The New American Diet on the Road
Your guide to eating smart at every restaurant chain in America
It took Genghis Khan a mere 25 years to conquer most of the known world—more territory than the Romans conquered in four centuries. And Khan and his Mongol hordes seized so much of the globe not because they had nifty new bow-and-arrow sets, or because their warrior helmets were scarier than that of other armies. They conquered for one simple reason: They knew how to eat on the road.
“To paraphrase Napoleon, an army travels on its stomach,” says Jack Weatherford, Ph.D., best-selling author of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. “Even today, when you ask Mongols how they were able to conquer so much of the world so quickly, they say, ‘Because the people we conquered ate mostly carbohydrates—bread and rice—while we ate meat. Red meat.’”
Now, you may not find yourself leading a band of Mongol savages to pillage and plunder the world. But you may have to, say, drive a handful of teens to the mall, which is basically the same thing. And when the hordes get hungry and start rattling their sabers in the back seat of the Toyota, you need to make some quick leadership decisions, food-wise.
The ideal way to stick to the New American Diet when eating out is to choose restaurants that serve local, organic fare—and there are plenty of them! Go to eatwellguide.org to find local, sustainable, organic foods on the road.
But until mainstream chain restaurants stop serving the fat-promoting Old American Diet, you’ll need to have a few tricks up your sleeve. Simply follow these three New American Dining Rules:
1. Choose the Clean Fifteen. Base your restaurant orders and buffet selections around the fruits and vegetables that have been shown to have the least pesticide residues—eggplant, broccoli, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, sweet corn, asparagus, sweet peas, cabbage, avocados, pineapples, mangoes, kiwi, papaya, and watermelon.
2. Eat lean. Since it’s hard to find grass-fed, organic, or antibiotic-and hormone-free beef in most restaurants, choose the leanest cuts of beef and avoid any cut with the word “prime” in it, because it’s sure to pack a ton of blubber—and that’s where most of the chemicals and hormones are hiding. Choose top sirloin, 95 percent lean ground beef, bottom round roast, eye round roast, top round roast, or sirloin tip steak. Bison burgers, chicken breast, and veggie burgers are your best bets when grass-fed beef isn’t available.
3. Ask where the fish comes from. If they can’t tell you, you’re better off skipping it. But if you’re craving some seafood, choose sustainable fish species with low obesogen levels, such as farmed rainbow trout, farmed mussels, anchovies, scallops (bay or farmed), Pacific cod, Pacific halibut, tuna (in packets, not cans), and mahimahi.
We’ve looked at the menus of some of the most popular restaurants in the country and applied the three New American Dining Rules. Keep in mind that none of these places are likely to serve local or organic fare—which is really what you should seek when eating out. But in a pinch, here’s the healthiest way to order on the road:
Applebee’s
Applebee’s is one of several restaurants still holding out on revealing most of its nutritional information to customers. Really, Applebee’s? You want us to put your product into our bodies, but you won’t tell us what’s in it? We took advantage of New York legislation requiring chain restaurants to publish calorie counts to find out what they’re hiding.
Order: Garlic Herb Chicken = 370 calories
Avoid: Oriental Chicken Rollup = 1,550 calories
Arby’s
They have eliminated harmful trans fats from their cooking oil, but don’t start clearing space on the shelf for a trophy just yet, Arby’s. The restaurant doesn’t offer a single side that hasn’t had a hot oil bath, and any added oil means added calories. Plus, remember what the Mongols said about eating too many carbohydrates: Arby’s oversized breads in their Market Fresh Sandwiches add an extra 360 calories, turning these sandwiches into magic belly inflators.
Order: Ham & Swiss Melt = 268 calories
Avoid: Pecan Chicken Salad Sandwich = 870 calories
Au Bon Pain
Eating at Au Bon Pain is like playing Deal or No Deal: One selection could be really rewarding, another could send you home with a heavy feeling inside. But unlike Howie Mandel, Au Bon Pain gives its customers a cheat sheet—each store has an on-site nutritional kiosk to help customers understand what they’re eating.
Order: Jamaican Black Bean Soup = 250 calories (440 mg sodium)
Avoid: BBQ Brisket Harvest Rice Bowl = 790 calories (1,560 mg sodium)
Baja Fresh
About a third of the items on Baja’s menu have more than 1,000 calories, and most are saltier than a Joan Rivers monologue. Order the Steak Fajitas, for instance, and you’re looking at 3,440 milligrams of sodium—nearly 2 days’ worth in one sitting! In fact, if you have a choice, avoid almost everything on this menu, preferably by eating somewhere else. The only good options are the chicken or pork tacos.
