Eat This, Not That! Thousands of Simple Food Swaps that Can Save You 10, 20, 30 Pounds--or More! (Paperback)

by David Zinczenko (Author), Matt Goulding (Author)
Key Phrases: full stack, spicy time dressing, Other Passes, Other Picks, Did You Know (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Eat what you want, when you want--and watch the pounds disappear!

Americans spend more than $400 billion a year eating out, and behind each burger, turkey sandwich, and ice cream sundae is a simple decision that could help you control your weight--and your life. The problem is, restaurant chains and food producers aren't interested in helping you make healthy choices. In fact, they invest $30 billion a year on advertising, much of it aimed at confusing eaters and disguising the fat and calorie counts of their products.

All of that has changed with EAT THIS, NOT THAT!. This book puts the entire food industry under the spotlight, and arms you with the savvy tricks and insider information it takes to eat well no matter where you are. With EAT THIS, NOT THAT! you're the expert in every eating situation, from the frozen food aisle to your favorite fast food joint to your local sports bar. You control your food universe--and lose the pounds you want--because, unlike every other customer, you'll know the smart choices to make--instantly!

EAT THIS, NOT THAT! is jam-packed with secrets the restaurant industry doesn't want you to know. For example: * Burger King doesn't want you to know that a BK Big Fish® Sandwich and fries have a whopping 1000 calories--nearly half your daily caloric intake! (Fish is usually healthy, but not this kind. Find out why with this book.) * Pizza Hut doesn't want you to know that a standard pizza in Italy contains 500 to 800 calories, but the same meal at Pizza Hut can top 2,100 calories! (You'd need to ride a stationary bike for more than three hours to burn off this mistake. Instead, eat all the pizza you want by making smart choices. EAT THIS, NOT THAT! shows you how.) * Macaroni Grill doesn't want you to know that a single serving of their Grilled Teriyaki Salmon has more than three times your daily allowance of sodium! (Cut your risk of high blood pressure by making smart choices at the same restaurant. You'll find them inside.)

If only you knew the industry secrets, you could eat at any of your favorite restaurants--or chow down on everything from the company vending machine to your kids' Halloween buckets--and know that every decision you made was smart, healthy, and the best possible choice for you. For example, did you know: * At McDonald's, an Egg McMuffin® is actually a healthy choice, with just 300 calories. (The Hotcakes pack more than double that amount!) * At Krispy Kreme, all you need to do is order the Very Berry Chiller instead of the Mocha Dream Chiller, and you'll save 500 calories! (Do that once a week and you'll drop more than 7 pounds this year--without trying!) * At Chipotle, you can cut 570 calories out of your Chicken Burrito just by ordering it as a bowl (without the tortilla) and asking them to hold the rice. (Same great taste, but with 94 fewer carb grams!) * Choosing a cinnamon roll at Au Bon Pain over Cinnabon will save you 463 calories and 20 grams of fat! * In the freezer section of your local supermarket, a turkey pot pie from Swanson's has 610 fewer calories than a turkey pot pie from Pepperidge Farms. * In the produce aisle, you'll get twice the vitamin C--and nine times as much vitamin A--simply by picking red bell peppers over green ones. (Who said eating healthy was difficult?)

And that's why EAT THIS, NOT THAT! is going to change everything. It's time to level the playing field. We're all tired of sneaky calories adding to our waistlines, and having to starve ourselves or spend hours on the treadmill trying to burn off the damage. Now--for the first time--you're in charge. With this simple illustrated guide to thousands of foods--along with the nutrition secrets that lead to fast and permanent weight loss--you'll make the smartest choice every time!

About the Author

DAVID ZINCZENKO, editor in chief of Men's Health magazine, is the author of the New York Times best-sellers The Abs Diet and The Abs Diet for Women. Once an overweight child growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Zinczenko has become one of the nation's leading experts on health and fitness. He is a regular contributor to the Today show, and has appeared on Oprah, Good Morning America, and Primetime Live. MATT GOULDING is the food and nutrition editor of Men's Health. He has cooked and eaten his way across the world, touching down in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he divides most of his time between keyboard and stovetop.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Books; 1st edition (December 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594868549
• ISBN-13: 978-1594868542
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 6.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (614 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #67 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

332 of 358 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars That pie has the same calories as three Big Macs?, December 24, 2007

By	Sean P. Logue "If you can't win, change the r... (Research Triangle Park, NC USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is a great book. Slick and attractive, with fantastic full-color pictures. Very well researched too, which is expected coming from the folks behind one of the most densely-packed, informative magazines, Men's Health.

The truth is that casual dining restaurants have higher calorie meals than the much-maligned fast food joints. While the fast food restaurants are now required to publish calorie, fat, and sodium contents, the casual restaurants have been quietly fighting against requiring them to release the same information. Thanks to this book and the research behind it, we can now get a better idea of what we've been eating at these restaurants. And it is eye opening.

