Walking the Walk - The Verdict

It's time to decide -- is this a healthy habit that can be realistically worked into day-to-day life?

• Piece of cake! I can definitely work this into my daily routine.
• Not my cup of tea. This is harder than I imagined. Still, I plan to stick with it and do my best.
• Nuts! This seems nearly impossible to keep up. But I'll definitely do it whenever possible.

Healthy fast food isn't my cup of tea, and I'll tell you why. But first let me share what I liked about this week.

I was in seven fast foot restaurants in all -- Qdoba, Burger King, McDonald's, Wendy's, Arby's, Subway and Long John Silver's. At every single location, there were choices that filled me up without landing me over my calorie budget. Many of the restaurants made their nutritional information available in-house, and nearly all of them shared nutritional information online. If I wanted to live entirely on healthy fast food, I wouldn't starve. And occasionally, I might even enjoy my meal.

That said -- and this is just my personal opinion -- I'd rather avoid fast food altogether than have to eat their healthy menu items. There are two reasons for this. The first is that it's really, really hard to go into a restaurant that's known for it's salty fries and order a salad. It feels like denial, and I don't want dieting to constantly feel like punishment.

And second, the food just wasn't that good. It was fine, sure. But I can make my own pretty kick-a** salad ... those fast food versions are uninspired at best. Which brings me to my final criticism: Most fast food restaurants rely on salad as their go-to healthy choices. Salad is good, but I'd love to see the big three -- McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's -- expand their options.