Wednesday, March 10, 2010

McNuggets: Only 6.5 Points!



Weight Watchers' newest corporate partner is ... drum roll, please ... McDonald's. As the UK's Daily Telegraph puts it:
Chicken McNuggets (my personal favourite) or a Filet-O-Fish (does anyone actually order this?) are worth 6.5 points on the Weight Watchers programme. Dieters are allowed to consume 18 to 40 points each day meaning that someone could be justified in cramming around 40 golden nuggets down their gullet. Get in!
Weight Watchers has given its stamp of approval on three Mickey D's meals in Australia and New Zealand: The aforementioned McNuggets and Filet-O-Fish (both of which come with a side salad and a medium diet soda), and also something called the Sweet Chilli Seared Chicken Wrap (which comes with a diet soda but no McSalad).

Weird. But I guess Weight Watchers assumes (probably correctly) that many dieters are likely to find themselves at a McDonald's at some point, so it's better to give them some guidance on choosing the least nutritionally damaging stuff in the restaurant.

Speaking of which, here's what's in the three Weight Watchers-approved items (sans soda, salad, fries, shake, etc.):
  • 6-Piece Box of McNuggets: 269 calories | 11.3 g of carbs | 12.9 g of fat | 405 mg of sodium
  • Filet-O-Fish: 330 calories | 32.4 g of carbs | 14.9 g of fat | 647 mg of sodium
  • Sweet Chilli Seared Chicken Wrap: 374 calories | 40.5 g of carbs | 9.8 g of fat | 801 mg of sodium
Best bet: Pack a lunch.