Eat This, Not That -- The Feeling's Gone Along with Temptation

Carry this 14-ounce book and drop 14 pounds or more. Is it possible? The simple and very effective layout of this book challenges readers to recognize healthier dining-out options.  The author doesn’t preach about staying clear of fast-food restaurants but instead provides decision-making tools for identifying substitutions. This is realistic; the author understands our busy lifestyles and addictions to convenient meals.

David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of the Men’s Health magazine and author The Abs Diet, extends a new gimmick for loosing weight, improving those dreaded blood chemistry exams, and feeling healthier.  The gimmick is so easy, it’s the Eat This, Not That! approach to food.  This doesn’t stop with fast food and chain restaurants, it continues into thematic restaurants, grocery stores, and home.  

Zinczenko, along with Matt Goulding, claims to have thousands of simple food swaps that can save you 10, 20, 30 pounds—or more! 

Here’s how it works. 
You’re running errands, you missed lunch, and you plan to make it to dinner without snacking.  Somewhere around mid-afternoon the low-blood sugar feeling associated with hunger strikes. Right in front of you is a Schlotzsky’s.  You feel really good about this knowing that Schlotzsky’s has healthy wraps, after all you’re also trying to do what everyone over 40 tries.  You’re watching your weight and trying to eat healthy.  In you go and two wraps seem healthy, the Mediterranean Tuna Wrap and the Parmesan Chicken Caesar Salad Wrap.  If you had Zinczenko’s book in the car you would know this is one of those Eat This, Not That moments.

Option one, the Mediterranean Tuna Wrap has 440 calories, 14 grams of fat and 1,304 mg of sodium.  Option two, the Parmesan Chicken Caesar Salad Wrap has 630 calories, 33 grams of fat and 1,620 mg of sodium.  What do we need to know?  The tuna in Option 1 is “bound in a fat-free spicy ranch dressing making this a healthier option than traditional tuna salad.”  Option 2, “the chicken’s not the offender here, it’s the salty, fatty Caesar dressing that does this wrap in.”

Fast-Food Kings and Queens
The authors explore all types of restaurants from the obvious, Arby’s, to Burger King to Wendy’s, to the less-than-obvious, Auntie Anne’s, Ben & Jerry’s, Chipotle’s, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Krispy Kreme, Pizza Hut, Ruby Tuesday, Subway, and Uno Chicago Grill. More than 61 national chains are investigated.  Not all offer nutritional content – the author went elsewhere to get answers.  But you know, if you are forced to eat at McDonalds or Blimpie, the Eat This side of the two-page spread for both offers four healthier options. The opposite page offers four Not That! selections to avoid.

At Blimpie you can eat a grilled chicken eight-inch subway with seafood salad, tomato basil with raviolini soup and tossed salad, or Bluffin™ with egg and cheese; stay away their chicken Caesar wrap and macaroni salad, chicken soup with white and wild rice on a honey oat roll, and croissant with egg, sausage & cheese.  Info boxes explain why for both the good and the bad.

Nearly every page offers little tricks, did-you-knows, menu decoders, and my favorites, the Weapon of Mass Destruction (framed by a bomb) or the Hidden Danger. At On the Border the Dos XX Fish Tacos with Rice and Beans sound healthy – I’d consider ordering it. Zinczenko states this is “hands down, the worst fish dish in America.” It has 2,100 calories, 130 g of fat (35 g saturated) and—hold on to your blood pressure—4,760 mg of sodium for a single meal.  He recommends instead asking for grilled fish and substituting the rice and beans with veggies; he doesn’t tell you to leave but look for alternatives.

Each page is filled with shocking and extremely helpful information. Every restaurant has its good and bad options if you know how to order.

The book is square, relatively small, with slightly more than 300 colorful pages.   The introduction claims this to be a weight-loss coach that you can carry in your pocket.  I agree.  Just think of the calories we could drop if only we knew how to make wise substitutions. He identifies swaps that work if you eat at McDonald’s, Domino’s/Pizza Hut, Subway/Panera, Taco Bell/Chipotle (Taco Bell wins), Panera/Chili’s, McDonald’s/Starbucks (the Egg McMuffin trumps the Starbuck’s Classic Sausage, Egg & Aged-Cheddar Breakfast Sandwich). 

What about foods you should eat every day and foods you should avoid at all costs?  
He recommends eight must-eats and 20 must-avoids. The 20 Worst Foods fall in categories such as worst fast-food chicken meal, worst drink, worst “healthy” burger, and I love the worst gut bombs to go. Not only does he list them, but lists why.  You know those delicious Cinnabon Classic Cinnamon Rolls that tempt you like the Pied Piper of the Airport? They offer a sugar lift that will crash you hard (remember you’re about to board an airplane) while providing you with 813 calories for one roll with 32 grams of fat and 117 grams of carbs. 

Clarification of Descriptions
Following the section with 60-plus restaurants we find what I consider to be the most helpful content.  We don’t eat at that many chain restaurants but we do eat at local pizza, BBQ, Thai, Chinese, Mexican, and breakfast restaurants.  The Menu Decoder highlights favorite items found on most menus and interprets the descriptions.  Some “avoids” are obvious; some recommendations for eating surprised me.  Most Mexican menus offer guacamole as an optional topping.  Guacamole has avocados, which are “high in fat, but the monounsaturated kind, so (like olive oil) it’s good for your heart. Also contains Vitamin E, a disease-fighting antioxidant.” The menu decoder continues through special occasion and holiday meals. (I knew Turkey Day was bad, but my pumpkin pie choice over pecan pie help so my meal isn’t as bad as it could be—it’s still bad.)

Continuing through the book Zinczenko returns to the Eat This, Not That! approach in the grocery.  This includes cereal, yogurt, snacks, cookies, ice-cream, frozen meals and entrées, cheese, condiments, and beverages.  They all have good and bad options—each based upon caloric content as well as fat and sodium, but also nutritional benefits such as carotenoids, beneficial bacteria, and antioxidant lycopenes. Vague language becomes understandable without a lot of technical terms. This is easy to use.

Back to that hungry moment in the car…
…or maybe that moment when you’re feeling sad, or stressed — what would be the best thing to eat?  Again Zinczenko offers Eat This, Not That! choices to consider. If you want a brain boost, perhaps blueberries, salmon, or even coffee works better than sugary ice cream. If you want to “get in the mood” or cure a hangover, or have a baby, he provides nutritional recommendations to ponder.

David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding are both editors at Men’s Health and a lot of their research and resulting content are based upon current trends and thoughts regarding nutrition.  I’m always cautious about anything that suddenly claims watermelon will help prevent prostate problems. It might, but the suspicious me suspects that next year they'll say it's linked to a health problem. Chocolate, red wine, and coffee have been good and bad foods during the past ten years of research.  HOWEVER, I do recognize the value of making the right choices when life throws you an apple fritter moment framed by glazed doughnut holes and you can't run away.

I'm not necessarily going to use this as an excuse to run out to a fast-food restaurant, but....
The “did-you-know’s” will have me wondering but also paying closer attention to the menus of all of my favorite restaurants.  The next time I’m traveling and starving for an egg and protein fix I just might break a rule and visit McDonald’s for an Egg McMuffin® with around 300 calories. My initial response to Eat This, Not That! was one of doubt, but I appreciate their practical approach to busy schedules. Inappropriate eating happens but we can make it better without always returning home to cook a balanced meal. This is more than dropping weight, it's also about improving our blood chemistry and reducing fat in our blood as well as on our hips. Perhaps 14 pounds will disappear if I tote (and use) this 14-ounce book around for the next year.