Eat This, Not That!

My old boss used to mention this handy little book he got called "Eat This, Not That!" -- by now a bit more hyped up and well known. It helped him make manageable changes. For instance, he wasn't going to avoid Chipotle, but he could handle getting the salad that left out the tortilla and rice (which have 290 and 130 calories, respectively). That's exactly the original point. It was developed by Men's Health to help guys make some healthier choices without going on a diet so to speak. I've stumbled upon their website since then and I have to say I really love it. I have not really looked into their methodology yet, but regardless, this is a feast of helpful information and it is incredibly comprehensive.

The site is a great resource for the Eating in the Dark mentality. Take lunch for instance. Lately I've been eating out almost daily (unhealthy, I know). It's tough to really know what is in different foods, and whether Cosi is the same as Au Bon Pain or if one is substantially healthier -- or more personally for my choices, Chipotle vs. Baja Fresh. You can easily see how they compare off the "Restaurants" tab on the website. Cosi gets an overall B grade while Au Bon Pain overall gets an A-. Chipotle gets a C- and Baja Fresh gets a D-. Feel like diving deeper? The description on each indicates that the authors really don't have a problem with Chiptle outside of the rice and the tortilla, whereas they pretty clearly recommend entirely avoiding Baja Fresh. Additionally, every item gets a separate grade, calorie count, etc. The bad news is you actually have to add it up if you want a truly accurate count (salsa, cheese, meat, etc.) but the good news is you can easily get a ballpark (a steak fajita burrito has 900 calories before the salsa, cheese, sour cream, etc.). I know plenty of people who will eat something like a Chipotle chicken burrito at least once a week. Knowing what you stuff in your face 52x a year might be useful information.

Other tabs show individual grocery items (click on Dannon's All Natural Lowfat Vanilla yogurt to see that it gets a C+ because it reportedly has as much sugar as a Kit Kat bar -- but Stonyfield's whole milk plain has even more), tips and advice, kids foods/menus, and more.

So I must have something critical to say, right? My overall complaint is that the focus is largely on calories, fat and sugar. But if you dig deeper you get more facts and you can decide for yourself. For instance, at Jimmy Johns, the whole grain bun has about 130 more calories than the french roll. Is it worth 130 more calories to avoid refined flour? Sounds like they are adding sugar, and the like to the whole grain. But now you know a bit more and can decide. So I'm a huge fan of this site, and more information is ALWAYS better so long as it is not overly misleading and this certainly is not. The site is really focused on what to avoid, and I doubt anyone will be worse off for following their advice or making up their own mind with some added facts.

PS. there is actually a pretty cool application for the iphone/ipod touch from these guys that costs but would be very worth the money if utilized....