(bright music)
- Hey munchies, welcome.
If you're new, I'm Alyssia,
and I am stoked to have you here.
So last year we did a vegan fast food choices
and a general healthier choices
at fast food restaurants video.
You guys seemed to love them,
but I had a lot of requests for a Paleo edition,
so here it is.
In case you're not familiar with the specifics
of a Paleo diet, there is quite a bit of debate
over some of the nitty gritty details
of what's a yes or a no food.
So some allow grass-fed dairy, some allow sweeteners,
some allow bacon, and some don't.
Whatever.
But here is the generalized list for your reference.
Feel free to pause the video to review.
(whimsical music)
So let's just begin by saying
that fast food technically is not Paleo.
It pretty much contradicts the whole philosophy
behind the lifestyle.
It's highly processed, it's pretty much junk food,
and it's definitely not what our ancestors ate
or what we are best suited to be eating.
But, sometimes life happens
and we have to find something to eat
at a fast food restaurant,
or maybe that never happens to you,
and if that's the case, then great.
Stop watching this video now
before you feel inclined to leave a nasty comment,
because guess what?
We don't need that negativity in this community.
I'm not telling you what to eat, what to not eat,
or telling you how much to eat.
Literally, all I'm doing is showing you a list
of some fast food restaurants
and some as-close-as-we-can-get-to-Paleo options
with the macros.
If you need more or less food, eat more or less food.
That being said, if you are on a Paleo diet
and wanting to eat fast food,
just recognize up front
you're gonna have to make some compromises.
It might be wise to treat those fast food meals as a treat.
If you are strict on your Paleo diet,
just don't eat fast food.
In-N-Out.
Double-double protein style burger with onion,
no cheese or spread.
Ah, we're starting with my California love.
We hope this is Paleo.
It's a 100% beef patty without additives,
and definitely better than most other burger joints,
but there's not really any ingredient info anywhere.
They do use vegetable oil on their fries,
which is probably what they use for their other food.
Onions come grilled, but if you wanna avoid
that extra cooking oil, you can go with fresh if you ask.
Sodium is something you'll just have to deal with
at most fast food joints, but with this meal,
it ain't too shabby.
Jimmy John's.
A double turkey and veg unwich, or lettuce wrap,
with avocado spread and mustard.
Now, this is already only Paleo-ish.
Processed meat is not so Paleo.
But with the lettuce wrap and a ton of veggies on top,
it's not so bad.
No artificial ingredients, no nitrates or nitrites.
It's good to know, though,
that almost every meat they offer contains dextrose,
tapioca starch, cultured celery juice powder,
natural flavors, et cetera.
The mustard also does have a little bit of added sugar,
but it's one of the most do-able condiments.
Without the bread, this is a small meal,
and low in calories, so you might wanna add extra avocado,
which adds to the cost, or meat, which adds to the cost
and the sodium.
Or, you could just go with a salad instead of the unwich
if that's better for you mentally.
Pita Pit.
Tuna pita, fork style.
Fork style's a pita served as a salad,
so pretty much it's a salad.
With double meat, adding egg, avocado,
shredded and Romaine lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers,
onions, black olives, green peppers, mushrooms,
and Sriracha, which is almost Paleo,
other than that dang sugar.
Otherwise, this is hopefully Paleo.
But they don't have a ton of ingredients info online,
so we don't actually know what is in the meats or sauces.
So it seems moderately clean, but who can know for sure?
And maybe that's what they want us to think, eh?
Pretty much, we have no clue what is in the tuna
or in any of the meats or sauces.
Chipotle steak salad.
Now you could use any meat you prefer,
but the steak is the lowest sodium meat besides the chicken,
and to me, chicken gets a little boring.
But you do you.
It's also got lettuce, fajita veggies,
the tomatillo green salsa, which is the lowest in sodium
and calories, and the guacamole.
Skip out on that salad dressing, which is loaded with sugar.
I also have an entire video
on making healthy choices at Chipotle.
If you wanna check that out,
I will link it in the description.
Panera green goddess Cobb salad with chicken.
This is a wanna-be Paleo dish.
They are trying to offer fresh, healthy options,
but the ingredients and meats are not very clean,
especially the dressings.
Come on, Panera!
Time to up your game.
The greens, chicken, which does have added sugar
and rice starch, avocado, tomato, boiled egg,
pickled red onions, which have sugar, and bacon,
which has sugar, will make up a decently satisfying salad,
but there is literally no dressing without dairy,
sugar and/or soybean oil.
So, enjoy the flavor of those ingredients on their own.
Jamba Juice orange carrot karma smoothie, medium size.
Another Paleo-ish choice.
It is made from real, whole fruits and simple ingredients,
but it is very high in sugar, and we aren't sure from what.
Some is from the fruit, but they also use fruit blends
that I suspect contain added sugar.
But for those who care, this is vegan and non-dairy
according to the website.
Taco Bell double shredded chicken power bowl
with extra chicken.
Skip the rice, beans, cheese, and sour cream,
and go for extra shredded chicken, iceberg and Romaine,
and extra guacamole.
And add onions, tomatoes, and fire-roasted salsa.
Both the pico and the guac contain xanthan gum, FYI.
You can add bacon if you want, but you know that means
the sodium will increase.
Hardee's low carb double Thickburger, double meat.
There isn't much on the Hardee's menu
that is filling or Paleo, but this option is.
Low carb means it's a lettuce wrap,
with the two burger patties, lettuce, tomato, red onion,
and mustard.
If you nix the ketchup, mayo, and cheese,
it is entirely Paleo.
If you wanted a cleaner option,
you could get the side salad,
but we've already seen quite a few salads today.
The chickens and other meats at Hardee's
all have quite a few other ingredients,
and none of their sides fit as Paleo.
Long John Silver's cod and shrimp platter
with double green beans.
There aren't many Paleo options here either,
but this platter is pretty clean.
It's just a bit small and has a load of sodium.
It is baked though,
unlike most everything else that is fried.
The green beans are also the only do-able side,
so feel free to get two of them
and go for the Louisiana hot sauce
as a less problematic addition.
Last but not least, Chick-fil-A.
Grilled nuggets with a superfood side salad.
This is definitely not Paleo, but it isn't the worst.
Your chicken will be cooked with vegetable or soybean oil,
and some additives are in there from corn and sugar.
Even the superfood side salad has quite a bit of sugar.
There's nothing blatantly artificial or synthetic
in the meat, but there are some in the sauces.
It's a boring meal, but there's nothing 100% Paleo
at Chick-fil-A other than the side salad without cheese.
Even the fruit cup has added sugar.
And that is your fast food Paleo options video.
I hope you found these helpful, but remember,
eating fast food at all already sort of breaks
the true essence of the Paleo concept.
So don't fool yourself.
Feel free to check out my vegan
and general healthy fast food videos,
and Chipotle healthy choices video for more like this.
At the end of the day, we don't want fast food
to be a regular part of our lifestyles,
so don't stress too much as long as you're truly making this
an occasional indulgence.
And remember, especially when it comes to fast food,
it's all a matter of mind over munch.