That's Fit

Diet derailers are everywhere -- in your house, in the grocery store, at work, at play, in your head even. Here, we'll address the very things that throw us off course. Together, we'll learn how to avoid our diet traps -- and how to get back on track when we can't.

I'm not sure how I survived my younger years as a fast-food customer without gaining tons of weight. Maybe my high school and college drive-through ventures weren't frequent enough. Or my metabolism was way high. Or I was just plain lucky. Because there's no doubt about it: McDonald's and Taco Bell, my two favorites back then, are not known for their low-cal, low-fat menus. Which makes take-out locations like these pretty darn successful at wrecking a good diet.

Even if you eat small at McDonald's, like I did -- one hamburger, one order of fries (actually, make that a large) and one diet drink -- you're looking at least 750 calories and more than 30 grams of fat. At the Bell, my Taco Supreme alone costs 220 calories and 14 grams of fat. Funny thing: That one taco never filled me up, and my second order only made things worse.

I'm a cold-turkey kind of girl. It just works for me. No more sweets -- they give me headaches (and extra weight too). And no more fast food. You might not operate this way. That's OK, say the experts at America Takes It Off. It's perfectly fine to enjoy your favorites, even if they are slung out a sliding window as you cruise by in your car. Here, a few tips for getting your fast-food fix, without derailing your diet entirely.

• Ordered grilled chicken sandwiches.
• Opt for salads, minus the creamy dressings.
• Choose a sub stop, but go easy on the mayo.
• Make it a mini-size, not a super-size meal.

You can also arm yourself with some facts before you go trolling for take-out. Check out The Fast Food Explorer here. It's a site that allows you to select a fast-food joint and then sort foods by topics like calories and fat. I just did a little exploring into the goods offered by Dairy Queen. I picked the sandwich category, searched by calories and asked for the results to be listed from low-cal to high-cal. Three sandwiches were thrown back at me -- the Grilled Chicken Sandwich, the Fish Sandwich, and the Crispy Chicken Sandwich. The calories I got: 400 for chicken, 420 for fish and 530 for the crispy stuff. Aha, grilled chicken is the safest bet. Seems the team at America Takes If Off knows what it's talking about.

Do you know what you're talking about when it comes to fast food? Better brush up and realize the stuff can destroy a diet in a flash. With a little savvy substitution, though, a stroll through the drive-through lane (remember: grilled chicken) can prevent a major diet sabotage.