It's the weekend.  Not many feel like shopping and then preparing dinner, opting for a quick bite out instead.  Watch what you're putting into your mouth, it could end up on your waist!  David Zinczenko, author of The Abs Diet Ultimate Nutrition Handbook includes an entire chapter titled, "The 20 Worst Foods Ever!"  Eat these and Weep.

1. Fettucine Alfredo--worth up to 1,000 calories and 90 grams of fat.  Order instead, whole-grain pasta with marinara.

2. Hardee's Monster Thickburger--sounds great guys, but can you afford almost 1,500 calories and 107 grams of fat?

3. Creme-Filled Doughnut With Chocolate Icing--my husband used to eat two of these every morning before work, each weighs in at 250 calories, 9 grams of fat--saturated and trans.

4. Cinnabon Classic--800 calories and 32 grams of fat; if you just can't pass it up, do like David and split it four ways.

5. Deep-Fried Twinkies or Oreos--I've never even eaten these!  Avoid deep-fried foods in general.  A Twinkie usually contains 150 calories/5 grams of fat.  Deep frying triples the cals.

6. Cheese Fries with Gravy--1,000+ calories, contains partially hydrogenated oil.  Eat a corn chip with salsa, is my quick fix.

7. Soda--the scourge of the easy-access generation, it's called "pop" where I grew up.  A typical 32oz. cola is around 300 calories.  Hint--drink water.

8. Bloomin' Onion--2,200 calories for an appetizer!  Opt for a house salad.

9. Spinach Dip and Chips or Bread--spinach and artichokes themselves are nutritionally sound, but the cheese base of the dip jumps of the cals to around 140 for a 1oz serving. 

10. Pork Rinds--this is fried pig skin and 1oz is worth 150cals, 10 grams of fat, and 500mg sodium. 

11. Potpie--my kids love these, but I've searched the stores over, and the options are either loaded with fat (30g) and calories (500+) per serving, or hydrogenated oils are used for preparation.

12. Sausage or Hot Dog--three hot dogs at the average ballpark is 900 calories, and that's without the beer!  They also are full of nitrites.

13. Pizza Hut Stuffed-Crust Meat Lover's Pizza--one slice equals 520 calories and 29 grams of fat.  Half of the pizza is 2,000 calories. Since pizza is a Friday night special for everyone in my neighborhood, shoot for the lighter version of regular pizza, light on the cheese, add some veggies, skip the meat.  I like thin crispy crust or whole wheat.

14. Cheesecake--a large piece tops out at 700 calories.  If you're eating out, try the new trend called mini-indulgences.

15. Movie-Theater Popcorn--with the melted butter and mindless-consuming you may eat 1,500 calories/100 grams of fat.

16. Frosting--do not lick the bowl! Or eat it by the spoonful!  The prepared versions from the grocery store contain trans fats (to keep it from melting) and a whole lot of sugar.  Mr. Zinczenko adds that one or two licks are OK, a kid at heart!

17. McDonald's Chocolate Triple Thick Shake--600 calories, fat, sugar, high-fructose corn syrup.  Try a homemade smoothie at home: frozen strawberries/ice cubes, soy/fat-free milk, other fresh fruits. Blend and drink!  Even kids like this!

18. Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Dressing--consider dropping the dressing, and the butter the wings are dipped into.  If possible, don't even eat the deep-fried wings.  Order grilled chicken breast instead.

19. Chips with Olestra--David states, "...products made with olestra also deprive the body of vitamins that require fat for absorption, plus they have some ugly GI side effects. Blech."

20. Your Calorie Kryptonite--the food you're always drawn to.  For me that's the chocolate chip cookie!  Enjoy your favorite food with a weekly "cheat meal."

The new Abs Diet Ultimate Nutrition Handbook offers tips, tricks, recipes and studies that show people on the move, which is most of us, how to cut calories and fat. 

David Zinczenko