Order: Baja Chicken Tacos (2) = 420 calories
Avoid: Charbroiled Steak Nachos = 2,120 calories
Blimpie
We applaud Blimpie for at least picking a name that represents what its food can do to the human body. Several subs on its menu top the 1,000-calorie mark—that’s nearly half your daily calorie intake—and some of its sandwiches have more than two times the amount of sodium you should get in a day. When ordering here, it’s wise to skip the wraps, the super stacks, and most of the hot sandwiches. And no matter which sandwich you choose, swap out mayo or oil for mustard.
Order: Turkey Avocado (6”) = 381 calories
Avoid: Super Stacked Blimpie Best (12”) = 1,045 calories (4,256 mg sodium!)
Boston Market
Boston Market looks and smells like healthy, home-cooked food—as if Grandma made it herself. And that might be true, if your grandmother was really clumsy and accidentally spilled bags of sugar into everything on the stove. Only two of the menu options don’t have added sugar: the roasted turkey and the roasted sirloin.
Order: Roasted Turkey = 150 calories
Avoid: Crispy Country Chicken Carver = 1,020 calories
Burger King
Sorry, Whopper fans: All in all, BK is the least healthy of the three major burger chains. The King has a habit of smearing 160 calories’ worth of mayonnaise on just about everything, but if you get into the habit of saying “hold the mayo” just twice a week, and change absolutely nothing else about your lifestyle, a year from now you’ll still weigh almost 5 pounds less. Wow.
Order: Tendergrill Chicken Sandwich without Mayo = 380 calories
Avoid: Triple Whopper Sandwich with Cheese = 1,250 calories
Chick-Fil-A
One of the best go-to fast-food joints out there. Between the breakfast and lunch menus, only three entrées break the 500-calorie barrier (the sausage biscuit and its baconstrewn cohort, and the Chick-n-Strips Salad with ranch dressing). There are also plenty of sides to choose from, so let the New American Diet Superfoods be your guide.
Order: Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich = 270 calories
Avoid: Chick-n-Strips Salad with Buttermilk Ranch Dressing = 800 calories
Chili’s
The Guiltless Grill menu is Chili’s admirable attempt to offer healthier options, but even there the average entrée carries 1,320 milligrams of sodium.
Order: Fajita Pita Chicken = 455 calories
Avoid: Crispy Honey-Chipotle Chicken Crispers = 1,960 calories
Chipotle
Chipotle gets the New American Diet Award for being one of the few fast-food joints to use hormone-free dairy and meat from responsible, sustainable purveyors like Niman Ranch. But that doesn’t mean you can just order blindly. The backbones of Chipotle’s menu—the 290-calorie flour tortillas, the 130-calorie servings of white rice, and the 570-calorie chips—can easily lead to a 1,000-calorie burrito. Since you have the power to direct the food preparation itself, ask for a “burrito bowl” (no tortilla), limit the amount of rice, and pile up the fresh salsa, beans, lettuce, guacamole, and grilled vegetables, and you’re in New American Diet heaven.
Order: Crispy Tacos (3) with Carnitas, Black Beans, Lettuce, and Salsa = 515 calories
Avoid: Carnitas Fajita Burrito with Rice, Beans, Corn Salsa, Cheese, Sour Cream, and Guacamole = 1,205 calories
Così
Così. Like “cozy.” Like your couch. Where you’ll want to lie down after eating. While this chain recently unveiled the new Lighten Up! menu to rein in some of its more insane calorie counts, Così still offers some egregious foods—like the breakfast menu’s oversized mu& ns or sandwiches. Every sandwich flanked by Così’s Etruscan Whole Grain Bread is saddled with an extra 470 calories from the thick slab of carbs.
Order: Turkey Light Sandwich = 390 calories
Avoid: Meatball Pesto Flatbread Pizza = 1,984 calories
Denny’s
Do you want to eat menu items that feature the word “slam” in them? Can’t you just hear it hitting your gut like a baseball bat? Denny’s famous Slam breakfasts all top 800 calories, and the burgers are even worse. The double cheeseburger carries 116 grams of fat, 7 of which are trans fat. Your best bets: Focus on the Fit Fare menu, or stick to the sirloin, grilled chicken, or soups. For breakfast, order a Veggie Cheese Omelette or create your own meal from à la carte options such as fruit, oatmeal, toast, and eggs.
