothie

A small fast food shake seems like a relatively harmless treat. It comes in such a little cup, after all. But don’t be fooled, even a small shake can have nearly 700 calories!. And all those calories come with very little in the way of nutrition, since they mainly come from sugar. When you make a smoothie, though, you control the ingredients and you can put together a snack that’s actually good for your body. This peanut butter banana oatmeal smoothie provides protein in the form of yogurt and peanut butter, fiber from oatmeal, and potassium from bananas, making a much healthier alternative to a milkshake.

Don’t Eat Buffalo Wings. Instead, Make Carolina-Style Wings.

Fast-food Buffalo wings are a popular option whenever people get together to watch sports, but with sauces high in sugar and salt, even just four wings can have 200 calories and 37 percent of your daily allowance of sodium. If you’re going to be watching the game with friends and want to keep your wings healthy, try making Carolina-style wings instead. The flavor comes from vinegar and spices, so these are way less sugary and salty but every bit as delicious.

Don’t Eat a Candy Bar. Instead, Have a Granola Bar.

Advertisers often promote candy bars as a good way to get a quick burst of energy. And while it’s true that you will get a fast boost from the sugar, a candy bar can have more than 250 calories, mostly from sugar. There are much better ways to get a quick burst of energy. Granola bars offer your body something besides sugar. For example, these fruit and oat bars give you complex carbohydrates from oatmeal that will give you more lasting energy. And the fruit means they’re still plenty sweet.

Don’t Eat a Caesar Salad. Instead, Make Your Own Pomegranate Orange Salad

Ordering salad seems like it should always be a healthy choice, but dressings and fixings can make some salads as unhealthy as anything else on a fast food menu. A caesar salad, for example, can be loaded with saturated fat and cholesterol. Luckily, it doesn’t get much easier than making a healthy salad on your own. Find a combination of ingredients that will look and taste great, go easy on the dressing and fatty fixings, and you can be sure to eat healthy. You can also try using greens like kale which are chock full of iron and vitamin A.

Don’t Eat French Fries. Instead, Make Sweet Potato Oven Fries.

According to a Harvard study, no food was more correlated with weight gain than potatoes. French fries take this unhealthy ingredient and deep fry it, making it even worse for you. But with a just a little effort, you can make your own fries from sweet potatoes which are packed with nutrients like Vitamins A and C, manganese, and iron. Even better, these “fries” aren’t really fried at all, they’re baked meaning you can make them without all that fat.

Don’t Eat a Sundae. Instead, Make a Yogurt Parfait

At 280 calories for a small cup, a strawberry sundae is something you shouldn’t be a regular snack (but if you eat one every now and again, we won’t tell). If you want a treat that’s rich and creamy but without all the sugar, try making a yogurt parfait by layering plain yogurt with fruit. It’s a satisfying snack that you won’t regret later.

Don’t Eat Potato Chips, Instead Make Kale Chips.

There are unhealthy snack foods and there are UNHEALTHY snack foods. Potato chips are UNHEALTHY. An 8 oz bag can have more than 1200 calories! And they’re high in sodium and fat to boot. For a healthier alternative, try making kale chips, which are much lower in calories and fat, but can still have all your favorite tastes combos, like sour cream and onion or barbecue.