Diet-Friendly Fast Food

Diet-Friendly Fast Food

• Diet-Friendly Fast Food

  By Karen Asp
  
  You don't have to give up your favorite drive thru joints just because you're trying to slim down. Instead, make wiser choices, says Hope Warshaw, R.D., author of 'What To Eat When You're Eating Out.' Need some help? Click through this gallery of Warshaw's low-calorie picks at eight fast food restaurants.

• Diet-Friendly Fast Food

  McDonald's
  
  1. Quarter Pounder without cheese and mayo (410 calories)
  
  2. Asian Salad with Grilled Chicken (300 calories)
  
  3. Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait with Granola (160 calories)

• Diet-Friendly Fast Food

  Subway
  
  1. 6-inch Breakfast Western Omelet Sandwich (400 calories)
  
  2. Veggie Delite Wrap (400 calories)
  
  3. 6-inch Turkey and Ham Subon Honey Oat Bread (290 calories)

• Diet-Friendly Fast Food

  Panera Bread
  
  1. Whole-Grain Bagel with 1 tablespoon reduced-fat veggie cream cheese (400 calories)
  
  2. Low Fat Vegetarian Southwest Tomato and Roasted Corn Soup (110 calories for eight ounces)
  
  Asiago Roast Beef Sandwich (350 calories for half)

• Diet-Friendly Fast Food

  Taco Bell
  
  1. Tostada, Fresco Style (200 calories)
  
  2. Ranchero Chicken Soft Taco, Fresco Style (170 calories)
  
  3. Gordita Supreme Beef (310 calories)

• Diet-Friendly Fast Food

  Arby's
  
  1. Chicken, Bacon and Swiss sandwich (460 calories)
  
  2. Sourdough Ham Melt (380 calories)
  
  3. Junior Roast Beef Sandwich (270 calories)

• Diet-Friendly Fast Food

  Fazoli's
  
  1. Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce (450 calories for a small)
  
  2. Cheese Pizza (270 calories per slice)

• Diet-Friendly Fast Food

  Chick-fil-A
  
  1. Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich (270 calories)
  
  2. Southwest Chargrilled Salad (240 calories)
  
  3. Chick-n-strips (290 calories)

• Diet-Friendly Fast Food

  Au Bon Pain
  
  1. Vanilla Yogurt with Granola and Blueberries (320 calories)
  
  2. Jamaican Black Bean Soup (240 calories)
  
  3. Turkey and Cranberry Chutney Sandwich (340 calories for half)

Metabolism Boosters

• Metabolism Boosters

  Provided by Prevention
  
  In the past you have always been able to drop weight by cutting back on calories for a few days or doing some extra hours of aerobics. Suddenly, the scale stops moving and you just can't get rid of those stubborn few pounds. The good news? You could lose up to 20lb in a year -- without eating less. Just by revving up your metabolism you can burn more calories every day, lose fat, boost your energy, feel stronger and more fit, and look and feel years younger. Here's how, plus metabolism busters to avoid.

• Metabolism Boosters

  Booster: Kick your cardio into high gear.
  
  Your metabolism may stay revved up to five times longer after a vigorous aerobic workout than after an easy one.

• Metabolism Boosters

  Booster: Eat mini-meals.
  
  Sometimes you just don't have time for lunch, when you're busy with work or the kids. Pack healthy snacks for the car and the office, such as almonds, apples, string cheese, or yogurt. Mini-meals will help you succeed both physically and mentally. Psychologically, mini-meals can help reduce cravings and prevent you from making bad food choices -- which is easy to do when you're starving. Physically, eating small amounts every two to four hours helps keep your blood sugar on an even keel and may even help your metabolism to keep burning at a higher rate.

• Metabolism Boosters

  Booster: Sip green tea.
  
  In a study from Switzerland, men who took a green tea supplement three times a day with their meals, burned about more calories during the following 24 hours than those who took a caffeine pill or a dummy pill. The researchers believe that flavonoids in the tea were responsible for the metabolism boost.

• Metabolism Boosters

  Booster: Have a cup of java.
  
  The amount of caffeine (about 135 mg) in an 8-oz cup of brewed coffee is enough to raise your metabolism for more than 2 hours. Drinking it before a workout may give you an extra kick. Caffeine may help free stored fat, so your body can burn it for energy as you exercise. (If you have high blood pressure, avoid caffeine before exercise.)

• Metabolism Boosters

  Buster: Eat too few calories.
  
  When you deprive your body, it thinks you're stranded on a deserted island. The result: Your metabolism slows so you don't have to resort to eating rats to stay alive.

• Metabolism Boosters

  Buster: Skip breakfast.
  
  Not eating breakfast may cause your resting metabolic rate to dip by 5 percent -- a small decline, but one that may creep up to a 10-lb weight gain in just a year's time.

• Metabolism Boosters

  Buster: Extreme stress.
  
  Your metabolism may stay revved up to five times longer after a vigorous aerobic workout than after an easy one.

• Metabolism Boosters

  Buster: Neglecting strength training.
  
  A 10-week study of more than 2,000 women found that those who participated in a simple twice-weekly workout (20 minutes of strength training and 20 minutesof aerobic exercise) not only shed 4 pounds of fat but also regained 3 pounds of muscle they'd lost during the aging process. One set is fine, just make sure the weight is heavy enough to fatigue your muscles after the 12th rep. Remember: As you lose weight, you may also lose muscle, leading to a slower metabolism, so always remember to challenge your muscles.

Lose It For Good

• Lose It For Good

  Provided byPrevention
  
  Not all calories are created equal, and neither are all dieters. Weight loss works when it fits your personality, your lifestyle, and your taste in food. Here are top diet researcher strategies that really work.
  