Order: Two-Egg Breakfast with Grits = 460 calories
Avoid: Super Grand Slamwich = 1,320 calories
Domino’s
Common sense should rule your decision-making here: Oversized crusts, fatty meats, and greasy shag carpets of cheese do exactly what you’d expect them to do. But Domino’s Crunchy Thin Crust cheese pizza is one of the lowest-calorie pies in America, which makes a sound foundation for a decent dinner. Just avoid the breadsticks and Domino’s appalling line of pasta bread bowls and oven-baked sandwiches.
Order: Thin Crust Pizza with Ham and Pineapple (2 slices of a medium pizza) = 310 calories
Avoid: Chicken Bacon Ranch Oven-Baked Sandwich = 890 calories
Dunkin’ Donuts
The doughnut king cast out the trans fat in 2007 and has been pushing the menu toward healthier options since—including the DDSmart Menu, which introduces protein-packed flatbread sandwiches. Your best bet is to stick to the sandwiches served on flatbread or English mu& ns. But, buyer beware: The eggs in the sandwich aren’t just eggs. They’re eggs, milk, soy oil, modified food starch, xanthan gum, and other ingredients. (See why it’s better to cook at home?) Also, if you must order doughnuts, always opt for the raised kind over their more caloric cake counterparts.
Order: Egg and Cheese on an English Muffin = 320 calories
Avoid: Sausage Supreme Omelet and Cheese on a Bagel = 690 calories
Einstein Bros. Bagels
At Einstein Bros., the theory of relativity applies—i.e., what’s “relatively” okay to eat is still pretty bad for you. A bagel has twice as many carbohydrate calories as a doughnut, and even the few bagel-free options pack more than 500 calories. The best lunch option is the pairing of half a deli sandwich and a cup of soup. Add to that a side of fruit salad and you’ll have a well-rounded meal for around 400 calories.
Order: Half Albacore Tuna Salad Sandwich and a Cup of Chicken Noodle Soup = 350 calories
Avoid: Rachel Specialty Sandwich = 1,030 calories
IHOP
Ground Zero of the Old American Diet obesity epidemic. Crepes with 1,000 calories? Breakfasts with 1,200 calories? Crispy Chicken Strips with 1,800 calories? Really, IHOP? A much better bet is to support your local small business: Go to a family diner and order an omelet. But should you find yourself held hostage by a band of militant IHOP enthusiasts, play it safe and stick to the “IHOP for Me” menu, where you’ll find the nutritional content for a small selection of healthier items.
Order: IHOP for Me Garden Scramble = 440 calories
Avoid: Big Bacon Omelette = 1,430 calories
Jack in the Box
A great argument for eating at home more often: Hungry for bacon and cheese on a baked potato? You’re happily in New American Diet territory, especially if your meat and dairy
come from sustainable sources. But order a side of Bacon Cheddar Potato Wedges at Jack in the Box and you’ll clog your arteries with 13 grams of trans fat, which is about six times the daily limit set by the American Heart Association! (What kind of box is Jack in, anyway? Is it 6 feet under?) Whatever you do, don’t touch the fried foods.
Order: Whole-Grain Chicken Fajita Pita = 320 calories
Avoid: Double Bacon and Cheese Ciabatta Burger = 1,063 calories
KFC
First it got rid of the word “fried” in its name. Now KFC is offering up healthy fare in its restaurants as well. Go the skinless route or pal up with a Chicken Snacker or a Toasted Sandwich. Then adorn your plate with one of the Colonel’s healthy sides: corn on the cob, three-bean salad, or KFC Mean Greens.
Order: Honey BBQ KFC Snacker = 210 calories
Avoid: Chicken and Biscuit Bowl = 780 calories
Long John Silver’s
Arrgh! Trans fats cling to nearly everything, much like a pirate clings to his treasure chest. Except in this case, it’s fool’s gold. A snack-size box of Breaded Clam Strips means 7 grams of trans fat for your bloodstream. (That thud was your cardiologist passing out.) The only fish that avoid the trans fat oils are those that are grilled or baked. (And LJS isn’t particularly good at offering environmentally sustainable fish choices either.) If you have to, order an unfried option and pair it with a healthy side. If you need some extra flavor, choose cocktail sauce or malt vinegar over tartar sauce.
