Low Calorie Fast Food Options
From shakes to a perfectly swirled soft serve, frozen fast food desserts tend to be friendly on the wallet—but the waistline? Not so much. While there are no illusions that frozen fast food desserts are healthy, they vary wildly when it comes to just how much of an indulgence they are.
Of course, if you want a treat without messing with your flat belly progress, there are some ways to help keep the calories and sugar in check. Choose the smallest option available—a mini or kid-size is often plenty, and will be half the fat as a large. Keeping toppings and mix-ins to a minimum will also help improve the nutritional profile of the treat, so skip the chocolate syrup, caramel, whipped cream, candied nuts, and cookie dough chunks. Keep in mind that the “healthier” options are also packed with artificial ingredients and additives like cellulose gum and carrageenan.
To help you make better decisions the next time you’re at the drive-thru, we ranked 11 of the best and worst frozen fast food desserts. A cone will only set you back 170 calories and has significantly less sugar than the other frozen treats on the list.
Wendy’s Frostys are known for being a relatively good choice when it comes to frozen fast food desserts. So if you want to get the biggest bang for your nutritional buck, order a junior size vanilla frosty (a chocolate one will only set you back a few extra calories so don’t feel guilty if you want to indulge your chocolate cravings or—even better—make it a swirl).
The classic McDonald’s McFlurry is high in calories, but with a little ordering info, you can cut some of the bad stuff (aka fat and sugar) while still enjoying a delicious indulgence.
Debuting just this year is Wendy’s Frosty Cookie Sundae, which marries the fast-food restaurant’s iconic ice cream treat with chunks of chocolate chip cookie and is drizzled in Ghirardelli chocolate sauce. It’s no wonder why this small container packs nearly 50 grams of sugar. Stick to the junior size Frosty, instead.
With bacon and milkshake in the name, you already know what you’re getting yourself into. This over-the-top Five Guys option is not only packed with calories, saturated fat, and sugar but—because of the bacon—it’s also higher in sodium. The other flavors—banana, chocolate, cherry, and Oreo creme—aren’t much healthier either. So if you must indulge, we recommend enjoying only half or sharing.
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