  Image Credit: Stockbyte

• Lose It For Good

  Snack on nuts, lose more weight.
  
  Walnuts, pecans, unsalted peanuts, and other nuts keep you feeling fuller longer. They're packed with fiber and good fats, too. Have a handful (no more -- they're also high in calories) in place of your usual midmorning or afternoon snack.

• Lose It For Good

  Fool your stomach.
  
  Start meals with a big salad -- lots of veggies, no croutons or creamy dressing; have double portions of fruit and veggies at meals and skip or cut back on calorie-dense starches, fats, and fatty meats. Opt for a fruit dessert, with a dab of sorbet or ice cream for flavor. You can also eat eggs for breakfast. If you don't have time to scramble eggs on weekday mornings, hard-boil a few on Sunday and keep 'em up to a week in the fridge for quick, on-the-move breakfasts.

• Lose It For Good

  Cut sugar from your diet and get carbs from fiber-dense foods.
  
  Be sure you're subtracting high-glycemic foods when you add low-glycemic options. For example, say no to that blueberry muffin; have the banana and milk. Say yes to a handful of almonds; banish the chips. Love baked potatoes? Go with a sweet potato (with a GI of 54) instead of a white potato.

• Lose It For Good

  Exercise and maintain your muscles.
  
  In addition to your regular aerobic exercise, add some strength training. Aim for six to eight moves that target the upper and lower body. Choose a weight you can lift no more than 8 to 12 times. If weights aren't your cup of tea, try Pilates, swimming, or power yoga -- all of which will give you toned, firm, and shapely muscles.

• Lose It For Good

  Eat (lean) meat.
  
  Don't skimp on protein -- aim for a moderate portion at each meal. In a study, high-protein dieters got 25 percent of their daily calories from protein -- in a 1,500-calorie diet, that's just 375 calories (the amount you'd get if you had an egg, a 4-ounce chicken breast, and a hamburger made from 4 ounces of 96 percent lean ground beef).

• Lose It For Good

  Stay calm.
  
  Develop an inner sense of control that allows you to nip stress in the bud so you don't have to snack your way out of it. Meditation and yoga help. Active coping is also helpful in reducing persistent stress. For example, pay the bills -- rather than passive avoidance, such as refusing to open envelopes from your credit-card company.

Smart Diet Swaps

• Smart Diet Swaps

  Smart Diet Swaps
  
  Hidden calories and fat can sneak into the meals of even the most diet-conscious. Here we show you nine creative ways to shave calories and fat from your favorite foods.

• Smart Diet Swaps

  Soup Savvy
  
  Abandon heavy, cream-based soups -- they can saddle you with 240 calories per cup. Stick with broth-based varieties, at roughly 150 calories a cup, and thicken them up by cracking a small egg into the soup while it's heating and swirl it throughout the pot. The egg makes the soup smooth and offers healthy protein while adding only 60 calories. You'll save about 30 calories, and about whopping 15 grams of fat per serving over the creamy soups.

• Smart Diet Swaps

  Squash Calories
  
  Spaghetti can cost you 200 calories per cup -- and that's before you top it with sauce. For pasta lovers, spaghetti squash is a vibrant alternative. When cooked, the squash flesh becomes thread-like,resembling spaghetti. At only 75 calories per cup and no fat, it makes for a healthy and tasty stand-in.
  
  Image Credit: Jupiter Images

• Smart Diet Swaps

  Slimmer Cocoa
  
  A store-bought hot cocoa mix made with low-fat milk can add up to 250 calories per cup. Shave off about 115 calories, and some unwanted sugar, with this flavorful hot milk beverage: Heat 8 ounces of low-fat or non-fat milk with a cinnamon stick. Pour it into your mug and stir in one tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder and one teaspoon of vanilla extract.

• Smart Diet Swaps

  Tuna with a Twist
  
  It's easy to overdo it with mayo in tuna salad. At 103 calories per tablespoon, you could easily add 300-plus calories to your dish. A lighter, tangy alternative to mayo? Toss canned tuna packed in water with lemon juice, onion, and capers and save yourself upwards of 100 calories. For an extra peppery flavor, add chopped watercress.

• Smart Diet Swaps

  It's a Wrap
  
  Put a new spin on the sandwich by doing away with the bread. Even two slices of the most dietetic versions can add 70 calories per slice. Place sandwich ingredients in buttery-soft bibb lettuce or the long leaves of romaine and wrap them up for a crunchier and much lighter meal.

• Smart Diet Swaps

  Hold the Mayo
  
  If bread is a must for a sandwich, skip the fatty mayo and use lower-in-calories pickles or relish to moisten it. If it's a sandwich with cheese, use only one slice, then skip thecondiment altogether and heat the sandwich in the toaster oven to melt the cheese. It adds the moisture that the condiments would. Both tricks can save up to 40 calories per sandwich, and will spare you the 11 grams of fat per tablespoon of mayo.

• Smart Diet Swaps

  Better Beef
  
  Reduce your fat content and boost fiber by swapping cooked, ground lentils for some of the ground beef in a recipe. Ounce for ounce, lentils and ground beef have a similar calorie count. But 3.5 ounces of ground beef racks up 20grams of fat, while the same amount of lentils carries only 0.8.

• Smart Diet Swaps

  Muffin Tips
  
  Lighten up dense morning muffins. Trade whole wheat flour for half of the white flour in the recipe, and use unsweetened applesauce or pureed bananas for up to half of the oil. Both swaps can save you as much as 500 calories.

• Smart Diet Swaps

  Salad Toppers
  
  Take full advantage of the health benefits of your light salad by avoiding toppings like bacon bits and croutons. Crowning the dish with chopped red onion and herb mixtures like cilantro and mint, or dill and flat-leaf parsleywill save you from the 60 calories or more the traditional toppings would normally add.