Order: Baked Cod (1 piece) = 120 calories
Avoid: Ultimate Fish Sandwich = 530 calories
McDonald’s
Here’s proof that consumer education can move companies in the right direction. Ever since books like Fast Food Nation and movies like Supersize Me targeted Mickey D’s, the company has stepped up in a big way. The trans fat is mostly gone, and there are more healthy options such as salads and yogurt parfaits—but don’t cut loose just yet. Too many items still top the 500-calorie mark, you can’t find a bun without highfructose corn syrup, and the breakfast sandwiches are made with “liquid margarine,” which basically consists of liquid soybean oil, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, soy, salt, and some preservatives…a cocktail of obesogens. Your best bet is to stick to the small all-beef patties and skip the fries and soda (which add an average of 590 calories onto any meal).
Order: Hamburger = 250 calories
Avoid: Angus Bacon Cheeseburger = 790 calories
Olive Garden
It sounds so idyllic: “Olive Garden.” But when a typical entrée packs an average of 905 calories (and that’s before you factor in appetizers, sides, drinks, and desserts), you’d be wise to pause at the door and consider other dining options. Luckily, OG introduced its Garden Fare Options where you can find at least one dinner item, the Venetian Apricot Chicken, for under 400 calories. But even this menu has 700-and 800-calorie options. Your best bet is to choose from the appetizer menu and have a glass of wine.
Order: Mussels di Napoli and a cup of Pasta e Fagioli = 310 calories
Avoid: Pork Milanese = 1,510 calories
On the Border
After looking over its nutritional information, we were on the border between eating here or just injecting lard directly into our arteries. Appetizers with 120 grams of fat, salads with a
full day’s worth of sodium, and taco entrées with no less than 1,100 calories make a mockery of typically healthful Mexican fare. The Border Smart Menu highlights five items with less than 600 calories and 25 grams of fat. Those aren’t great numbers considering they average 1,600 milligrams of sodium apiece, but that’s all you’ve got to work with.
Order: Grilled Fajita Chicken with black beans and grilled veggies = 570 calories
Avoid: Dos XX Fish Tacos with Creamy Red Chile Sauce = 2,350 calories
Outback Steakhouse
What does Outback have to hide? It’s hard to say exactly, but the restaurant has steadfastly refused to offer any nutritional information on any of its food. Amazing, isn’t it, that they want you to put this stuff into your body, but won’t tell you what you’re eating? And while Australian beef is often grass-fed, that’s not where Outback gets its meat, mate—it’s straight from grain-fed, hormone-infused, antibiotic-stuffed industrial farms. The combination of nutritional recalcitrance and concerns about beef-related obesogens makes it hard for us to recommend anything to eat at this makebelieve Down Under chophouse.
Panda Express
Every meal comes slopped atop more than 400 calories of rice and noodles that form the foundation of each entrée. Scrape these starches from the plate, and Panda Express starts to look a lot healthier: Only one entrée item has more than 500 calories, and there’s hardly a trans fat on the menu. Avoid the all-brown food plate by swapping out the ice cream scoop of rice for the mixed veggies, and you’re pretty safe.
Order: Mushroom Chicken with a side of mixed veggies = 290 calories
Avoid: Orange Chicken with fried rice = 1,025 calories
Panera Bread
Even though its shops seem light and modern, with the comfy chairs and the “artisan” breads and the free Wi-Fi, Panera is stuck in Old American Diet thinking. Some of the sandwiches push into quadruple digits, and a train-length list of brownies, pastries, and cookies almost qualifies Panera as a dessert shop. A good rule to follow at this bread shop is to avoid anything with bread in it. For lunch, skip the stand-alone sandwich and either pair a soup and salad or take the soup and half-sandwich combo.
Order: Half an Asian Sesame Chicken Salad with a cup of Vegetarian Black Bean Soup = 405 calories
Avoid: Chipotle Chicken Sandwich on Artisan French Bread = 1,030 calories
Papa John’s
A big New American Diet ovation for Papa John’s as the only pizza franchise to offer a whole-wheat crust, thus providing a viable, fiber-rich option to pizza lovers the country over. (Come on, Pizza Hut guys!) Combine that with an innovative list of healthy toppings—including the surprisingly lean spinach Alfredo—and you see plenty of smart options on the menu. But Papa John’s undoes its own good deeds with treacherous dipping sauces, belly-building breadsticks, and 400-calorie-a-slice pan-crust pizza.