Each two page section has a high-calorie, fat trap food on the right, and a healthier alternative on the left. Lots of reasons for why one is a better choice than the other, as well as quick lists of other good choices (and not so good choices) on the left and right.

This simple, but effective layout conveys a ton of information quickly and easily. The sections are by restaurant, and by situation type (like shopping at the mall, or at a holiday party), so it is easy to read and get good ideas for how to make better food choices.

The only negative is that you might never get fries again, after you see all the things you could eat instead and still not hit the calorie count of the fries. Outback's Aussie Cheese Fries have 2900 calories. Wow!

Highly recommended book, even if you aren't trying to lose weight. You'll learn a ton about the foods you are eating at restaurants, which is well worth the price of admission.

Sean P. Logue, 2007

125 of 137 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very practical, helpful book, January 10, 2008

By	telmar "telmar" (Camp Hill, PA United States) - See all my reviews

I really like the core message of this book... A year ago I started calorie counting but got sick of it very quickly, then I bought Dr. Shapiro's Picture Perfect Weight Loss: The Visual Program for Permanent Weight Loss which has a very similar strategy to this book's - showing you pictures of good and bad choices of similar styles or calorie counts.

From a year ago I've lost 35 lb, I'm basically at my ideal weight, and I haven't had the slightest bit of trouble keeping it off and I don't feel like I'm "dieting". In fact, I feel like I enjoy what I'm eating far more than ever before - I'm very impressed! I picked this book up because I'm pretty food-conscious now and I like to be aware of additional practical healthy choices.

What I like about this book compared to the Dr. Shapiro one is that it's extremely practical - at one point a Quarter Pounder is recommended as a "healthy" choice. I'd more or less agree with this approach; I think things like burgers can be healthy, filling options if you know what you're doing - whereas a Dr. Shapiro would have you eliminate all meat from your diet.

Where I think this book falls down a little bit is if you were trying to put together a mental "theme" of what to eat and what not to eat based on this book, you really couldn't. Sometimes shrimp is shown as a healthy option, sometimes it's not. Sometimes you're better off eating a turkey burger, sometimes you're not. It comes out after reading a bunch of suggestions that you shouldn't eat fries or mayo - but you still get the feeling that it's a bit potluck. The Dr. Shapiro book exaggerated the differences between good and bad foods to teach common patterns - this book just presents a bunch of data points and you need to find your own patterns. The Dr. Shapiro book focused primarily on calories - this one adds things like sodium which in my mind are usually not your first concern. I also find this book to be a little more annoyingly pseudoscientific, citing the results of some studies that sound like one-offs and talking about "foods that cure". Different target audience I guess.

After reading a few of these books you start to figure out your own patterns and make your own guidelines. Here are mine, which have worked wonders for me:

Don't eat anything fried - no french fries, fried chicken, potato chips, etc. Only rarely eat ice cream. Don't eat condiments that are bad for you and don't add that much to the experience: mayo, cheese, butter, oil. Don't eat pizza. Eat bread, pasta, and rice less often. Eat tons of seafood: fish, shrimp, etc. Don't feel like you need to avoid meat or burgers. Be extremely active with substituting off anything bad at restaurants. Splurge when it's worth it - i.e., when you have the opportunity to eat something really good. I don't forgo dessert after a really good restaurant meal. Seek out tons of healthier meals that you would honestly prefer eating over what you eat regularly now. Find a few healthy things you like at every restaurant you frequent. Have a wild guess of how many calories are in everything you eat, so you never sit down and eat a 4,000 calorie large pizza yourself :). Don't keep anything convenient that's unhealthy in the house.

225 of 253 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars If you *must* eat fast food, this is a handy little book to have., April 6, 2008

By	Bwookie (The Good Earth) - See all my reviews

PROS
*Easy to carry around. Fits nicely into a purse. Handy on vacation.
*Pretty pictures
*Fun to read
*Easy to use.
*Lots of familiar products/mainstream restaurants included.
*Quickly identifies healthiest items on the menu.

CONS
*Fuzzy Math. Some of the comparisons don't make sense--like turn to the Baskin Robbins section--why is Rocky Road ice cream bad (290 calories, 15gfat (8 sat), 32g sugar), but Two Scoop Hot Fudge Sundae is good (530 calories, 29g fat (19sat) and 52 g of sugar.) WHAT???? I don't get it.

*I wouldn't take the caloric facts as *fact*--For instance under the SONIC section, the authors list the Grilled Chicken Wrap as only having 380 calories but fails to mention that this is without dressing. Double check the caloric content on the restaurant's website before eating.

*Contradictory. Apparently, Goldfish crackers are bad when they're coming from a vending machine (p. 193) but good when coming off a store shelf. (216).