MANILA, Philippines?We cannot completely avoid fast food restaurants, especially if that's the only place to eat. Are you aware that when you eat at such places, you consume more than 1,000 calories for just a value meal?

Be smart when it comes to food choices. Even if you are trying to lose weight, you don't need to starve yourself and give up your favorite food. It's just about portion control and being aware of better options when the fast food menu is right in front of you.

Start your day right

An Egg McMuffin contains only 300 calories with 12 grams of fat which is a better option than Sausage McMuffin. Sausage has been classified as the worst food to order for breakfast because it has 10 times more fat than ham, according to "Restaurant Confidential" by Michael Jacobson. David Zinczenko, author of "Eat This, Not That," also prefers Egg McMuffin to pancakes.

If you eat pancakes or waffles, you can save almost 200 calories if you skip the butter and limit syrup to 2 tbsp., instead of 4 tbsp. (1/4 cup). Skip the sausage which is high in fat calories. Choose ham instead. Ordering 4 pancakes with butter, 1/4 cup of syrup and 4 strips of bacon is more or less equivalent to 1,000 calories with 40 grams of fat, which is almost half of your required total calories for the whole day.

A cup of fried rice with a serving of tapa or longanisa and a piece of egg contains more than 500 calories because of its high fat content. Order plain rice, skip the yolk or just eat half of the high-fat viands.

A regular size of bagel with a spread contains 500 to 600 calories. Eat half of the bagel with fruits or better yet, choose 2 pcs. of whole wheat bread with less than a tbsp of low-fat spread.

If you order coffee, make it as plain as possible. Avoid fancy chocolate and coffee drinks which might be another 300 to 500 calories.

When you eat at buffets, the best breakfast option would be cereals and non-fat milk with fruits and an egg omelette with less yolk and more vegetables instead of meat.

Have a healthy full meal

If you choose to eat sandwiches, go for grilled or roasted than deep-fried and breaded chicken or fish fillet. Avoid tuna sandwiches mixed with mayonnaise which may contain more than 20 grams of fat. A 6-inch tuna Subway sandwich has 200 more calories than a steak sandwich.

If you love to eat chicken with rice, choose the breast part and remove the skin so you can save 150 to 200 calories per piece of chicken. My client, Jocelyn Yu, who lost 35 pounds in one year did not totally give up fast food meals. Her only governing principle when it comes to eating at fast food restaurants is about making healthy choices with the right proportions. She can enjoy food and time with her kids without having guilty feelings.

Stay away from pasta with white sauce and pasta with meatballs or meat sauce. Go for pasta with red sauce and chicken or sea foods and make sure that you limit the portion. Avoid buttered bread that goes with pasta or just eat half of it.

An order of salad may contain more than 500 calories, so watch out for the dressing and other deep-fried ingredients. One tbsp of regular mayo-based dressing contains 90 to 120 calories. Limit the dressing to no more than 2 tbsp.

Choose water instead of soda or iced tea. Aim to consume more than 6 glasses of water a day. If you order soda even if it has zero calorie, you tend to drink less water for the whole day.

Eat snacks for energy

If you want a light hamburger sandwich at only 300 to 350 calories, go for plain burger sandwiches without mayo and cheese.

With pizza, go for the thin crust so you can save almost half the calories. Choose plain or those with vegetable toppings instead of the high-fat meat toppings. A slice of a large thick crust pizza with meat toppings contains 600 to 800 calories.

If you just want to consume your allowance for sweets for the week, go for plain donuts and avoid the cream-filled and glazed types. A glazed donut contains 180 calories with 11 grams of fat and 10 grams of sugar as compared to a glazed type which has 330 calories, 17 grams of fat and 28 grams of sugar.

E-mail the author at mitchfelipe@gmail.com