Order: Garden Fresh Whole-Wheat Crust Pizza (1 slice) = 210 calories
Avoid: The Meats Pan-Crust Pizza (1 slice) = 440 calories
P.F. Chang’s
The downside of Chinese family-style eating is that sometimes we forget to share with the family. (A quick look at the calorie counts might make you think this is light fare, but the portions are sometimes four times the serving size!) But there’s a great variety of low-cal appetizers and an ordering flexibility that allows for easy substitutions and tweaks. Earn bonus points by tailoring your dish to be light on the oil and sauce.
Order: Stir-Fried Eggplant = 288 calories (96 per serving, but you get three servings per plate)
Avoid: Crispy Honey Chicken = 336 calories per serving (but you’ll get six servings, which is 2,016 calories on your plate)
Pizza Hut
In an attempt to push the menu beyond the ill-reputed pizza, Pizza Hut expanded into toasted sandwiches, pastas, and salads. Sound like an improvement? Think again. Every sandwich has at least 680 calories and 75 percent of your day’s sodium. The salads aren’t much better, and the pastas are actually worse. The thin-crust pizzas and the Fit n’ Delicious menu offer redemption with sub-200-calorie slices. Eat a couple of those and you’ll be doing just fine.
Order: Ham, Red Onion & Mushroom Fit n’ Delicious Pizza (2 slices) = 320 calories
Avoid: All Personal PANormous Pizzas: All more than 1,000 calories
Quiznos
Some of these subs can go nuclear. A close look at Quiznos’ nutritional information shows that some of its bigger subs can easily carry a full day’s worth of saturated fat and close to 2 days’ worth of sodium, and the oversized salads aren’t much better. Good thing Quiznos also provides an alternative. The sub shop’s Sammies are served on flatbreads, and they all fall between 200 and 300 calories apiece. Avoid the salads, large subs, and soups that come in bread bowls. Stick with a small sub (at 310 calories) or pair a Sammie with a cup of soup.
Order: Sonoma Turkey Flatbread Sammie = 280 calories
Avoid: Roasted Chicken with Honey Mustard Flatbread Salad = 1,070 calories
Red Lobster
Red Lobster has a strong roster of low-calorie, high-protein fish and seafood entrées, plus a number of healthy sides to boot, earning the distinction of one of America’s healthiest sit-down chain restaurants. The key to making Red Lobster work for you is to focus on its more pesticide-free, sustainable choices (like the lobster itself ) and avoid pesticideridden shrimp and soy-fed Atlantic salmon, as well as calorieheavy Cajun sauces, combo dishes, and anything labeled “crispy.” And tell the waiter to keep those biscuits for himself. Your best bet is to go with simple broiled or grilled fish and a vegetable side.
Order: Grilled or Broiled Rainbow Trout (half portion) = 225 calories
Avoid: Admiral’s Feast =1,506 calories
Ruby Tuesday
If you hanker for a burger, go somewhere else. This chain’s off erings average 76 grams of fat apiece—more than enough to exceed the USDA’s recommended limit for an entire day. Even the veggie and turkey burgers have more than 900 calories! The chain rounds out its menu with a selection of appetizers that hover around 1,000 calories, a smattering of high-impact entrées such as potpie and ribs, and an egregious selection of salads that are just as bad.
Order: Petite Sirloin = 285 calories
Avoid: Colossal Burger = 2,014 calories
Sonic
Why do Sonic’s onion rings taste like that? It’s sugar. Sugar! On the onion rings! What the hell, Sonic? Plus, most of its burgers nudge up against the 1,000-calorie threshold; the sides menu, with a fat-loaded lineup of fries and tots, will push you well beyond that. Then, if you settle on a shake or a sugar-spiked “fruit” drink to wash down your lunch, you may
have just doubled your caloric intake. It’s best to view Sonic as a quick-stop snack shop, because full-on meals can be dangerous. The Jr. Banana Split makes an awesome treat with only 180 calories, and the small Real Fruit Slushes are about 210 calories or less (lemon, lime, or strawberry).
