How to USE Fast Food to Support Weight Loss

Created Especially for Angela Hampton
Health Reporter
ABC News

My mission in life is to help women "Become Better Than They Ever Dreamed Possible," pertaining to how they feel about the appearance of their bodies, and as you can imagine, I meet with all kinds of lifestyles, personalities and personal goals.

While a few women are relatively relaxed with their work at home and love to cook, some women are restless type-A people who can't sit still for more than 5 minutes and won't cook and most are at the mercy of other family-members or work-related schedules that keep them from having the kind of time that they need to plan, shop, and cook wholesome and healthy meals at home.

The creation and maintenance of a healthy and lean body is primarily a factor of what and how we eat, but these women find themselves, what I have coined, "at the mercy of their environment" -- a fast food nation brimming over with saturated fats, high sodium, highly processed ingredients, and the ever-present and unrelenting call of sugar! It is for these women that I created "Fast Food Fitness."

Although it may not be the preferred mode of health and fitness, it is definitely possible to eat fast food and still lose weight. I do it all the time. In fact, this Spring when I was doing my beach photo shoot (the photos are on my web site), I was at 14% body fat and was eating roasted peanuts, pizza from Pizza Hut, hot dogs from the beach grill, and tacos from Taco Bell. When the weekend was over I had lost another pound! It's all in the choices you make, the frequency of your meals, and the thought behind how you plan to eat for that day.

As far as your choices go, here are your 15 Rules to Fast Food Fitness:

1. Plan to eat 1-2 palmsful of food every 2-4 hours
2. When it comes to pizza, choose a thin crust and chicken as the meat
3. When it comes to tacos, choose chicken or steak
4. When it comes to burgers, never supersize. Choose from the children's menu and don't eat the french fries, they are 100% trans fats!
5. When it comes to chicken, never choose fried! Choose the grilled option and skip the biscuits.
6. When it comes to packaged frozen dinners, choose a meal with mostly protein (meats) and vegetables.
7. Drink clean filtered water all day long.
8. Resist soft drinks. It's hard to tell whether the regular sugar drinks are any worse for you than the diet aspartame drinks. Choose chilled herb teas as a replacement.
9. Minimize processed carbohydrates like pasta and breads. If you must eat them, lower their glycemic values by pairing them with a good lean protein -- like 1/2 bagel with turkey.
10. Choose nutrition bars and drinks that have very little sugar (like 15 grams or less).
11. Add in natural whole foods like raw veggies, nuts and cheese at least once a day.
12. Resist sugary add-ons. Don't choose the apple pies, parfaits and cookies.
13. Resist the dressings that come with the healthy salads. Choose the salad with highly-flavorful ingredients like olives, feta and red onions and you may find that you actually enjoy it without any dressing. Also, if you choose a salad, pull over to eat it. It's dangerous to eat with a fork as you are traveling down the road!
14. If you do indulge in something that wasn't allowed, forgive yourself and get right back on track. Or if you absolutely must indulge, plan for it. I give myself permission to eat fast food while traveling and to eat whatever dessert I want when I go to my favorite restaurant.
15. Exercise! Exercise! Exercise! Even if it's just 10 minutes a day. Find a way to fit it in. Your health and the quality of your life depend on it.

Lastly, consider your own copy of my "Fast Food Fitness" e-Program which includes 2 7-day meal plans each for 1250 calories a day, 1500 calories a day, and 1750 calories a day. Once you have the plan, all you have to do is find time to drive through or pick up and you're ready to get fit!

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