I'm not about to advocate fast food as a lifestyle choice, but we're all human and, let's face it, fast food is convenient when we're busy.

I've successfully managed to incorporate things like Nando's chicken, Hungry Jack's and generic burgers, and so on into my diet on a reasonably regular basis without any problems - I continue to lose weight at an average of about 1kg/week which is absolutely fine by me!

While I fully endorse the "living off the land" approach - as I believe that is how we should eat most of the time (no processed foods, just your basic meat, greens, dairy, etc), I know that sometimes I get really busy at work and it's a relief to be able to grab something quick and not have to worry about preparation or washing dishes.

So, consider Chinese and other Asian meat-based dishes without the rice, Nando's chicken all sorts of ways without the chips/rice, HJ's burgers without the buns and fries (see my carb counts in the 'More on McDonalds' thread), Red Rooster chicken and so on, as something you can incorporate into your diet - it's really good to know that we can dine out and even eat a bit of "junk" now and then without ruining things. A personal favourite is going out for a bloody good big steak. I sometimes go to Red Rooster and buy a whole cold chicken and ask them very nicely to cut it into quarters for me (because I'm quite hopeless at doing it without mess) and then I take a quarter into work each day. I'm continually amazed how less food is more satisfying without the carb-rish side serves.

I'm a busy gal with a demanding work and study schedule and a dependent cat - so I just revel in the fact that this stuff isn't as NAUGHTY as they'd have us believe. A word of caution - be careful about sauces and marinades. There's often a good dose of sugar in them (especially sweet chilli types) so do your homework before making your choices. Recently I enjoyed some Chinese beef & black bean, and garlic prawns - it's not zero carb but it's really low - I found that I ate less because it's quite rich without the rice to soak up the flavours (and also because my appetite has lessened on this WOL). AND I AM SO DAMNED GLAD THAT I DON'T HAVE TO COUNT FAT!!

Happy eating
(Isn't it nice to feel good about ENJOYING FOOD?!)

Rebecca
xx

I was interested to read your post - as I have just picked up a card from Nandos giving Nutritional info on their products.

1/4 Chicken breast with skin - 1.8 g Carb
1/4 Chicken breast without skin - 0.5 g Carb
Grilled Chicken salad with/without dressing 5.7 g Carb
Individual chicken rib - 1.1 g Carb!!

By the way if you have Oportos where you are, they assure me that there is no sugar or flour in the coating - so this is another favourite for our family!

You need to start a journal, I would love to see how you lose a kilo a week

Lucy