Sometimes planning fails and you need to be confident about making choices for the gestational diabetes diet while out and about. Here's how to eat low carb at Wendy's!
Guess what Wendy's does now......they take online orders! ? I have to say that fast food joints are really stepping up their game lately, but I digress.
Unfortunately, Wendy's menu isn't as intricate as McDonald's, so I wasn't able to get carb counts with just half buns. But I'd think that if there are no other high carb ingredients, you can safely deduct ? of the carbs when you toss half the bun.
If you remember from the McDonald's review, we are following 2 standard gestational diabetes diet rules:
- Avoid or strictly portion blood-sugar-spiking carbs.
- Carbs like sugar, bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, juice, fruit, soda, ice cream, baked goods, etc.
- Pair carbs with protein.
If it's not listed, it's just not right for the diet. Most of the items not listed were too high in carbs, but a few were too high in fat. I'm talking like 60g+ of fat (mostly from the beef or bacon). That's just not healthy for one meal.
I’ll walk through the menu choices below for beginners, but if you want to save time just download the quick reference PDF.
Wendy’s Low Carb Options
Quick Reference download
Stick it in your visor 🙂
Breakfast
Why didn't anyone tell me that Wendy's brought breakfast back.....and it looks UH-MAZING!!!! And guess what guys! There are a few breakfast choices that work for gestational diabetes!
Carbs | Protein | |
Sausage, Egg & Cheese Burrito | 24 | 14 |
Classic Bacon, Egg & Cheese Sandwich | 24 | 18 |
Classic Sausage, Egg & Cheese Sandwich | 25 | 22 |
Sausage Biscuit | 30 | 13 |
Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit | 30 | 17 |
Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit | 31 | 21 |
Since breakfast is the most important meal of the day when it comes to blood sugar, you want to be especially careful with the type of carbs you're eating.
Even though these carb counts are within limits, they're not super nutritious carbs because the bread and tortillas are made with white flour. Since you're coming off of a fast, toss half of the bun so your glucose doesn't spike.
As a side note, these are all pretty good options (except the Sausage Biscuit) because they come with an egg which is extra protein and really good vitamins and minerals.
Burgers
Carbs | Protein | |
Jr. Hamburger | 25 | 14 |
Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger | 25 | 19 |
Jr. Cheeseburger | 26 | 16 |
Double Stack | 26 | 25 |
Jr. Cheeseburger Deluxe | 27 | 16 |
Son of Baconator | 37* | 34 |
Dave's Single w/Cheese | 40* | 30 |
The Son of the Baconator and Single with Cheese show the total carbs but you should toss half of the bun so that you have more carbs left over to eat something else.
Chicken
Carbs | Protein | |
CRISPY | ||
Crispy Chicken Sandwich | 33 | 14 |
Crispy Chicken BLT | 35 | 20 |
WRAPS | ||
Grilled Chicken Wrap | 26 | 20 |
Spicy Chicken Wrap | 31 | 18 |
NUGGETS | ||
4 Crispy Chicken Nuggets | 10 | 9 |
6 Crispy Chicken Nuggets | 14 | 13 |
10 Crispy Chicken Nuggets | 24 | 22 |
GRILLED | ||
Grilled Asiago Ranch Chicken Club | 36* | 44 |
Grilled S'Awesome Bacon Chicken Sandwich | 37* | 45 |
Grilled Chicken Sandwich | 38* | 35 |
Grilled Avocado BLT Chicken Sandwich | 38* | 45 |
Crispy sandwiches will always have more carbs because they're breaded, so as a general rule you should toss half of the bun to save on some of those un-nutritious carbs.
The grilled chicken sandwiches are pretty high in carbs considering they're grilled. This is from the bun and condiments, so toss half of the bun here and you're good.
Salads
Fabulous news! All salad counts include toppings and dressings. ? Thanks Wendy's.
Size | Carbs | Protein | |
Parmesan Caesar Chicken Salad | Half | 9 | 29 |
Parmesan Caesar Chicken Salad | Full | 14 | 51 |
Southwest Avocado Chicken Salad | Half | 10 | 22 |
Southwest Avocado Chicken Salad | Full | 18 | 43 |
Garden Side Salad | 19 | 7 | |
Caesar Side Salad | 21 | 11 | |
Apple Pecan Chicken Salad | Half | 29 | 20 |
Berry Burst Chicken Salad | Half | 23 | 23 |
Berry Burst Chicken Salad | Full | 41 | 42 |
The salads are pretty well balanced when it comes to macro nutrients, but there are a few that are too low carb. Make sure you don't fill up on just the salad because you'll need to eat something else to get in an adequate amount of carbs. Try one of the sides below.
Sides
Size | Carbs | Protein | |
Apple Bites | 8 | 0 | |
Strawberries & Blueberries | 8 | 0 | |
Chili | Sm | 19 | 14 |
Chili | Lg | 29 | 21 |
French Fries | Jr | 30 | 3 |
The apples, berries and chili are all great choices!
Drinks
Remember that carbs in liquids are processed more quickly than carbs in foods, so drink carbs are limited to 10g to make the list.
Fresh Brewed Coffee | Lg | 0 | 1 |
Coca-Cola Zero Sugar | Lg | 1 | 0 |
Diet Coke | Lg | 1 | 0 |
Minute Maid Light Lemonade | Lg | 2 | 0 |
Iced Tea | Lg | 2 | 0 |
Cold Brew Iced Coffee | Lg | 5 | 1 |
Honest Kids Fruit Punch | 8 | 0 | |
1% Milk | 10 | 7 |
All of the sizes mentioned are large because they're still really low carb even in the large size, but feel free to get any smaller size.
Fast Food Series
Check out more fast food options here.
Where would you like me to review next?
Comment below!
Taylor
You should do Jack in the box, whataburger, burger king!
The Gestational Diabetic Chef
Hey Taylor! Sorry, I'm just seeing this. Thanks for the suggestions! I will jump on that this week and next.
Tim
What restaurant can I eat at if I h as be diabetes
The Gestational Diabetic Chef
Hi Tim! You can eat anywhere really: you just have to know how to balance your meals protein, carbs, fiber, and fat. Eating fast food and foods that are deep fried aren't great choices, but everything is okay in moderation. To show you what I mean by that - there were a few months this year when my life got hectic and I ate a lot of fast food. My fasting glucose rose to the prediabetic range as a result of that. I stopped eating so much fast food and now my fasting glucose is back in normal range.