The Fast Food Diet: A Review and Description

How can you eat fast food and manage to lose weight? Nearly 20% of Americans are hard-core fast food eaters who consume fast or convenience food everyday. The three most popular menu items are French fries, soft drinks, and the hamburger. In this fast-paced world, there is barely a thing called breakfast. The lunch hour is a misnomer. Does anyone really want to cook dinner after racing and chasing all day?

The Fast Food Diet recognizes that we are surrounded with fast food, quick-fix snack machines, and grab-and-go food. This diet recommends that we overweight Americans need to learn how to make smart decisions when choosing fast and processed foods. The Fast Food Diet promises to help you shrink your waistline, drop your cholesterol level, lower your blood pressure, and increase your energy.

An important principle is the 80/20 rule. If you eat healthily 80 percent of the time, you can splurge for the remaining 20 percent. This rule gives you room to be flexible and eat whatever you want some of the time without feeling guilty.

What makes the Fast Food diet different from other diet plans?

This plan assumes that you will be eating out at fast food restaurants, sit-down restaurants, malls, and all kinds of eateries. Not only does it assume that you are eating fast food several times per week, but the plan also tells you that it is acceptable. Instead of condemning you for your eating habits, the diet encourages you to find and eat the healthy offerings on these menus. It is a member of the calorie-counting family of diets.

What is The Fast Food Diet?

Calories are the culprit on the Fast Food Diet. Eat more calories and gain weight. Alternatively, eat fewer calories or burn more than your body needs and you will lose weight.

Modern processed foods contain many more calories than anything from nature; for example, compare a Big Mac (560 calories) with a grapefruit (120 calories). If you want to lose weight without trying, then cut back on ten percent of the calories you currently consume. Some tips to do so include:

• Cut back on soft drinks and switch to iced tea or water
• Don't supersize. Go for the smaller portions by ordering off the kids menu or eat half-size portions.
• Order a small serving of French fries and eat them slowly or share them with a friend.
• Go easy on the cheese. It's brimming with fat and calories.
• Do without toppings such as barbecue sauce and mayonnaise.
• Load up on healthy fixings like vegetables on sandwiches or burgers.

The diet provides a six-week fast food eating plan, giving women 1500 calories and men 1800 calories. Monday through Friday meals are specified while two days are left for you to tackle healthy yet easy home cooking. A typical day includes three meals and two snacks. Breakfast could include an Egg McMuffin from McDonald's. Lunch would be a (skinless) Tender Roast Chicken Sandwich, corn-on-the-cob, and some greens. Dinner could be capellini pomodoro, four ounces of broiled salmon, and a side salad with nonfat dressing from the Olive Garden. Snacks could be trail mix from a supermarket or one-half a blueberry bagel with low-fat cream cheese from Panera Bread.

A fast food diet for kids tackles the great American problem of childhood obesity. The diet offers interesting tips for vegetarians, business travelers, and holiday dining. There is even a rating system for airports with the healthiest fare. Miami International Airport tops the list.

Healthier fast food restaurants like Zone Café and O'Naturals are popping up across the United States. But fast food restaurants are going to continue serving high-calorie, high-profit offerings. The Fast Food Diet claims you can lose weight by eating smarter at fast food and sit down restaurants. The plan promises that all it takes to lose weight is to make better choices and incorporate some healthier cooking techniques at home.

What are the weight loss expectations on the Fast Food Diet?

By the end of the six-week meal plan, you should be 10 to 15 pounds lighter. If you add the walking plan, you can lose even more. The eating plan is designed so you can lose 100 pounds in a year (if you need to) while eating fast food.

Does the Fast Food Diet promote exercise?

Walking is the ideal exercise that can help you lose weight, feel stronger, be healthier, and gain more energy without breaking a sweat. The diet recommends that you take approximately 10,000 steps (four to five miles) per day. Use a pedometer to keep track of your steps. The diet provides a week-by-week walking plan and tips to help you stay with your routine.

Does the Fast Food Diet recommend supplements?

It is extremely difficult to get all your essential nutrients by consuming a diet based on fast food. The diet recommends that you take vitamins C, D, and E. You should also take a B-complex containing 400 to 800 micrograms of folate and 100% of the daily recommended allowance of vitamins B6 and B12. You should also take fish oils, calcium, a multivitamin with minerals, and a fiber supplement like Metamucil.