Staying healthy is challenging at times. High-carb snacks and foods lurking around every corner don't help. Many people have tried to stick to a healthy high carb diet, but it’s more challenging, if not impossible for them to lose weight. That’s why many people have begun to switch from a high-carb diet to a low carb diet, which we discuss in the Body Reboot book. A low carb diet that encourages having a diet high in fat, and low in carbohydrates is the ketogenic diet. Many people have had success on this diet when they haven't had success anywhere else. After switching over to a low carb diet, it's easy to assume that eating at fast food restaurants and other eating establishments is not possible. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Below we reveal several fast food and restaurant low carb meal ideas that’ll make it so you can have some fun while sticking to your diet.

Chick-fil-A

Who doesn't love Chick-fil-A? This place is pretty delicious, but it may be hard knowing what you can eat on a low carb diet. Luckily Keto Connect tells us what some excellent options are:

Keto Options at Chick-fil-A
Grilled Chicken Sandwich without the bun
Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich without the bun
Bacon, Egg and Cheese Biscuit without the biscuit
Sausage, Egg and Cheese without the biscuit
Bacon, Egg and Cheese Muffin without the muffin
Grilled Chicken Nuggets with Side Salad

What We Order
Eight-Count Grilled Nuggets
Side Salad with Avocado Ranch Dressing
Diet Coke

Chipotle

When trying to figure out which fast food restaurants to eat from when you’re trying to eat low carb, Chipotle is a good option. Health mentions trying the keto salad bowl as a meal – it’s packed full of nutrient-rich foods such as lettuce, salsa, cheese, and let’s not forget guacamole!

This fast-casual chain known for its commitment to fresh, sustainable ingredients just took the guesswork out of ordering a keto-friendly meal by launching a Keto Salad Bowl as one of its new “Lifestyle Bowls.” (The others are the Paleo Salad Bowl, the Whole30 Salad Bowl, and the Double Protein Bowl). Hustle over to your nearest Chipotle and try it out!

The Keto Salad Bowl (carnitas, romaine lettuce, red salsa, cheese, and guacamole): 585 calories, 42g fat, 15g carb, 8g fiber (so 7 net carbs), 32g protein

Lettuce Wrapped Burger

Healthline gives us a good idea on how to eat a burger, and it’s without a bun! There are a lot of low carb toppings you can put on your salad as well. Below are some examples as well as the number of carbs per topping.

A bun-less burger wrapped in lettuce is a standard low-carb, fast-food meal. It's high in protein, essentially carb-free and available at all fast-food burger establishments.

You can further customize your burger by adding the following low-carb toppings or additions, depending on availability and personal preferences:

Cheese: Less than 1 gram of carbs per slice.
Bacon: Less than 1 gram of carbs per slice.
Mustard: Less than 1 gram of carbs per tablespoon.
Mayo: Less than 1 gram of carbs per tablespoon.
Onions: 1 gram of digestible carbs per slice.
Tomato: Less than 1 gram of digestible carbs per slice.
Guacamole: 3 grams of digestible carbs per quarter cup.

Kentucky Fried Chicken

Keto Connect gives us a few ideas on what to eat when you head to Kentucky Fried Chicken. Unfortunately, you’re going to have to stay away from the “fried” part of the chicken, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other things on the menu that taste good. Try their grilled chicken and add a Diet Pepsi! We have to note, however, that some believe that diet soda drinks can increase carb cravings, so use your best judgment as to whether you decide to drink diet soda drinks or not.

Keto Options at KFC
Kentucky Grilled Chicken
Green Beans
What We Order – $5 Fill Up
2-piece White Chicken Combo Grilled
Green Beans
Diet Pepsi
Price: $5.00

The grilled chicken at KFC is delicious. We were on a road trip once and ate an entire bucket of it. It's that good.

You get to choose a side with this meal, but unfortunately, out of the ten sides to pick from, there’s only one keto option and it’s Green Beans which taste like baby food – in other words, not good.  

Even though the Grilled Chicken from KFC is a good option, it’s pretty low in fat, so we recommend adding in some fat like avocado, butter, or olive oil to make it more filling. Plus, the “butter” at KFC is actually margarine, so don't be fooled by the label.

