It’s a night out with your friends and you decide to stop at McDonalds to get dinner. According to www.pamf.org, it’s the largest fast food chain in America. Do you realize how much junk your body is intaking and how much money you’re spending? This could all possibly lead to diseases.

Even though stopping at the local Wendy’s or Burger King for a snack or a quick lunch before a sport practice is a quick alternative to dinner, there are many other ways to eat your meal and stay healthy.

“If I ever decide to eat [fast food], I always make sure I work out after so it evens out,” Junior Jake Pinkerton said.

According to www.pamf.org, combined together, kids between the ages of six and 14 eat fast food nearly 157,000,000 times a month. It becomes often that all of your calories are taken in with one meal from a fast food restaurant. Why spend all of your money on one meal that’s going to cause you to intake the total amount of recommended calories for the day, if you count those. Where instead, you could home cook meals and only use a fraction of your calories for the day.

The classic Big Mac meal, featured at McDonald’s, costs $6.37. Instead of wasting your money, it would be easier to go to a local Wal-Mart or Shop ‘n Save and buy a container of ground meat and include all of the toppings for a Big Mac and buy a bag of french fries. Not only will a package of ground meat get you multiple meals, it will prevent the high calorie intake that normally comes from a Big Mac.

“Due to all of the preservatives, fillers and colors that are used to make your meal look more appealing, fast food is the worst thing to put into your body,” high school Spanish teacher Miss Ruthanne Gudzan said.

Panera Bread is considered to be a fast food restaurant, but it’s also one of the healthiest places to get a quick meal around. They serve many salads and sandwiches that aren’t as bad for you as a McDonalds, Burger King or Wendy’s meal is. A down side to Panera Bread is that they’re a little more expensive, but it would always be better to be spend a little more money than be unhealthy forever.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing to consume fast food every now and then, it’s when it becomes an unhealthy obsession that can turn into a problem.

“I consume fast food around three times a month, at the most four,” Pinkerton said.

Many teenagers work at fast food chain restaurants and it’s hard to not eat all of the food on break. Fighting the urge can be a challenging task, but it can help you in the long run.

Never forget the healthy alternative: a home cooked meal. Pinterest has tons of healthy ideas to a good meal. Next time you are urged to buy fast food try searching Pinterest for healthier alternatives.