Men's Health, Eat this, not that...

Nutritious, Healthy Alternatives
Eat This, Not That Bacon or sausage? Chips or fries? Soup or salad? Here are the snap decisions that make losing weight a snap
By: Phillip Rhodes


She smacks her gum, clears her throat, and sighs. We've encountered this impatience in a female plenty of times (11th grade, for starters), but it's especially stressful coming from a waitress. Why can't we answer her simple question: Soup or salad? If nutrition information would stop advancing, it'd be easy. A couple of years ago, you'd have picked the salad (fat-free ranch on the side, please).



Now we know that some vegetables are more nutritious cooked in soup than served raw in salad. And others won't do you much good unless you deliberately pour a fatty dressing on top of them. So . . . soup it is. Unless it's cream-based; too fatty. And this is just the start of the meal. "Chips or fries?" and "Swiss or Cheddar?" haven't even come up yet. Oh, and "would you like to see the wine list?" Time to simplify. We sat down and listed all the pesky mealtime puzzlers we could think of. And then we solved them. No quacks, no product-pushing flacks. Just sensible, easy-to-follow advice that's not likely to change for quite a while—if ever.


AT BREAKFAST
Eat This . . . Bacon

Per slice: 42 calories, 3 grams (g) protein, 0 g carbohydrates, 3 g fat (1 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 192 milligrams (mg) sodium

Not That . . . Sausage

Per link: 82 calories, 4 g protein, 0 g carbohydrates, 7 g fat (2.6 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 201 mg sodium



The food police were dead wrong when they busted bacon. A crisp slice has about the same amount of protein as a typical pork-sausage link, but half the fat and calories. "For every single sausage link, you could have two pieces of bacon," says Dawn Jackson Blatner, R.D., a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. Oh, all right—twist our arm.



Eat This . . . English Muffin

Per muffin: 133 calories, 4 g protein, 26 g carbohydrates, 1 g fat (0 g saturated), 1.5 g fiber, 262 mg sodium

Not That . . . Bagel

Per bagel: 245 calories, 9 g protein, 48 g carbohydrates, 1 g fat (0 g saturated), 2 g fiber, 476 mg sodium



If you're faced with only refined-flour options (as you usually are unless you're breakfasting in Berkeley, California), you can't narrow down these two breads by fiber. So fall back on calories, Blatner advises. "Half a bagel has nearly as many calories as a whole English muffin," she says. "I know it doesn't look any bigger, but it's more dense. All those air pockets in the English muffin are saving you some calories." Enough to justify some jelly.



Eat This . . . French Toast

Per 2 slices: 298 calories, 10 g protein, 33 g carbohydrates, 14 g fat (3.5 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 623 mg sodium

Not That . . . Belgian Waffle

Per waffle: 390 calories, 8 g protein, 48 g carbohydrates, 19 g fat (12 g saturated), 1 g fiber, 850 mg sodium



Even though the French toast is dipped in sugary egg batter and lightly fried, the Belgian waffle still outweighs it. "A true Belgian waffle contains a lot of butter and eggs," says Linda McDonald, R.D., editor of Supermarketsavvy.com, a food-shopping Web site. "The size is different, too—the waffle is heavier than the French toast." Eat it too often and you'll be heavier, too.



Eat This . . . Poached Egg

Per egg: 74 calories, 6 g protein, 0 g carbohydrates, 5 g fat (1.5 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 147 mg sodium

Not That . . . Scrambled Egg

Per egg: 101 calories, 7 g protein, 1 g carbohydrates, 7 g fat (2 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 171 mg sodium



"Usually, when you order scrambled eggs, the cook uses butter, oil, or cream to make them," says Blatner. That adds fat and calories. "A poached egg is cooked in water." That adds nothing.


AT LUNCH
Eat This . . . Turkey-and-Ham Wrap

Per wrap: 390 calories, 32 g protein, 19 g carbohydrates, 23 g fat (8 g saturated), 9 g fiber, 1,890 mg sodium

Not That . . . 6-Inch Turkey-and-Ham Sub

Per sandwich: 476 calories, 30 g protein, 52 g carbohydrates, 16 g fat (7 g saturated), 3 g fiber, 1,690 mg sodium



"Typically, with a sub sandwich, you're going to get a colossal roll that might be the equivalent of four to eight pieces of bread but has little fiber," says Dave Grotto, R.D., director of nutrition education at the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Care in Evanston, Illinois. Most wraps have 3 to 6 g fiber—and that's before you factor in the vegetables, which will help cover nearly a third of your daily recommended allowance.



Eat This . . . Baked Beans

Per serving: (about 6 ounces): 230 calories, 8 g protein, 46 g carbohydrates, 1 g fat (1 g saturated), 7 g fiber, 720 mg sodium

Not That . . . Coleslaw

Per serving: (about 6 ounces): 190 calories, 1 g protein, 22 g carbohydrates, 11 g fat (2 g saturated), 3 g fiber, 300 mg sodium



"Beans reign supreme in many nutrition categories," especially protein, says Grotto. "Plus, there's no comparison for fiber; beans blow away—sorry for the bad word choice—the coleslaw."



Eat This . . . Beef Burrito

Per serving: 440 calories, 17 g protein, 52 g carbohydrates, 18 g fat (8 g saturated), 5 g fiber, 1,330 mg sodium

Not That . . . Beef Quesadilla

Per serving: 470 calories, 26 g protein, 38 g carbohydrates, 24 g fat (13 g saturated), 3 g fiber, 1,270 mg sodium



Much like its culinary cousin the wrap sandwich, the burrito leaves more room for good stuff—vegetables that add fiber but not fat. The quesadilla is just meat and cheese—and lots of both.



Eat This . . . Chips

Per 1-ounce bag: 152 calories, 2 g protein, 15 g carbohydrates, 10 g fat (3 g saturated), 1 g fiber, 168 mg sodium

Not That . . . Fries

Per 3-ounce serving: 270 calories, 3 g protein, 34 g carbohydrates, 13 g fat (3 g saturated), 4 g fiber, 115 mg sodium



First, there's the serving-size issue. The bag of chips that usually comes with a sandwich has a net weight of 1 ounce. The fries that come with your burger start at 3 ounces. Then there's the fat. Fries, especially crinkle-cut ones, have more surface area, so they soak up more saturated fat from cooking oil. Plus, many processed fries are sprayed with partially hydrogenated fat before they leave the factory. "So it doesn't make a difference what they're fried in; they already contain trans fat," Grotto says.



Eat This . . . Ground-Beef Pizza Topping

Per ounce: 54 calories, 8 g protein, 0 g carbohydrates, 2 g fat (1 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 24 mg sodium

Not That . . . Pepperoni Pizza Topping

Per ounce: 130 calories, 6 g protein, 1 g carbohydrates, 11 g fat (4.5 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 501 mg sodium



The highest-quality beef doesn't end life as a pizza topping. But ground beef is still a leaner leftover than pepperoni, which is a combination of meat scraps made palatable by the addition of fat and sodium, says McDonald.