2010: #12 – Eat This, Not That (David Zinczenko)

Book #12 was Eat This, Not That: Thousands of Simple Food Swaps That Can Save You 10, 20, 30 pounds — or more!  by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding.  The back of the book reads:

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?)

This was a short read, but informative! There was a lot I already know, but there were also some things that surprised me, like that Chik-Fil-A has some of the healthiest sandwiches and the ranking of what restaurants are considered healthier than others. I also liked the non-restaurant specific section that covered the best options for different types of cuisine, like Mexican and Chinese.  I don’t know that making these swaps is enough alone for someone to lose 30 pounds, but it is a good starter guide for making better choices.

Page count: 304 | Approximate word count: 30,400

2009: All Night Long (Jayne Ann Krentz)
2008: Nineteen Minutes (Jodi Picoult)
2007: The 5th Horseman (James Patterson)
2006: The Lunatic Cafe (Laurell K. Hamilton)
2005: The Miserable Mill (Lemony Snicket)

Used in these Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; Reading From My Shelves Project; Pages Read Challenge Season 2;