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American Morning

Healthy Dining

Aired November 12, 2002 - 09:47   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's get to fast food right now. Chain restaurants notorious for sometimes serving less than healthy food. We know that. There's a new survey that went out to try and find how you can get a healthy meal at the chain restaurants if you know what to order and what to avoid. Current issue, "Men's Health" magazine, evaluating the best and worst choices at the well known chains. And for more on that is Heidi Skolnik, a contributing editor for "Men's Health."
Good to see you, Heidi. Good morning.

Let's go through this sucker real quick. You went to 20 national chains, is that right?

HEIDI SKOLNIK, "MEN'S HEALTH" MAGAZINE: Well, I didn't write the article, I'm representing "Men's Health," but they did.

HEMMER: Like what? Mcdonald's, I'm assuming?

SKOLNIK: These are the chain restaurants like Applebee's, Thank God Its Fridays, all of those types of chain restaurants.

HEMMER: OK, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, things like that.

SKOLNIK: Right.

HEMMER: Most surprising thing you found, trend on a menu?

SKOLNIK: Is that there are a lot of good choices. You can eat out, you can eat fast and convenient and still eat well, but you have to watch out, because you can sabotage yourself just as easily.

HEMMER: OK, let's pick off Applebee's right now. Best bets and hidden dangers, essentially how the article breaks it down right now. You say that sirloin is a good choice, and so is the chicken fajita at Applebee's. How did you conclude this now?

SKOLNIK: Because the sirloin for a restaurant portion is actually nine ounces, not very large, not very large. It's a lean cut of beef. That's 27 grams of fat. Chicken fajitia would seem sort of indulgent, but it's a great way to get veggies in, and all the condiments on the side, like the cheese, the sour cream, the guacamole, you can decide how much you want to add.

HEMMER: Got it. Hidden danger then, I'm assuming that's something that probably looks pretty healthy, but on the inside, it's bad. SKOLNIK: Exactly. And that is -- which I don't think this one is that surprising.

HEMMER: Chicken broccoli pasta, is that right?

SKOLNIK: Right. But it's an alfredo sauce. And any time you have an alfredo sauce, 3/4 of a cup of alfredo sauce, two cups of pasta, 1,000 calories, 67 grams of fat.

HEMMER: That's a lot. You can live on that for a week, probably.

SKOLNIK: Ninety grams of fat is the top for an active guy. Forty grams of fat is the minimum for a sedentary minimum for looking at the range. That's a lot of fat in one meal. The ground round right now. They say stay away from the buffalo chicken salad.

HEMMER: I don't know if that's something I'd even order, but why is that bad for you.

SKOLNIK: I think that's when you think you're making a healthy choice, the salad that sounds good, you might get it instead of something else, but because the chicken is breaded and fried, and there's blue cheese dressing and bacon in it, it's really leaded with fat.

HEMMER: That sounds great actually.

Best bet at ground round is what then?

SKOLNIK: The bourbon glazed salmon. You get the Omega III fatty acids in there. It's really, you know, make it a full meal. It's a good choice.

HEMMER: You are starting to sound like Dr. Gupta that.

Red Lobster, you say stay away from the coconut shrimp. What's wrong with it?

SKOLNIK: Shrimp is a great choice. Get the shrimp cocktail with the cocktail sauce. But the minute you take something that's healthy and bread it and fry it, it's no longer good for you. Roll it in saturated fat like coconut, and you're talking danger.

HEMMER: What about this thing we're looking at right here. Go back there if you could, guys, the awesome blossom. Is that Outback?

SKOLNIK: I think that's at Chili's. I think that's at chili's. And this is an onion, which is no fat. Now you bread it and fry it. You put two ounces of the side dressing. This is 2,800 calories.

HEMMER: You're kidding me. On one plate?

SKOLNIK: For one plate. And that's an appetizer. Now even if you share that, that hurts. HEMMER: That is a lot, absolutely. Let's talk about the trends right now you're picking up on fast foods. McDonald's came out with news last week saying they're closed roughly about 100 franchises. Do you see a trend right now where the fast food chains like McDonald's are really trying to increase the fare in terms of healthy items on the men you?

SKOLNIK: Yes, and you can see it in items like McDonald's now offers a yogurt parfae (ph). Wendy's has a stuffed pita that has garden salad in it, and along with the chicken, or the beef or whatever.

So I think people want healthier food, but they still want the convenience. So it's not that they're not eating burgers and fries. But they don't want as much, they want greater variety, and there's a lot more competition.

HEMMER: So your point is the fast food chains are picking up on the consumer demand for healthier fare.

SKOLNIK: Absolutely, but there's also a lot more competition. As you can see, here are the 20 chains across the country that you can get that are still quick and easy.

HEMMER: How much weight do these people gain when they're doing this thing?

SKOLNIK: Well, I'm not telling that. We try to balance it with exercise.

HEMMER: Heidi, you're great. Thanks for being a good sport. For "Men's Health," contributing editor Heidi Skolnik.

