Many people love to go out for lunch in their busy workday, but the number one issue with lunch on the run is that it can be laden with calories that you may not even be aware of. While many of us are trying to be healthy, we inadvertently overeat far too many calories, often more calories than we need in a day. We tend to make bad choices when we are hungry and many of us enjoy eating our favorite comfort foods. Either way, we tend to eat things that we think are healthy choices, but in truth we are making some seriously bad choices. Here are 9 high calorie lunch meals you should avoid:

Burger and Fries

A full beef burger made from regular ground beef with cheese and bacon can deliver as much as 1600 calories. Add fries to that and you are talking about a heart attack on a plate! The average person in America eats about three or four burgers per week! Choose a chicken burger, skip the fries and the bacon and choose a lower calorie cheese such as mozzarella.

Submarine Sandwich

Many chain restaurants tote these as a healthy choice, but once you add cheese, mayonaise, bacon and other toppings, the sandwich suddenly loses its healthy vibe. The size of these sandwiches can also add to the calorie load quickly and easily when you consider that you are consuming a twelve inch length of bread loaded with toppings that are less than healthy. A sub can be healthy, but only if you choose a 6 inch sub with poultry style meats, no cheese and no mayonaise. Be sure to choose whole wheat bread and avoid white bread.

Pizza

Pizza is loaded with greasy cheese and meats. The crusts are progressively thicker and can add up to a massive amount of calories. A slice of pizza can have up to 500 calories and when you consider that the average person consumes three to four slices, that is a lot of calories for lunch. Choose a thin crust option with sparse toppings or a vegetarian pizza with less cheese.

 Chicken Wings

These days many restaurants tend to bread their chicken wings and this can add a lot of calories. Chicken wings without breading are quite caloric when you take into account the oil in the skin of the chicken. Everyone thinks that chicken is low calorie, but definitely not if you are eating the skin. Always remove the skin from chicken before you eat it and choose white meat over dark meat.

Monte Cristo sandwich

This sandwich is comprised of two slices of bread that have been dipped in egg and fried and then stacked with a variety of meats and swiss cheese. If you ate a quarter of the sandwich, it might be enough calories for you for lunch, but most people will consume the entire sandwich. Choose a non-fried sandwich with poultry or low fat ham and avoid the Monte Cristo.

Soup and bread

Many restaurants serve soups that are cream based and very caloric that are also high in sodium. This deadly combination can carry a huge amount of calories and certainly more than a more safe choice like a broth soup. The bread that is served with the soup is usually thick-sliced and should be skipped altogether.

 Rice and steak sauce

You may think that you are eating a healthy meal, but the rice serving is three to four times what the average serving should be for the day. Steak sauce is highly addictive and tasty but contains a massive amount of sodium and cream to make the sauce extremely tasty. If you want to eat Japanese food, choose a vegetable stir fry type dish and a small amount of rice on the side.

Deep Fried anything

It does not matter what you plan to eat for lunch, the minute that it is saturated in oil and deep fried, it becomes extremely caloric and unhealthy. Avoid eating deep fried items that can become like heavy bricks in your stomach after you consume them and choose some lighter fare instead. Deep fried foods are bad for you because they can encourage plaque for form in your arteries which can lead to heart disease and put you at risk for a stroke or heart attack.

Salads

This may surprise you, but salad is not very healthy when you add dressings and toppings to it. Salads are good for you when you choose healthy oils such as olive oil and vinegar or lime juice. Avoid adding croutons, bacon bits and other toppings that can add a large amount of calories. Vegetables are very good for you, it is simply the extra items that are added tot he top of the salad as extras that can make the entire salad caloric and unhealthy.

The best lunch to choose is a light one. Skip the heavy high calorie lunches that you have been eating day in and day out. Choose instead to eat a lighter meal and get out for a walk after you finish eating to help the digestion process to begin. Your body will start to make use of the fuel that you have just consumed instead of storing it as fat. It can be surprising to learn that your favorite foods are unhealthy, but you should always inquire how a meal is prepared (fried, baked, broiled) and what kinds of oils are used to cook the food before you order it. Always be aware of what you are eating and never assume that it is low calorie unless you know what all the ingredients are.