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Macro Options for McDonald’s: My 3 Picks & Swaps

ByNicole Doria

And so we continue with McDonald’s 😊

Ok… here we go…

When you are in a calorie deficit or diet phase… nothing is really off-limits. That would be a personal rule if it is. Or maybe that is a dietary need of an intolerance or an allergy. But truly, nothing is off-limits. It is all about how you make something work within the numbers that your body needs.

It wholeheartedly is calories in versus calories out. You may remember this graphic from the blog Diet, Weight Loss, Fat Loss & Calorie Deficit. This truly is it. This is what it takes in order to lose weight. That doesn’t say in it that it has to be from whole foods or it has to be from convenient measures or supplements. The things that you may have to deal with when different measures are taken… lower energy, higher hunger, and maybe the rate of loss changes a little bit due to other hydration manipulation factors like sodium.

But this is really it… you can have McDonald’s.

Here’s how I’ve made this work over the course of time and how I guide some of my clients to.

Pick 3 for McDonald’s

So here’s the deal… You can have it but again it needs to fit. we each have our own calorie make up that we need to consume each day to match the expenditure we have. And like the graphic shows above…. if we want to be in a weight loss phase, we have to consume less than we are expending. And that is where this strategy comes in. How can we make food outside of the house work?

So let’s try this out… first I have gone through and chosen my pick three. There is no rhyme or reason to why I specifically chose these except for the fact that it sounds good to my tastebuds and it fits in the under 500 kcal framework that I want to put together for my pick three.

And why pick three? I guide my clients that I work with to pick out three different options from each place. You don’t want to go to a specific place and find out that for some reason you’re one option that works is not currently available and then you are left in a sense of urgency to just choose something else. Honestly, there’s nothing wrong with choosing something urgently that you think might work… but the more prepared you can be for different situations, the less that’s up to the uncertainty of it all.

Understanding some of the other options!

Here are some options that are also around 500 cal that might be able to appease some of the different wants that you may have.

Kid’s Meals

  • Hamburger: The Classic McDonald’s Burger, World Famous Fries (Kids), 1% Low Fat Milk Jug, Apple Slices 475 kcal
  • Chicken McNuggets (4 piece), World Famous Fries (Kids), 1% Low Fat Milk Jug, Apple Slices 395 kcal

Breakfast meals

  • Egg McMuffin, McCafé Premium Roast Coffee (Small), Hash Browns 455 kcal
  • 2 Sausage Burrito, McCafé Premium Roast Coffee (Small), Hash Browns 455 kcal

Fish Meal (635 kcal)

  • Filet-O-Fish 390 Cal.
  • Small World Famous Fries 230 Cal.
  • Apple Slices 15 Cal.
  • Medium Diet Coke 0 Cal.

Burger Meal (695 kcal)

  • Double Cheeseburger 450 Cal.
  • Small World Famous Fries 230 Cal.
  • Apple Slices 15 Cal.
  • Medium Diet Coke 0 Cal.

Chicken Meal (645 kcal)

  • McChicken 400 Cal.
  • Small World Famous Fries 230 Cal.
  • Apple Slices 15 Cal.
  • Medium Diet Coke 0 Cal.

Making it Work!

Finally… you may remember remember this from seeing it previously posted on my social media accounts, but if not here it is again.

Resource: Making It Work

This allows you a little bit more wiggle room than some of the options that I have provided above. Sometimes it’s nice to just be able to grab one or two things and know what those things are right off the bat. maybe you need to take your kids through the drive-through to feed them and you just want a small cup of chicken noodle soup… and now you can fit. Or maybe you truly just want hashbrowns because you want that crunchy potato flavor…. if you can make it fit, go right ahead!

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