Which is better (or rather, not as bad): A Whopper or A Big Mac?

Let’s pretend that you are driving along, and you are suddenly overcome with a monser craving for a fast food burger. You pull off the highway and find a McDonald’s and a Burger King right next to each other. Because, as you know, you can’t have one without the other being within spitting distance; it’s like a law or something.

Anyway, you are struck with the conundrum: which is better for me- a Big Mac or a Whopper? If you get the Big Mac, you will save 220 calories and 18 grams of fat! Understandably, neither of those sandwiches are very healthy, but that is quite a significant savings!

I first saw Eat This Not That at BJs. While it was less expensive than the cover price, it was a little more than I wanted to pay. I intended to order it from Amazon (for a lower price), but that never happened. I saw it at Costco for even less than Amazon, and I bought it.

This is an amazing book. I love it! The author, David Zinczenko reveals big restaurant secrets. For example, the grilled salmon teriyaki at the Macaroni Grill contains three times the daily recommendation of sodium! Yuck! But on the plus side, there is no sandwich at Chick-Fil-A that contains more than 500 calories! This is probably because they are not as slap-happy with the mayonnaise as other fast food eateries.

The book starts out with a list of 8 foods to eat every day, and then we have what I would describe the Oscars of bad food. There are twenty categories, and twenty “winners”. For example, in the category “Worst Kids’ Meal”, the winner is the Double Mac and Cheese at the Macaroni Grill. This kids’ meal contains 1,210 calories, 62 grams of fat, and 3,450 mg of sodium. Ew!

The main attraction of this book is the section in which Zinczenko compares products from the same restaurant. Each restaurant gets a two page spread. On the left side, we see the things that we should eat, and the right shows the things that we should not eat. There is a large photograph of each entree, and then there are also additional things to eat or avoid.

Zinczenko chooses both fast food and sit-down chains. He draws mostly from national locations, but there are some regional eateries as well. Some of the comparisons are surprising.

Which is better for you at McDonald’s? A Quarter Pounder without cheese or a Premium Grilled Chicken Club?

Your first instinct might be to say the chicken. Of course chicken is better for you than beef, right?

Wrong! The chicken sandwich has 160 more calories, 2 more grams of fat and twice as much sodium as that Quarter Pounder!

Each two page spread also contains Menu Decoders, where Zinczenko explains what a menu item means, Guilty Pleasures, Little Trick, Weapon of Mass Destruction (which showcases a high fat high calorie menu item), Hidden Dangers, or even a number fact- like 74: the percentage of the RDA of fat found in just six Popeye’s chicken wings. There are even some little fun facts about each restaurant.

Zinczenko includes a section in which he provides “translations” of restaurant menu items.

Restaurants are not the only place that get the “Eat This, Not That” treatment. We are also advised on what to eat at all sorts of holidays and occasions, like Thanksgiving or At The Movies. Apparently, that movie theatre nacho cheese is just “molten trans fats masquerading as cheese”. Ew!

And then Zinczenko compares all sorts of products at the grocery store. He compares all sorts of real food products like dips, frozen pizza, ice cream, pasta sauces and more! Sometimes, as is the case with the two Alfredo sauces compared, neither cream-based cheese sauce seems very good for you but there is one brand that is 20 calories and 2 grams of fat less than its competitor. It’s not much, but if you’re going to indulge in some fettuccine Alfredo, every little bit counts, right?

Next, there is a section entitled “What to Eat When”. Zinczenko gives a bunch of different scenarios, like “When you’re feeling fat” and “When you need to wake up and go.” For each scenario, we get a list of three things that we should eat and one thing to avoid.

Finally, there is a section For Kids. This is mostly advice for parents and not really for kids to read. There is a repeat of some of the features we have already seen, but this time, with growing children in mind. There is even a mini “Eat This Not That” section with kids’ meals in mind.

I found this book to be very informative and eye-opening. It really puts a lot of things into perspective. Take that McDonald’s example- you might think that you are being healthy by choosing chicken over a burger, but when you add cheese and bacon, that chicken is not so good for you!

I love the tips and facts. Since I am a woman, I am probably not the target audience for this book- Zinczenko, after all, is the editor of Men’s Health. But I am hopelessly addicted to fast food. I think that in addition to providing “healthier” alternatives, simply listing the nutritional information serves as a big eye-opener!

I am especially a fan of the section for kids’ foods. My nutritional sense may be completely ruined, but I have a chance to get things right for my daughter. As she enters toddlerhood and begins to eat table food, I really have to think about what she eats. Right now, it is easy because the baby food doesn’t include any additives, but once she is off purees, we are on our own!

I highly recommend Eat This Not That. This book is great for people who like restaurants but would like to be more informed about what they are eating and what their alternatives are. I love that this book also covers grocery store fare in addition to the restaurants. This book is not very big, so it is very portable, and it is just jammed full of information and factoids. You will definitely be surprised by this book- I know that I certainly was!