For every ounce of common sense inside of you that knows the last thing you should eat when trying to watch your weight is a deep-fried, battered piece of processed chicken “meat.” But don’t tell that to the folks at Weight Watchers who have actually given their seal of approval to three separate meals available at McDonald’s in New Zealand and Australia.

The McNugget isn’t the only questionable piece of breaded McDonald’s meat-on-a-bun that Weight Watchers has signed off on. They’ve also given the thumbs up to a meal featuring the Filet-O-Fish, made from the rare “squarefish.”

The third menu item, “sweet chilli [sic] seared chicken wrap,” may sound like the most diet-friendly item on the Weight Watchers menu, but it’s actually the worst.

According to McD’s own nutrition info, that wrap has 374 calories, 40.5 grams of carbohydrats, 9.8 g of fat and a salty 801 mg of sodium.

The Filet o Fish is slightly less bad for you at 330 calories, 32.4 g of carbs, 14.9 g of fat,
and 647 mg sodium.

Perhaps surprisingly, the 6-piece box-o-nuggets is the least hurtful. It’ll cost you 269 calories, 11.3 g of carbs, 12.9 g of fat, 405 mg of sodium. Even when throwing in another 47 calories, 10.7 g of carbs and 183 mg of sodium for a thingy of BBQ sauce, it’s still the least of the three options.

All three meals are partnered with a garden salad and a Diet Coke (because we all know how good diet drinks are for you) or a bottle of water.

Obviously, this news has drawn a lot of derision from people saying that Weight Watchers has devalued its own brand by approving of fast food. The partnership does has some defenders who say that Weight Watchers is merely showing people that even fast food — when consumed wisely — isn’t going to make you fat.

What do you think — Shouldn’t the focus be on eating healthier, not just eating slightly less junk food? Or is this just Weight Watchers being realists and demonstrating that you can occasionally enjoy a meal at McDonald’s?

Lose weight: eat McNuggets! [CityPages]

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