Eat This, Not That! A Book Review

Added: Tue May 6th 5:15pm
Posted in: Cooking

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I am that girl.  I am the one watching you in the restaurant, ordering a double cheeseburger with fries and a coke.  You see me at the football game, staring at the child who is shoving down a chili dog, chasing it with nachos and tugging on mom's sleeve asking for ice cream money.  Sometimes I pop up in surprising places – the grocery store, judging your choices in the deli, or wondering why you would pass the high-fiber bread for the white stuff that's filled with junk.

My name is Katy.  I am a pusher --  someone who will talk way too much about what she's eaten, the low-fat recipes I've concocted, and the nutritional content of fast foods … down to the last gram of sodium.

Whew, I said it.  I know how annoying I can be, because I used to be the one getting annoyed by health food pushers.  I thought, "it tastes good, so I'll eat it."

Then one day, I found a picture of myself, and didn't even recognize the face.  My first thought was, who's the chubby girl next to my husband?

Fast forward a couple of years, and I'm healthier, more fit, and much happier.  What worked?  A commitment to knowing more about everything that goes in my body.  Notice I didn't say a strict diet or cutting out all bad foods.  I would never do that, and don't really understand anyone who could.  It's as simple as reading labels on food boxes, and looking up calorie and fat counts before I hit restaurants.  It's passing on pizza for lunch if I know I'm planning on a big dessert, and having the burger OR fries … and not both in the same meal.

That's the concept between a huge new hit book called "Eat This, Not That!"  (After I recommended it to a co-worker here at Growing Bolder, she tried to find it in a bookstore and it was sold out!!)  I actually first heard about the book at work, because Matt Goulding, one of the co-authors, was a guest on the Growing Bolder Radio Show.  Check it out here.

Some of what I learned shocked me, starting with the Worst "Healthy" Burger , the veggie burger from Ruby Tuesday.  That had been a staple for me, but it turns out it's one of the most unhealthy things on the restaurant chain's menu.  The book lists the best and worst options at restaurants, grocery stores and more, and even suggests "top swaps," ways to cut the calories, fat and sodium.

The main author of the book works for Men's Health magazine, and he posted a video here.

The magazine's Web site is also an awesome resource; you can check out your favorite restaurants and even sign up for mobile updates so you can get help when you're sitting down to order.

Hope this helps!  Please feel free to share your tips for staying healthy amid all the temptations out there.