How "Eat This Not That" changed our lives

A new series: How (fill-in the blank) changed our lives. Aren't you excited?!?! Some bloggers have passion lists, I have life change lists. Thrill a minute.

This morning as the Today Show ran a story about something relevant to a blog post I was thinking about, I was struck by the fact that so many of my blog posts either coincide or are "inspired" by what I see on the morning news (Really people it is a stretch. Let's agree to something closer to "Morning Fluff") shows. This post is no different.

Over the summer I was watching the Today Show or Regis and Kelly or The View (whatever) and they were featuring "Eat This, Not That" Summer Style. I was immediately hooked. The concept started with Men's Health Editor-in-Chief David Zinczenko and Men's Health food and nutrition editor Matt Goulding. Men's Health....Who knew? I thought it was all protein shakes and push-ups. Anyway, they wrote the books as a sort of expose and public information resource. There is also this "Diet" concept that I am going to completely ignore.

The main book features an analysis of chain-restaurant menus with recommendations of what to eat and what not to eat. I don't know what else the book features because I don't own it. I do however frequent the website that features a lot of information including nutritional breakdowns for select items and usually at least three Eat This and three Not That items. This is the first reason I like Eat This, Not That, I can get most of what I need to know off the website.

The second reason this changed my life is that it really does change the way I eat at restaurants. At McDonalds you are better off ordering a Quarter Pounder without cheese than the Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich. A Chipotle Chicken Burrito has over 1,000 calories! The list goes on and on. Sometimes I will sit and read some of the more surprising comparisons to Kevin (our entertainment for the evening).

If you eat fast food you have to read this book and/or visit the website. If you eat at sit-down chains you are now morally obligated to read the book. These restaurants (that I don't visit because I have a 18-month old) have horrible nutritional offerings. Some of it is worse (yes worse) than McDonalds! Calories for the whole day in one sitting!

Since I have to be on the road so much I sometimes don't have a choice but to eat fast food. I like to think of my day trips as an excuse to eat fast food. Eat This, Not That has completely changed the way I eat out. I love the tray of In-N-Out fries but do I really want to eat 400 calories in fries? No, but I'll eat a couple and toss the rest. Or I can just order the fries and a light lemonade. An informed choice can still be a crazy choice. As long as I'm enjoying it, who can argue?