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BACKGROUND

We're a nation on the run with a rapidly increasing obesity problem. Convenience is often the answer for meals. Every day lines of cars wrap around the building of fast food restaurants and we fill up on low-nutrient, high-fat and calorie foods that offer nothing more than a quick fix. But what if there was a way that all those drive-thru meals could actually offer some good.

The Fast Food Diet suggests that you can still hit the local burger joint as long as you're making smarter choices. The Fast Food Diet even suggests you'll start losing weight, experience higher energy levels and even lower blood pressure and cholesterol.

The premise of The Fast Food Diet, written by Dr. Stephen Sinatra, is quite simple - just follow the 80/20 rule. Make healthy, smart food choices 80 percent of the time and you can eat anything you want without regret the remaining 20 percent.

PRO

• Flexible eating
• Provides recommendations for eating out
• Suits a busy lifestyle

CON

• Celebrates poor eating habits
• Can provide unhealthy caloric intake
• Processed foods
• Website does not offer much for additional support

DIET and NUTRITION

The Fast Food Diet is really quite flexible. Mind your Ps and Qs the majority of the time and you're free to eat whatever you like the rest. Mind you, this opens the gates to eat over-processed, low-nutrient foods like french fries and cheeseburgers. While you have permission to eat at fast food and sit-down restaurants, you also have the control to make healthier choices when doing so.

• Grilled chicken instead of batter-fried
• Salad with vinegar oil dressing instead of cream-based
• Baked potato instead of french fries
• Water or fruit juice instead of soda
• Mustard instead of Mayo
• Fruit parfait instead of pie or cookies

Some of the food recommendations include whole grains, fish twice a week, olive oil daily, fruits and lots of water. You should also strive to eat three meals a day- that means breakfast, too.

EXERCISE

Walking is really the only exercise that is promoted. Walking can certainly provide many health benefits. To actually reap those benefits, The Fast Food Diet recommends you use a pedometer to help you meet a daily goal of 10,000 steps (about 4.5 miles).

EXPENSE

Cost of the book, The Fast Food Diet; in paperback for $14.95.

CONCLUSION

The obesity topic is a hot one in the U.S. currently. It seems we value our hectic schedules over balanced, nutritious meals. With so much promotion to start making healthier choices, The Fast Food Diet slaps the face of all the nutritionists, doctors and dietitians crusading to save America's health. Many of the health professionals will tell you that there's no such thing as a healthy amount of fast food- you just shouldn't ever eat it. While The Fast Food Diet provides a foundation for making this style of eating work (even claiming you could lose 100 pounds in a year) the fact remains that you'd still be loading up on all the wrong foods and be less likely to make lasting changes.

Common Misspellings

Fat Food Diet, Fast Food Deit

kissmenow

I love the thought of a fast food diet. 80/20 sounds good to me

Italianlovr

I've found this to be somewhat true. If you're paying attention to what you're eating most of the time a few hiccups won't matter