Hungry Girl: McDonald's Chew & Tell

If you can avoid their greasy burgers and fries, and steer clear of those shakes, McDonald's isn't a bad place to get yourself a diet-friendly meal or snack. Check out Hungry Girl's Mickey D's food finds:

Fruit and Yogurt Parfait
Now that they've axed the ginormous version of this parfait from their menu, you can't do too much damage with one of these. The yogurt in this adorable fruit-packed parfait happens to be, hands down, the best vanilla yogurt I've ever tasted. And, if you leave off the granola (who needs it?), this thing has just 130 calories and three grams of fat! Plus, it costs a dollar. How can you beat that?

English Muffin
If you're the type of person who needs some kind of bread in the morning, go for a dry English muffin, and add a little jelly. The muffin alone has only 150 calories, and it even has two grams of fiber. You can throw an egg on top for about 75 calories more. Skip the butter, cheese and breakfast meats, though, if you know what's good for you.

Fruit and Walnut Salad
Even though the candied walnuts on this salad are high in fat and calories, I decided to give it a whirl. Turns out, the fine folks at McDonald's forgot to include the packet of nuts. Ooops! That little mistake saved me 140 calories and 12 grams of fat. I recommend avoiding the candied walnuts when you can ‑- they're sugary and loaded with calories. I think this "salad" (which is really a fruit bowl with a small amount of yogurt for dipping) is better as a breakfast or snack than it is as a lunch or dinner.

The Salads
Okay, first you need to know that these are practically identical. They all start off with the same base, which is a combo of iceberg and romaine lettuce, some purple cabbage and a few tomatoes. Even their Caesar salad is prepared this way, though typically, those are tomato-free and made with just Romaine lettuce. That said, they aren't bad. My favorite was the Bacon Ranch Salad with grilled chicken. (Make sure you order the grilled chicken and not the "crispy" version with all the salads. That slipup could cost you about 90 calories and seven grams of fat.) Because the salads are so similar, you should choose your salad based on the extras. If you like bacon, get the ranch. If you like parmesan, get the Caesar, and if you are a fan of bleu cheese, go for the cobb. No matter which salad you order, though, the only dressing you should even think about using is the Newman's Own Low-Fat Balsamic Vinaigrette. I recommend using half the pouch for 20 calories and 1.5 grams of fat.

Ice Cream Cone
Congrats, McDonald's! Your ice cream cone is completely awesome. But don't think for one second that it's comparable to a shake or a McFlurry. It isn't. One perfectly sized McDonald's cone contains 150 calories and 4.5 grams of fat. Those shakes and McFlurries come in at 500 to 600+ calories. That's pure insanity! Stick with the cones, people. And don't let your friendly neighborhood McDonald's employee overstuff that cone. That adds extra calories.

Apple Dippers
Apple dippers... what a great concept! A cute little bag of perfect, skinless apples (that stay crunchy and never turn brown) complete with a tiny container of gooey caramel to dip 'em in. Wow! The apples alone are just 35 calories. The caramel adds another 70 if you eat all of it, but I recommend using about half. Do that, and your snack will only be about 70 calories, total. And even if you use the whole thing, it's still just a little more than 100. Not bad at all!

HG Shout Out!
Mickey D's launched a new line of premium chicken sandwiches. The Classic is your best bet ‑- at 410 calories and nine grams of fat. But I recommend ditching the mayo, and only eating half the bread. That way it'll only have 245 calories and three grams of fat.

McDonald's Shockers
Avoid the following items at the Golden Arches:

Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese: 730 calories, 40 grams of fat (that's 170 calories more than a Big Mac!)
Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips: The five-piece has 630 calories and 33 grams of fat. Eeeks!
Hotcakes and Sausage: 770 calories and 33 grams of fat. So not worth it.
32-ounce Chocolate Triple Thick Shake: 1,160 calories and 27 grams of fat ‑- almost a day's worth of calories in one shake!

For more food recommendations, go to hungry-girl.com.