Weight Loss: Abs Diet and Fast Food  

• Get a volume discount at the local Wok-'n'-Roll.

• Know how to say "Supersize it!" in four languages.

• Not know that ketchup is available in anything other than individual packets.

• Have a special drawer for menus.

 

 

A Man Who Needs Our Help: Peter Walton

Age: 40

Height: 6'

Weight: 198

Occupation: engineering manager for Honeywell

 

"I don't have time to cook, and all the restaurants near home and work are fast-food joints. I'm constantly throwing away take-out containers."

 

 

Typical day's eating:

• Breakfast: From the vendor. Two cups of coffee, plain bagel with two slabs of butter, one multivitamin

• Lunch: At the food court. Three slices of pizza, two Mrs. Field's oatmeal cookies 4 p.m.: can of Diet Coke

• Dinner: chicken-broccoli/ white-rice combo from the Chinese take-out place, one egg roll, two beers

• Evening snack: large, low-fat vanilla yogurt in a cone, with sprinkles, from TCBY

• Throughout the day: 2 quarts of spring water

 

 

What needs fixing:

Eating take-out all the time can limit your food choices. "Pete has totally neglected fruit and is short on vegetables and dairy products," says Roberta Larson Duyff, R.D., author of the American Dietetic Association's Complete Food and Nutrition Guide. "He needs to look for take-out places that offer a broader selection of foods."

 

 

The take-out king's lack of variety causes other shortcomings as well:

• Not enough fiber and, possibly, too little folic acid. Enough of both can keep your heart healthy. Fiber lowers levels of ldl cholesterol (the bad kind), and folic acid keeps homocysteine-a blood chemical that has been linked to heart disease-in check.

• Low calcium. Calcium can help prevent osteoporosis, a bone-thinning disease that doesn't discriminate between men and women. Recent research suggests that calcium may lower your risk for colon cancer and heart disease, too.

• A shortage of nutrients, especially vitamins A and C. You need a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals to protect against various types of cancer, generally keep your body operating at top form, and maybe even slow down the aging process.

• Fat intake. The more fat in your diet, especially saturated fat and trans fat-the kind found in fast-food french fries-the greater your risk for heart disease.

 

 

How to repair your diet:

• Vary your choice of take-out places to add a healthier range of nutrients to your diet. Boston Market offers some nutrient-rich, lower-fat entrees and side dishes; Wendy's and Pizza Hut offer salads; and many supermarkets have fresh sushi to go. Also, make ketchup your condiment of choice whenever possible. It's one of the best sources of the cancer-fighting phytochemical lycopene.

• Go for lean entrees to trim the fat out of your meals. Order stir-fried, not crispy; broiled, not fried; and clear sauces and dressings instead of creamy ones.

• Substitute a healthful item for a less healthful one at every meal: a baked potato for fries, skim milk for cola, fruit salad for a high-fat biscuit.

•Adopt a good supermarket salad bar and visit it every 3 days to stock up on precut raw vegetables and precooked grains. That way, you can make easy, good-for-you meals at home.

1. Prev:Abs Diet: Oatmeal Breakfast Recipe  
2. Next:Weight Loss: Abs Diet Serving Sizes