The Low Carb Fast Food Diet [Paperback]

Carla Gray (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 30, 2004

An easy must-have plan for any serious low carb dieter. Includes a full week's worth of easy to follow low carb fast food meals and examples from over a dozen restaurants of diet-friendly choices. A comprehensive chart of nutritional values for carbs, calories, fat and more for hundreds of fast food menu items can also be found.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

For five years Carla Gray was executive-producer and host of "Healthline", a radio talk show that focused on health, nutrition and preventive medicine. A consultant to medical facilities, physicians and the world-renowned Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas, Ms. Gray has been involved in health-related research, writing and public awareness programs for over 20 years. Her nutritional literature has been sold in health food stores nationwide.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Nutritionnetwork (July 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0975553402
• ISBN-13: 978-0975553404
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #748,897 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I ordered a second copy!, August 28, 2004

By 

Linda Langley (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Low Carb Fast Food Diet (Paperback)

I bought a copy of this book for myself and liked it so much I am ordering a second copy as a gift for my best friend. It is full of good information no matter what kind of a diet you might be following. I am always starting a low carb diet and then finding myself tempted to cheat, mainly because I am too tired to cook after a long day at work. Ms. Gray points out how I can eat a hamburger, throw away all or part of the bun and not mess up my low carb eating. One chapter called "The Good, The Bad and the Holy Cow!" has lots of good tips about healthy fast food eating.

My favorite part though, is the Carb Chart in the back of the book. I am keeping this in my car so I have a good reference to use when I get fast food. The chart is thorough and includes lots of restaurants. It is nice to have a book that doesn't bog you down with too much technical stuff about losing weight but still gives me the information I want to know.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Low Carb Fast Food Diet' Sounds Like A Fad, Works Like A Ch, May 21, 2005

By 

Jimmy Moore "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Man" (Spartanburg, SC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Low Carb Fast Food Diet (Paperback)

What if somebody told you it was possible to eat fast food all the time, at every meal, and never eat at home again. And, oh by the way, you'll also lose lots and lots of weight, too. You might think they just fell off the looney wagon, right?

Well, call her what you want, but that's exactly what Carla Gray is advocating in her book entitled "The Low Carb Fast Food Diet." Fast food and diet don't usually go hand in hand, but Gray provides her readers with invaluable information that will help them make the right choices when they decide to pick up food from their local fast food drive-thru.

Gray makes it clear she is not telling people to eat fast food. But she realizes it is an inevitable a part of so many of our lives. Because of that, she wanted to arm people with the facts about the foods they were shoving in their mouths from all the popular fast food places and help them make the healthy choices to stay on their low-carb or low-calorie lifestyles.

Expressing her opinion that the low-carb lifestyle is the best way for people to lose weight and improve their health, Gray says people who are livin' la vida low-carb (like me at livinlavidalocarb.blogspot.com) are allowed to eat more calories, have greater fat burning ability, don't get as hungry, aren't concerned with controlling their portions, get to eat delicious foods, and enjoy one of the easiest weight loss plans there is!

She provides an excellent overview of what low-carb is in clear, simple language for those who have been living under a rock and don't know how it works. She gets you to look at the way you eat and evaluate why you eat the way you do and notes either you control your carbs or your carbs will control you. By eliminating all high-carb foods from your diet, Gray says you can replace them with "delicious and filling alternatives from your favorite fast food restaurants." She provides a variety of tips about how you need to order your food and what to avoid at each of the major fast food restaurants.

When it comes to eating at a fast food restaurant and staying on your low-carb plan, Gray says you have to know what you can order before you go the fast food restaurants. And, contrary to popular belief, it doesn't always have to be a salad, which ironically is sometimes higher in carbs than a hamburger with the bun! She warns people in her book about "hidden carbs" in foods that may sound like they are healthy, but they are not. And, by all means, if you are going to do the "Low Carb Fast Food Diet," don't feel guilty about doing it! Gray gives you all the tools you need to feel confident about the healthy low-carb choices you can make.

In fact, Gray challenges you to test this diet for yourself by getting a physical check-up before you start and consult with your physician. She is sure you will see significant improvements in your cholesterol, your blood pressure and, of course, your weight! To help you realize what your carb intake is like prior to beginning her diet, Gray suggests you keep a food diary for about a week to tally how many carbs you consume right now. The number will likely surprise you!

Promising this will be the best-tasting, most satisfying way to lose weight you've ever done, Gray encourages her readers to "toss the bread, ditch the rice and throw away the chips" and to just "forget you know the word sugar." The more I read, the more I think I like this woman! The multitude of choices you have at your disposal will make it impossible to find this way of eating boring.

About halfway through the book, Gray gives you a test. No, you don't have to study for it, but you may learn a lot more about the carb content of foods you can order at fast food restaurants than you expected. It is sure to make you yell "holy cow" when you find out the answers! Make sure you check out the total carbs in a Tender Crisp Chicken Sandwich and Large Fries at Burger King! Yikes!

The key to being successful on the "Low Carb Fast Food Diet," Gray proclaims, is to alter your thinking about food and losing weight. Gray says you must embrace this lifestyle and everything it has to offer if you want to be successful at it. Believe it or not, that even means you can have pizza, too! WOO HOO!

Although it was a bit odd in a book predominantly about low-carb eating, Gray does include an obligatory chapter on calories for people who have chosen to do that weight loss method over low-carb. Interestingly, many of the fast foods you can have on low-calorie diets are forbidden if you are doing low-carb. Hopefully people won't make the mistake of getting one of the low-calorie foods thinking it will help them on their low-carb plan. But Gray makes it abundantly clear in her book that this one particular section is JUST for people on low-calorie diets.

The entire second half of the book is an exclusive Pocket Carb Chart created by Gray for people to take with them when they visit a fast food restaurant. It shows the various entrees, portion size, total carbs, calories, fiber, cholesterol, fat and sodium content of the foods you can order. She even makes a handy pocket-sized version of the chart you can order separately from the book. Gray encourages her readers to visit her web site at www.lowcarbfastfooddiet.com to find the most up-to-date information about fast food offerings.

So, I guess it really is possible to eat fast food and lose weight the low-carb way!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Handy!!, September 14, 2004

By 

C. Markley - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Low Carb Fast Food Diet (Paperback)

Now, this is a useful book. I'll keep it in my car console, since I frequently go through drive-thru's. The best part of your book; the section with all the charts that show the carb, calorie, fat, sodium, cholesterol, etc. counts in the various menus. Very cool!