Coffee and Tea

Healthline reveals some fast food and restaurant staples, which are tea and coffee! Sounds pretty good, right? It also happens to be excellent for a low carb diet. Both are carb-free and tasty to boot.

Coffee and tea are carb-free beverages.

They're also high in caffeine, which provides some impressive benefits.

Caffeine may improve your mood, increase your metabolic rate and boost mental and physical performance.

If you like milk in your coffee, coffee houses and fast-food eateries often have half and half (half milk and half cream) available. A single-serving container has about half a gram of carbs.

Heavy cream is nearly carb-free and is sometimes available. However, it contains about 50 calories per tablespoon, compared to 20 calories for half and half.

Some coffee houses also offer soy or almond milk. Unsweetened versions of these milks provide minimal carbs per 2-tablespoon serving.

Panera Bread

Health reveals a meal that’s keto friendly from Panera Bread, and it’s a greek salad and Caesar salad. Ignore the croutons, and you have a yummy low carb treat!

At the fast-casual restaurant with the word “bread” in its title, finding something keto-friendly is slightly more challenging. But, alas, here are two top-notch, tasty options.

Greek Salad, whole size, with red wine salami, light feta, light tomatoes: 440 calories, 41g fat, 9g carb, 4g fiber (so 5 net carbs), 11g protein.
Caesar Salad with Chicken, whole size, extra parm, no croutons: 400 calories, 29g fat, 7g carb, 2g fiber (so 5 net carbs), 39g protein.

Mexican Food

Though it’s not really fast food (well, there are still fast food Mexican restaurants), you should know what to eat and what to avoid eating while at a Mexican food restaurant. Here are some good ideas from The Little Pine:

Forget tacos and burritos, there’s so much more to Mexican food than food that comes in wrapped form! Low carb Mexican food is my favorite option as far as low carb restaurants go:

Best Choice: Salad or burrito bowl (minus the rice/beans). Sometimes called a “bare burrito”. If they don’t make it this way, order a burrito, unwrap it, and eat the inside with a fork. Fajitas (no tortillas). Ceviche. If you’re looking for a lighter dish, order a taco and eat the inside only.

Don’t forget to top your dishes with salsas, cheese, guacamole and sour cream!

Avoid: Tortillas, tortilla chips, rice, beans, corn, fried or breaded fish/meat.

Japanese Food

Everyone loves eating sushi now and then (unless you’re not so crazy about Japanese food), but sometimes it’s hard to justify eating sushi. The reason why sushi is challenging to eat on a low carb is become most dishes come with so much rice. Luckily The Little Pine has some tips on how you can still enjoy a delicious sushi meal without eating a ton of rice:

Sure, sushi has far too much rice for a low carb diet, but most low carb Japanese restaurants have plenty of other options!

Best Choice: Sashimi with soy sauce (unless you’re gluten free), wasabi and ginger makes for an incredibly delicious main course, if you like fish that is.

Some sushi restaurants will wrap sushi rolls in cucumber or seaweed instead of rice. You can also order hand rolls sans rice. If you’re not a fish person, order a stir fry without or cornstarch.

Pizza

Pizza is delicious, but unfortunately, it’s hard to justify eating it with the breaded crust. However, the Diet Doctor has some great solutions that’ll hopefully make eating some of a pizza work.

The flavor of pizza is a near universal favorite — and it’s in the sauce and toppings, not the crust! If you will be too tempted to leave most of the crust on your plate, choose a different kind of restaurant.

Load up on toppings and eat as little of the crust as possible. Most toppings are low-carb. Consider doubling your favorites.
Ask for a knife and fork to help you avoid eating most of the crust.
Skip ordering and make pizza at home instead! Try a cauliflower crust, a Fat Head pizza, or our super simple egg and cheese pizza.

Fast food is tasty and convenient when you’re on the go, and with some planning, you too can eat out. Low cab meals don’t have to be hard; it just takes some getting used to. Your health is worth it! Currently, we’re giving away free copies of the Body Reboot book! Cover the cost of shipping, and we’ll send you a FREE book. Check out this page to find out if there are any copies left.

Sources: Health, Keto Connect, Healthline, The Little Pine, Diet Doctor