Jack in the Box: Deluxe Hamburger with Cheese

I am an engineer not a scientist. That means I prefer practical knowledge over theory.

Here's my first and only rule of thumb for a "decently healthy meal" : No more than 30g of total fat per meal, with an occasional 5g extension being granted for certain entries.

I realize this is a grotesque oversimplification of dietary science...or that real low-fat diets require less fat than that PER DAY. Whatever, this is not the point of this exercise.

First item for today's discussion is Seasoned Curly Fries from Jack in the Box. Suffice to say, I LOVE THOSE!!!

Here are the calorie counts and grams of fat for small/med/large sizes respectively from the official nutrition guide:

Calories: 280/420/570
Fat: 15/24/32(!)

There ya have it, folks. The large portion will bust the limit by itself. The medium doesn't leave room for anything else except a spoonful of salad, either. The small size will only fit the limit with Hamburger or Hamburger with cheese (12 and 15grams respectively). Next time I go to Jack, I'll try that combo.

Today, I drove down to a local Jack in the Box and bought the Hamburger Deluxe with Cheese sandwich (430cals/25grams fat/$1.52) for the first time. It took me a while to find it because it is on the value menu rather than the main menu. For drink, I just made some coffee while I ate it in my office at work. All in all, the burger is bigger than the price would suggest and doesn't taste any worse than the 60+ grams fat offerings on the main menu, either.