The Arby's Restaurant food chain is well known for its unique take on fast food; staring roast beef sandwiches. Leroy and Forrest Raffel opened the first Arby's in Boardman Ohio in 1964; serving roast beef sandwiches, potato chips, and Texas-sized iced teas. They decided to name their restaurant Arby's because it stands for the initials R.B., or Raffel Brothers.
One year after first opening their restaurant, the Raffel brothers sold their first franchise to Sam Feldman. Then, during the 1970's, the company added about another 50 stores per year, while they continued to expand their menu; including timeless favorites like the Beef 'n Cheddar, Curly Fries, and the Arby's Signature Sauce.
In 1981, Arby's opened its 1,000th store and introduced chicken on their menu for the first time.
Ten years later, Arby's was the first fast food chain to add a lite menu; featuring sandwiches and salads under 300 calories and 94% fat free. They were also the first to ban smoking in all of the company-owned businesses in 1994.
Then, in 1995, Arby's Foundation launched the Arby's Charity Tour (ACT) which encompassed a series of golf tournaments and other fundraising activities to help youth mentoring programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters.
The Arby's Company was bought by Triarc Companies, Inc in 1993, inspiring more menu expansion and strengthening the brand. In 2001, they introduced their Market Fresh Menu items. In 2005, the company introduced their "I'm Thinking Arby's" campaign, which featured their differences from other fast food chains and use of quality ingredients. During this year, the company also expanded into an Atlanta based company under the name of Arby's Restaurant Group, Inc.
Finally, in 2008, Triarc Company Inc merged with Wendy's International Inc., forming Arby's/Wendy's Group Inc., the third largest fast food company in the United States.
So how does Arby's measure up nutritionally? I want to finish this blog by talking about the nutritional value of some of Arby's more popular menu items.
Arby's Regular Roast Beef sandwich contains about 340 calories in each sandwich and 11 grams of fat, 4 grams of which are saturated. In addition to this, the sandwich also has about 40mg of cholesterol, 970mg of sodium, and 5 grams of sugar.
One of my favorite sandwiches at Arby's is the Regular size Beef n' Cheddar has about 420 calories and 18 grams of fat, 5 grams of which are saturated. It also has about 50mg of cholesterol, 1260mg of sodium, and 10 grams of sugar. I don't think I will be getting one of these any time soon… And keep in mind, these are the regular sized sandwiches!!
From their chicken menu, the Arby's Crispy Chicken Sandwich has a total of 530 calories and 25 grams of fat, 4 grams saturated. The sandwich is also packed with 60mg of cholesterol, 1310mg of sodium, and 6 grams of sugar.
From their Market Fresh Menu, the Roast Turkey and Swiss sandwich contains about 710 calories and 28 grams of fat, 7 grams saturated. The sandwich also has about 65mg cholesterol, 1780mg of sodium, and 18 grams of sugar. The Chopped Farmhouse Crispy Chicken Salad contains about 430 calories and 24 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat. It also has 65mg of cholesterol, 1150mg of sodium, and 5 grams of sugar. Looks like these "market fresh" options are not necessarily healthier as their names would suggest, in fact they are actually worse!
Finally, in their most popular side of curly fries (small size), you will find a total of 450 calories and 24 grams of fat, 3 grams saturated. In addition to this, the small curly fries also contain 20 mg cholesterol and 1160mg of sodium. Keep in mind this is the SMALL size, and it contains more in calories and in sodium than a regular size roast beef sandwich.
So what's the lesson to take away from today? Along with all other fast food joints, you really want to watch your caloric and sodium intakes when eating their menu items. In addition to this, be really skeptical of items marketed as being healthier than regular menu items. Sometimes the company is really disguising a product that is even worse for you and getting you to buy their products with the impression that you are eating healthy.
Exercise: This week, since I am working both Friday and Sunday, I decided to take today off of work in order to get some more work done at home. Tomorrow I will be doing a swim workout. So if you want to keep Friday's off, then go ahead and enjoy yourself a swim workout today!
Eat: Often times, we get caught up in eating the same kinds of foods that we grew up eating or that we know how to make. Today I want to encourage you to try out new recipe or a new type of food, especially some kind of international food. Today, Aaron made me one of his favorite Mexican meals: Arroz con Pollo (Chicken with Rice).
Relax: Tonight, Aaron and I are getting caught up on a new anime show that he introduced me to: Clannad. I recommend finding a show that you enjoy, whether it is a reality show or an anime type show and just relaxing for an hour or so watching it with someone. It's so nice to get caught up in a good story.The Arby's Restaurant food chain is well known for its unique take on fast food; staring roast beef sandwiches. Leroy and Forrest Raffel opened the first Arby's in Boardman Ohio in 1964; serving roast beef sandwiches, potato chips, and Texas-sized iced teas. They decided to name their restaurant Arby's because it stands for the initials R.B., or Raffel Brothers.
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