Order: Grilled Chicken Wrap = 380 calories
Avoid: Super Sonic Cheeseburger with mayo = 980 calories
Starbucks
Starbucks’ coffee drinks are like cars, electronics, or marriage partners: The more bells and whistles they come with, the more they’ll cost you in the end. Its signature line of drinks typically involves injecting espresso with massive loads of sugary syrup and milk. Plus, its selection of mu& ns and pastries leaves much to be desired. That said, Starbucks has recently begun offering more nutritious items, such as oatmeal, specialty drinks made with skim milk, and in-store pamphlets instructing customers on how to cut calories from their favorite drinks. There’s no beating a regular cup of joe (5 calories) or unsweetened tea (0 calories), but if you need more, go for a regular cappuccino, order the tall or grande, and skip the syrups. As for food, go with Perfect Oatmeal or a Spinach, Roasted Tomato, Feta, and Egg Sandwich.
Order: Tall whole-milk cappuccino = 110 calories
Avoid: Tall Salted Caramel Signature Hot Chocolate with whip = 500 calories
Subway
If Jared was able to shed 245 pounds on his own Subway diet, then surely you can find a decent meal to keep your gut in check. But beware of what researchers call the “health halo.” Patrons who believe they’re eating in a healthy place tend to reward themselves with extra cheese, mayonnaise, and soda,
Avoid the halo shine and you’ll be fine at Subway. Stick to 6-inch cold subs made with ham, turkey, roast beef, or chicken. Be sure to load up on veggies and skip the fattening sauces and dressings (calorie counts at Subway don’t include cheese, mayo, or dressings).
Order: Ham sandwich on nine-grain with all the veggies you want = 290 calories
Avoid: Footlong meatball with cheese = 1,260 calories
Taco Bell
Here’s some good news: The next time you run for the border, you don’t have to run all the way home to burn off the calories. Taco Bell provides plenty of paths to keep your meal at less than 500 calories. The best way to do it is to stick with the Fresco menu, where no single item exceeds 350 calories. Stay away from the Grilled Stuft Burritos, food served in a bowl, and anything prepared with multiple “layers.” Instead, order any combination of two of the following: crunchy tacos, bean burritos, or anything on the Fresco menu.
Order: Fresco Ranchero Chicken Soft Tacos (2) = 340 calories
Avoid: Fiesta Taco Salad = 840 calories
T.G.I. Friday’s
We’d love to recommend something to eat at Friday’s, but the restaurant won’t let us. Well, let’s clarify that: The company refuses to share its nutritional information with the people whom they want to ingest its food. (That’s sort of like buying a house without knowing what shape the roof is in.) For now, keep shopping.
Wendy’s
The best thing about Wendy’s is that when it comes up with a bad-for-you food, it gives it a bad-for-you name. There’s just no
excuse for claiming you didn’t know “The Baconator” was
going to make you fat. Wendy’s also offers plenty of smart
options and side dishes, such as chili and mandarin oranges, plus
a handful of Jr. Burgers that don’t stray far over 300 calories.
Order: Large chili and a mandarin orange cup = 360 calories
Avoid: Triple with everything and cheese = 960 calories
10 NEW AMERICAN DIET RESTAURANT SURVIVAL STRATEGIES
Whether you find yourself in the drive-through or the local sushi den, use these immutable rules to navigate the many nutritional land mines waiting for you in the restaurant world.
1. Turn down the bribe
Would you take a load of bread in exchange for doing something unhealthy? That’s what happens every time you nosh from the bread basket at a restaurant. But you can reverse that effect by ordering protein as an appetizer and skipping the carbs. A study published in Physiology & Behavior showed that people who ate a protein-heavy appetizer consumed an average of 16 percent fewer calories in their entrées than those who loaded up with carbohydrates. The effect is spoiled, though, if you wolf down a bunch of greasy chicken strips. Look for something that hasn’t been deep-fried or slathered with cheese.
2. Beware of the booze
Drinking brings two downers (three if you wind up as one of those celebrity DUI mugshots): First, because your body sees alcohol as a toxin, it works to burn those calories first—meaning that the calories in the food you eat alongside the booze are more likely to be stored as fat. We’re talking a lot of calories: The standard cocktail has anywhere from 200 to 500 calories, yet those who drink before a meal actually wind up eating more come chow time. Researchers in the Netherlands gave people a pre-meal treatment of booze, food, water, or nothing. Those who had the booze spent more time eating, began feeling full later in the meal, and consumed an average of 192 extra calories.
3. Remember, “medium” is already “supersized”
According to data collected by the Nationwide Food Consumption Survey, food portions are growing. Hamburgers, for instance, have grown by 97 calories since 1977. French fries
have grown by 68 calories. The problem is that, as the research points out, people don’t necessarily stop eating when they’re full. Students at Cornell were given access to an all-you-can-eat buffet and told to go to town. Researchers took note of how much they ate, and the following week, they served the same students portions of either equal size, 25 percent bigger, or 50 percent bigger. Those with 25 percent more food ate 164 more calories, and those with 50 percent more food ate an extra 221 calories.
