Food for Thought: Ditch the McChicken

How many calories does it cost to treat yourself?

We all do it as a part of the popular “I have no time” lifestyle, but is the unhealthy lifestyle really worth it? We can all do a little better and good news is that you don’t need to sacrifice the convenience or the taste of a good meal to enjoy food on the fly.

There’s a jar for that and the meal even comes with it!

Think Twice Before Eating

Think about what really goes into your system. Is fried chicken from every part of the animal really going to fuel you properly? Real food will make you feel better day in and day out, and charge you with more energy to accomplish your goals. A healthy meal in a jar will make you feel better, and—let’s be honest—it will probably help you live bit longer, too!

Take a look at the chart below. What do you see? There’s a big difference we can make here with a simple meal swap—about 170 calories’ worth of difference in a single meal. Numbers don’t lie, and that we haven’t even gotten to the nutrients in each ingredient!

The Calorie Breakdown: McChicken vs. Meal in a Jar

McChicken (before fries): 470 calories	Curry Chicken Meal in a Jar - 300 calories
Sauce - 100 calories	Sauce - 35 calories
Chicken - 196 calories	Chicken - 100 calories
Bun - 173 calories	Diced Tomatoes - 30 calories
Lettuce - 3 calories*	Peas - 45 calories
	Carrots - 45 calories
	Cauliflower - 30 calories
	Spinach - 15 calories

*The jury’s still out on the exact contents of that chicken patty, but those 3 calories of lettuce are just about the only good thing for you in that burger! Too bad there wasn’t more lettuce, but there’s a 25% chance you were getting the white stem of the lettuce, anyway. Three-star Michelin rating, right?

If we ate something equivalent to this Curry Chicken Meal in a Jar instead of a McChicken (or something else just like it), we would save:

• 170 calories per meal
• 340 calories per day, with two meals
• 850 calories per week, eating one meal in a jar per work day

We’re assuming you have time to cook something delicious and healthy on the weekends—but if not, then make that 1,190 calories saved instead!

But what about the ingredients?

The sauce should complement the food, but not overpower it with an extra 100 calories! Make sure you’re using something light, like a vinaigrette, instead of a heavy or creamy spread. It feels lighter on the palette and on your digestive system. We eat to fuel ourselves, not feel sluggish afterward (Thanksgiving turkey dinners excepted).

The chicken shouldn’t be so heavy on the calories either—not for that size, anyway. And you can cut the carbs right out of a meal, which is nearly 180 you don’t need to worry about. The McChicken won’t taste the same without it, but your body will thank you for it the next day.

The Small Decision We Can Make

So, what will it be? 300 calories of real food from a meal in a jar that energizes you? Or 470 calories of… well, whatever is in a McChicken (and would you like fries with that?)?

Thinking about what we use for body fuel can go a long way toward changing our lives—quite literally from the inside-out. There’s a way to make it easy, convenient, and tasty all at once.

Go for the Curry Chicken Meal in a Jar instead of the burger.

Trust us: your 65-year-old self will thank us when she’s still jogging up the staircase instead of climbing it like a mountain.