Just when you thought you’ve seen every weight-loss gimmick under the sun, along comes The Fast Food Diet, a new strategy conceived by one of the nation’s top cardiologists who also happens to be a certified nutritionist. 

    Lose weight by eating fast food?  He’s not joking, folks.  And when you consider the record levels of obesity and overweight-related health ills in Western countries today, much of which is being blamed on fast food consumption, Dr. Stephen Sinatra may be on to something.

    In his new book, THE FAST FOOD DIET: How To Lose Weight and Feel Great Even If You’re Too Busy to Eat Right (ISBN: 0-471-79047- 8; publication date: August 2006; Wiley Original Paperback; $14.95), Dr. Sinatra provides readers with scores of smart tricks for reducing the calories and other fattening, unhealthy ingredients in today’s popular fast food menu items.

    Dr. Sinatra’s book is not another fire-and-brimstone sermon about the evils of fast food.   Instead, his is a pragmatic approach that teaches time-crunched  moms and nutritionally-challenged dads how to make intelligent, healthier choices and substitutions which will shave hundreds of calories from their every meal without having to eat less food or giving up the flavors that make fast food so popular.

    “The calories you save will add up to pounds lost just as quickly and surely as the extra calories have been increasing your weight,” Dr. Sinatra explains.  “If you cut just 500 calories from your meals every day, you’ll lose a pound a week without doing anything else.  That’s 50 pounds in a year – and it’s so easy to accomplish!”

    Making weight-loss easy is what THE FAST FOOD DIET is all about.  At McDonald’s, substitute Newman’s Own Low-Fat Balsamic Vinaigrette for the Newman’s Own Ranch Dressing and you’ll save 130 calories.  Switch from a 32-ounce soda to the 16-ounce size and you’ll avoid 155 calories - better yet, choose a seltzer with a lemon wedge and you’ll be 310 calories ahead. Hold the “special sauce” and there’s another 170 calories saved. Voila!  With three painless decisions you’ve reached your goal.  Employ these tactics three times a day and you’ll weigh three pounds less at the end of the week – that’s 12 pounds in a month’s time.

    THE FAST FOOD DIET is chock-full of ingenious advice that will whittle the weight off without forcing you to give up the convenience and satisfaction of eating fast food.  Not only will you weight less and look better, but you’ll be improving your health and reducing your risk of heart attack, diabetes, cancer, and other serious diseases.

    And for those who want their weight-loss easier still, Dr. Sinatra has created a Six-Week Fast Food Diet Eating Plan that has all the computing built in.  Simply choose any of his 000 meal selections for breakfast, lunch or dinner from more than 50 of the most popular fast food chains in North America and your results are practically a cinch.   

    The book also contains valuable tips for business travelers, holiday revelers, and fast food-obsessed children.  Dr. Sinatra shows readers how to eat well at mall food courts, sit-down restaurants, airports, and convenience stores, while providing harried homemakers with recipes for nutritious, home-cooked meals that can be prepared in 15-minutes or less . “I wrote this book to be a painless, practical roadmap to weight-loss success,” Dr. Sinatra says in its Introduction.  And that it certainly seems to be.  Everything you’ll need to know has been compressed and simplified into a very readable -- and at times fascinating – explanation of how to lose weight almost effortlessly.  “You’ll be using brainpower instead of willpower to succeed,” he promises.  What a smart idea.  

About the Authors
    Dr. Stephen Sinatra is a board-certified cardiologist, a certified nutrition and anti-aging specialist, and psychotherapist. He is a fellow at the American College of Nutrition and the American College of Cardiology as well as an assistant clinical professor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.  His books include Lose to Win, Optimum Health, Spa Medicine and The Sinatra Solution. Dr. Sinatra is an international lecturer and workshop facilitator, and writes a monthly national newsletter entitled Heart, Health and Nutrition.

    Jim Punkre is the President and CEO of Brainstorms, Inc., Prior to that, he was the chief copywriter for Rodale Press of Emmaus, Pa., and publisher of Prevention, Men’s Health, Woman’s Health, Runner’s World, and Bicycling magazines.