4. Talk, share, chew
Like a cranky dial-up server from 1994, your stomach delivers messages very, very slowly. It takes about 20 minutes for your belly to tell your brain that you’re full. That means you need to eat slowly so your brain gets the message before you’ve overeaten. That shouldn’t be hard—just set your fork down every now and again and tell one of the many adventurous stories from your childhood. Told them already? Make up some new ones, like that time Molly Ringwald or Judd Nelson beat you out for a role in The Breakfast Club. (That really happened, right?)
5. Nachos? They’re not yours!
A basket of chips at the Mexican joint can ring you up about 500 calories, which can easily double the impact of an entrée. Makes you want to cry in your guac, doesn’t it?
6. Ignore the combo mumbo jumbo
At every fast-food restaurant, as soon as you decide on an entrée, expect to face some variation of this question: “Would you like to make it a combo meal?” Of course, you’re tempted. This is the modern-day equivalent of supersizing, wherein you get an average of 55 percent more calories for 17 percent more money. It’s also the cheapest way to get fat in a hurry. Just say no.
7. Drink responsibly
angers of soda, but here’s what you might not realize: A cup of sweetened tea is only marginally better than a Pepsi. Each glass you drink with dinner adds about 120 calories to your meal, and the same goes for juice. In fact, America’s love affair with flavored drinks adds 450 calories to our
daily diet, according to a study from the University of North Carolina. That’s an extra 47 pounds of body mass to burn off (or not) each year. Switch to water, though, and enjoy the opposite effect: The more you drink, the more you shrink. Choose accordingly.
8. Focus on the foundation
What separates a thin man’s pizza from a fat man’s pizza? Here’s a hint: It has nothing to do with toppings or cheese. Nope, the biggest problem facing your pie is the massive boat of oily crust hunkering along the bottom. Your best defense is to order it as thin as you can. Three deep-dish slices from a Domino’s large pie, before toppings, will cost you 1,002 calories. Downsize that to a thin crust and you just burned off 420 calories without lifting a finger. Who knew losing weight was so easy?
9. Invite the kids to the grown-ups’ table
You fret over your children’s wellbeing every day. America’s chain restaurants do not share this affliction. Just look at the obesity-promoting junk on some of our kids’ menus: The mini pepperoni at Pizza Hut runs 660 calories. The “mini” turkey burgers at Ruby Tuesday: 873 calories. The kids’ nachos at On the Border: 981 calories. Massive portions like these help explain how today’s little ones consume 180 more calories per day than their peers of 1989. That’s a lot of girth over the course of childhood. Instead of ordering whole meals, combat the trend by feeding the smaller appetites with a little off your plate. A couple of slices of your thin pepperoni pizza, for instance, will cost only 400 calories. Half a cheeseburger? About 350 calories. Make this the norm and you’ll save calories for them and yourself.
10. Side with sides
Some of the best of restaurant fare can be found in the side items section of the menu. Plates of black beans and roasted seasonal vegetables are prime fodder for a healthy meal. Stick to two and you can walk out feeling better for not having busted your calorie bank. (Oh, and you’ll save cash too—if you’re into that kind of thing.)
THE NEW AMERICAN DIET IN THE GROCERY STORE
Packaged foods typically come teeming with unpronounceable food additives. The good news is that not all premade products are so overprocessed. It’s rare, but certain boxed and bagged items lining your grocery aisles contain natural ingredients and—prepare yourself for this—actual food. Here are a few of the best-of-the-best packaged foods that are almost completely untainted by suspicious additives.
Best plain yogurt
Stonyfield Farm Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt (plain)
Cultured pasteurized organic nonfat milk. Contains five live and active cultures, including L. acidophilus, L. bifidus, and L. casei.
80 calories (5.3 ounces)
0 g fat
15 g protein
6 g sugars
Fruit-flavored yogurts contain as much high-fructose corn syrup as they do actual fruit. This cup trades in the sugar for a double shot of protein.
Best instant rice
Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice Whole-Grain Brown
Whole-grain parboiled brown rice, canola oil, and/or sunflower oil
220 calories (1 cup cooked)
4 g fat (0.5 g saturated)
5 g protein
2 g fiber
41 g carbohydrates
It takes just 90 seconds to prepare this perfect side to your lunchtime salad. There may be better whole grains, but in terms of convenience, Uncle Ben is hard to top.
