NEW YORK – For fast-food diners watching their waistline, the value menu may be the way to go.

The Associated Press writes that value meal items aren’t as fattening as their premium menu counterparts, largely because value menus “generally aren’t as fattening simply because they tend to be more basic. Trading up” to the premium menu, notes the news source, “means you get more calories, whether it’s in the form of more meat, cheese or extras such as bacon.”

For example, the AP notes that at McDonald’s, the three sandwiches featured on the Dollar Menu are under 400 calories. A plain hamburger, meanwhile, is 250 calories and usually costs less than $1.

And at Wendy’s four out of five sandwiches on the value menu are less than 400 calories, “with a Jr. Cheeseburger being the lowest-calorie option at 290 calories and 99 cents.” By contrast, By contrast, a premium offering at the QSR — the new Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger — offers up about 680 calories and costs close to $5.

The news source also warns that fresh ingredients can still translate to high calorie meals. Take Chipotle, a company that stresses “food with integrity” and quality ingredients. “But a chicken burrito can easily top 1,000 calories, depending on toppings,” writes the AP.

At the end of the day, or the trip to the drive-thru, the amount of calories one should eat in a single meal differs depending on size and activity level, according to David Levitsky, a professor of nutrition and psychology at Cornell.