Now, really, who among us wouldn't want to lose weight if it were effortless and only involved paying attention? And that's the basis behind this book, the first in a series. Zinczenko has investigated the nutritional content of almost every entree and side dish served in restaurants in America and this is the detailed analysis of his findings. Written in a very straightforward manner with tons of pictures on nearly every page (looking at all that food DID make me a little bit hungry, I must admit), the format of the book includes a basic overview at the beginning, along with a list of the 8 foods you should eat everyday and the 20 you should avoid at all costs (the No. 1 worst food sold in America being the Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing with a staggering 2,900 calories for one platter). Then he lists almost every major (and many minor and more regional) chain in the country, with the worst of their menu on the right hand page and the best on the left. He includes a chapter on how to decode a restaurant menu, and what steps we can take to make some of the "bad" dishes more healthy. Reading this book was a real eye opener and I would heartily recommend it to anybody interested in what they are putting into their bodies. It changed a few of my favorite menu choices. The whole idea behind this book is that even if you are on a special diet or are trying to lose weight, you can still go out to eat almost anyplace you'd like, and armed with the results of the author's exhaustive research, you'll go into the place armed with enough knowledge to enjoy your meal without adding to your waistline. Following the guidelines in this book can result in at least a 20-40 pound weight loss over the course of a year without any other real effort on your part. And what's not to love about that? ( )

This is a great book to have and small enough to keep it in the car for when you go out to eat. It lists quite a number of different restaurants and tells you what the healthier and not so healthy choices are, and even why one thing is better than another. Plus, it's not overly wordy or cumbersome and just gives you the basic facts that you need to make your choices. It also lists some general pointers for ethnic restaurants that may not be chain restaurants (Mexican, Italian, Greek, Indian, etc) to help you around their menus and make the healthier choices.

Be prepared, though, to find your favorite menu items on the list of what not to eat. Not that you can't eat them, as long as you make other healthy choices throughout your day. It also has a short section on the grocery store and making healthy selections there as well. ( )

Arby's "super roast beef" or "Santa Fe Salad"? McDonald's "quarterpounder" or "premium grilled chicken club"? Find out what's good and bad in your shopping cart, your favorite restaurant, the frozen goods section and your own kitchen.

Eat This Not That-Supermarket Survival Guide and Eat This Not That The No-Diet Weight Loss Guide by David Zinczenko

I'm going to count these two as one book. I read every word in the first, and all the text in the second, but they are most of all picture books. This explains their hefty price ($19.95 @), but to have that many color photos in a book has to be expensive to print.

In the first book, the typical format within the sections is to have photos of 7-8 foods on the right page with boxes giving certain nutritional information, and then a corresponding number of the same food types on the left page, also with boxes, that represent much lower calories and fat grams. For example, the difference between a can of Progresso White Clam Sauce (on the left) and Progresso Red Clam Sauce (on the right) is 70 calories, 9 grams of fat, and 530 mg of sodium. The book does this for staples in the refrigerator, the pantry, the freezer, snacks and sweets, and drinks, as well as a few short chapters on the produce aisle, meat and fish counters, and a save-money shopping guide.

The second book was the original one. It focuses on restaurant meals in the first half of the book--for example, if you are eating at KFC, the Creamy Parmesan dressing will add 25 fat grams to your meal. At Jack in the box, a Deluxe Hamburger with ketchup and mustard instead of the default Mayo-Onion sauce (90 calories, 10 g of fat) will save you 410 calories, 31 g of fat, and 825 mg of sodium over the Jumbo Jack with Cheese. Do you know that the WORST sandwich at Subway would be the tuna salad? Beats out the meatball hands down? While I could wish this would be more exhaustive, it really does help train you on what to look for when making choices, and I have started checking online the nutritional info for food chains before I go to them. It also has a chapter for foods to eat at certain places, such as the movies or the ballpark or vending machines, as well as certain types of restaurant food (chinese, italian, etc.) It has a chapter on the supermarket, but this was clearly much expanded upon and made much more useful in the next book, that reviewed above.

I went ahead and bought both of these since neither were available at my library, and I knew I would need time to look through them and really internalize the information. They are good reference books, and since I am seriously working on losing weight and therefore tracking my eating religiously through Weight Watchers Online (24 pounds since my Christmas holiday spike), I think they were worth the investment. ( )

Purchased this book in an attempt to eat healthier when choosing fast food options. Not so surprisingly even some of the healthiest choices at some restaurants are still quite bad for you. A good book if you happen to eat out frequently. ( )