Best cottage cheese
Nancy’s Organic Cultured Low-Fat Cottage Cheese
Organic skim milk, organic cream, organic nonfat milk powder,
L. acidophilus, B. bifidum and four strains of lactic cultures, salt
80 calories (½ cup)
1 g fat (0.5 g saturated)
14 g protein
Cottage cheese makes a great low-calorie afternoon snack.
And the protein is great for postworkout fuel.
Best fruit juice
Lakewood Organic Pure Cranberry
Freshly pressed juice from certified organic cranberries
70 calories (8 ounces)
0 g fat
10 g sugars
Most juices—even 100 percent juices—are made mostly from apple and
white grape juices, since they’re inexpensive and high in natural sugars.
Juice should have one ingredient: the fruit that’s on the label. Lakewood
offers exactly that.
Best cereal
Post Shredded Wheat
Whole-grain wheat
160 calories (1 cup)
1 g fat
6 g fiber
0 g sugars
0 mg sodium
40 g carbohydrates
You won’t find another cereal as pure as Post. The more fiber you
consume in the morning, the fewer calories you’ll eat later in the day.
Best almonds
Woodstock Farms Organic Almonds
Organic almonds
175 calories (⅓ cup)
15 g fat (1 g saturated)
6 g protein
4 g fiber
0 mg sodium
6 g carbohydrates
Almonds are an excellent source of protein and heart-healthy fats. Enjoy them in their purest state.
Best snack bar
Lärabar Pecan Pie
Dates, pecans, almonds
200 calories (1 bar)
14 g fat (1 g saturated)
3 g protein
4 g fiber
16 g sugars
Lärabar bucks the trend of bogus bars spiked with added sugars and hidden fats by making tasty treats with just dried fruit and nuts.
Best jelly
Sarabeth’s Mixed Berry Preserves
Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cranberries, sugar
40 calories (1 tablespoon)
0 g fat
9 g sugars
Most jams and jellies come packed with a candy bar’s worth of sugar.
Sarabeth’s is almost all fruit (with just a little sugar added), so it’s both
delicious and safe for your blood sugar levels.
Best peanut butter
MaraNantha Organic Crunchy Roasted Peanut Butter
100% organic dry-roasted Valencia peanuts and sea salt
190 calories (2 tablespoons)
16 g fat (2 g saturated)
8 g protein
3 g fiber
80 mg sodium
Too many major peanut butter brands rely on partially hydrogenated oils in their products—meaning they come packed with hidden arteryclogging trans fat. Peanut butter should never have more than two ingredients. You may have to stir it a bit before using, but it’s worth it in the name of a healthier heart.
Best flavored water
Hint Mango Grapefruit
Purified water with mango, grapefruit, and other natural flvors
0 calories
0 g fat
0 g sugars
The cooler section is overcrowded with so-called functional beverages,
each one claiming to offer a robust package of vitamins and nutrients.
What they really offer, though, is a glut of excess sugar and unpronounceable
ingredients. This refreshing beverage contains no calories,
sugar, or artificial sweeteners—just H2O and a touch of fruit.
Best grain
Bob’s Red Mill Organic Quinoa
Organic whole-grain quinoa
170 calories (¼ cup, uncooked)
2.5 g fat
7 g protein
3 g fiber
The Incas, lovers of this oft-overlooked seed, knew a thing or two about nutrition. Quinoa is rich in protein, packs twice the fiber of brown rice, and contains all the essential amino acids your body needs for peak performance. Use it as a substitute for rice or toss it with roasted asparagus and goat cheese for an amazing salad.
Best frozen vegetable
Sno Pac Organic Green Peas
Organic green peas
90 calories (⅔ cup)
4 g fiber
17 g carbohydrates
Frozen meals tend to come with ingredient lists dozens of items long. Stick to simpler frozen items, like these versatile peas, and you reap the same cost benefits and make huge gains in nutrition.
Best sliced deli meat
Applegate Farms No-Salt Turkey
Turkey breast
60 calories (4 slices)
0 g fat
15 g protein
30 mg sodium
The deli counter is full of nitrates, nitrites, preservatives, artificial ingredients, MSG, and sweeteners. So when it comes to simplicity, Applegate Farms trounces the competition.