11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great little guide regarding restaurant food, July 19, 2010
This review is from: Eat This Not That! Restaurant Survival Guide: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution (Paperback)
"Eat This Not That" by David Zinczenko with Matt Gooulding is described on the cover as a "Restaurant Survival Guide" and "The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution." The restaurant survival guide is pretty accurate if surviving a restaurant is choosing lower calorie foods over those with sometimes more calories for a meal than you should be eating all day. The no-diet weight loss solution is based on just eating the healthier choices provided which will automatically cut calories and thus, lead to weight loss if all other factors remain the same.
Obviously, loosing fat has a number of variables. Your exercise is a huge one, and what you consume is another. This book will help you make smarter choices when dining at your favorite restaurant so that you consume less calories. It does not have all the choices you will face when staring at a menu, but has some of the best and worst for you to compare.
The book starts with a brief introduction regarding restaurant choices and how Americans have gotten fatter over the years. It then tells you how this book can help. I agree, the book can help. The book then shares a couple of "top swaps" before explaining the new rules of eating out. This section provides some good tips to help you stay on your diet and eat healthier. This section also shares some secrets the restaurants don't want you to know, such as how many calories supersizing adds, what's in a Chicken McNugget, or what's in a Wendy's Frosty.
Next comes a chapter on the best and worst restaurant foods in America. Things such as the Best Kid's Fast Food which they list as McDonald's 4-Piece McNuggets with Apple Dippers, Caramel Dip, and 1% milk. (Personally, we've gotten this for our daughter, but don't give her the Caramel Dip - why ruin a perfectly good apple?) The best fast food burger is listed as Wendy's 1/4 Pound Single and best sit-down burger is Red Robin's Natural Burger. Number one on the worst list was Outback's Baby Back Ribs full rack with a whopping 3,021 calories.
The next section of the book is an alphabetical list of restaurants with some of the best and worst foods. Thus the "Eat This and Not That." There are full color pictures throughout that tended to make me hungry when I looked at the book before eating. I mean, come on, some of those bad foods look so good. However, so did many of the better choices. There are also little tidbits and interesting facts throughout the book. It's easy to read, and pretty interesting. (That is if you are interested in what you are eating and what it contains, especially calories.)
Each restaurant has one main dish to eat vs. a bad one, and then a few other picks and other passes. Take Olive Garden for instance. The Eat this choice is the Venetian Apricot Chicken and the choice to pass is Garlic-Herb Chicken Con Broccoli. Other picks include the Lasagna Classico, Grilled Chicken Spiedini, and Herb-Grilled Salmon. Other passes were Spaghetti & Meatballs, Chicken Scampi, and Grilled Shrimp Caprese.
Next comes the menu decoder. This is a great section that explains a lot about what you see on the menu and will make you much more aware of the choices you are making. And finally there was a little bit about eating at airports, vending machines, amusement parks and such places.
Obviously, if you eat at the same restaurant frequently, you will run out of good choices listed in the book. However, with the information here, you will be so much better prepared to select the foods that fit with your dietary goals. I really like the book and think it's a handy guide regarding restaurant food.
Reviewed by Alain Burrese, J.D., author of Hard-Won Wisdom From the School of Hard Knocks.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love them, March 2, 2010
This review is from: Eat This Not That! Restaurant Survival Guide: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution (Paperback)
purchased these books for my husband, who is a firm believer in not dieting but realized he needed to change his eating habits- he loves these books- finds that just having the information available in an easy to understand way, is helping him make better choices- I'm finding that it is helping me also to make healthier decisions also.
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12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good information, January 9, 2010
This review is from: Eat This Not That! Restaurant Survival Guide: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution (Paperback)
This is an okay book that encourages people to eat healthier by planning what to eat before dining out. I found myself shocked at some of the ridiculously high calorie foods, and the high sodium levels in foods that I though were healthy. The book breaks it down to different eateries and gives 3 alternative healthy choices, as well as, 3 alternative poor choices. I was surprised that in some cases a donut is the healthier choice when going to my favorite coffee shop. This is a very simple book that can be read/scanned very quickly and just stored away. I got through the whole book in about 20 minutes, and it only took that long because I was so shocked at some of the findings. Makes me want to stay in to prepare my own meals.
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