It doesn’t matter how religiously you diet. It doesn’t matter how intensely you exercise. And even if you try to make the smartest choices, pick the healthiest foods, and watch what you eat at every meal, all it takes to sabotage your weight loss goals is one simple mistake. That’s why we’re here to help you - a little bit of awareness can make those mistakes never happen.
Today’s food marketers have loaded many of their offerings with so much fat, sugar, and sodium that any single food in this slideshow can destroy all your hard work and best intentions. Welcome any one of these nutritional neutron bombs into your diet just once a month, and you could add nearly 7 pounds of flab to your frame in the coming year. Luckily, Eat This Not That has rounded up equally delicious alternatives at much lower caloric cost. Make these monster swaps each time you eat out, and you could lose 10, 20, or even 30 pounds in a year!
10. Worst Sandwich: Quizno’s Large Tuna Melt
1,760 calories
133 g fat (26 g saturated, 1.5 g trans)
2,120 mg sodium
In almost all other forms, tuna is a nutritional superstar, so how did it end up as the headliner for America’s Worst Sandwich? Blame an absurdly heavy hand with the mayo the tuna is mixed with, along with Quiznos’ larger-than-life portion sizes. Even though they’ve managed to trim this melt down from the original 2,000-plus calorie mark when we first tested it, it still sits squarely at the bottom of the sandwich ladder.
INSTEAD EAT THIS: Sonoma Turkey Flatbread Sammie
280 calories
14 g fat (4 g saturated)
760 mg sodium
9. Worst Burger: Chili’s Smokehouse Bacon Triple Cheese Big Mouth Burger with Jalapeno Ranch Dressing
1,901 calories
138 g fat (47 g saturated)
4,201 mg sodium
Any burger whose name is 21 syllables long is bound to spell trouble for your waistline. This burger packs almost an entire day’s worth of calories and 2 ½ days’ worth of fat. Chili’s burger menu rivals Ruby Tuesday’s for the worst in America, so you’re better off with one of their reasonable Fajita Pitas to silence your hunger.
INSTEAD EAT THIS: Fajita Pita Beef
489 calories
21 g fat (4 g saturated)
1,543 mg sodium
8. Worst Appetizer: On the Border Firecracker Stuffed Jalapenos with Chili con Queso
1,950 calories
134 g fat (36 g saturated)
6,540 mg sodium
Appetizers are the most problematic area of most chain-restaurant menus. That’s because they’re disproportionately reliant on the type of cheesy, greasy ingredients that catch hungry diners’ eyes when they’re most vulnerable-right when they sit down. Seek out lean protein options like grilled shrimp skewers or ahi tuna when available; if not, simple is best-like chips and salsa.
INSTEAD EAT THIS: Chips and Salsa
430 calories
22 g fat (3.5 g saturated)
440 mg sodium
7. Worst Chinese Dish: P.F. Chang’s Combo Lo Mein
1,968 calories
96 g fat (12 g saturated)
5,860 mg sodium
Lo mein is normally looked at as a side dish, a harmless pile of noodles to pad your plate of orange chicken or broccoli beef. This heaping portion (to be fair, Chang’s does suggest diners share an order) comes spiked with chicken, shrimp, beef, and pork, not to mention an Exxon Valdez-size slick of oil. The damage? A day’s worth of calories, 1 ½ days’ worth of fat, and 2 ½ days’ worth of sodium. No meat-based dish beats out the strip.
INSTEAD EAT THIS: Asian Marinated New York Strip
558 calories
30 g fat (12 g saturated)
864 mg sodium
6. Worst Seafood Dish: Romano’s Macaroni Grill Parmesan Crusted Sole
2,190 calories
141 g fat (58 g saturated)
2,980 mg sodium
145 g carbs
Fish is normally a safe bet, but this entrée proves that it’s all in the preparation. If you fry said fish in a shell of cheese, be prepared to pay the consequences. Here that means meeting your daily calorie, fat, saturated fat, and sodium intake in one sitting.
