Surviving McDonald's on Weight Watchers

Every dieter I know struggles with how to get through the weekends. I do ok through the Monday to Friday routine of eating at pretty much the same time every day. But with two small children at home, the weekends are typically a whirlwind of errands and social/ family engagements. Eating on the run and feeding the kids wherever we happen to be that will cause the least amount of drama often means choosing things that I would never choose if I was by myself.

Today...one daughter had a birthday party to attend so I promised the other one that we would do something together (of her choosing). This included lunch out and a trip to the park. So of course she picked McDonald's for lunch which sent me into a mild panic over how many points I would have to spend on lunch.

Much to my surprise, McDonald's is not the enemy. I chose the Southwest salad with grilled chicken and Balsamic dressing which I later learned was only 7 points. Slightly more than I might have normally spent on lunch but certainly not the off the chart point count that, say, a quarter pounder with cheese might have been. McDonald's is even nice enough to provide a handy little chart of nutritional content for the most popular items and a link to their web site to check out anything else on the menu. If you are curious, check it out here. Similar charts exist for Wendy's and Burger King.

It's not always easy to make the healthiest of food choices when out. And don't get me wrong. I am NOT suggesting that we should all run out and eat fast food every day and still expect to lose weight. But what I am saying is that on Weight Watchers, you can eat anywhere and still stay on plan.

Stay tuned for less of me.