SKOLNIK: Thanks so much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 12, 2002 - 09:47   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's get to fast food right now. Chain restaurants notorious for sometimes serving less than healthy food. We know that. There's a new survey that went out to try and find how you can get a healthy meal at the chain restaurants if you know what to order and what to avoid. Current issue, "Men's Health" magazine, evaluating the best and worst choices at the well known chains. And for more on that is Heidi Skolnik, a contributing editor for "Men's Health."
Good to see you, Heidi. Good morning.

Let's go through this sucker real quick. You went to 20 national chains, is that right?

HEIDI SKOLNIK, "MEN'S HEALTH" MAGAZINE: Well, I didn't write the article, I'm representing "Men's Health," but they did.

HEMMER: Like what? Mcdonald's, I'm assuming?

SKOLNIK: These are the chain restaurants like Applebee's, Thank God Its Fridays, all of those types of chain restaurants.

HEMMER: OK, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, things like that.

SKOLNIK: Right.

HEMMER: Most surprising thing you found, trend on a menu?

SKOLNIK: Is that there are a lot of good choices. You can eat out, you can eat fast and convenient and still eat well, but you have to watch out, because you can sabotage yourself just as easily.

HEMMER: OK, let's pick off Applebee's right now. Best bets and hidden dangers, essentially how the article breaks it down right now. You say that sirloin is a good choice, and so is the chicken fajita at Applebee's. How did you conclude this now?

SKOLNIK: Because the sirloin for a restaurant portion is actually nine ounces, not very large, not very large. It's a lean cut of beef. That's 27 grams of fat. Chicken fajitia would seem sort of indulgent, but it's a great way to get veggies in, and all the condiments on the side, like the cheese, the sour cream, the guacamole, you can decide how much you want to add.

HEMMER: Got it. Hidden danger then, I'm assuming that's something that probably looks pretty healthy, but on the inside, it's bad. SKOLNIK: Exactly. And that is -- which I don't think this one is that surprising.

HEMMER: Chicken broccoli pasta, is that right?

SKOLNIK: Right. But it's an alfredo sauce. And any time you have an alfredo sauce, 3/4 of a cup of alfredo sauce, two cups of pasta, 1,000 calories, 67 grams of fat.

HEMMER: That's a lot. You can live on that for a week, probably.

SKOLNIK: Ninety grams of fat is the top for an active guy. Forty grams of fat is the minimum for a sedentary minimum for looking at the range. That's a lot of fat in one meal. The ground round right now. They say stay away from the buffalo chicken salad.

HEMMER: I don't know if that's something I'd even order, but why is that bad for you.

SKOLNIK: I think that's when you think you're making a healthy choice, the salad that sounds good, you might get it instead of something else, but because the chicken is breaded and fried, and there's blue cheese dressing and bacon in it, it's really leaded with fat.

HEMMER: That sounds great actually.

Best bet at ground round is what then?

SKOLNIK: The bourbon glazed salmon. You get the Omega III fatty acids in there. It's really, you know, make it a full meal. It's a good choice.

HEMMER: You are starting to sound like Dr. Gupta that.

Red Lobster, you say stay away from the coconut shrimp. What's wrong with it?

SKOLNIK: Shrimp is a great choice. Get the shrimp cocktail with the cocktail sauce. But the minute you take something that's healthy and bread it and fry it, it's no longer good for you. Roll it in saturated fat like coconut, and you're talking danger.

HEMMER: What about this thing we're looking at right here. Go back there if you could, guys, the awesome blossom. Is that Outback?

SKOLNIK: I think that's at Chili's. I think that's at chili's. And this is an onion, which is no fat. Now you bread it and fry it. You put two ounces of the side dressing. This is 2,800 calories.

HEMMER: You're kidding me. On one plate?

SKOLNIK: For one plate. And that's an appetizer. Now even if you share that, that hurts. HEMMER: That is a lot, absolutely. Let's talk about the trends right now you're picking up on fast foods. McDonald's came out with news last week saying they're closed roughly about 100 franchises. Do you see a trend right now where the fast food chains like McDonald's are really trying to increase the fare in terms of healthy items on the men you?

SKOLNIK: Yes, and you can see it in items like McDonald's now offers a yogurt parfae (ph). Wendy's has a stuffed pita that has garden salad in it, and along with the chicken, or the beef or whatever.

So I think people want healthier food, but they still want the convenience. So it's not that they're not eating burgers and fries. But they don't want as much, they want greater variety, and there's a lot more competition.

HEMMER: So your point is the fast food chains are picking up on the consumer demand for healthier fare.

SKOLNIK: Absolutely, but there's also a lot more competition. As you can see, here are the 20 chains across the country that you can get that are still quick and easy.

HEMMER: How much weight do these people gain when they're doing this thing?

SKOLNIK: Well, I'm not telling that. We try to balance it with exercise.

HEMMER: Heidi, you're great. Thanks for being a good sport. For "Men's Health," contributing editor Heidi Skolnik.

SKOLNIK: Thanks so much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com