INSTEAD EAT THIS: Simple Salmon
590 calories
32 g fat (6 g saturated)
1,800 mg sodium
15 g carbs
5. Worst Mexican Dish: Chili’s Fajita Quesadillas Beef with Rice and Beans, 4 Flour Tortillas, and Condiments
2,240 calories
92 g fat (43.5 g saturated)
6,390 mg sodium
253 g carbs
Since when has it ever been a smart idea to combine 2 already calorie- and sodium-packed dishes into one monstrous meal? This confounding creation delivers nearly a dozen Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnuts worth of calories, the sodium equivalent of 194 saltine crackers, and the saturated fat equivalent of 44 strips of bacon. Check please.
INSTEAD EAT THIS: Guiltless Carne Asada Steak
371 calories
10 g fat (7.5 g saturated)
1,436 mg sodium
11 g carbs
4. Worst Pizza: Uno Chicago Grill Classic Deep Dish Individual Pizza
2,310 calories
165 g fat (54 g saturated)
4,920 mg sodium
120 g carbs
The problem with deep dish pizza (which Uno’s knows a thing or two about, since they invented it back in 1943) is not just the extra empty calories and carbs from the crust, it’s that the thick doughy base provides the structural integrity to house extra heaps of cheese, sauce, and greasy toppings. The result is an individual pizza with more calories than you should eat in a day and more sodium than you would find in 27 small bags of Lays Potato Chips. Oh, did we mention it has nearly 3 days’ worth of saturated fat, too? The key to success at Uno’s lies in their flatbread pizza.
INSTEAD EAT THIS: Cheese and Tomato Flatbread Pizza (1/2 pizza)
402 calories
16.5 g fat (7.5 g saturated)
1,065 mg sodium
46 g carbs
3. Worst Ribs: Outback Steakhouse Baby Back Ribs
2,580 calories
Let’s be honest: Ribs are rarely served alone on a plate. When you add a sweet potato and Outback’s Classic Wedge Salad, this meal is a 3,460-calorie blowout. (Consider that it takes only 3,500 calories to add a pound of fat to your body. Better plan for a very, very long “walkabout” when this meal is over!)
INSTEAD EAT THIS: Prime Rib (8 ounces) with Fresh Seasonal Veggies
500 calories
2. Worst Drink: Baskin-Robbins Large Chocolate Oreo Shake
2,600 calories
135 g fat (59 g saturated, 2.5 g trans)
1,700 mg sodium
263 g sugars
We didn’t think anything could be worse than Baskin-Robbins’ 2008 bombshell, the Heath Bar Shake. After all, it had more sugar (266 grams) than 20 bowls of Froot Loops, more calories (2,310) than 11 actual Heath Bars, and more ingredients (73) than you’ll find in most chemistry sets. Yet the folks at Baskin-Robbins have shown that when it comes to making America fat, they’re always up to the challenge. The large Chocolate Oreo Shake is soiled with more than a day’s worth of calories and 3 days’ worth of saturated fat. Worst of all, it takes less than 10 minutes to sip through a straw.
INSTEAD EAT THIS: Peach Passion Fruit Blast (small)
270 calories
90 g fat
65 g sugars
10 mg sodium
1. Worst Meal in America: Carl’s Jr. Six Dollar Guacamole Bacon Burger with Medium Natural Cut Fries and 32-oz Coke
1,810 calories
92 g fat (29.5 g saturated, 2 g trans)
3,450 mg sodium
Of all the gut-growing, heart-threatening, life-shortening burgers in the drive-thru world, there is none whose damage to your general well-being is as potentially catastrophic as this. A bit of perspective is in order: This meal has the caloric equivalent of 9 Krispy Kreme Original Glazed doughnuts, the saturated fat equivalent of 30 strips of bacon, and the salt equivalent of 10 large orders of McDonald’s French fries!
INSTEAD EAT THIS: Famous Star with Side Salad with low-fat Balsamic Dressing
685 calories
38 g fat (10.5 g saturated)
1,520 mg sodium
Provided by Women’s Health
