Its time for dinner, you're busy, and you're starving! You have no time or desire to cook, so you decide to visit your favorite fast food restaurant. As you head to the drive up window you think to yourself, "Is there any way I can make a healthy decision from this menu?" Fortunately, the answer is yes. Here are a few tips to help you the next time you are faced with this situation. Remember, moderation is the key.

• Choose a small plain burger. Often, the extra toppings like cheese and special sauces can add a lot of fat and calorie. Ask for sauce on the side and add a small amount.
  
  
• Order a kid's meal. Usually, this is enough to satisfy you without making you over full.
  
  
• Use mustard or catsup in place of mayonnaise. Mayonnaise can add about 150 calories to your sandwich.
  
  
• Extra fat is what is used to make your chicken 'extra crispy'. This can add up to 100 extra calories in each piece. Choose regular skin, or better yet, remove the skin to reduce the fat even further.
  
  
• Choose a grilled chicken sandwich over a burger, but hold the mayonnaise.
  
  
• Order a pizza with vegetables instead of high fat meats like sausage and pepperoni.
  
  
• Order a salad as a side dish instead of fries. Regular dressing can add a lot of fat and calories, so choose a fat free dressing to make this a healthy alternative or go easy on the dressing.
  
  
• 'Deluxe,' 'super,' and 'mega' sized portions offer more fat, calories, sodium, and cholesterol than you need.
  
  
• Select a baked potato and top it with vegetables.
  
  
• So "No!" to Supersizing.
   
• Want some dessert? Order a low fat frozen yogurt cone instead of a fried pie or hot fudge sundae.

BETTER FAST FOOD CHOICES

• Wendy's Mandarin Chicken Salad: 350 calories without almonds or crispy noodles
  
  
• Burger King Chicken Whopper Jr: 370 calories
  
  
• Subway's Low-fat Subs: 6 grams of fat or less (without mayo, cheese, or oil). The new low-fat 'select subs' range from 310-370 calories.
  
  
• McDonald's Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait: 160 calories (130 without the granola), 1 gram saturated fat.
   
• Burger King BK Veggie Burger: 420 calories, (470 w/cheese) - 2.5 grams saturated fat.

For more information on dining out, visit calorieking.com